SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/19/2020 12:47 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-5 “The Practice and Reward of True
Giving”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
6:3-4
Message of the verses: “3 "But when
you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4 that your alms may be in secret; and your
Father who sees in secret will repay you.”
I
desire to conclude this section, and this first chapter from Dr. MacArthur’s
commentary on the sixth chapter of Matthew.
Now as we looked at the seven principles of giving we have learned that
when we give generously that we are giving an investment into the Kingdom of
God. God certainly does not need our
money as He own everything, but He does desire our stewardship and our
sacrifice in giving to His Kingdom.
After all it was Jesus who sacrificed Himself for us, and it was no
bearing on how much we have that He did this.
Now because we want spiritual riches more than financial riches, because
we have personally determined to give, because we want to meet as much need as
we can, and because our love compels us to give is exactly what we give to the
work of the Lord.
In
every area of righteous, we find that the key is the heart, and the heart is
the inner attitude that motivates what we say and do. We know that the scribes and Pharisees
desired public righteousness, and actually public righteousness is not to be
rejected, but it is to be done in the spirit of humility, love and
sincerity. Ephesians 2:10 (one of my all
time favorite verses states ) “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in
them.”
In
the area of righteousness we find that Jesus Himself is our supreme and also
most perfect example. Jesus preached His
messages in public, Jesus performed His miracles of healing, compassion, and
power over nature in public settings.
The thing that Jesus did that was different than the scribes and
Pharisees, and also some characters in the church today is that He continually focused
attention on His heavenly Father, whose will alone He came to do as seen in
John 8:49-50 “49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father,
and you dishonor Me. 50 “But I
do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges.” MacArthur writes “when we give alms in
secret, lovingly, unpretentiously, and with not thought for recognition or
appreciation, our ‘Father who sees in secret will repay’ us. The principle is this: if we remember, God will forget; but if we forget,
God will remember. Our purpose should be
to meet every need we are able to meet and leave the bookkeeping to God,
realizing that ‘we have done only that which we ought to have done’ (Luke
17:10).”
We
need not worry that God will miss giving a single reward to us: “13 And there is no creature hidden from His
sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we
have to do” (Heb. 4:13). “We can be
assured that the Lord knows our hearts, our attitudes, and our motives, and
every reward that is due us will be given.”
MacArthur
concludes this section: “It is God’s
perfect plan and will to give rewards to those who faithfully trust and obey
Him. And it is not unspiritual to expect
and anticipate those rewards, if we do so in a spirit of humility and gratitude—knowing
that God’s rewards manifest His grace to the undeserving. We can meet His merciful requirements for
rewards, but we can never truly earn them.
“The
greatest reward a believer can have is the knowledge that he has pleased his
Lord. Our motive for looking forward to
His rewards should be the anticipation of casting them as an offering at His
feet, even as the twenty-four elders one day ‘will cast their crowns before the
throne, saying, ‘Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and
honor and power’ (Rev. 4:10-11).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I believe that it is a privilege to give to
the cause of Christ, a privilege that He will even accept my offerings at all.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust that the Lord will continue to speak
to my heart as I give to the cause of Christ as the Spirit of God directs me to
do.
10/19/2020 1:17 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment