Day of Praise

Fri, 08/04/17, "Day of Praise" 

"One person gives freely, yet gains even more." - Proverbs 11:24a

From time to time, we encourage meditating on a verse of God's Word. Meditating on God's Word is to repeat it over and over, again and again, in your heart and mind throughout a day, and then watch the LORD show you again and again how he's always true to his word. 

The meditation phrase for today that's connected to today's Bible verse is this, "You cannot outgive God." 

Say it over and over: 
"You cannot outgive God." 
"You cannot outgive God." 
"You cannot outgive God." 
"You cannot outgive God." 

I've seen this truth repeatedly for the last 38 of my 52 years of life. It's not only about getting money back when you give money as much as it's about receiving God's non-stop provision of "dumb luck" and "coincidence" and "a way out of temptation" and "a vindication of hope and faith in God." 

However, when we give our resources (time, money, energy) generously, what we receive in return is not entirely divorced from money either, namely, the call of God in the Bible to cheerfully tithe (which means to freely give at least a "tenth") of your income to God's work of advancing his kingdom by spreading the Gospel (good news) of Jesus through the team that is your local church. Interestingly, a secular British Columbia, Canada study scientifically showed that generous people are just flat out happier in life. 

So how about if we add the slightest bit to our meditation. Say it over and over: 
"You cannot outgive God. So give!" 
"You cannot outgive God. So give!" 
"You cannot outgive God. So give!" 
"You cannot outgive God. So give!" 

As a very specific encouragement about giving as I close, I'd note that I usually prefer quiet when I'm in my car, but if I listen to anything, I'll listen to Christian radio when I'm in my car. One time when I was driving back from visiting a shut-in member of our church who lives an hour away, I heard an interview with the CEO of Corporate Chaplains of America (CCA). I nearly fell out of my car into the interstate when he said that they train their chaplains to encourage people not to give money to CCA but instead to give generously to their local church because that's where the good news of Jesus is sustained and shared day after day after day after day.

This devotion goes to almost every state in this nation and therefore to citizens of countless communities. Please trust God's promise in today's devotion, and give generously to God's work through your local church, remembering "You cannot outgive God. So give!" 

"One person gives freely, yet gains even more." - Proverbs 11:24a

Praise God!