A Good Steward

Something to think about.

A Good Steward


¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. 1 Peter 4:10

The sermons I've heard concerning stewardship have always involved the proper use of money.  It is almost as if that is the only thing that stewardship applies to, but look at context of this verse.

⁷ The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. ⁸ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: ¹¹ whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:7-11

In this context, a reference to money is not made. It says "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. We are to use the gifts God has furnished us with as good stewards that God may be glorified.  It says "as good stewards of God's varied grace". Gods varied grace, could this mean that the gifts we were given are varied?

You have to ask what gifts has God given me? What has God endowed you with and how are you a good steward of that gift? Are you a teacher, an administrator, a  leader,  How many varied gifts has God bestowed on you and are you being a good steward of what he has given you.

We invest a lot of time in our businesses in our professions in our passions but what about the gifts God has given you? What effort are you investing in your gifts?  The strange then about your gifts is that your good at them without very much effort. For instance, I have the gift of writing. I don't possess good grammar or spelling skills, but yet it is almost effortless for me to sit and write. I've never had writer's block I feel there are more subjects I can write about than I will ever have time to complete.  But the truth is I have never spent very much time honing that skill. Maybe it is because it is a gift and is easy for me that I have not invested the effort in becoming outstanding at it.  But that confession in itself exposes my lack of stewardship in that area of my life.  Here is the question, if I pay more attention, more time more effort into my writing what are the possible benefits to my life to my wife's life to my children's lives. What benefit would my writing it be to the lives of people I don't know.

If you start to think about your gifts and you become good stewards of your gifts how much more alive would you be? The bible speaks of gifts with an "S" but if you are not a good steward of the obvious gifts Gods given you do you think God will give you another gift?

Stewardship is a wonderful thing not only in the financial realm but in every area of your life. A good steward of life will live an outstanding life. Because it will lead you to that place where you will be glorifying God with the fruits of your stewardship. And God will bestow on your life other gifts which will bring Him glory and you joy.

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The Greatest

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The Greatest

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Matthew 22:36-37 ESV
 

Why is this the greatest commandment? Is it because God needs our love?

If you believe God is perfect, then you have to include in His complete lack of need. He is totally complete, without need. He does not need or want our love.  He is perfect without it. So again I ask why is this the greatest commandment? It does nothing for God.

Commandment,  is a rule. In this case, it is the single most important rule. It is a guiding principle as crucial to our existence as breathing. It is something we must do. If we must comply? If the recipient of the action does not need it why it's it so important? Since it is commanded, we can not assume it is not optional. We must love God completely. I've written all of this to ask one question. Who does loving God benefit? If God is complete and perfect our loving Him, it does not benefit Him. My love for my wife benefits her because it fulfills her need to be loved. Her love for me fulfills my need to be loved, but that is not the case with God. God will be perfect with or without our love.

We have to look at Jesus's answer in a different light.  The only way to understand the answer is by answering the question who does it benefit? Jesus's response is intended for our benefit, not God's. Jesus was not setting up a priority of laws. He is not putting the compliance of commandments in order of importance.  Even though that was the question and at first glance, it appears as a direct answer. . He answers the question with the commandment most beneficial to humanity.

All of Gods commandments were given for the benefit of man. None of them benefit God. This is no different. He answered the question in the single most important way in which man would benefit. 

So what is it about loving God that is so important?

Loving God provides us with the most beneficial existence available to man. By loving God, we receive acceptance, love, security, freedom. Our eyes are opened to realities and blessing that do not exist for blind humanity. We are set free from hopelessness and emptiness, we are adopted into the family of God we are recipients of all that God has made available to us. Our future in this life and the one that is to come is blessed for all eternity. Loving God sets us apart and allows us to enter into places only the family of God is invited to. We receive forgiveness. We are restored to our original intended existence. The benefits of loving God of obeying his commandments are that we are bestowed with all the beautiful blessings that are available to His children. It adds everything to us and nothing to God, but it is the greatest commandment because it allows God to bless us going out and coming in. Loving God is not about what we give Him.  It opens the door to us receiving the fullness of his blessing.

Just like every other commandment, it is for our benefit, not His. The only difference is that by loving God, we open the windows of heaven upon our own lives. It is the most important commandment because it is the one commandment that encompasses all the desires of God for our good.

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New Creation

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New Creation
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 

This verse was a conundrum for me as a new believer. Yes, I had been born again as Jesus told Nicodemus.  But I did not feel or recognize anything as being knew. All of the old ways of my life were still in effect. I continued to drink, smoke, curse and lived an ungodly life. I was not instantaneously transformed into this new creature, yet that is the claim of this verse.  I did not know how to reconcile the verse with the reality. Is the bible pie in the sky? Is it making claims which are untrue? I felt like, I most certainly was not a new creation.

