Generosity

This week - and for a lot of weeks now - it seems to have been raining non stop. Which would be fine because normally we love sitting inside listening to the rain. Except that this week the rain has been getting inside our house.

A crack has opened up above our sliding glass door. When it is raining and windy at the same time, water is somehow getting under the eaves of our roof, filling up in the wall cavity and then steadily escaping above the door into our house.

So we are waiting to see if its the responsibility of the company who built our house two years ago, or if our insurance company covers it, or whether we'll have to pay for it ourselves.

Meanwhile, water keeps dripping.

When this began I was about to talk to my husband about sponsoring a child.

But in the face of our own financial uncertainty I thought, maybe now's not the best time.

Then another little voice said - maybe now is the perfect time.

Generous (adj.) - "showing readiness to give more of something, especially money, than is necessary or expected"

It's easy to feel 'generous' when you've got plenty. But is it really generosity when you're giving only when you've covered your needs, wants and then some, and will give from the excess?

Shouldn't our faith in God's provision extend beyond that, to freely giving even when we aren't 110% sure of our own security?

Luke 21:1-4
And then He turned His attention from the religious scholars to some wealthy people who were depositing their donations in the offering boxes. A widow, obviously poor, came up and dropped two copper coins in one of the boxes.
Jesus: I’m telling you the truth, this poor widow has made a bigger contribution than all of those rich fellows. They’re just giving from their surplus, but she is giving from her poverty—she’s giving all she has to give.

We don't think all that much of greed these days, not really, not unless its in-your-face obvious. But greed is actually subtle, and has permeated so much of our lives. And Bible takes greed seriously. Just look what happened to Judas who was overtaken by it and then betrayed Jesus.

I think we need some radical generosity to heal our corrupted hearts.

But God doesn't just tell us to do it because its 'right', He's not trying to make us go without to be more pious.

He knows the beautiful paradox of His kingdom, where the more we give, the richer we are. Maybe not financially (but He'll take care of you there too), but in all the ways that really count.

Isaiah 58:10
If you make sure that the hungry and oppressed have all that they need,
then your light will shine in the darkness,
And even your bleakest moments will be bright as a clear day.


So maybe that's saying that even of our water logged wall falls down, or everything seems bleak - if we care just as much about others as we do ourselves, the light of God will make our lives the brightest they've ever been.

I'll take less house and money any day if it means so much more God.

The new Sodom?

I'm sure plenty of 'sins' come to mind when you think of Sodom and Gomorrah.

But do you know what Sodom's sins actually were?

Ezekiel 16:49-50 tells us:
"The sin of your sister Sodom was this: She lived with her daughters in the lap of luxury - proud, gluttonous and lazy. They ignored the oppressed and the poor. They put on airs and lived obscene lives..."

Proud, gluttonous and lazy. (Or arrogant, overfed and unconcerned in another version). Ignoring the oppressed and the poor.

It's not much of a stretch - in fact none at all - to apply these words to the Western world.

About 65% of Americans are overweight. Most western countries, though their wealth increases, give far less than 1% of their GNP to foreign aid. The richest 1/5 of the world consumes 2/3 of the worlds resources!

We are fat and indulgent while the rest of the world crumbles and starves.

We have so, so much and yet we do so little of consequence with it.
If this is not living obscene lives, I don't know what is.

We are so insulated and torpid when it comes to justice that we don't even realise what is happening most of the time, and even if something crosses our path asking for attention, we ignore it because we are either too busy or too overwhelmed with our own excess to deal.

Recently I discovered Kiva - it's been around for a whole but I just came across it. On Kiva you can lend money to people in developing countries through micro loans which have proved very effective in combating poverty. It's an amazingly easy way to help people - you can lend as little as $25 which will eventually, in most cases, be paid back to you, so you don't even have to give away your money.

They are currently running a 'promotion' where if you recruit new members they get a free $25 do lend to someone, and so do you for signing them up. So that is $50 that another sponsor has provided for you to lend.

