Daily Dose - Episode #13

Daily Dose #13 (Monday, March 30, 2020)

Good morning church family and welcome to Daily Dose Episode #13 for Monday, March 30, 2020.  I hope that your weekend was encouraging and that you had time to pause and enjoy a Sabbath rest with family yesterday.  

Today I want to think about what a generous mindset looks like compared to a mindset of scarcity.  We have talked about having a generous mindset before, and we know we are called to live this way as followers of Jesus.  But what does a generous mindset look like in times of scarcity (or perceived scarcity)?

I can honestly say that over the previous 2-3 weeks as I have ventured to the grocery stores and observed bare shelves – first starting with toilet paper, and then spreading to other items like flour, sugar, pasta, canned goods, meat, produce and dairy items – more than one time I remarked to myself that in my entire life I have never seen anything like this in Canada.

And to be honest, there were moments when fear reared its ugly head and I asked myself questions like this:

·      What if there isn’t enough for my family and I?

·      What if things don’t turn around (as they are promising) and the supply chain does experience problems?

·      What if we run out of (fill in the blank with whatever was on my mind – or whatever empty shelf I was looking at in the moment)?

·      What if…...?

·      What if……?

These questions are driven by fear and by God’s enemy, the devil!  I made the conscious choice to not allow my mind to linger in those thoughts too long – for I know the promises God has for us, and I know how He has called us to live as His followers.  A promise of God that has been very dear to me for my entire adult life is Philippians 4:19 – “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  God has promised to provide the things we need, and He has never, ever, been short in my life – and He’s not about to start now!

But beyond that, beyond trusting God for His provision in my life and the life of my family, God has also called me to live different than the world around me.  I don’t need to hoard because God has promised to provide for me – but I also don’t need to hoard because God has called me to live with a generous mindset, not a mindset of scarcity.

Listen to what God’s Word says to us from a few texts in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.  In 2 Corinthians 8:1-3 we read the following – “And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own.”

Paul is reminding the church in Corinth of the example of the church in Macedonia.  Not only were they generous, but they were generous in the midst of “the most severe trial.”  Not only were they generous, but “their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.”  Paul says that they “gave as much as they were able,” and even gave “beyond their ability.”

As we enter into a time of economic uncertainty, do we have generous hearts and hands?  In times of possible scarcity, are we living as children of our loving King who has promised to provide for us so that we can live generous lives?  Or are we living with fear and uncertainty and turning from generosity to scarcity?

Paul goes on in the next chapter, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, to tell us about generosity yet a bit more.  This is what we read – “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: 

“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

A few quick things we learn again here about generosity vs. scarcity:

·      We reap what we sow (if we sow generosity, we reap generosity – if we sow scarcity, we reap scarcity) (vs. 6).

·      We should be generous, and we should live this way with cheerful hearts (vs. 7).

·      God again reminds us that at all times He will provide us with the things we need to do the good works He has called us to do (vs. 8).

·      God will provide for us so that we can live with a generous mindset all the time (vs. 11).

·      Our generous mindset will lead others to give thanks to God (vs. 11-15).

And so, as we face uncertain times (only God knows how things will play out in this current reality), my challenge is for us as a church family to never waver from our commitment, as individuals and as a church family, to live as people who overflow with generosity.  When you feel the enemy tempting you to believe in the scarcity mindset (that I better get mine because there might not be enough), then I invite you to come back to God’s promises in His Word – both in Philippians 4 and 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 – and renew your commitment to be a person of generosity.  

Are you tempted to hoard right now?  Is there someone in your life with whom you need to share something with?  Who could benefit from your generosity right now – today?

Daily Dose - Episode #12

Sunday, March 29 playlist

 

Blessed Assurance (w/ lyrics)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDeiy9-t2GE

 

Mighty to Save (w/ lyrics)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1jmqVU4RDo

 

Lead me to the Cross (w/ lyrics)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StW6ZKHRCFo

 

Hallelujah for the Cross (w/ lyrics)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7NJc1_t6q0

 

Indescribable (w/ lyrics)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IlVfkY5q54

Daily Dose - Episode #6

Good morning church family – I hope you had a good sleep and are giving thanks for the grace and mercy of God for a new day today.  And I hope that you were able to set aside some time yesterday to worship and reflect on what God is saying and doing in your life.  It is so incredible to consider that our God does not have any kind of “six foot rule” and He is not currently implementing any “social distancing” measures from us.  Daily, each of us has the supernatural opportunity, moment by moment, to draw near to God, and not only that, to lead others to draw near to Him as well.  As we are reminded in James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you….” (NASB)

 

Today’s Daily Dose is coming via email instead of video (look for the next video Daily Dose tomorrow).   As I begin, please read what Paul says in Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

 

There are some very simple and powerful reminders in this short verse alone:

1)    Our God is a God of hope

2)    God will fill us with joy and peace as we put our trust in Him – such a gift

3)    And, not only will God fill us with joy and peace, He will fill us with Himself, with His Holy Spirit, so that His hope will burst forth from our lives to those around us.

