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Closing the Gap 11.13.18

By November 13, 2018Daily Devotional

Week 45 Day 2

Pray:

Ask God to reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.

Read:

2 Cor. 9:6-8 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 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.

Reflect:

Giving is not a law; it is an opportunity.  It is an opportunity for freedom from misguided loves and commitments.  The love of money, Paul told Timothy, is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim. 6:10).  In fact, this love has caused some people to lose their love for God. The writer of Hebrews wrote, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Heb. 13:5).  The love of money is a form of bondage because it robs us of contentment and of faith. Look at the “because” in that verse. We are to stay free of the love of money and be content “because” God has promised to never leave or forsake us. The love of money, which is in effect a “faith” in money, is a threat to faith in God.  Money will leave us, “you can’t take it with you,” but God will not. We were designed with infinite desire, a desire that was meant to be directed towards God. Sin has warped this desire and now we experience an insatiable desire for any number of things that will not and cannot satisfy. Money is often one of the more common of these things people pursue.  Lest you think that if only you had enough money you would not “love it so much,” listen to what Solomon, who was very wealthy, wrote from personal experience: “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless” (Eccl. 5:10). The very poor, the very rich, and everyone in between, can fall into the trap of loving money rather than loving God.  Give as God leads you to give, generously, joyfully, and consistently. Give when you think you can afford to give and also when you do not think you can. Give so that God, not money, will hold your heart and capture your affections. Give because God has said to give and it’s not because he needs your money, but because he wants your heart.

Pray:

(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today.

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