Daily Prayer - Giving and the Gospel

Good Thursday morning, my friends.

 

Over the years we (my wife and I) have given money to many "good causes", but some conversations I have had lately have caused me to rethink where we should be investing God's resources.  

 

The Bible is quite clear that we should reduce suffering whenever we can - to look after the sick, widows, orphans, and strangers - but consider this:  whatever suffering they are enduring in this life is nothing compared to what they will encounter in eternity if they do not enter into a relationship with God.  Yes, we must attend to their physical needs – if they are are hungry, we must feed them, if cold, give them warmth, etc.  but if that is not accompanied by a sharing of the Gospel we may well be simply making their journey to hell more comfortable.

 

I cringe even as I type that because I am not a "fire and brimstone" kind of guy – as many of you will know if you have been reading these messages for any amount of time.  But any discomfort we may feel with this message does not make it any less true.  Our resources need to be used for Kingdom building more than anything else.

 

So my question to you and to me:  do we have to change our giving habits?  

 

 

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace be yours,

Bruce

 

O Lord, giver of life and source of freedom, I know that all I have received is from your hand.

 

Gracious and loving God, You call us to be stewards of Your abundance, the caretakers of all you have entrusted to us.

 

Help us to always use Your gifts wisely and teach us to share them generously.

 

Send the Holy Spirit to work through us, bringing Your message to those we serve.

 

May our faithful stewardship bear witness to the love of Jesus Christ in our lives.

 

We pray with grateful hearts, in Jesus' name. Amen.

 

(http://www.archchicago.org/departments/stewardship_dev/pdf/theology_scripture/prayers.pdf)

 

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca / Blog: The Celtic Christian / Home: 613.489.4174 Cell: 613.720.0821 You are receiving this email because you have requested it or I felt you would be interested in this material. If you would like to be removed from this email list, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address. Likewise, if you know of someone else who you believe would appreciate receiving these messages, please let me know.