The One And Only John 1:16-18 Colossians 1:15-20 Philippians 2:5-11 Hebrews 1:3 1 John 4:9-10 2 Corinthians 5:21 Isaiah 53:3-6 John 3:16-21 07.31.17

THE ONE AND ONLY

BREAD

16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.   John 1:16-18 (NIV)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.   Colossians 1:15-20 (NIV)

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.   Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)

3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.   Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)

9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.   1 John 4:9-10 (NIV)

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.   2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.   Isaiah 53:3-6 (NIV)

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 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 3:16-21 (NIV)

BUTTER

“The Emerald Christ”

“(This description of Christ was purported to have been written by Publius Lentulus, governor of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, to that monarch in Rome.  It first appeared in the writings of Saint Anselm, of Canterbury, in the eleventh century.)”  

“There lives at this time in Judea a man of singular virtue, whose name is Jesus Christ, whom the barbarians esteem as a prophet, but his followers love and adore him as the offspring of the immortal God.  He calls back the dead from the graves and heals all sorts of diseases with a word or touch.  He is a tall man, well-shaped, and of an amiable and reverend aspect; his hair of a color that can hardly be matched, falling into graceful curls, waving about and very agreeably couching upon his shoulders, parted on the crown of his head, running as a stream to the front after the fashion of the Nazarites:  his forehead high, large, and imposing; his cheeks without a spot or wrinkle, beautiful with a lovely red; his nose and mouth formed with exquisite symmetry; his beard of a color suitable to his hair, reaching below his chin and parted in the middle like a fork; his eyes bright blue, clear and serene, look innocent, dignified, manly, and mature.  In proportion of body most perfect and captivating; his arms and hands delectable to behold.  He rebukes with majesty, counsels with mildness, his whole address, whether in word or deed, being eloquent and grave.  No man has seen him laugh, yet his manners are exceedingly pleasant, but he has wept frequently in the presence of men.  He, is temperate, modest, and wise.  A man for his extraordinary beauty and divine perfection, surpassing the children of men in every sense.”

“When we can do nothing Jesus can do all things; let us enlist His powerful aid upon our side, and all will be well.”  Charles Spurgeon

“Jesus is the One who shows us the paradoxical route to meaning in a chaotic and hostile world.  It’s the paradox of the gospel: Strength is found in weakness. Control is found in dependency. Power is found in surrender….God uses the frustrations of this life and the hurt of relationships to compel us to look beyond what we can control to the God who controls all things in order to woo us to himself. As we move from control to surrender, we move from chasing the wind under the sun to embracing God above it.”  Dan Allender

“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”   C. T. Studd

“There’s not a thumb’s breadth of this universe about which Jesus Christ does not say, ‘It is mine.’”    Abraham Kuyper

“We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul.  If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by ‘looking unto Jesus’.  Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him.  Oh!  Let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.”     C. H. Spurgeon

“Every promise God has ever made finds its fulfillment in Jesus.”   Joni Erickson Tada

“We should always keep Christ before our eyes.  The devil continually tempts us to abandon Christ and seek the Father, saying to ourselves, ‘This or that will please him’.  Meanwhile we ignore Christ—the One the Father sent—so that we might listen to Him alone.  We respond as the Pharisees did and reject Christ.  We wonder, ‘Where is the Father?’   That is the question that world asks.  This is the greatest temptation to your faith.  You must devote yourself to the Word of Christ and train yourself to hold on to it so that you never lose sight Jesus.”   Martin Luther, Faith Alone.

“A special faith in our Lord Jesus Christ’s person, work and office is the life, heart and mainspring of the Christian character.  He sees by faith and unseen Saviour, who loved him, gave Himself for him, paid his debts for him, bore his sins, carried his transgressions, rose again for him, and appears in heaven for him as his Advocate at the right hand of God.  He sees Jesus and clings to Him…..He sees his own many sins, his weak heart, a tempting world, a busy devil; and if he looked only at them, he might well despair.  But he sees also a mighty Saviour, an interceding Saviour, a sympathizing Saviour—His blood…..His righteousness, His everlasting priesthood—and he believes that all this is his own.  He sees Jesus and casts his whole weight on Him.  Seeing Him, he cheerfully fights on, with a full confidence that he will prove more than conqueror through Him that loved him…Habitual lively faith in Christ’s presence and readiness to help is the secret of the Christian fighting successfully.”  J C Ryle, Holiness