It took years for me to be able to see that the day I accepted Christ into my life, a new life had actually begun.  All things from that point on had indeed become new. Old things had passed away, and new things had taken their place.  What I had not realized, what I was not aware of was that a new heart was placed in me. That an infant had been born, that needed to be fed, nurtured, lead, taught and loved. Everything was new because everything I had to learn, was something I had not previously known.

The only difference between being raised by your natural parent and being raised as a new creation in Christ is. A natural parent will not give you a choice because they realize that an infant or even a teenager will not always make the best decision.  Being brought up in Christ is always a decision you make.  Christ always asks you to follow He does not command. He will always tell you the best way to do, live, act, love, but it will always be up to you to follow. You are a new creation, but your growth, development, and maturity are not based on time it is based on choice. You can be a new creation for fifty, sixty, seventy years. You can remain a baby.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11 (KJV) 

In Christianity maturity is a choice it does not happen with age. When I was a child (new believer) I thought the primary purpose of Christianity was to benefit me.  I now realize that is a truth. The closer and more in line and aligned I get to Jesus the better it will be for me.  Following Jesus is self-serving. You can not help profiting personally by following Jesus. It is not possible. There is nothing you can do for Jesus which will not result in blessing. For all of you who are saying "but," if the blessing is not apparent in this life it will be in the next.  Christian maturity leads you to the knowledge that in all things God will defend, protect and secure His children. We are blessed because we are His. All things are new because you now belong to the God who is infinite in power, wisdom, and sight. All things are new because if you choose to learn what God wants to teach, you will grow into the new creation He intended for you to be. In choosing God, you chose eternal life with Him which is only available to those who become a "New Creation."

My advice to you after years of making the wrong choices choose to learn what God wants to teach you. The old you will thank you more than you will ever imagine.

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Enlarge my Territory

 

Something to think about. 

 

Enlarge my Territory

 

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. 1 Chronicles 4:10

 

"And God granted His request." How, what did that look like? Does it mean that mystically without explanation it was accomplished? Did Jabez wake up the next day and find every boundary of His life magically multiplied?  NO!!!!!!!! Jabez did not wake up the next day and poof everything was enlarged. He had to find other peole to help him.

 

 

The prayer of Jabez, if it is anything at all is a prayer to open the doorway of opportunities in your life. The Christian faith is described in the New Testament as a body. We are one body working in concert to do the will and purpose of God. What does the prayer of Jabez have to do with the body of Christ? You can't do it alone. If you want to receive the blessings as Jabez did, you must do it in concert with other Godly people. Must they be Godly? Yes. Does God bless the ungodly? No!! He uses them. They are puppets He uses to bless and save His people. They are unknowing clogs in the will of God.  

 

 We will not be granted our requests if we are an island unto ourselves. The greatest need of Christianity is for the body of Christ to work as the body of Christ. If you want the prayer of Jabez to be factual in your life find Godly people who will counsel you. So that you may receive the blessings of an enlarged territory. You just cannot do it alone. 

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He Could Not Change

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He Could Not Change.

See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
Hebrews 12:16‭-‬17

These are sobering verses. “He could not change what he had done." We are taught in Christian circles that there is always redemption for our sin. That we can always return to God and he will accept us. I look at these scriptures and others and find this endless claim of redemption not to be so. I believe there is a point where God will not call or hear you. A time when he will say, I will leave you to your own devices. I will not intercede on your behalf. We do harm to those who have assimilated this belief from us. We need to inform them that the patience of God is not limitless. That there is a time in a person's life when God will not hear their cry of repentance. We need to instill the reality of the fear of God back into our lives as well as the lives of those around us. I am not referring to the reverence of God I referring to bone shaking fear of God. The ultimate judgment of God is in deed something to be feared.

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Would You Go?

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Would You Go?

1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. Genesis 12 1:4

Seventy-five years old! I am sixty years old. I have absolutely no intention of starting over in a land I have no knowledge of. I have no intention of starting over in a land I know.  At my age, you start thinking of downsizing not starting over. Even with all the promises of God, at age seventy-five would I pack up my family and go? Would I hit the road without a roadmap or destination? Solely based on the belief, I have heard the word of God. If God were to tell me that now would I go? The point is, He is.  For some of us, He is asking us to do exactly that. For others, He is asking you to do something else but be assured He is asking something of you.  For me, He has a particular call right where I am. It requires just as much faith for me as it did for Abram. The promises, blessings, and protections are the same. Will we acknowledge the call will we pack up and go whether figuratively or literally?  "So Abram went" will you go? Will you go forth and receive the blessings that are promised to you in the promised land of God's calling?

