GOD IS GENEROUS-- What does that tell us about Him?

On a recent vacation my husband and I were eating dinner at a restaurant. I ordered the all-you-can-eat ribs. They were delicious, but I was stuffed after one plate of them. The waiter came by and asked if I wanted more. I told him I couldn’t, but he insisted that I take a box with me. Business was slow that night and they had plenty or something like that. He brought a take-out box jammed with twice as many ribs as I’d started with. Yes, he earned a nice tip.

You probably know some generous people too. What are characteristics of a generous person? Someone with money to spare? Hardly. I think a generous person is not only unselfish, but compassionate, secure in himself, someone who walks in forgiveness, is positive. I like to think of big people and little people. Big people have the traits of a generous person. Little people are the bickering complainers with a critical bitter outlook on life. Always waiting to jump on every little mistake. Generally they are insecure and negative. You won’t find generosity there.

God is generous. Yes He’s just, He’s holy—but He loves to be generous with His kids too. In Isaiah 54:10 He says: My covenant of blessing will never be broken.

What about you—big person or little? Your heart, not your bank account, shows how generous you are.

GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY -- Are You?

Many of God’s characteristics are to be demonstrated by our lives. We can become more like Him in love, forgiveness, compassion. We can’t become like Him in all things—for instance, we can’t be all-powerful. He is trustworthy and I think that’s something we should each strive to be.

A gossip goes around revealing secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence. Proverbs 11:13

When I was a girl, my mom told me a story. When she was in third grade her teacher asked her to carry a note from the classroom to the principal’s office. Mom was walking in the hallway when her teacher caught up with her. Her teacher asked, “Faye, did you open that
note and read it?” My mom told her she did not. Even though no one would've known if she had read the private note, she proved herself to be trustworthy.

If you cannot keep a secret, a confidence, someone’s words to you that would hurt them, some bit of information that is meant to be kept private, you are not a trustworthy person. Time for you to go back to school and to THE BOOK!

GOD IS JUST -- A Lesson From The Garden

It’s a beautiful sunny day and I was pulling some weeds in our garden. Whenever I’m working in the dirt all sorts of spiritual parallels come to mind. Today’s was just too obvious. As I hoed the weeds between the rows of lettuce, green beans and spinach I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ parable about the weeds and the wheat in Matthew 13:24-30.

God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.

The farmhands came to the farmer and said, 'Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it?
Where did these thistles come from?'

He answered, 'Some enemy did this.'

The farmhands asked, 'Should we weed out the thistles?'

He said, 'No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'

I pulled a lot of thistles out of our garden today. For a while, when the weeds and the plants are small, they look a lot alike. In the same way, people who are not truly serving Christ can be “planted” near us. We live, work and sometimes serve side by side. God allows this –for a while. The farmhands asked the farmer in the parable if they should pull the thistles. The farmer didn’t want His precious crop harmed so he let the weeds grow with it. God is so concerned for His own children that He sometimes lets the “impostors” be, for the time being, and doesn’t judge them immediately. When you observe injustice and wonder why God doesn’t deal with wrongdoers immediately, remember that God’s harvest is coming. The weeds are still small.