“Jesus!  What a friend for sinners!  Jesus lover of my soul!  Friends may fail me, foes assail me; He, my Savior, makes me whole.  Hallelujah!  What a Savior!  Hallelujah!  What a Friend!  Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.  Jesus!  What a strength in weakness!  Let me hide myself in Him; Tempted tried and sometimes failing, He, my strength my victory wins.  Hallelujah!  What a Savior!  Hallelujah!  What a Friend!  Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.  Jesus!  What a help in sorrow!  While the billows o’er me roll, Even when my heart is breaking, He, my Comfort helps my soul.  Hallelujah!  What a Savior!  Hallelujah!  What a Friend!  Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.   J. Wilbur Chapman

“Jesus was God spelling Himself out in language humanity could understand.”   S. D. Gordon

HEART SAVOR

• ·       Jesus is my Friend, my Savior, my Great Intercessor, my All in All.  I am strengthened by His power, comforted by His love, encouraged by His Word, enabled by His Spirit.  I am never alone.
• ·       Jesus came to show us God in the flesh.  He set the example of how we are to walk this dusty earth:  6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.  1 John 2:6 (NIV)
• ·       All God’s promises are fulfilled in Christ.  20 “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.”   2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV)

Sincerely Forgive Matthew 6:12 Matthew 6:14-15 Matthew 18:21-35 Mark 11:25 Luke 17:3-6 Colossians 3:12-14 Ephesians 4:32 Mark 1:40-42 07.28.17

SINCERELY FORGIVE

BREAD

12 “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”  Matthew 6:12 (NIV)

14 “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”   Matthew 18:21-35 (NIV)

25 “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”   Mark 11:25 (NIV)

3 “So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”   Luke 17:3-6 (NIV)

12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)

32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.   Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Mark 1:40-42 (NIV)

BUTTER

“They who are Christ’s are kings. Take care that you wear your crown, by reigning over your lusts. Be a king in the midst of all that would lead you astray. Christ Jesus has broken the neck of your sin; put your foot upon it; keep it under; subdue it. In the world at large act a king’s part. If any would tempt you to betray Christ for gain, say, ‘How can I? I am a king. How shall I betray Christ?’ Let the nobility of your nature come out in your actings. Forgive in a royal manner, as a king can forgive. Be ready to give to others as God has helped you, as a king gives. Let your liberality of spirit be right royal. Let your actions never be mean, sneaking, cowardly, dastardly. Do the right thing, and defy the worst. Dare all your foes in the pursuit of that which is right, and let men see while they look upon you that there is a something under your homely appearance which they cannot understand. Men make a deal of fuss about the blood of the aristocracy; I dare say it is not very different from the blood of crossing-sweepers. But there is a great deal of difference between the lifeblood of the saints and the lifeblood of the proudest prince; for they who love Christ have fed upon his flesh, and have drunk of his blood, and have been made partakers of the divine nature. These are the royal ones; these are the aristocrats; these are the nobility, and all are mean beside. Christians, perhaps some of you have not reigned as kings during the last week. You have been either murmuring, like poor whining beggars, or you have been scraping, like dunghill rakers, with your covetousness, or you have been sinning, like idle boys in the street, who roll in the mire. You have not lived up to your kingship.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“When you cling tightly to bitterness, anger, resentment, and unforgiveness, elevating them above your relationship with God, they become ‘idols’ in your life. For each idol you are willing to destroy, you will gain more than you lose. Each time you surrender something to God, you will remove another hindrance to a productive life of faith and prayer. Every idol that is demolished will bring you new treasures of grace and peace.”   Michael Youssef

“Who among us does not need grace?  Who among us does not long for merciful loving-kindness?  Who among us does not need forgiveness?  Every morning get up and teach yourself the Gospel – we all are sinners in need of a Savior – and be ever so thankful that we have One.”    BHY  

“Make me into a rock which swallows up the waves of wrong in its great caverns and never throws them back to swell the commotion of the angry sea from whence they came.  Ah!  To annihilate wrong in this way – to say, ‘It shall not be wrong against me, so utterly do I forgive it!’”  George MacDonald

“From God’s perspective, one hidden act of repentance, one little gesture of selfless love, one moment of true forgiveness is all that is needed to bring God from His throne to run to His returning son and to fill the heavens with sounds of divine joy.”  Henri J. M. Nouwen

 

“Forgiveness saves us the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.”  Hannah More