Father God, please fill us with your joy, your peace, your hope – and yourself.  And Father, even more than this, please fill us with yourself, your Holy Spirit, so that we can overflow, literally spill over, with your hope to a hurting and fearful world.

 

Let me ask you to reflect on something today during this Daily Dose.  I want to ask each of us to reflect on what God might be doing in the world, in our community, in our church family, and in our personal lives right now.  The rest of James 4:8, quoted above, goes on to say this – “…Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (NASB).  

 

Yes, God invites us to draw near, and He says He will draw near to us as well.  But God also wants us to do something else – He wants us to look into our hearts and reflect on the position of our hearts related to Him. 

 

As we consider the emergence of the coronavirus in the world we live in, and the nation we call home, it has impacted all of our lives.  My guess is that it will continue to impact us in the weeks and even months to come.  And so, along with drawing near to God, what would God want from us in a time like this?

 

Could this be a time for us to re-align our lives with God?  And not just individually, but corporately as a church, and even as a nation!  If we look back to the Old Testament and the story of God and the people of Israel, we can see a pattern that repeats itself.  It seems that whenever there was a major national issue (of which I would say coronavirus is one), God wanted the nation to repent and turn their hearts back to Him.  Notice how things ended up playing out – it was only when the people responded with repentance that God walked them through their struggle.

 

Could this be a time where God is calling us to repent and turn our hearts fully back to Him?  I’d like to invite you to consider a Day of Prayer and Fasting next Monday, March 30 (resources would be provided to help guide our experience that day).  This would be a day where we as a church family (and anyone else we want to invite) will turn our hearts back toward God and ask Him not only to forgive us, and create in us a heart that pursues Him fully, but also that God would forgive our nation as a whole.  Could it be that during this moment in our history we can look to the Scriptures and those who walked before us, and learn from how they handled an event like this?  We live with the cross in mind and under the new covenant, and our standing before God is completely reliant on Jesus and His work.  However, the New Testament does not move us away from a call to repentance, both personally and corporately.

 

And so, as we are called to pray and fast, asking God to intervene in our world, I close with this prayer of David from Psalm 51 (yes, a different context than we are experiencing, but a prayer of repentance nonetheless).

 

Psalm 51 – “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Saviour, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.”

Daily Dose - Episode #1

Hey church family, welcome to Daily Dose Episode #1.  Daily Dose is a tool that will hopefully, on a daily basis, help provide encouragement and information to our Brooks Alliance Church family (and anyone else who wants it).  The hope is to do this via a daily short video blog (but I’ve hit some snags so today’s will be just via email).

As Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 - “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

In these unprecedented times, many of us are receiving a steady diet of information from many sources - news media, Facebook, websites, family and friends, etc.  And as I said in the email to our church family yesterday, we want to encourage you to be mindful of the information you are feeding yourself.  Who are you getting your steady diet of information from?  What are you feeding your mind?  Can I encourage you to please be wise and careful about which voices you listen to during these days - and of course, I want to remind you that our primary source of information should still be for us to be grounded in God’s Word and the things He says to us.

And so, with that in mind, part of what each Daily Dose Episode will include is a portion of God’s Word - so today, this is what God says to us in Psalm 46:

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.  

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.  God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.  Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.”

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.

‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

God is our refuge and strength - what a great reminder.  The Lord Almighty is with us - another great reminder.  And not only that, but in the midst of the chaos around us, we are reminded in verse 10 to “Be still, and know that I am God.”

With many of our minds no doubt racing about what is happening, and what may or may not come next, can I encourage each of us to create a practice that might be new for many - simply that of being still.  Many of us are not good at this discipline, and yet, in the midst of this growing crisis, God invites us to be still, and to know Him IN that stillness!  Did you notice the comma in verse 10?  It says, “Be still” and then there is a comma.  Being still is enough right now.  And in that stillness, God says we can experience Him and know Him.

God is still God - God is still the King of the Universe - and nothing is outside of His power and control at this moment in time.  So I invite you to be still, and rest in the presence of our God today.

And one final note as I wrap this up - let me remind you again that if you need any assistance during these days, please reach out to me or one of the Elders.  And may I also remind you, that if God puts someone on your mind, please reach out to them - don’t wait for someone to do it because God has put them on your mind for a reason.  So get in touch with them, and let’s, all of us, be the Body of Christ during these days.

Heavenly Father, may your presence be so very real to each of us today, and in the days ahead.  And Father, thank you for your sufficient grace that gives us what we need today, as well as each day going forward.  Would you please use these days to shape us more into the image of your Son Jesus, would you use them to build your Kingdom through a great spiritual harvest in the days ahead, and would you inspire your Church to be all you created her to be.  In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen!

Dave