Live Free For Jesus
WELCOME TO MY BLOG (PREVIOUSLY Called To Be Free) WHICH IS ONE OF A FEW CHRISTIAN BLOGS I RUN. THERE ARE 60+ POSTS HERE. MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN REGULAR READERS (2-3k Views Monthly) AND THE BLOG CAME TO A HALT BECAUSE THE WEBHOSTING COMPANY HAD PLANS TO CHANGE SITE BUILDERS. SO NOW WE ARE BACK ON TRACK WITH LIVE FREE FOR JESUS (PREVIOUSLY Called To Be Free) I have a different website with that name now HERE
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Janet's Blog
Janet's Blog
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Thankful Receivers and Being a Blessing
| Posted on 7 October, 2015 at 21:28 |
comments (3)
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And we should be thankful receivers when someone blesses us. Especially The Lord! So many times we
forget to thank Him or do not recognize what comes from His Hand. He is so patient and Gracious - let's learn to have a THANKFUL SPIRIT. Some principles will be shared here that will inspire many of you to a new found freedom in these areas. Yes? Come with me. Someone said unkind and careless words this week I felt I
would really like to bless following a gift she received that she
was looking forward to. She did not express any thanks or appreciation for several
days.....left it unwrapped....... then sent it back to me because she was irritated about me
disturbing her with a morning phone call. She said "I do not like
calls in the morning, I pray to God then!" and she did not like me asking
her about her marked absence - for 5 days I did not hear from her. I asked her
why and said would she please not do that again. Friends, I was so inspired by that how so many of us treat
the Giver of Givers when He longs to bless and why He withholds further blessing
at times. At first, when I had this gift for her - just what she needed and really nice - that would bless her beyond her expectations, it was very hard to contact her. The Holy Spirit inspired me through that experience too. She was actually not well at the time - unknown by me - she could not speak because she had laryngitis. And this is what He showed me: Sometimes, just like I was, The Lord has a wonderful blessing.....a really nice gift He wants to give us.....He is really looking forward to seeing us receive it and the surprise in our eyes. But for some reason - whatever it may be - we are simply not there to receive it. We're not contactable......we're so busy with day to day life with it's interests and concerns that we are not present with Him - so to speak - to receive this wonderful gift. This could be over days or weeks with many of us. How many of us spend quality time with Him? How many of us have warm and receptive hearts? How many of us have the ability to receive gracefully? How many of us are thankful receivers? Our Heavenly Father has feelings too. He is the Giver of Givers and sometimes He will send something our way in Grace because He loves us with an unconditional love. So kind is The Lord. Usually, just how we like for a loved one to be present to receive gifts, so it is with Him. He loves to relate closely with us and precious gifts are sometimes His way of showing us His care and affection. THE LORD IS GOOD AND FAITHFUL IS HIS LOVE LET THE REDEEMED SAY OF THE LORD. Just like a child, we need to open up and receive from His Hand. To go to Daddy and sit in His lap so to speak. And importantly, to receive thankfully and treasure that gift. Don't just run off with it or treat it carelessly. Would we be willing to give gifts to our son or daughter if they are not thankful or treat their gifts carelessly? Good parents don't encourage that but so often we expect that from our Heavenly Father. He loves for us to spend quality time with Him and not just to be a present giver. The world treats Him like that because they don't know Him. The Lord has spoken prophetically to Christians here a few times inviting us to ask for as much blessing as we like.......and also, that He would give us the ability to receive. We need to pray for that and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us how to receive in simple trust and faith, those things we have requested of Him. This article was going to be only about Thankful Receivers But I felt to add about Thankful givers as well. They are so awesome – they really are! It is a real privilege to share our blessings with those in need. He said once that He would greatly bless me and He also said that this was not only for my benefit but to "Make me a Blessing"........so when we ask Him for much blessing, He gives them to us because we are His children He loves very much and like any good parent, He likes us to share! Who have you thought of blessing lately? Yes, we can bless others too, in prayer, in conversation and with gifts and talents He gives to us. "If you need hope, give some away. What you bring to others, The Lord can bring to you" We need to think outside ourselves more often. If we are stingy with giving to others, how can we expect Him to be generous with us? Remember the encouragements Jesus and the Apostle Paul gave us. Their counsel has not changed. And if you don't have much left after rent and expenses, tithes and offerings, you may like to read my post called It is actually not scriptural for ministers to solicit your money for buildings and programs in the form of tithes and offerings, much less ask you for more and more. Did you know that tithes were part of God's Covenant with the Jews? And offerings also for Israel (that were given to those in need). They were accompanied with great rejoicing. Nowhere in scripture are we told to pay for our blessings and threatened if we don't. Malachi 3 is quoted out of context. What about Grace Tithes you say? Abraham only tithed the once and it was not from his income. And Jacob did so only the once with a conditional vow! New Testament giving by Early Christians was mostly for those in need and they gave with much Joy and Thanksgiving at opportunities to show their generosity. Note, it was as they were able and purposed in their hearts, not demanded of them? We
can all have gladness in giving restored to us if we find out the facts
on the link above! How dare some preachers empty your pockets and take
that which belongs to the poor. Some of them dare to say "Give your
offerings to us, we have the 60 fold ground"
misquoting Jesus words to us! .They even have the nerve to tell us that
giving to the poor won't return that much. How can they desecrate God's
Sanctuary like that? The Lord will repay preachers according to the good or evil they have done when He comes. They are so deluded, they think they are getting away with it. Having lost five dear loved ones in 10 months, I am very much aware how sudden death comes. I want to be ready, do you? House Churches
have been a place of refuge to many Christians who have been abused
spiritually over financial giving and prosperity gospels that make you
broke. Many of them practice true respect and generosity toward each other such as the New Testament records. You may like to click on that link also. ______________________ Have Ears to Hear It is important not to keep things in our hearts about each other or to
act poorly towards fellow Christians and other people if we want to
receive gifts from the Heavenly Giver, because scripturally speaking, we
have a spiritual bond with each other that is important
like that of a husband and wife. And we are also ambassadors of God's
Love and Grace.....living letters.....let us be a good example. So don't let your prayers be hindered will you or those who you offend? So many Christians are guilty of offenses and wonder why The Lord does not answer prayer. I have another post on Handling Offenses. The first hinderance to Prayer is not praying – How can we ask or thank God if we don't pray? "You can ask what you will if you Abide in Me". Often you try so hard and He wants you to ask Him to move for you. It is also important how we treat the giver anytime. If we want to be happy recipients of good gifts, let's make happy those who give to us.....hey? GOD'S RIVER FLOWS THROUGH THE LAW OF LOVE. ALL THE BEST TO EVERYONE WHO READS THIS POST. |