“Forgiveness is in no way agreeing on the rightness of the sin nor is it abdicating its far reaching consequences rather it is simply seeking to love the repentant sinner rightly as well as freeing ourselves from the bitterness that inevitably comes from the lack of forgiveness.  It is God’s way.”  BHY

“Christianity simply does not make sense until you face the sort of facts I have been describing. Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness.  It therefore has nothing (as far as I know) to say to people who do not know that they have anything to repent of and who do not feel that they need any forgiveness. It is after you have realized that there is a real moral law and a power behind the law and that you have broken that law and put yourself wrong with that power - It is after all this, and not a moment sooner, that Christianity begins to talk...(Christianity) tells you how the demands of this law, which you and I cannot meet, have been met on our behalf. How God himself becomes a man to save man from the disapproval of God. It is an old story...All I am doing is to ask people to face the facts - to understand the questions which Christianity claims to answer. And they are very terrifying facts. I wish it was possible to say something more agreeable. But I must say what I think true. Of course, I quite agree that the Christian religion is, in the long run a thing of unspeakable comfort. But it does not begin in comfort; it begins in the dismay I am describing and it is no use at all to go on to that comfort without first going through that dismay. In religion, as in war and everything else comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: If you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth. - only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end despair.” CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

“The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness.”  William Blake

“You never touch the ocean of God’s love as when you forgive and love your enemies.”     Corrie ten Boom

“God’s forgiveness forgets.”    Oswald Chambers

“The man who is truly forgiven and knows it is a man who forgives.”  Martyn Lloyd-Jones

HEART SAVOR

·       Forgiveness is for the forgiver.  If I refuse to forgive and harbor bitterness it will eat me up like acid.

·       Forgiveness demonstrates God’s love.

·       Forgiveness forgives and does not continue to seethe.   

Unceasing Prayer 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Mark 1:35 James 5:13-18 Colossians 4:2-4 Acts 1:14 Acts 2:42 Luke 18:1-8 Colossians 4:12 Romans 12:12 07.26.17

UNCEASING PRAYER

BREAD

16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.   Mark 1:35 (NIV)

13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.   James 5:13-18 (NIV)

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.   Colossians 4:2-4 (NIV)

14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.   Acts 1:14 (NIV)

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.   Acts 2:42 (NIV)

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!”’ 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”   Luke 18:1-8 (NIV)

12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.   Colossians 4:12 (NIV)

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

BUTTER

“And we do well to remember that this gracious God, who has condescended to place His almighty power at the command of believing prayer looks not lightly on the blood guiltiness of those who neglect to avail themselves of it for the benefit of the perishing….”   Hudson Taylor

“Prayer is not an indifferent or a small thing. It is not a sweet little privilege. It is a great prerogative, far-reaching in its effects.”   E.M. Bounds

“I believe the excellence of prayer often consists in its brevity.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“We need more Christians for whom prayer is the first resort, not the last.”   John Blanchard

“We are never more like Christ than in prayers of intercession.”   Austin Phelps

“The chief purpose of prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer.”   R. A. Torrey

“The work of praying is prerequisite to all other work in the Kingdom of God.  It is by prayer that we couple the powers of heaven to our helplessness … and make the impossible possible.” O. Hallesby

“If you want that splendid power in prayer — you must remain in loving, living, lasting, conscious, practical, abiding union with the Lord Jesus Christ.”  C. H. Spurgeon

“When my eye is filled with my own management of things, I am not prepared to see God acting for me; and, in that case, prayer is not the utterance of my need, but the mere superstitious performance of something which I think ought to be done, or it may be, asking God to sanctify my plans. This will never do. It is not asking God to sanctify and bless my means, but it is asking Him to do it all Himself.  We have to get over the idea that prayer is giving God advice on how to accomplish our plan.”    CH Macintosh, 1879

“Life is war. That’s not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of frontline forces and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider. The one who gives the power gets the glory. Thus, prayer safeguards the supremacy of God in missions while linking us with endless grace for every need.”   John Piper

“God is at work in response to our prayers, whether we see something happening or not. If we are truly praying, ‘Thy will be done,’ forces are at work beyond our comprehension--and often, beyond our vision. But they are working just the same.”     David Jeremiah

“God shapes the world by prayer.”    E. M. Bounds

“The Word of God represents all the possibilities of God as at the disposal of true prayer.”   A. T. Pierson

