Be Committed Exodus 20:1-3 Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Joshua 24:14-15 1 Kings 8:56-61 1 Samuel 7:3 Psalms 37:5-6 Proverbs 16:3 Luke 9:23-25 Galatians 2:20 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 08.29.18

BE COMMITTED

BREAD

¹ And God spoke all these words: ² “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ³ You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:1-3 (NIV)

¹⁵ See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. ¹⁶ For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹ This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.   Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NIV)

¹⁴ “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵ But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”   Joshua 24:14-15 (NIV)

⁵⁶ “Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. ⁵⁷ May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. ⁵⁸ May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. ⁵⁹ And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need,
⁶⁰ so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. ⁶¹ But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”  1 Kings 8:56-61 (NIV)

³ And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”  1 Samuel 7:3 (NIV)

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: ⁶ He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.  Psalm 37:5-6 (NIV)

³ Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.  Proverbs 16:3 (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  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷ No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.  1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Never be afraid to live for Jesus.  Never be ashamed to live for Jesus.   Never be apathetic in living for Jesus. Be committed.”     Anne Graham Lotz

“The uncommitted life isn't worth living.”  Marshall Fishwick

“God has created me to do Him some definite service…some work which He has not committed to another.”   John Henry Newman

“Christian patience is based upon the absolute, unshakeable belief that God is sovereign and that He is at work in the lives of His children. Christian patience stems from the knowledge that you will not be forgotten nor forsaken by the God to whom you have committed your soul regardless of what is happening around you.”   Michael Youssef

“Lord, my trust is in You. My ways are committed to You, my plans are yielded to You, my future is dependent upon You. I know that you will not fail to fulfill Your promises in my life. I have no plans, but Your plans, no goals but Your goals, no agenda but Your agenda. I rest in you, I wait for you, I long for You. Thank You, Lord, You are so good to me.”   Roy Lessin

“Our failure to readily follow His leading reflects a lack of deep confidence in His goodness.  We wonder whether He is merely using us or wants to bless us.  The problem with unsteady commitment is not centrally a problem of the will; it is rather a deficient belief.  We simply do not believe that the God who tells us to remain committed…is good.  It follows that the basic cure for weak commitment is renewed faith, not rededicated effort.  Urgings to ‘love your wife and submit to your husband whether you feel like it or not’ fail to lay the axe to the root of the problem.  Unless God’s goodness is clearly established as the context for obedience, such exhortations will at best keep the weeds of anger and dissension from spreading.  They will not expose and rip out the hidden, flourishing root system whose flower is the ugly growth of broken promises…Obedience to God’s orders deepens our awareness of His goodness, and our awareness of His goodness provides motivation for further obedience.”  Larry Crabb

“Paul dedicated himself to telling people about the cure for the plague of sin. He never allowed their relentless attacks, false accusations, or assaults on his integrity to stop him. He maintained his focus on positive living by remembering the costly price Jesus paid for the cure, as well as his own calling as God's ambassador.  ‘We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God’ (2 Corinthians 5:20).  No matter how difficult our circumstances, how severe our pain, or how unbearable our life seems, we can find release from these burdens. How? By remembering that we are ambassadors of the Lord of glory and by sharing His message of reconciliation with others.  When we focus on others, sharing the Good News of God's deliverance with people tormented by fear and anxiety, our own burdens will lighten. Nothing is more uplifting. ‘All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation’ (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). As long as we live on this earth, we have a purpose: to be God's messengers and to serve on His behalf. When we begin to understand this role, nothing can keep us down for very long.”  Michael Youssef

“A man with the vision of God is not devoted simply to a cause or a particular issue but to God Himself.”   Oswald Chambers

“We may see the evangelical faith, the faith of the Gospel, everywhere spoken against, and the apostolic message of the New Testament ridiculed.  We may have to watch an increasing apostasy in the church, as our generation abandons the faith of its fathers.  Do not be afraid!  God will never allow the light of the Gospel to be finally extinguished.  True, he has committed it to us, frail and fallible creatures.  He has placed His treasure in brittle, earthenware vessels.  And we must play our part in guarding and defending the Truth.  Nevertheless, in entrusting the deposit to our hands, He has not taken His own hands off it.”  John Stott

