Based on “The Joy of Sharing Ourselves with Others” by Pastor Mark Balmer;
5/26-27/2012, Message #6097; Daily Devotional #4 - “Give ‘til It Hurts”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): Man without God is self-centered. Our human nature is to be a “taker” and not a “giver”. We’ve heard that to transcend that character we have to die to self, which is often painful. Perhaps that’s why we tend to avoid it. But we can only grow to be more like Jesus when we die to old selfish ways.
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): We know that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. But we have to be reminded regularly that “all things” doesn’t necessarily mean what we want, but refers to what the Lord has planned for us. If we remain in Him and He in us, we will bear much fruit, but apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). Jesus tells us how to remain in Him through His living Word, the Bible. It gives us direction through use of parables and role models such as the Good Samaritan. While religious figures selfishly avoided the obvious situation of someone hurt and in distress, the Samaritan got involved. In order to care for the injured man, he put him on his own donkey, which meant that he had to get off and hike the tiresome path instead of riding. He also provided money for a place to recuperate. The Samaritan gave of himself, his time and his money to meet a need. We’re told to do likewise (Luke 10:30-37). Jesus took this concept of sacrificial giving even further when He challenged us all with questions like, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. (Luke 6:32-33) But wherever the Lord challenges us, He gives us the solution. We’re told emphatically to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). God gives grace to those who don’t deserve it; it’s not up to us to withhold it from others. This grace extends to helping others where we know a need. God can meet every need supernaturally but often uses people to help people.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Hearing about the teaching in Taiwan, by faith we believe that God could have supernaturally given Pastor Mark the ability to speak Mandarin Chinese, if He chose. But He didn’t, instead using James Hudson Taylor IV to translate the teachings. God gets the glory of the powerful testimony of those two people working together as one. God also wants to use me to help you and you to help me, and us to help others for His glory. Our lives in Christ are a wonderful tapestry woven together in ways we can’t even begin to comprehend until we die to the worldly notions of what we’re supposed to do and how we’re supposed to act. The world would have us believe that we help those who can help us or love those who love us. But Jesus came and broke the bonds that constrained us to that way of thinking. We read in the Bible how Jesus served the poor, the weak, the sick, prostitutes and tax collectors. He did not come to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28). He humbled Himself for others’ sake. We’re called to do no less.
Cultivating (Additional Reading): James 4:1-10
JC
Calvary Chapel of Melbourne; 2955 Minton Road; W. Melbourne, FL 32904; 321-952-9673
All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.