I posted links on Facebook to tell my friends about it and recruit others because I thought it was so fantastic and so easy. A few were already on Kiva, but overall the response was staggeringly underwhelming. I managed to get one person to sign up so far - my husband.

I provided the direct link. All it required of people was 5 minutes to sign up. They didn't even have to risk any of their own money.
And yet nothing.

I get it that people might be busy, they might be coming back to it later, they might not have really understood what it was about and so just skipped over it...But when I post a cute picture of my daughter or a funny status, plenty of people like and comment - so I know they're out there, seeing my stuff, with time to expend....

I've done it myself. The number of times I've walked past homeless or charity collectors and looked the other way.

But if we are too busy and overwhelmed to take five minutes to give out someone else's money to help people, something is wrong.

Make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-to-day obligations that you lose track of time and doze off, oblivious to God. Romans 13:11 MSG

We have so much and, relative to the rest of the world, we do so little to earn it. We have been given much: much is required in return. (Luke 12:48)

Helping others with what we have should be a priority not an afterthought.

We have got much time left - the night is nearly over (rom 13:12) - are we wasting it on self-indulgence, or are we doing something of consequence with what we have been given?

1 John 3:17
If a person owns the kinds of things we need to make it in the world but refuses to share with those in need, is it even possible that God’s love lives in him?

It's a challenge I take seriously.

His Grace is Sufficient!

I'm prone to being especially snappy and intolerant when I'm tired. Which is quite often lately, with a baby who likes night time attention. Either that, or the rest of the world just happens to be particularly annoying on days when I haven't had enough sleep. But I think it's more likely that I'm the common denominator.

This morning, knowing I was extra tired, I resolved to try my hardest to be positive and light hearted anyway. Even knowing my weakness, even wanting genuinely to not succumb to it, it barely took 30 minutes after getting out of bed before I'd already reacted exactly the way I always would. And by halfway through the day... Well lets just say my resolve well ad truly failed me.

Which is why I'm so glad we are not under law but under Grace.

Because aren't our lives like that. Even when we know what we should and shouldn't do, when we know what our weaknesses are, and even when we genuinely want to change out thoughts, behaviours and actions it seems to happen that at the very next challenge, we've failed again. We've become angry or impulsive or impatient or lazy or selfish or harsh or critical or indulgent or frustrated or despairing....all over again.

So aren't we so fortunate that it is the grace of God through Jesus that makes a new creation and not our own efforts?

It is a grace that is not fully realised yet, but it was a plan that was set in motion from the beginning. A plan to redeem us and reconcile us right from the start. The minute Adam and Eve walked out of the garden, God was already bringing us back.

What ever issues and questions people have with the Old Testament, I'd suggest most people are missing the point. And that point is, that everything points to Jesus.

Though humanity chose to turn away, God kept on steering us back, every step of the way carrying a line of people (the Israelites) to bring us Jesus, fully human and fully God, to be the ultimate sacrifice.

We question what God doesn't do, what He seems to allow, the things that seem troubling - but what about all He does do. That He never let His plan be derailed, no matter how many times the Israelites turned away and failed and messed up.

The Old Testament is not devoid of Grace in the midst of Law - it is drenched in it. Every story, every event, every prophecy points to the plan God had to save not just the Israelites but the whole world. To bring us all back into his arms, no matter how much we rebelled.

Everything points to Jesus.

If Gods plan can prevail through every messed up trial and battle in the Bible, His grace can prevail in your life too.

The sacrifice has been made, and life has conquered death. Love has conquered fear. Jesus has fulfilled the law, and Gods inheritance is ours. His Grace is sufficient.

While His kingdom isn't fully realised here on earth yet, the hold sin seems to still have on you is only an illusion. It's a lie. Don't believe it. You are not subject to your old self anymore.

The battle is not to conquer sin and the enemy - that has already been done. The battle is now to bring our minds into alignment with the truth - we are free. We are healed. We are a new creation.

So if you are still struggling or still feeling stuck in something, it's not about working out the right thing to do. It's not about improving yourself, or getting better at being 'good' - it's about surrendering all to God and letting His love transform your mind and heart and every corner of your life.

His Grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect in weakness.

