A Costly Offering

"But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them." 2 Samuel 24:24

Araunah the Jebusite was just being polite. When he found out that David wanted to purchase his threshing floor to build an altar, he bent over backward and offered his oxen for the sacrificial offering, as well as the wood on which to burn it. David wouldn't hear of it. If it was going to be a true sacrifice, he knew he'd have to "sacrifice" something. Like his hard earned cash.

With us, it doesn't have to be our cash. It could be our time or our prayers, our gifts and talents. I'm thinking right now of Carolyn, a seamstress friend of mine who barely makes ends meet by sewing and tailoring. Carolyn lives alone in her small apartment with her cat and works late into the night, stitching up a storm. Last Christmas she wasn't able to buy the gifts she would have liked; so she went one better - she stayed up extra late, making presents of skirts and vests. Her friends were going to receive the best she could offer, even if it meant missing a deadline on a commission, even if it meant early hours and sore fingers. Those skirts and vests are, to us blessed folks who received them, more valuable than anything you'd purchase at Sax Fifth Avenue.

Observe: You are Better Than Your Wife

Written by Neal Black

 “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.” (Romans 12:9, NLT)

It’s true, you are better than your wife… in one particular area. Overall, as a man, are better at observation than she is. (For more information see Secrets of Happily Married Men by Scott Haltzman) Now before you go trotting off to locate her in the house and read that line to her, let’s talk about using this special talent to blow her mind!

You’re better at observation; your wife likes to be observed by you. This is good but it’s not just a matter of watching her wiggle (although perfectly good use of your amazing observation abilities!) There is more. By observation you can learn some great intel that will change your relationship.

Romans 12:9 says, “Don’t pretend to love others. Really love them.” So, this week watch your wife till you see her respond to something in a very positive way. Maybe someone complimented her cooking, her hair or maybe it was someone emptying the dishwasher, or buying her a small gift or giving her a hug. You may observe one of your kids playing a game with her that brought lots of smiles and fun interaction.

Racing Toward Your Dream

God has placed special gifts, talents, and specific dreams inside each one of us; things He knows not only will define who we are, but also help us reach our full potential in life. In this new year, let's lay hold of those dreams and start pressing toward the finish line! 


Recently I was talking to a friend of mine who shared a motivating story about pursuing dreams. He told me that not too long ago, he found himself in the hospital facing a life-or-death situation regarding his health. While contemplating all of the serious “what ifs” that were going through his mind at the time, he remembers agonizing the most over one particular thought—the fact that while he was pleased with his life’s accomplishments, he still had one burning desire which, up to that point, he had not yet pursued.

As he shared his story with me, I couldn’t help but think about some of the desires and aspirations the Lord has put on the inside of me. Things I’ve wanted or dreamed about doing for years—things I know I am fully capable of doing—but up to this point, are things I still have not pursued.

God’s Personal Attention to Detail

by Rick Warren Your hands shaped me and made me. Job 10:8 (NIV) God formed every creature on this planet with a special area of expertise. Some animals run, some hop, some swim, some burrow, and some fly. Each has a particular role to play based on the way they were shaped by God. The same is true with humans. Before God created you, he planned exactly how he wanted you to serve him, and then he shaped you for those tasks. He carefully shaped and formed you to serve him in a way that makes your ministry unique. God never wastes anything. He would not give you abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality, and life experiences unless he intended to use them for his glory. Talk about it  What abilities, talents, and gifts has God given you? How do you think God wants you to use them?  What interests do you have that can be used to serve God?  Why do you think God gave you the personality you have? What kind of service do you think he had in mind? Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and most influential churches. Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller "The Purpose Driven Life." His book, "The Purpose Driven Church," was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. He is also the founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for pastors.

Leftover Parts

Written by John Grant

 
How can we hear God’s voice speaking into our lives? Take this lesson.

