The Devotional - A Look at the Book #569

The Devotional - A Look at the Book #569

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

I think a lot about eternity; God provides the information about where He lives and I go and visit Him every time I travel through His written Word. Farmlands, cities and saints; what a daily joy it is to visit my Father each day.

Good Morning

There was once a story I heard about two brothers, both were evil and crime was their primary activity. As time passed one of them died and the surviving brother went to the pastor of a local church. Both, brothers knew the pastor since they had grown up in the same neighborhood, attended the same school and so on. The brother asked the pastor to do the funeral and the eulogy. The brother also said that the pastor needed to say something nice about his deceased brother and if the pastor would do this, he would give a large sum of money to the church. After consulting the elders and deacons the pastor agreed and the large sum of money was given. As the eulogy began this is what the pastor said. “Friends and members of the family; the man in the coffin before me today was one of the most crooked, despicable, evil and desperate criminals this city has ever known. He has lied to everyone he ever met, stole as much money as he could and I even heard that he cruelly beat someone several years ago because that person had said hello to his girl friend. But; friends next to his brother standing next to me, our deceased was a saint”. This may be called – getting your monies worth; or getting fitted for a new pair of cement shoes. “I'm not sure?”

2 Corinthians 9

2 Corinthians 9:6-9 – Sowing sparingly is what we do when we do not understand stewardship (farming). For example; a few years ago I wanted to plant some corn for the first time so I contacted a friend who is a farmer and asked him how I should go about it. He said, “Over seed each hole with four kernels; one for good measure, one for the cut worm, one for the crow and one to grow.”

The LORD uses many parables and illustrations to teach us this same principle of stewardship. God Himself is the Master Steward of Creation and even delegated this responsibility to Adam in the Garden of Eden. So here is in my opinion… there is no excuse for any of His saints to ignore the evidence; if we reap sparingly it is because we are sowing sparingly. We are sowing from a fleshly frame of mind which is selfish and full of grudgeful thoughts and selfish necessities.

Now here is the victory over this self-righteous mindset. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not us” Have we forgotten so soon that the ability to sow bountifully in not found in the power of these earthen vessels apart from the treasury of the excellent power of God. God loves a cheerful giver. If we utilize the gifts of God the Holy Spirit who dwells in us of; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control; we will be the joyful giver whom the lover of our soul desires and we will reap a bountiful reward. 1 Corinthians 4:7 and Galatians 5:22-26.

Be filled with the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 backs this thought up!