You can't fix your life yourself - and why would you try? Just lay it down and receive the new life Jesus died and rose again to give you as a beautiful, powerful and glorious gift.

And every time you do, you will find grace and love to wash away more and more of the old lies and the old habits, and you are transformed, piece by piece, as you become more and more aligned with the kingdom of God.

Your growth depends on my growth

I don't know the science of it, but I imagine that even if some body parts grow faster or slower than others, when your a child most of your body grows and matures at a similar rate so that no part is left behind and stunted. So that no part keeps the rest of the body from functioning properly in its increasing maturity.

After all, if the whole body is healthy except for a foot that doesn't work, then it's the whole body that is lame.

We need to consider this as the body of Christ. If you are seeking to grow and mature spiritually, but I am stagnating or struggling, that matters.

There's only so far one person can go if the rest of the body isn't coming with it.

It doesn't matter how good you think your relationship with God is, you can never go that far alone.

After all, the Church is not made up of a bunch of individuals who just happen to believe in the same God.

Imagine a family trying to function where everyone just considers themselves all separate people who just happen to share the same last name and no other connection or relationship.

We are one Body. We have one Spirit in us.

"Make every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit has already created, with peace binding you together.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were all called to pursue one hope. There is one Lord Jesus, one living faith, one ceremonial washing through baptism, and one God—the Father over all who is above all, through all, and in all."
Eph 4:4-6

If we are all part of the one body, then we should care how all the other members are going. That means not only the others in our church group, the ones we get along with it easily agree with, but all Christians, everywhere. Even the ones we avoid, who disagree with us, who we think are wrong or misled or stagnating.

And care about them with genuine love, not an inflated ego to 'get them to catch up with me'.

Because they aren't just a diseased foot attached to a healthy body. They are an imperfect foot attached to a weak leg, attached to a stiff hip, attached to a wounded torso...

You get the picture. None of us is where we need to be. To get there, to reach more of the spiritual maturity, to experience more of the presence of God we need go there together.

And best thing is that it's not just up to us - we don't have to find a way to hold it all together - God provides that. We just have to practise Love towards each other. Stop getting caught up in the ins and outs of our differences as if that's the most important, and focus on the relationship.

"Instead, by truth spoken in love, we are to grow in every way into Him—the Anointed One, the head. He joins and holds together the whole body with its ligaments providing the support needed so each part works to its proper design to form a healthy, growing, and mature body that builds itself up in love.
Eph 4:15-16

When the Body begins to heal together, then each and every member will benefit from and experience this healing too.

If you want to grow deeper with God, then pray for the body as much as or more than you pray for yourself.

Self preservation

Self preservation - a lot of our lives are devoted to it.

We build up careers to keep ourselves in plenty of money; we pursue things that will leave some mark on the world so that even when we are gone we preserve our memory; we protect our things, our space, our time jealously as if one lapse will have the world taking advantage of us.

All in all we spend a lot more time making sure we are alright, than we do making sure others are.

We'll help others, sure. But only if it doesn't take away too much of our lives. Only if it doesn't involve too much self-sacrifice.

I'll invite you round for dinner, ok, on a night I approve and hospitably feed you a nice meal - but don't get crazy on me and just drop round... and don't even think about being homeless and asking me for money while I'm trying to go about my day spending it on myself.

The problems and quarrels and animosity we hold towards others are largely directed at those who threaten our sense of self, our way of life, our attempts to preserve what we see as ours - from wars with another country to the person who ate the last biscuit we were saving for ourselves.

In this case, as is often the case, Jesus has a view that goes against the popular opinion. The world will tell you, look after yourself first. Hold on to what's yours, or someone else will take it. Build up a life for yourself, store up for yourself.

Jesus says:

If you try to hold on to your life, it will slip through your fingers; if you let go of your life, you’ll keep it.

Luke 17:33

And Jesus says that because he knows the time is near. He knows its urgent and we need to be alert.

There's no time to hang on to those things you can't take with you, because while you're turning around to gather your precious 'things', you've missed it. You've spent so much effort trying to protect who you think you should be, or who the world expects you to be, that you've missed who God really created you to be.

