The Shadows Speak Of His Light Exodus 33:21-23 Job 12:22 Psalms 23:4 Psalms 91:1 Isaiah 51:16 1 John 1:5-7 John 1:4-5 John 3:19-21 John 12:46 1 Timothy 6:15-16 05.30.16

THE SHADOWS SPEAK OF HIS LIGHT

BREAD

21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”   Exodus 33:21-23 (NIV)

22 He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light.  Job 12:22 (NIV)

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.   Psalms 23:4 (NIV)

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  Psalms 91:1 (NIV)

16 “I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand-- I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”    Isaiah 51:16 (NIV)

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  1 John 1:5-7 (NIV)

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.   John 1:4-5 (NIV)

19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”   John 3:19-21 (NIV)

46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.  John 12:46 (NIV)

God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.   1 Timothy 6:15-16 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.  Unresting, unhasting and silent as light, Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might; Thy justice like mountains high soaring above Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.”   Walter C. Smith

“Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light.”   Book of Common Prayer

“The things of the earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”   Helen H. Lemmel

“When a person sees the excellence of the gospel, he senses the beauty and loveliness of the divine scheme of salvation.  His mind is convinced that it is of God, and he believes it with all his heart.  The light of the gospel is the glory of Christ, his holiness and beauty.  Clearly, it is this divine light, shining into our hearts, that enables us to see the beauty of the gospel and have a saving belief in Christ.  This supernatural light shows us the superlative beauty and loveliness of Jesus, and convinces us of His sufficiency as our Saviour.  Only such a glorious, majestic Saviour can be our Mediator, standing between guilty, hell-deserving sinners such as ourselves, and an infinitely holy God.  This supernatural light gives us a sense of Christ that convinces us in a way nothing else ever could.”  Jonathan Edwards

“The perfect pureness of God’s glory, His unapproachable light, His pristine holiness causes man to fall face down and cry out as the Prophet Isaiah did:  ‘Woe to me!’  I cried.  ‘I am ruined!’ No one in Scripture who comes into contact with God’s glory remains unshaken or unchanged.  Oh but the blood of Jesus…..”  BHY

“We mustn’t doubt in the darkness what God has shown us in the light.”  Robert J. Morgan

“A holy life will produce the deepest impression.  Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine.”  D.L. Moody

 “If you’re turned the wrong way, you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.”   Ann Voskamp

HEART SAVOR

• ·       God’s glorious light dispels darkness.  His shining light creates the shadows.
• ·       Except for the blood of Jesus we have no access into the purity of God’s holiness.
• ·       As believers in Jesus we carry His light in our jars of clay.  We are to let it shine pointing others to Christ giving Him all glory:  7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.   2 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)  14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”    Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)

Do Not Despise Discipline Psalms 94:12 Deuteronomy 8:5 Jeremiah 32:33 Proverbs 3:11-12 Proverbs 15:5 Proverbs 15:32 Hebrews 12:5-11 Revelation 3:19-20 05.27.16

DO NOT DESPISE DISCIPLINE

BREAD

12 Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, the man you teach from your law.  Psalms 94:12 (NIV)

5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.   Deuteronomy 8:5 (NIV)

33 They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.   Jeremiah 32:33 (NIV)

11 My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.   Proverbs 3:11-12 (NIV)

5 A fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.  Proverbs 15:5 (NIV)

32 He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.   Proverbs 15:32 (NIV)

5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”  7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.   Hebrews 12:5-11 (NIV)

19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.   Revelation 3:19-20 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Tribulation is necessary for the decentralization of self and the development of deep dimensions of agape love, this love can be developed only in the school of suffering.  It grows and develops only by exercise and testing.  This may explain the relationship between sainthood and suffering by showing why there is no sainthood without suffering.  It may also show why the greatest saints are often the greatest suffers.”   Paul E. Billheimer

“Discipline is a proof of our sonship.”  Erwin Lutzer

“God does not discipline us to subdue us, but to condition us for a life of usefulness and blessedness.”   Billy Graham

