Joy: Week 2 - Day 5
OPENING PRAYER:
Dear Lord, thank you for your ever-present help in times of trouble. Help us to turn to you in all things. Help us to see our brothers and sisters who are in need. Help us to be generous so that we can know the joy in giving.
19” And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
REFLECT:
This week we have looked at Paul’s example of contentment and we know that as we share with others, God will provide for our needs.
There’s a famous story about a small village where an elderly woman had died. She was penniless, uneducated and unsophisticated; however, during her lifetime her selfless giving made an impact for God on those in her village. On her tombstone were chiseled these words: “She did what she couldn’t.”
The list of things we can’t do is probably infinite. The only way to do the hard, the impossible, is to do it God’s way.
APPLY:
I love the reminder to be generous in this poem by William Wordsworth:
Give all thou canst;
High Heaven rejects the lore
of nicely calculated less or more.
Today consider the question: Do I experience joy in giving?
CLOSING PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, we praise you for showing us the ultimate sacrifice in giving of your son, Jesus, for us. The forgiveness and grace heaped upon us is unearned and undeserved. Let us turn that gift into sweet offerings back to you, by your strength. Amen.