Try to save your own life - reach for that life preserver you created yourself - and you'll end up being destroyed along with it.

Focus on God, lay down your life, forget about your own self preservation, and it's your eternal life that will be saved.

What are you keeping close at hand to grab whenever you feel the need to protect yourself? Money? Pride? Anger? Excuses? Status? Appearance?

Lay these things down and realise the baggage-free freedom that comes from relying only on Christ.

Why don't we give freely?

In Acts we see the church community in action like I think we'd all agree - even if we follow with a lot of buts and qualifiers - that the church is meant to be.

There was an intense sense of togetherness among all who believed; they shared all their material possessions in trust. They sold any possessions and goods that did not benefit the community and used the money to help everyone in need. Acts 2:44-45

Why don't we see that? Why don't we share much of anything at all other than maybe a meal with a strictly controlled guest list, let alone everything we own?

One factor is definitely that we see our stuff as ours, that we worked for and paid for ourselves, and why should we give it to people who didn't do anything to earn it?

We forget that we live in God's house, so everything we have is really His anyway.

But more than that, I think it's because we are afraid.

I think I find it easy - relatively - to remember that all I have is from God. But I still don't want to share my iPad. Why? Because while I think that God provided for me once, I have trouble believing he'll do it again.

We live in fear. What if the money runs out? What if I lose my job? What if the car breaks down? What if someone burrows my stuff and breaks it - I might not ever get another one.

When I had a proliferation of baby clothes that my daughter had already grown out of - many unworn - my first thought was eBay. Maybe I could get some money for things I didn't need. The clothes were all gifts in the first place, but the justification ran through my head - 'we've got a new baby, I'm not working, we need the money.'

I was afraid.

Then God nudged me, and I realised how blessed I had been to not have to buy a single piece of clothing for the baby myself. Not everyone has that kind of support. And so I decided that I would rather donate all that clothing to women who might really need it because it would come from no other source.

This idea was met with less enthusiasm from others than I expected. They were afraid too. The idea of giving it all away seemed like too much - 'what if you have another baby? What if you need it?'

Momentarily I nearly gave in to the fear. 'Maybe I shouldn't give it all,' I thought. 'Maybe I'll keep enough to clothe another baby just in case I happen to have another baby and its a girl and its summer and I desperately need clothes for her...'

And then I realised I had nothing to fear.

And not just because the family and friends who bought me gifts last time will still be there to support me next time.

But because I choose to believe that God is faithful. That Jesus meant it when he said "My little flock, don’t be afraid. God is your Father, and your Father’s great joy is to give you His kingdom.
That means you can sell your possessions and give generously to the poor." Luke 12:32-33


The baby clothes are just practise. And I hope that I am learning how to have faith so that when it comes to giving away all I have - my money, house, time - I can do it without fear.

You can start practising too. Find little things to give and share, even if you're worried you might lose out.

And how do you overcome the fear of what it will mean to give? Perfect love drives out fear. Seek God and His love, and with your eyes on Him, your 'stuff' won't matter. In fact, giving away your money will be a joy not a fear.

I know I've got a long way to go before I get there, but I know deep down my spirit rejoices in the love of God so much that I'd have joy living in the mud with nothing to my name if it meant love and life with the body of Christ.

Where is your treasure?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34

Where is your treasure? Or in other words, where is your money? What do you spend it on? And in a society where time is also valuable, what do you spend your time on?

Because that will say a lot about where your heart is. Where your priorities are, what your focus is.

In a society where a lot of our time is spent earning money, and that money is then spent on ourselves, I'm not sure that says anything good about our hearts.

Plenty of people will right about now be saying, 'But I earn money to support my family - that's where my heart is.' True, and that's not wrong but I would like to challenge a lot if people to think about the lifestyle they are paying for and whether that is really what their family needs?

My instinct is to tread carefully here, to not upset anyone or make anyone feel bad about earning money or having nice things.