“Greatness is not made through one trial or one victory.  It is hammered out over and over on the anvil of daily demands.  Most often this work is done alone – in complete obscurity.  But God sees every word, every choice, and every action.  Devoted hearts are never wasted.  He frequently uses the obscure, the broken, or the outcast for some of His greatest work.”  Charles R. Swindoll

“Here’s what you need to know: God knows what you’re going through. He is thinking about you, and His thoughts are of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  The word future could be translated “an expected end.” You are a work in progress. And God isn’t done yet, you see. He is the author and finisher of your faith. There will be a completion. God is finishing you. And ultimately, it will be good.”   Greg Laurie

“Enthusiasm always blazes within the best life — because enthusiasm comes from entheos — which literally means ‘God within.’”  Ann Voskamp

“However devoted you are to God, you may be sure that He is immeasurably more devoted to you.”   Meister Eckhart

“The world has yet to see what God can do through a man or a woman who is fully devoted to Him.”  Henry Varley

HEART SAVOR

·         God desires for His children to be devoted to Him both for our good and His glory.

·         I am not to have any other gods before Him.  He is to be protos (first) in my life all else far seconds.

·         The creature is in dire and desperate need of the Creator and Savior and owes Him his all – whether he realizes this or not...  

Turn Turn Turn Acts 3:17-20 Acts 3:26 2 Chronicles 7:14 Numbers 6:22-27 2 Chronicles 6:36-40 Isaiah 44:22 Acts 2:38-39 Matthew 23:37-39 Psalms 51:1 08.27.18

TURN TURN TURN

BREAD

¹⁷ “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. ¹⁸ But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. ¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, ²⁰ and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus.”  Acts 3:17-20 (NIV)

²⁶ “When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”  Acts 3:26 (NIV)

¹⁴ “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

²² The LORD said to Moses, ²³ “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: ²⁴ The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵ the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.’ ²⁷ So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”  Numbers 6:22-27 (NIV)

³⁶ “When they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin--and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; ³⁷ and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; ³⁸ and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; ³⁹ then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you. ⁴⁰ Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”  2 Chronicles 6:36-40 (NIV)

²² I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.  Isaiah 44:22 (NIV)

³⁸  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call.”  Acts 2:38-39 (NIV)

³⁷ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  Matthew 23:37-39 (NIV)

¹Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Psalm 51:1 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way.  There is a better way.  It is to repudiate our own and take instead the infinite wisdom of God…..God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him.”   A. W. Tozer

“God's mercy is vast and beyond our comprehension. He will never reject anyone who turns to Him for mercy. Nor will He force Himself on anyone who chooses to live without Him.” Michael Youssef

“Oh! that I had a trumpet voice to warn you.  Oh! while you are dying, while you are sinking into perdition, may I not cry to you; may not these eyes weep for you!  Take to heart, I beseech you, the realities of eternity.  Oh, turn, turn!  Why will you die?  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye shall be saved.”   Charles H. Spurgeon at Exeter Hall on Sunday morning, February 26, 1869

“All heaven’s glory is within, and so is hell’s fierce burning.  You must yourself decide in which direction you are turning.”   Angelus Silesius

“Grace and love must come before ethics.  No-condemnation must come before the morality discussion.  Because it is God’s kindness that leads to repentance, not our repentance that leads God to be kind.  Love – the broad embrace of the narrow path – will trigger some of the most life-giving experiences you’ll ever be part of.  In the end, the more conservative we are in our beliefs about the Bible – the more we truly believe every single word of it – the more liberal our loving will be. Because the narrow path of Jesus? It always leads to a broad embrace.”   Scott Sauls

“Legalistic remorse says I broke God's rules. Real repentance says I broke God's heart.”   Tim Keller

“It is rare that Christians earnestly seek the Lord’s face when things are going swimmingly, when material blessings abound and we seem to be protected from the vicissitudes faced by others.  But in the blackness of discouragement, when we are harassed and downcast, we may indeed turn to the Lord and acknowledge our helplessness apart from his grace; we may do so knowing that God is a compassionate God and that Jesus’ compassion was particularly directed toward the harassed and the helpless.”  D A Carson

“God became man to turn creatures into sons.”  C. S. Lewis

“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

“To every toiling, heavy-laden sinner, Jesus says, ‘Come to me and rest’. But there are many toiling, heavy-laden believers, too. For them this same invitation is meant. Note well the words of Jesus, if you are heavy-laden with your service, and do not mistake it. It is not, ‘Go, labor on,’ as perhaps you imagine. On the contrary, it is stop, turn back, ‘Come to me and rest.’ Never, never did Christ send a heavy laden one to work; never, never did He send a hungry one, a weary one, a sick or sorrowing one, away on any service. For such the Bible only says, ‘Come, come, come.’   Hudson Taylor