“The goal of God’s discipline is restoration – never condemnation.”   Anonymous

“Discipline and love are not antithetical; one is a function of the other.”   James Dobson

“God takes one as he is and spends a lifetime fashioning him into His image.”   Paul E. Billheimer

“The entertaining of any worldly lust, and indulgence of any known wilful sin, is an accursed thing, by which we are deprived of the power of God, and cannot stand before our enemies.  Behold, therefore the severity of God, and be more earnest.  Make all haste to flee from the lust of the world, especially from the lust of the eye, which is the love of money.  Examine thyself closely in other things, and whatever sinful lust harbors in thy breast, be faithful to put it off, and flee from it, else you must not wonder at your being so weak in spirit.  He that does not resist the sinful motions of his heart, will very easily give a loose to his hands and tongue; but he that immediately subdues the inward corruptions, will certainly be preserved from their breaking out in any sinful actions.  O Lord, deliver me from all accursed things, and keep my heart always under thy closest inspection and discipline.  Amen.”   K. H. Von Bogatzky 

“Every step on the pathway of spiritual progress will be marked by the bloody footprints of wounded self-love.  All along the course of spiritual advancement, one will have to set up altars upon which even the legitimate self-life will have to be sacrificed.”   Alexander Maclaren     

“Every affliction comes with a message from the heart of God.”   Alexander Maclaren

HEART SAVOR

• ·       God disciplines those He loves and punishes everyone He accepts as a son.  I do not want to waste my sorrow rather benefit from it.  Every conflict, every trial is an opportunity to grow like Christ or not.
• ·       God’s discipline is for my good - always.
• ·       God disciplines to restore and not condemn.  

Unfurl That Grip 1 John 2:15-17 2 Peter 3:10-14 Luke 9:23-25 Job 1:20-21 1 Timothy 6:6-7 Matthew 6:28-33 Romans 12:1-2 05.25.16

UNFURL THAT GRIP

BREAD

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.  1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.   2 Peter 3:10-14 (NIV)

23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”   Luke 9:23-25 (NIV)

20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”   Job 1:20-21 (NIV)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.   1 Timothy 6:6-7 (NIV)

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 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, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Matthew 6:28-33 (NIV)

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.   Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

BUTTER

“If you are not impacting the world for Jesus - you are wasting your time.”    Anonymous

“Christians don’t fail to live as they should because they are in the world; they fail because the world has gotten into them.  We don’t fail to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit because we live in a sea of corruption; we fail because the sea of corruption has gotten into us…..Most ocean-going ships have pumps running constantly, sucking out any water that might have leaked into the hull.  Similarly, we need to keep the ‘pumps’ of repentance running.  We need to plug the holes with the truth of God’s Word.  Don’t let the world sink your ship!”  Billy Graham

“The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this, and could not contradict him, but they sneered at him.  Let us consider this as their sin, and the fruit of their covetousness, which was their primary sin.  Many who make a great profession of religion and abound in the exercise of devotion, are yet ruined by the love of the world.  These covetous Pharisees could not bear to have that touched, which was their Delilah, their darling lust; for this they derided him, they turned up their noses at him, or blew their noses on him.  It is an expression of the utmost scorn and disdain imaginable.  They laughed at him for going so contrary to the opinion and way of the world.  It is common for those to make a joke of the word of God who are resolved that they will not be ruled by it.”  Matthew Henry

“Confidence in the natural world is self-reliance; in the spiritual world it is God-reliance.”  Oswald Chambers