But then another part of me - an increasingly stronger part - starts to feel sick at the disgusting excess in our culture. The selfish state of our lives and hearts. The hypocritical political correctness that prevents us from talking about money while so many suffer.

We are storing up treasures for ourselves here on earth, like that is going to get us somewhere.

'Planning for the future' is not even an excuse. Because most of us are doing it out of fear, the opposite of trusting God - I need my money. I need to take care of me, or who else will?

We spend our time and money on ourselves, on gluttonous businesses without regard for those trampled on to supply them, on building up our wealthy, secure indulgent lives...

We have no time left over for real community. For giving generously to others. For lavishing love. For nurturing relationships.

Where are we storing up our treasure? Is your heart focused on yourself or the kingdom of God?

Don't be afraid. Don't conform to what is expected in our self-centred society. Don't justify or make excuses. Examine yourself. Make room in your heart and life for the ways of God, no matter the sacrifice of time, money or desires for yourself and see the heavenly results. You might just have a change of heart....




Don’t reduce your life to the pursuit of food and drink; don’t let your mind be filled with anxiety. People of the world who don’t know God pursue these things, but you have a Father caring for you, a Father who knows all your needs.
Since you don’t need to worry—about security and safety, about food and clothing— then pursue God’s kingdom first and foremost, and these other things will come to you as well.
My little flock, don’t be afraid. God is your Father, and your Father’s great joy is to give you His kingdom.
That means you can sell your possessions and give generously to the poor. You can have a different kind of savings plan:one that never depreciates, one that never defaults, one that can’t be plundered by crooks or destroyed by natural calamities.

Your treasure will be stored in the heavens, and since your treasure is there, your heart will be lodged there as well.

I’m not just talking theory. There is urgency in all this.

Luke 12:29-36

Faith Muscle Rehabilitation

If anyone has been bed ridden or sedentary after a long illness or bad injury, often they will need some sort of physiotherapy to rehabilitate their muscles. After not being used, muscles atrophy and it can be difficult to make them function normally and with any degree of strength again. I noticed it when I was pregnant and had a long bout of morning sickness that left me bed ridden for a couple of months. Afterwards I found it difficult to do even simple things because my legs were so weak, let alone more strenuous exercise. I didn't do much in particular to strengthen my muscles again due to a combination of laziness and preoccupation with a new baby, but I probably should have. It's taken the better part of a year to feel back to normal, whereas with proper exercises and training it may have only taken a couple of months.

Our faith & love muscles have atrophied. I feel like I'm harping on about the negatives of the western world, but I think out insulated lives have a lot to answer for when it comes to our faith, or lack of it.

I'm not discounting anyone's suffering - there's a lot of very real pain no matter where you are in the world. I just mean that there's a lot we can turn to and rely on before we consider God as our best and only option. It's very easy and all too tempting to become self centred, for life to become all about us and how people treat us, and what others do for us.

We don't have all that much opportunity to exercise our faith and love. Not in real, deep, til-it-hurts kinds of ways. Our faith and love are languishing and need some rehabilitation. We need to start actively seeking ways to use them, and it needs to go beyond the day to day.

Sure, buy someone some flowers. That's nice. But it will be a long slow road to powerful love if that's the extent of our exercise.

If we want real change, real heart revival, real and powerful faith, we need a bit of hardcore physiotherapy. Something that extends us, challenges us, maybe even hurts a little.

Jesus didn't go around giving people flowers and writing get well cards. He healed them.

'They'll know we are Christians by our love' doesn't mean 'by how nice we are'. The love of God goes hand in hand with power.

We need to exercise the love of God in us - we are not meant to be so weak and feeble when it comes to faith and love. And we can't do it alone either. The body is meant to work together. The hand can't move without the arm. What use is a strong foot without a strong leg?

Time for some serious love rehab.

Rich or pathetic?

Last time I wrote about how we, the western world, have told God we don't need Him, that we can do it ourselves, and is it any wonder that we feel like we are on our own?

God doesn't force His way in if we've told Him to stay out of our lives - he'll never leave us, and will continue to draw us back - but He gives us the free will to say no to Him. And we've said no so often and so loudly that I think many of us don't even know how to 'need' God anymore.