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Bears You Up

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Bears You Up

19 Blessed be the Lord,

who daily bears us up;

God is our salvation. Psalms 68:19

 

Every day in ways seen and unseen the Lord our God protects provides and directs our lives. We don't always see it, or we may not realize it until we look back but the loving hand of God is always there to help us on this journey of life.  It is God who lifts us up every day. He is with us in every situation to help us and guide us. He is our constant salvation. The key to this immeasurable blessing is for you to choose to follow His path.

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To And Fro

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To And Fro


9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”11Chronicles 16:9

God is seeking to bless those who are loyal to Him. He wants to make a significant impact on your life because of your steadfast, firm, unwavering, dedication to Him. Do you want to be a recipient of His favor? The price is wholehearted loyalty. If you do not have complete loyalty towards Him, you will have the life you have. The blessing of God will not be a part of your life.

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Court

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Court

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked. Psalm 84:10 (NIV)

The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure. It can also refer to the physical residence of the monarch where the court resides or a series of complexes.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_(royal)

It is better to be an attendant of God than to be associated with the wicked.   David is saying,  service to God is incomparably better than freedom to sin. The greatest pleasure of sin is not equal to the being part of the court (attendants) of God.

The greatest fallacy that humanity has accepted, ingested propagated and believed is the idea that sin is more pleasurable and desirable than being in the presence of God.  We try to negotiate with God, allow me this sinful pleasure. As if any sinful desire is equal to the least of Gods blessing. David is advocating the exact opposite there is no sin that is equal to the benefit of being, (pay attention) simply being in His presence. His presence, without Him doing anything at all, is better than any and all sinful pleasures.

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Contractual Obligations

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Contractual Obligations

² And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 28: 2

 Here is the question, do you expect to receive the blessing of the Lord? "IF" you obey the Lord do you expect Him to fulfill his promises?  

Let me give you my interpretation of this verse.  
I, God in a written contract, contractually obligate myself to fulfill the terms of this agreement. Stated as such; If you obey me, I will bless you in the following ways.   (The ways are written in Deuteronomy 28:1-14) 

If you are not being blessed by God, there is only one reason why not. You are not in obedience to God. This contract does not say you will be without trials and conflicts it says He will bless you if you obey Him.  
 
Do you not receive because you do not believe? Do you not receive because you do not trust Him? What is holding you back from receiving what he has contractually obligated Himself to do? Do you understand? "These blessing will overtake you." The way it is written is almost as if the writer is saying, these blessings are going to attack you.  

As for me, I want "all these blessings, " and all I have to do is "obey  the voice of the Lord."
I pledge from this day forward to open my ears that I may hear the voice of the lord. open my heart that I can receive everything he has for me. 

 

 

 

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Something to think about.
If
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 28:2 

15 "But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Deuteronomy 28: 15

You will live out one of these two verses. You will be blessed or cursed depending on the "If." Notice it is not optional, blessings or curses will overtake you. You know people that have been blessed, and you know people who have been cursed. If you can look beyond the portrayed facade, you will find these verses lived out in astonishing clarity. 

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Draw Near

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Draw Near

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

Many people believe in God and therefore believe they will receive the blessings of God.  Having faith and no fruit is like having water and not drinking it. You must exercise your faith to please God in order to be blessed by God.  He who practices active faith to please God is the one that will receive the blessings of God. Active living faith is the only way to know God. If you want to know God and receive the blessings of God,  you must turn your faith into action. 

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Inheritance

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Inheritance

¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:12-14

The dominion of darkness has no place in our lives as we have been transplanted into the kingdom of His son. We have access to His kingdom because we have been redeemed through the shedding of His blood, for the forgiveness of our sin. We are grateful, thankful that God the Father has made us inheritors of His amazing riches.

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Your Legacy

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Your legacy

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7 
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, Deuteronomy 7:9  

Two potential legacies, you are the one that will break a curse or start a blessing. 

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To and Fro

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To and Fro

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.2 Chronicles 16:9

God is looking, He is actively searching throughout the world, to bless those who are totally committed to His righteousness. He is looking for the heart that is comepletly devoted to His heart. He doesn't just want to bless that person, but He will strongly support that person. This does not apply to the occasional Christian; it applies to those that are one hundred percent invested in Christ one hundred percent of the time. 

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A Prayer of Blessing

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A Prayer of Blessing

24“ ‘ “The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.” ’ Numbers 6:26

Pray this over your, wife, husband, brother, sister over anyone you love. Pray this for your enemies, competitors, adversaries and opponents. Because when God blesses, everyone concerned is blessed.

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