“But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.” 1 Chronicles 29:24

When my bride looked at me and said, “The toilet is broken,” I turned to her and said, “Do I look like Joe the Plumber?” Then she reminded me how much plumbers charge on weekends so I thought I should at least take a look. After all, it might just be a broken flap and I have replaced those before.

No, it wasn’t that. The whole flush valve was broken. I have never fixed one of those before. But, I thought, why not give it a try. So, I went to the local “fix it depot” and after staring at the different choices picked the one that most looked like the one in my tank.

Joel Osteen's Night of Hope Draws Tens of Thousands in Ohio

By Anugrah Kumar , Christian Post Contributor

July 15, 2012

More than 14,000 people heard pastor and preacher Joel Osteen's inspiration-filled message at the Quicken Loans Arena facilities in downtown Cleveland, Ohio – the venue for the "Night of Hope" event.

Osteen, the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas – the largest in America – told the crowd in this Ohio city on Friday night that each day comes as a gift from God, who should be thanked for what's right in their lives.

"God has you on this planet for good reasons, and not just to occupy space," Cleveland.com quoted the 49-year-old pastor as saying. "Somebody is in need of your talents, your skills, your gifts. Stop criticizing yourself, because when you do that, you criticize God's creation."

WHAT GOD HAS PROVIDED

Galatians 6:3 - If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself

 Satan promotes his lies in the world by encouraging us to self-deception. We deceive ourselves when we think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. "But I know who I am," you say. "I'm a child of God, I'm seated with Christ in the heavenlies, I can do all things through Him. That makes me pretty special." Yes, you are very special in the eyes of God. But you are what you are by the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:10). 


The life you live, the talents you possess, and the gifts you have received are not personal accomplishments; they are expressions of God's grace. Never take credit for what God has provided; rather, take delight in accomplishing worthwhile deeds which glorify the Lord.


Furthermore, we deceive ourselves when we think we are wise in this age (1 Corinthians 3:18, 19). It is the height of intellectual arrogance to assume wisdom without the revelation of God. "Professing to be wise, they became fools" (Romans 1:22). 

USE YOUR SEEDS OR YOU WILL LOSE THEM ALL!

Serge Roux-Levrat

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the sower to the large crowds that had come to listen to him. What He told them can be found in Matthew 13:12: “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” We all have good seeds to plant, so what is this scripture telling us? It basically reveals to us that if we use (i.e. plant) our seeds, we shall reap abundance.

This is certainly also true in the natural world. If a farmer would only get back one seed from each seed that he plants, then he would not continue sowing seeds as he would be spending his time in utter futility. With just one apple seed, for example, a farmer can expect a harvest of more than 100 apples each year. As the law of harvest applies everywhere, what is true in the natural world is also true in all the aspects of life. Reaping more than we sow is essential, otherwise no one would activate the law of harvest. Thus, we can reasonably expect someone who keeps planting his seeds to be blessed abundantly over time.

→ Let’s now address the warning part of the scripture. If we all have seeds to plant, how can we then find someone who hasn’t any? The answer is not as difficult as we could imagine. We all know people who tell us day after day that they have no talents, that their dreams will never come to pass, that they will never get the job they hope for, that they wished that they were like someone else. Do you see what’s happening? They are not planting good seeds, but bad ones. Where are those seeds coming from? From their thoughts! They basically “engineered” them. Guess what? The law of harvest gets in motion and produces in their lives truckloads of bad fruits.

The Mustard Seed of Abundance

Matt 13:31-32 (KJV) Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:  Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed

When you look at a seed it is tiny. It doesn’t appear to have any life in it.  It colour is bland.  There is no movement or growth when looking at the seed.

If the seed is sown into the ground and provided the right nutrition of water and good soil and allowed to grow then it will grow into a large tree. Note the following: 

·        The seed has to be sown

·        It has to have water

·        It has to be planted in good soil

·        It has to be allowed to grow

·        It has a time and season for growth

·        When it is fully grown it provides for the birds and not just for itself.