Growing Up (Part 3)

If there is among you a poor man of your brethren . . . you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand. —Deuteronomy 15:7

Source: Our Daily Bread Email Subscription 13 July 2010

Francis Chan, in his book Crazy Love, tells of a family with an interesting Christmas tradition. On Christmas morning, the Robynson family doesn’t focus on opening presents under the Christmas tree. Instead, they make pancakes and coffee, and serve the breakfast to the homeless. This is a small but creative way to show God’s love and generosity to the poor.

God expected this kind of generosity from His people. In Deuteronomy 15, Moses emphasized the reality of poverty and how the more affluent must deal with it. They were warned of four dangers:

A hard heart, ignoring the needs of the poor (v.7).

A closed hand, withholding what the poor lacked (v.7).

An evil thought, hesitating or refusing to loan money to the poor because the year of canceling debts was nearing (v.9).

A grudging spirit, a reluctance to satisfy the needs of the poor among them (v.10). Not only were they warned about selfishness, but more important, they were encouraged to be spontaneously generous (vv.8,10,11).

Among God’s people, there must always be a spirit of generosity toward the poor. Let’s open our hearts and our hands. —Marvin Williams

One grace each child of God can show
Is giving from a willing heart;
Yet, if we wait till riches grow,
It well may be we’ll never start. —D. De Haan

Generosity stems from the heart that has experienced God’s grace.

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Indeed, I have been blessed by many kind aunties, sisters and uncles in church. It's so awkward when they give love gifts to me, but I do appreciate it, just that i feel extremely awkward. I guess it is just the way we are brought up in the family. Everyone sees everyone else as a liability.. It's quite painful and sad, ah, but well, as long as God sees me as His child, nothing else matters now.

I continued to listen to John Macarthur's the ABC's of Christian Living, and here are the other sub points of ways we glorify God.

Points 1) and 2) are covered in previous 2 blog entries.

3) Confessing sins (Joshua 7:19)

4) By trusting in Him (Romans 4:19-20, 1 John 5:10)

5) By fruitfulness (John 15:8)

5a) Action Fruit involves

- winning souls (Romans 1:13)

- giving (Phil 4:17)

- good works (Col 1:10)

5b) Attitude Fruits (Gal 5:22)

If have actions but no right attitude, that's legalism, like the pharisees.

If you have the right attitudes, automatically, the right actions will follow.

Productive Christians are growing Christians.

Ahhhhh.. So much to do... So little time, God help me be a Christian You want me to be.