“The act of faith is more than a bare statement of belief, it is a turning to the face of the living God.”   Christopher Bryant

“Contentment isn’t a state of organization, a weight on the scale, a state of better: better kids, better marriage, better health, better house. Contentment is never a matter of circumstances; contentment is always a state of communion — a daily embracing of God.  A thankfulness for all the gifts – and moments and life, just as He gives it.  Trying harder may only bring harder trials and contentment, it won’t be found in the resolutions, but in the revolutions – in the turning round to God.”   Ann Voskamp

“The risk of grace is that we turn our lives over to God. Abandoned. Surrendered. We no longer have to defend ourselves because we are convinced that he loves us so much, but we no longer try to run our own lives. He is our Lord, our master, and the one we follow. We don't know where he will lead, but we are willing to go there because we are convinced that life in him is truly the Grand Adventure. We don’t know what he will ask us to do, but we’re willing to do it because we’re sure he knows best. We respond to him like a loved child responds to his mother [or his Grammy I would add].  We may not understand everything, and we may ask a million questions, but when we don’t get answers, we still trust our Heavenly Father because he has proven himself to us. . . The deeper we press into the price Christ paid to rescue us, the more we’ll be amazed by his love, and we’ll delight in honoring him all day, every day.” Tim Clinton & Josh Straub, God Attachment.

“Sin is real rebellion against the good Creator of all things and the final judge of all people. In the end, we are all guilty of rebellion against God.  Not just the pimp in northern Nepal, but you and me.  All of us have turned from God, all of us are guilty before God, and all of us know it.  We feel this guilt, and although we inevitable deny it, we instinctively experience it…Yet guilt remains.  No matter how hard we try, we can’t successfully erase the sense of ‘ought’ that God has written on the human soul.  One need only look in the eyes of a little girl being sold into sex slavery to know that this ‘ought’ not to be, for right and wrong do exist as objective standards for all people in all places at all times.  We cannot remove the reality of guilt before God, and this is why we need Jesus.”  David Platt

“We don’t normally like being on the bottom.  It’s just not the position we generally pick.  It goes against our flesh.  Yet, in the Bible’s economy you stoop to rise, you lower and God elevates.  Therefore, rock bottom appears the perfect place to simply look up and the perfect time to begin building upon the solid foundation of the Rock of Christ.  Often stripped of our dearest Delilah’s we are not too dissimilar to the returning prodigal.  We have nothing but our will to bring – do we really ever have anything else?  And Jesus says tenderly, ‘Come’.  On Him you can depend.  On Him you can count.  On Him you can trust.  He turns away no one.  He will never let the righteous fall or blow away for that matter.  His grip is firm and secure.  Much akin to a young mother grabbing her two-year-old in busy traffic and yet so infinitely more.  He dearly loves His children and He always causes them to stand because He is faithful and able to cause us to stand – no matter what wind blows.”   BHY

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

HEART SAVOR

• ·         God desires for us to turn our hearts towards Him in sincere repentance then He will turn us back from our point of departure.
• ·         Sadly, God wants to save us more than we desire to be saved.
• ·         True contentment is found only in God.  He never gives sparingly and in Him we will never be found wanting.

 

Content Proverbs 19:23 Proverbs 3:25-26 Deuteronomy 33:12 Ecclesiastes 4:7-8 Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 Luke 12:15-21 Philippians 4:10-13 1 Timothy 6:6-10 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 Hebrews 13:5-6 08.24.18

CONTENT

BREAD

²³ The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble. Proverbs 19:23 (NIV)

²⁵ Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, ²⁶ for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.  Proverbs 3:25-26 (NIV)

¹² “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”   Deuteronomy 33:12 (NIV)

⁷ Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: ⁸ There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless-- a miserable business!   Ecclesiastes 4:7-8 (NIV)

¹⁸ Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him--for this is his lot. ¹⁹ Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God.
²⁰ He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.  Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 (NIV)

¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ²¹ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”  Luke 12:15-21 (NIV)

¹⁰ I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength.  Philippians 4:10-13 (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. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.  ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.   1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NIV)

⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
¹⁰  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NIV)

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” ⁶ So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”   Hebrews 13:5-6 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Pleasure can breed disproportion in us. We chase small pleasures into the trap of thinking that life is really about small pleasures — food, sex, shopping, even friendship, marriage, and parenting. We end up trying to carve a god out of our small pleasures instead of following each one up to the greatest Pleasure.  Every temporary good — and they are all temporary here on earth — is an appetizer for the eternal. Now ‘we know in part . . . but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away’ (1 Corinthians 13:9-10). The partial was always meant to prepare us for something perfect — someone who could satisfy us completely, someone who could make us perfectly and invincibly happy.”   Marshall Segal

“My Master is more willing to supply your needs than you are to confess them. Do not tolerate small thoughts of the Lord Jesus. When you put the crown on His head, you will only crown Him with silver when He deserves gold. My Master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now. He can make you to lie down in green pastures and lead you beside still waters. There is no music like His music that He, the Shepherd, plays for His sheep as they lie down at His feet. There is no love like His; neither earth nor heaven can match it. To know Christ and to be found in Him is real life and true joy. My Master does not treat His servants meanly; He gives to them the way a king gives to a king. He gives them two heavens—a heaven below in serving Him here, and a heaven above in delighting in Him forever.”  Charles H. Spurgeon

“Contentment isn’t a state of organization, a weight on the scale, a state of better: better kids, better marriage, better health, better house. Contentment is never a matter of circumstances; contentment is always a state of communion — a daily embracing of God. A thankfulness for all the gifts – and moments and life, just as He gives it. Trying harder may only bring harder trials and contentment, it won’t be found in the resolutions, but in the revolutions – in the turning round to God.”   Ann Voskamp

“The seed of unnecessary fear in the heart of a Christian is forgetfulness — an inability to remember and trust what the God of the universe has said and done. No one has ever had any grounds to accuse God of not following through on his word. Not even one phrase in any sentence in any statement He has ever made has failed (Joshua 21:45). We will only be truly content with what we have when we know that we have Him. And we will remember that we have him when we hear and believe his voice.”  Marshall Segal  

“The secret of contentment is the realization that life is a gift, not a right.”   Anonymous

“Contentment is not having what I want, but wanting what I have.”   Emalyn Spencer

“He leadeth me, O blessed thought! O words with heav’nly comfort fraught! Whate’er I do, where’er I be Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.  Sometimes ’mid scenes of deepest gloom, Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom, By waters still, o’er troubled sea, Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.  Lord, I would place my hand in Thine, Nor ever murmur nor repine; Content, whatever lot I see, Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.  And when my task on earth is done, When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won, E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee, Since God through Jordan leadeth me.  He leadeth me, He leadeth me, By His own hand He leadeth me; His faithful foll’wer I would be, For by His hand He leadeth me.”   Joseph H. Gilmore

“What were we made for? To know God.  What aim should we set ourselves in life?  To know God. What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God.  What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment, than anything else? Knowledge of God.  What, of all the states God ever sees man in, gives Him most pleasure? Knowledge of Himself.”   J.I. Packer 

“The itch for perfection, the lust for something else is a virus draining our souls of contentment.”  Chuck Swindoll

“The truly meek man is humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, and contented; the very opposite of the man who is proud, harsh, angry, revengeful, and ambitious. It is only the grace of God, as it works in us by the Holy Spirit, that can make us thus meek.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“Our satisfaction and contentment in life does not come from riches but from righteousness.”   Robert J. Morgan

“His love is unfailing, His Word unchangeable, His power ever the same; therefore the heart that trusts Him is kept in ‘perfect peace’…I know He tries me only to increase my faith, and that it is all in love.  Well, if He is glorified, I am content.”    Hudson Taylor

“Contentment is the way you drink all the grace out of every moment.”  Ann Voskamp

⁵  “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”  This prompted Spurgeon to ask: “Will not the distresses of life and the pangs of death, will not the internal corruptions and the external snares, will not the trials from above and the temptations from beneath all seem but light afflictions when we can hide ourselves beneath the bulwark of ‘he has said’?”  Charles H. Spurgeon 

HEART SAVOR

·         Those who are His can rest secure in Him – contented and unafraid.

