I wanted to give thanks to God for you this week and to let you know that we are very thankful that you allow us to be a part of your life. Thanksgiving week is always a wonderful time for families to get together and celebrate the love of God and all of his blessings to us. I found a verse this week that resonated in my spirit with how I feel as we have gone through what seems to be the worst of times for so many people.
Psalm 96:7-9 The Message, 7 “Bravo, God, Bravo! Everyone join in the great shout: Encore! In awe before the beauty, in awe before His might. 8-9 Bring gifts and celebrate, Bow before the beauty of God, Then to your knees—everyone worship!”
In the Old Testament worship, they were taught to bring gifts when they came to the temple for worship. This Psalm says. “Give to the Lord the glory due to His Name, bring an offering, and come into His courts.” Can you talk about God in Biblical context with-out talking about and offer? I don’t think so. Why is this true? It is true because a Biblical principle is set in motion, the fundamental spiritual law of giving and receiving. When we give generously, then the Lord gives back to us generously. I am open to this spiritual dynamic in my life because, before I was a Christian, I knew the law of giving and receiving and honored God with first fruits of what He had provided for me. When Paul taught the Corinthians, he had this law in mind. We have all heard teach-ings on giving but it is important to understand this scenario.
God is our Provider. Knowing He is our Provider, we trust and we give. He, in turn, blesses our giving. He then reciprocates and fills us with His abundant blessing. David understood this well. In 1 Chronicle he was purchasing a place for worship, and Ornan the Jebusite wanted to give it to him but; David said, “ I will not burn my offering on that which cost me nothing.” I think every believer should reacquaint himself or herself with the Book of Malachi. Israel, oddly enough, was feeling the absence of the Presence of God. Malachi had the task of telling them why they were having this problem. They had been taking what belonged to God for themselves. His remedy for their problem was to “Bring your tithe into the storehouse, and God will open the windows of heaven and pour you out blessings that you cannot contain.” Did you realize that your tithe is an indicator of what you really think of God? Wouldn’t you like to be as the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 8:1-5, “Who (FIRST) gave them-selves to the Lord? I am not free to become a free-loader.
It is my desire in this letter each week to let you know that even if we don’t get to see you, we love you and miss you when you are not able to be with us. Once again, I want to remind you that we are with you in spirit; and, if you need us, don’t hesitate to call. My personal cell phone number is 859-653-6792. Jot it down and keep it somewhere if you need to call us.