“Oh that I may be roused out of my slumber, and be watchful and ready against the coming of my Bridegroom...Even the wise virgins fell asleep.  Let this be a warning to me, O Lord.  Set thou a guard before my eyes, ears, and other faculties, lest the world again should enter through these avenues of the heart; if the spark be not speedily extinguished, it will soon break out into a flame:  thus sin is of a progressive nature, and its venom spreads very quickly and very wide, unless it be stopped and opposed in time.  Watch, therefore, over this unsteady heart of mine, O Thou Keeper of Israel; that as soon as it begins to wander from Thee, I may be alarmed to flee from sin as from a serpent.  Give me grace to look upon every hour as my last; so that being ever wisely upon my guard I may meet Thee with joy when my time is run out, whenever it shall please Thee to call me hence.”   K. H. Von Bogatzky

“The world appears very little to a soul that contemplates the greatness of God.”  Brother Lawrence

“This world and that to come are two enemies.  We cannot therefore be friends to both.”  Clement of Rome

“Do not let the false delights of a deceptive world deceive you.”  Clare of Assisi

“The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by.”  Felix Adler

“If you keep in step with God, be out of step with the world.”   Anonymous

“Dear Sir: Regarding your article ‘What's Wrong with the World?’ I am. Yours truly,”
— G. K. Chesterton

HEART SAVOR

• ·       If I want to make a difference for Christ I cannot blend with the world.
• ·       The world woos with deception, Christ woos with love.
• ·       Godliness with contentment is great gain.  

Perfecting Patience Through Waiting Romans 12:12 Galatians 5:22-23 Psalms 27:14 Psalms 130:5-6 Romans 5:2 Romans 8:24-25 Psalms 37:34-37 Colossians 1:10-12 2 Peter 3:8-9 Psalms 33:20-22 05.23.16

PERFECTING PATIENCE THROUGH WAITING

BREAD

12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.   Romans 12:12 (NIV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.   Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.  Psalms 27:14 (NIV)

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalms 130:5-6 (NIV)

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.   Romans 5:2 (NIV)

But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.   Romans 8:24-25 (NIV)

34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. 35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil, 36 but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found. 37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace.   Psalms 37:34-37 (NIV)

10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.   Colossians 1:10-12 (NIV)

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.   2 Peter 3:8-9 (NIV)

20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. 21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. 22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.   Psalms 33:20-22 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of spiritual life.”    Simone Weil

“The conviction of the Holy Spirit is always precise:  He identifies root causes of sin, and He moves the heart to specific acts of repentance and obedience.  All those who trust God sufficiently to desire to obey Him, and who are patient in waiting upon Him, will find unfailingly that HE gives clear guidance.  ‘In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths’, promises Proverbs 3:6.  For those who love God everything is aboveboard.  To know Him is to know what He requires and more than that, it is to have the power to carry it out.  In fact these two—enlightenment and empowering—go hand in hand, and where they do not, then the Lord is not in it.”    Mike Mason

“The more patient, believing, and single-eyed we are, the sooner we shall see the salvation and victory of the Lord.  Double-minded souls have the greatest struggle; and the slothful must tarry the longer.  Sometimes, it is true, though we are faithful, yet we must cry out, ‘O Lord, how long?’  (Psalm 6:3).  But, nevertheless, He always hears and delivers us, though we do not see and feel it directly, but seem to suffer continually.  In heaven we shall certainly see it, and reap the blessed fruits of all our afflictions and prayers.”   K. H. Von Bogatzky

“How do we wait for God? We wait with patience. But patience does not mean passivity. Waiting patiently is not like waiting for the bus to come, the rain to stop, or the sun to rise. It is an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the full in order to find there the signs of the One we are waiting for.  The word patience comes from the Latin verb ‘patior’ which means ‘to suffer.’ Waiting patiently is suffering through the present moment, tasting it to the full, and letting the seeds that are sown in the ground on which we stand grow into strong plants. Waiting patiently always means paying attention to what is happening right before our eyes and seeing there the first rays of God's glorious coming.”   Henri Nouwen

“I am waiting on Thee, Lord, to open the way.”  J. Hudson Taylor  

“Keep bringing your prayers to God. If you think your request is legitimate, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. God wants to teach us through persistent praying to wait on Him and to watch. While we're praying and waiting for God to answer our prayers, do you know what He's doing? He's working on us, conforming us more and more to the image of Christ. And when we're ready, the answer will surely come.”   David Jeremiah