·         I am to be on my guard against every kind of greed – my life is not to consist in the abundance of my possessions, friends, activities or whatever.  My focus and my heart are to be set upon things above.  If  God is my sufficiency and strength, I will not be found wanting or needy.  His grace is sufficient to meet my every need.  It is He Who fills the desires of a heart.

·         Contentment is learned.  

Do For Others Proverbs 11:24-25 Luke 6:38 Luke 6:31 Psalms 37:25-26 Psalms 112:5-10 Proverbs 22:9 1 Timothy 6:17-19 John 3:16 Psalms 145:15-17 Matthew 6:1-5 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 Jeremiah 9:23-24 08.22.18

DO FOR OTHERS

BREAD

²⁴ One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. ²⁵ A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Proverbs 11:24-25 (NIV)

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)

³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you.  Luke 6:31 (NIV)

²⁵ I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. ²⁶ They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.  Psalm 37:25-26 (NIV)

⁵ Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. ⁶ Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. ⁷ He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. ⁸ His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. ⁹ He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor. ¹⁰ The wicked man will see and be vexed, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.  Psalm 112:5-10 (NIV)
 

⁹ A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.  Proverbs 22:9 (NIV)

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹ In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.  1 Timothy 6:17-19 (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)

¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. ¹⁶ You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. ¹⁷ The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.  Psalm 145:15-17 (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. ⁵ And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”  Matthew 6:1-5 (NIV)

¹¹ Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. ¹² Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. ¹³ Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.   1 Chronicles 29:11-13 (NIV)

²³ This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, ²⁴ but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV)

BUTTER

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

“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”  Edmund Burke

“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

“The heart that gives, gathers.”  Marianne Moore

“Just as all believers exercise the gift of faith, we should all exercise the gift of giving—giving our time, talent, and treasures for the glory of God. There are some believers who are especially gifted by the Holy Spirit in the area of giving. These Christians are to give even more liberally. In fact, Romans 12:8 encourages those with the gift of giving to give generously.  Gifted givers are compelled by the love of God to give. The Lord is glorified by their giving hearts as He uses their gifts given in cheerful obedience for the good of His people.”  Michael Youssef

“The Christian way is different:  harder and easier.  Christ says, ‘Give me All.  I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work:  I want you… No half-measures are any good.  I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down…Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit.   I will give you a new self instead.  I will give you Myself:  My own will shall become yours.’”    C.S. Lewis

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom.  What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.  The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.  You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.” Dr. Adrian Rogers

“You will always give effortlessly to that which is your salvation.”  Tim Keller

“Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”    John Wesley

“It is too bad that many believers minimize the place of good works in the Christian life.  Matthew 5:16 ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven’.  We do not perform good works to get any glory for ourselves, but we do them to glorify His blood given on our behalf.  Hebrews 13:16 indicates that our good works are actually ‘spiritual sacrifices’ that we offer to God.”  Wales Goebel 

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

“Blessed are those who spread joy that arises out of their own suffering.  He who denies himself for others clothes himself with Christ.  Seek one who does not dare approach you.  Give to the one who does not ask.  Love the one who pushes you away.  May my joys never come through the suffering of others.  May my suffering bring some joy to others.”   Prince Vladimir

“A famous fundraiser once said that people give prompted by one of two motivations: guilt or public recognition. These motivations do not apply to Christian givers. Our guilt was removed permanently through Jesus’ blood on the cross—never to dominate our lives again. Neither would truly gifted givers be motivated by public recognition. Christians would far rather give quietly, humbly acknowledging that their true reward and treasure is in heaven with Christ—no earthly recognition can compare.”   Michael Youssef

“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

“Being generous with your money is a personal quality of someone that the grace of God has gripped.  Why? Because the essence of the Gospel of grace is generosity.  Jesus Christ gave up the Greatest Treasure in the world.  He gave away his treasure when he left the most affluent gated community in the universe, heaven and all its glory, became poor, so that we might become rich.  He gave up Ultimate wealth—Himself, for you.  ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’, he said and lived.  He also said you cannot serve God and money, it’s impossible. You have to choose. Only by the power of the Gospel of grace can you begin to be generous”.   Tom Wood

“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

HEART SAVOR

• ·         God is the ultimate Giver and He calls His children to give freely as well.
• ·         Giving certainly does not mean merely money it is our whole self – no half measures will do.  Christ desires all.  ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20 (NIV).
• ·         The paradox remains that one always gets more than he gives – one simply cannot out give God.