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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Ecclesiastes 3:13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
God is ever watchful, keeping an eye on each of us and what we are up to. If we are willing and able to work and to do it with God in mind, He is more the willing and able to see we get rewarded for our work.
When we turn around and do work just for the monetary gain, that is all we are going to gain from it – monetary rewards.
God’s gifts to us for our work and toil are more than just monetary gain; we gain peace, happiness and thankfulness.
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Proverbs 21:14 A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.
And then there are times when you have to give a bribe or a payment to someone else to keep the peace! Is it right?
Well, the answer has to be made up by those around you – how is it going to affect people if peace does not reign? What will happen when all things go wrong just because of the anger of one person involved?
Sometimes we do have to keep the peace by spending what we have at the time to keep the peace going at the right moment and not waiting to see what happens… Just be aware of the other side of the coin!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Proverbs 18:16 A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.
Sometimes, when you want something to get done, offering a gift in return for the accomplishment is what works best.
Allowing people to see you are happy to give so that things may be done will help them to see the better side of what should be done.
This is not to say we should hand out bribes to get our own ways, but to offer rewards or help for getting others to get done what is needed in the community does work wonders!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Deuteronomy 16:17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.
Right from the beginning, man has been encouraged to bring gifts back to God; not as a demonstration of anything other than what He has blessed you with!
Before you give something back to God, sit down and go through some of the things He has given you, has blessed you with and has done for you.
After you have done that, think about what you could give back to Him in order to thank Him for all of those blessings and gifts!
Then do it!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Titus 3:15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.
One of the easiest gifts to give is the gift of a greeting – a simple greeting as you walk down the street may be all a person needs to brighten up their day.
Someone who feels like they have been cut off from others would welcome a greeting even if it is over the phone or through the post.
A gift does not have to be wrapped up in a box and given hand to hand – it can be the love and respect we show each other.
Think about someone else today and what you can do for them!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Ephesians 2:7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
When we love someone we allow them to do things which we may not agree with or which we may not do – I may not want to jump out of an aeroplane with a parachute, but if the people I love want to do so, then they are welcome to!
God showed this all to us first of all. He gave these gifts to us and continues to give us the gifts of grace and mercy every day.
Are you willing to give the gift of grace and mercy to someone else in your life – just to make a difference?
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
Is it difficult to love someone who you cannot see? What about when the person you love goes off to school or work and you don’t see them for a while – does your love disappear?
God has made it easy for us to love Him because He started the ball rolling by giving us everything we need to begin with as an outpouring of His love toward us.
Returning that love should be nice and easy – but we seem to take the difficult route and make it hard work! Go back to simply loving God!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
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Numbers 7:3 They brought as their gifts before the Lord six covered carts and twelve oxen—an ox from each leader and a cart from every two. These they presented before the tabernacle.
When Moses was collecting stuff to be used in making the tabernacle, there were rather large things used to collect the items – carts!
We should never be shy or worried about giving to God because we know how much He is willing and able to give to us; but it’s not about how much you can give so you can get back!
God wants people to show Him love and respect, one part of that is through giving back to Him!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Genesis 32:18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’
When Jacob was preparing to meet Esau, he was worried Esau may be angry with him, so he sent a bunch of gifts ahead of him to try and pacify Esau.
What sort of occasions do you wait for before you give a gift to someone else? Do you wait until you are so worried you go out and spend all your money, or do you give gifts early?
Sometimes it is the smallest of gifts given early on which make the biggest impressions – don’t wait until you think you have no hope left before seeking gifts!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Matthew 6:2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
Gifts are not all about receiving, but about giving as well. Think of the pleasure you get when you are able to give something to someone when they really need it!
And it is not all about giving in front of other people so they can see how great a giver you are; but about the secret giving when you are fulfilling a need – maybe a need which is not public!
God see everything and is just – He knows who are the people who are doing the real giving and those who are giving to lift themselves up.
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Matthew 6:30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
OK, this one is not so direct; but I want you to think about the gift of this world which God has given us all.
Our planet is an absolutely amazing place, complete with broken places and people, complete with stunning beauty and wonderous horrors.
God gave us this place to live out our mortal lives; a planet floating in space around a burning hot sun, swirling around in a galaxy in amongst other galaxies… just for us!
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Luke 11:13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
When it comes to Christmas or birthdays, we do try to think about the gifts we are going to give to others – why, because we love them in some way or another!
If we spend that amount of time thinking about the presents we are going to give to our friends and family, then how much time must God have thought about the perfect gift for us?
I know He is not limited by time, but He has given us a gift which surpasses all other gifts – because of His love for us which goes far and beyond any other love!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Let us talk about gifts this month! God has given us some pretty amazing gifts, the most quoted of which is probably from this verse.
God gave us His Son! Jesus came to live on earth as a human man so He could take away the sins of the earth.
The only way He could do this was to give His life, a life without sin, as a sacrifice to atone for the life we owe for doing things wrong against God!
Think about it…
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
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John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
A statement here made by our Lord stays the same now as it was then – if only people realised who Jesus is, they would ask Him for help and He would serve up feasts!
When we ask things of our God, are we asking as a person who asks another person – maybe they can give us what we need…
Or are we willing to ask as a person asking God – I know you can give this to me and I know you are willing to give it to me… please may I have it?
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Lacking wisdom does not mean lacking knowledge. We can have all the knowledge we need to know things and work correctly, but unless we know how to apply that knowledge in the best possible way, we can’t say we have wisdom.
God is more than willing to share the wisdom we need to work effectively with Him each and every day. He is more than willing to give us what we need to become effective servants.
He is not shy about giving away this wisdom either – so long as we are willing to seek it!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
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Psalm 119:125 I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.
When we are willing to listen to God, we are going to be able to learn from Him. It is the first step toward being able to do the will of God!
God is not going to ask you to go and break all the rules just to do something you feel you cannot do – He knows what you are capable of, what you are good at and what is profitable for all concerned.
Being able to listen to God allows us to get to know that will of His one step at a time!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Psalm 116:16 Truly I am your servant, Lord; I serve you just as my mother did; you have freed me from my chains.
It is not just because God created us that we should be counted as His, never mind His servants.
It is because of what Christ has done for us by giving His life for us and then rising from the dead to defeat the curse upon mankind that we should be counted as His.
He has broken us free from the debt we owe due to our issues and our sins. He has broken us free from eternal death and has given us eternal life – as long as we do choose to take it!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
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Romans 8:12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.
As described in the first few verses of this chapter, we do have an obligation to do what is right. But not always according to how the world sees things.
Christ has separated us from the world and given us a new spiritual life which we are free to accept and live with – giving us freedom from this world.
The world is, by biblical definition, corrupt. Why then should we be forced to live by the corrupt rules and not God’s rules?
Our laws were based on biblical standards and we should not have a problem with most of them – but mankind has corrupted those laws. They are of the world and no longer of God!
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- Written by: DJ Dave
- Category: Devotionals
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Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Do you ever feel like you do all these good things for God and you don’t get as much as the people around you? I know there have been times when I have felt that, but it is not true.
We have the good things of this world, which are what we tend to focus on most of the time. Then we have the good spiritual things which we can actively seek.
But then we have the eternal things which we cannot know of, but which we know we are going to get.
Trust that God is doing what is righteous and our rewards will be eternal!
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2 Thessalonians 2:14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Despite there being all those people around us who can teach us about Christ, we also have the task of sharing the gospel with others.
It may well be the story we tell someone about Christ which gets them to ask the right questions and finally accept Christ into their own lives.
God has put us all here as a cohesive church to work together for His glory and for His good – let us do that and keep more people coming in to hear the gospel in our churches.