When Jesus said its easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom, he wasn't saying people with money can't go to heaven - he was pointing out how many obstacles get in the way of us recognising our need and putting God in his true place when we have wealth to rely on.

Consider a person crushed by sickness and poverty. If someone comes and says "I can pray for you and God will heal you", how much nearer are they to the point of saying "Yes, I need God. I've got nowhere else to turn." We, with our profuse wealth and health and safety, don't know what it means to have nowhere else to turn.

At least we think we don't. Intellectually we may know we 'need' God, but most of us are looking at our lives with earthly eyes, and even though we say it, deep down do we really believe it? Are you really relying on God, or are you relying on your prosperity and praying to God that you never lose it.

That's a dangerous position to be in. Because with earthly eyes you are fine and dandy, but that's not what God sees with. "I know your works. You are neither cold with apathy nor hot with passion. It would be better if you were one or the other, but you are neither. So because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. You claim, 'I am rich, I have accumulated riches, and I need nothing'; but you do not realize that you are miserable, pathetic, poor, blind, and naked.

Does that prick your pride? Does it make you defensive to be called pathetic and wretched? Not that we need to dwell on our lack, but it's something to think about when we are tempted to look to ourselves rather than Christ.

We've told God we don't need Him

Sometimes we hear of amazing miracles happening in third world places like the deaf hearing again, the blind seeing, the dead being raised, and we (the western world mainly) wonder - if that stuff is all real, then why don't we see it here too? If God's the same everywhere and in every time, why don't miracles like that happen more here?

Why doesn't God show up?

But let's think about what we have been saying to God...

Have we been worshipping Him with our lives? Have we been devoting ourselves to Him? Have we been telling Him how much we need Him and acknowledging that everything comes from Him?

Or have we been keeping Him at arms length? Have we been paying Him lip service, while going our own way?

We've told Him to stay away. We've told Him we don't need Him. We've told Him we can do it ourselves. And he's let us.

We wonder why God doesn't show up more, but He's just doing what we've asked Him to do.

We think it's too big of an ask to devote our lives to God, because we feel like we'll have to give up too much. So we'd rather go it on our own.

We rely on our own health system, our brains, our safety, our prosperity and wealth. What do we need God for? He might just ask us to give some of it up.

I can't convince anyone of their need for God alone - that comes from each of us, from our hearts to God.

And you can choose to give your life over to God now, even while you prosper, even while you seem to be ok on your own. Or you can do it the hard way, when the trouble comes.

What is going to sustain you when the things of the world crumble? When these things fade away and you realise God upheld it all, and you were putting your hope in the temporary, decaying things, the things of earth instead of the things of God's kingdom.

"O how bad it will be for you who look to the south
to Egypt for help and depend on her horses,
Who trust in its many chariots and fix your hopes on its strong drivers.
Yet you do not look to the Holy One of Israel for relief
or even bother to consult Him.
God is both wise and willing to wreak disaster;
He does not second guess Himself or backtrack on what He says.
God will amass all divine power against those who do evil
and against whoever aids and abets them.
As for Egypt, why do you rely on them?
They are great, yes,
but merely human, not God—their steeds just creatures, not spirits.
But when the Eternal reaches out and makes His power felt,
those who lent their help will stumble; those who looked for help will fall.
Together they will be routed and killed."
Isaiah 31:1-4

The devil wants to keep you from praying any way he can

The devil wants to do whatever he can to keep you from praying.

He wants you to think you're too tired, busy or full of doubt to pray.

And if he can't keep you from praying all together, he wants you to be weak in prayer, to think it doesn't work or Gods not listening or he's too far away.

He wants to do anything he can to keep you from the kind of prayer where you know that you can go boldly to God with anything, that ANYTHING you ask for will be done.

And if the devil works so hard to keep us from bold, effective prayer, there must be a reason. And that reason is that when we get connected to God, we really do have the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, to overcome ALL the power of the enemy.

If the devil knows our authority, so should we. Don't let him keep you from it.

Go boldly to God. Pray without ceasing.