“Waiting is just a gift of time in disguise — a time to pray wrapped up in a ribbon of patience — because is the Lord ever late?”    Ann Voskamp

“To the missionary who works only for visible results there are certainly many disappointments on the foreign field, and during the long pioneer days of waiting and of sowing seed, only the consciousness that one is doing his duty and obeying the Lord of the Harvest can keep the heart full of peace and full of faith as to the ultimate results.”    Dr. Susanna Carson Rijnhart

“Patience is the fair handmaid and daughter of faith; we cheerfully wait when we are certain that we shall not wait in vain.  It is our duty and our privilege to wait upon the Lord in service, in worship, in expectancy, in trust all the days of our life.  Our faith will be tried faith, and if it be of the true kind, it will bear continued trial without yielding.  We shall not grow weary of waiting upon God if we remember how long and how graciously He once waited for us.”    Charles H. Spurgeon

HEART SAVOR

• ·       Waiting is not inactivity.  It is simply doing the next right thing until God makes the path clear.
• ·       God desires for me to patiently wait on His best for my life – and I want that as well as His will is always good, pleasing and perfect!  Who wouldn’t want that?
• ·       I am to be joyful in hope as He always has my best interest at heart.

Greatest Gifts Matthew 7:7-11 Romans 12:3-8 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 James 1:16-17 Galatians 5:22-23 Romans 8:9 05.20.16

GREATEST GIFTS

BREAD

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 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 good gifts to those who ask him!”   Matthew 7:7-11 (NIV)

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.   Romans 12:3-8 (NIV)

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.   1 Corinthians 12:27-31 (NIV)

16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:16-17 (NIV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.  Romans 8:9 (NIV)

BUTTER

“His favors are always performed with the love of His heart.  He doesn’t send us the cold meat and the broken pieces from the table of His luxury, but He dips our morsel in His own dish, and seasons our provisions with the spices of His fragrant affections.  When He puts the golden tokens of His grace into our palms, He accompanies the gift with such a warm pressure of our hand, that the manner of His giving is as precious as the boon itself.”   Charles H. Spurgeone puts the golden tokens of His grace into our palms  

“Though Paul greatly valued spiritual gifts, he valued even more a quality of life which the Spirit produced. Spiritual gifts were variously apportioned to individuals in the church so that no single gift was possessed by every member. On the other hand the Holy Spirit sought to produce the fruit of the Spirit in every Christian, chief among which was love. This was more important than the gifts.  The way Paul referred to this was a manner of life preeminently characterized by love.”   Bible Knowledge Commentary

“God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.”   Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“Use your gifts faithfully, and they shall be enlarged.”   Matthew Arnold

“God’s greatest gifts come through travail.”   F. B. Meyer

 “If you hold the past too tightly, your arms have no room for the present — no room for the gifts of now.”   Ann Voskamp

“Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord; once it was the feeling, now it is His Word; once His gifts I wanted, now the Giver own; once I sought for healing, now himself alone.”   A. B. Simpson

“Your days never fail to betray your priorities.”   Ann Voskamp

“Life is a stewardship; invest it wisely.  Everything in life -- not only possessions, but also family, friends, relationships, and everything you have -- is a gift from God. He entrusted you to manage all of His bounties on His behalf. You don't own it, but He's giving it to you to manage it for Him. You see, the whole of life, Solomon said, is a stewardship, and so we must invest it wisely.”   Michael Youssef

“You can have a saved soul and a lost life.”   Alan Redpath

HEART SAVOR

·       All good and perfect and pleasing gifts are given by God Who is love and never changes.

·       Gifts are given for the body of Christ as God sees fit.  They are not given to promote self rather Christ.  How silly it would have been if the donkey Jesus rode upon entering Jerusalem thought the people to be praising him.

·       I am to use what God bestows for His glory and my good.