“If there is one thing I think the Church needs to learn, it is that God means prayer to have an answer, and that it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive what God will do for His child who gives himself to believe that his prayer will be heard.”   Andrew Murray

“‘When I get to China,’ I thought to myself, ‘I shall have no claim on anyone for anything.  My only claim will be on God.  How important to learn, before leaving England, to move man, through God, by prayer alone.’”    Hudson Taylor

“If we are consistent men and women who take God at His word, who believe that prayer changes things, who will pray without ceasing, who will not lose heart at our praying, who day after day will pray no matter what seems to be happening around us, who keep trusting God, then there will come a time when God will say, ‘I can answer that believer's prayer because that's a person who can handle the answer.’”   David Jeremiah 

HEART SAVOR

• ·       God delights in the prayers of His children.
• ·       The One Who gives the power gets the glory.
• ·       Jesus tells us:  9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”   Luke 11:9-13 (NIV)

Give Of Yourself Luke 6:38 John 3:16 Matthew 20:25-28 John 6:63 Matthew 6:1-4 Colossians 3:23-25 Philippians 2:14-18 Romans 12:1-2 1 John 2:5-6 07.24.17

GIVE OF YOURSELF

BREAD

38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”   Luke 6:38 (NIV)

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   John 3:16 (NIV)

25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”   Matthew 20:25-28 (NIV)

63 “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.”   John 6:63 (NIV)

1 “Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”   Matthew 6:1-4 (NIV)

23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.   Colossians 3:23-25 (NIV)

14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.   Philippians 2:14-18 (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)

This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.   1 John 2:5-6 (NIV)

BUTTER

“As God's beloved children we have to believe that our little lives, when lived as God's chosen and blessed children, are broken to be given to others. We too have to become bread for the world. When we live our brokenness under the blessing, our lives will continue to bear fruit from generation to generation. That is the story of the saints - they died, but they continue to be alive in the hearts of those who live after them - and it can be our story too.”   Henri Nouwen

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”  Amy Carmichael

“Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, You have brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see You in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Your glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Your stars shine; Let me find Your light in my darkness, Your life in my death, Your joy in my sorrow, Your grace in my sin,  Your riches in my poverty, Your glory in my valley.”   From:  The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

“Even when we feel like we’ve lost everything — we always still have something to give — and this always gives us back joy.”   Ann Voskamp

“The heart that gives, gathers.”  Marianne Moore

“A cheerful giver does not count the cost of what he gives.  His heart is set on pleasing and cheering him to whom the gift is given.”     Julian of Norwich

“God is the Great Giver and He desires for His people to be great givers as well.  In God’s perfect economy, when we walk in faithful obedience to His commands, we will discover that we NEVER out give Him.  What meager sacrifice on behalf of His children we perhaps make reaps a sure harvest even though it be extraordinarily hard.  We live our lives for an audience of One to please Him not men.  Never let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”   BHY

“If religion is worth anything, it is worth everything.  They who do not like Christ on these terms, may leave him at their peril.  Whatever we part with for this pearl of price, we may comfort ourselves with this belief, that it is well worth what we give for it.  The terms are, that we prefer Christ.”   Matthew Henry

“We need not fear of losing anything by encouraging others.  Indeed, it is a blessed paradox wherein as we pour out we become full.  It’s God’s way.”  BHY

“Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received -- only what you have given: a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.”  St. Francis of Assisi

“Be the bread so broken and given — that a hungry world yearns for more of the taste of such glory.”   Ann Voskamp

“Take note of what God gives you.  Then you will also know the task He gives you.”   Heinrich Emil Brunner

“When we have exhausted our store of endurance, When our strength has failed ere the day is half done, When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, Our Father’s full giving is only begun.  His love has no limit; His grace has no measure.  His pow’r has no boundary known unto men; For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!”   Annie Johnson

“Cheered by the presence of God, I will do at each moment, without anxiety, according to the strength which He shall give me, the work that His Providence assigns me.  I will leave the rest without concern; it is not my affair.  I ought to consider the duty to which I am called each day, as the work that God has given me to do, and to apply myself to it in a manner worthy of His glory, that is to say, in exactness and peace.”  Fenelon  

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

HEART SAVOR

• ·        I am to be a faithful giver.  “Freely you have received, freely give.”   Matt 10:8 (NIV)
• ·       I am to live my life for an audience of One.  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. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  Colossians 1:10-14 (NIV)
• ·         Blessed is the giver they will enjoy much peace and soul satisfaction.