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BACKGROUND
PRAISE
Worship
Worshipper
WORSHIP
Prayer
PRAYER
Fast
FASTING
Tithe
TITHES
Gift
GIFT
The
full background to this teaching is available online at this link
Click Here
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Online links to scriptures (New International Version [NIV] unless otherwise stated) are shown in blue
| WHY GIVE TO GOD? |
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 A very good question! Surely, if God created us and owns “the cattle on a thousand hills†(Psalm 50:10) there is nothing we can give Him anyway! Sounds pretty good logic to me! Reminds me of a good joke. “Yesterday I got given everything in the world. Now I don’t know where to put it all!†(Steven Wright)
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 But there is one thing God doesn’t own – us! Why? Because He wants us to own Him! If God had wanted to own us He would have created us as human robots, programming us to do His will. Now that sounds a pretty good idea for teenagers – from a parent’s perspective anyway! But God desires from us what most seek in a marriage – love, relationship, companionship, etc. It is most interesting that none of these things can be purchased over a shop counter. The world may try to convince us that they can be bought, through deceptive counterfeits. For example, lust for love. But, in reality, love is voluntary, given as a matter of choice.
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 But in order for a choice to be made, there must be at least two alternatives to choose between. Now, can you start to see where God is coming from? To develop a loving relationship with us, He had to give us the choice (called freewill) of loving Him or not. So we can choose to live in “sin†(apart from God) or in “righteousness†(right standing with God). It is our choice.
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 But David, what does this have to do with giving? Everything! How? Well, there are several ways we communicate to another person that we love them.
1. We tell them so. Spiritual equivalent is ‘praise and worship.’
2. We give them presents. Spiritual equivalent is ‘tithes and gifts.’
3. We put our own desires second. Spiritual equivalent is ‘prayer and fasting.’
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 Isn’t it amazing how the natural patterns are duplicated in the spiritual. This is the way we obtain much of our understanding about things spiritual – by applying natural principles to the unseen spiritual world, as revealed to us through God’s word, the Bible.
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 We can sum up our Christian walk with the ‘3 S’s’ of Salvation, Spirit and Submission? We will see that our attitude towards each of the 3 areas of giving detailed below, depends on what stage we are at in our walk with the Lord. Some of the ideas presented may appear a bit radical to you. Please don’t just reject them out of hand though. May I suggest you put problem areas to one side and come back to them another time.
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 For these matters are very personal and challenging, cutting to the very core of our beliefs and faith level. I know it! For I have experienced many challenges in these areas over the years too! I have argued with myself, with my wife, with my pastor, with my God, and lost, nearly every time! I well know the feeling of knowing what I should do, then finding every excuse not to do it? Just a tip from experience! It is easiest to give in quickly and gracefully, because it makes bowing to the inevitable a lot less painful! That is, of course, if we really do desire to walk in God’s will for our lives.
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 Please remember that there is no condemnation from God or David if you don’t feel able to agree with, or aspire to, what is written. For God does not set religious rules. He just desires our love to the extent we are able to give it. For even the best of us, (which I am not) fail from time to time, none having reached perfection just yet! So please be encouraged, we are all in the same boat.
For we are all challenged in these areas.
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| <i>NEXT WEEK</i> GIVING TO GOD - PRAISE AND WORSHIP 1 |
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 The form of praise and worship causes more dissension in churches than almost any other matter! For our natural preferences vary and we are also all at different places in God.
Over these next two weeks we are going to try and make some sense of the progression in praise and worship as we get closer to our Lord.
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| A NOTE FROM DAVID |
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 As we look at these vital areas of our response to God's goodness to us, we will no doubt be challenged to reconsider the width and breadth of our commitment to our Lord. I know I have been!
JUDEAN WILDERNESS
The Judean Wilderness occupies the area from the eastern slopes of the Judea Mountains down to the Great Rift Valley, and runs along the western shore of the Dead Sea.
Very little rain falls here, so there are very few plants or animals. Many deep wadis, formed by centuries of rain runoff, penetrate this wilderness. Because it borders fertile mountains ridges for more than fifty miles, villages like Bethlehem were able to support both shepherds and farmers. The shepherds lived on the desert’s fringes, while farmers worked the soil of the mountains.
Because the wilderness was so close to settled areas, it became a refuge for those who sought solitude or safety from the authorities. Here David hid from Saul (1 Sam. 24:1), and John the Baptist isolated himself from the religious practices of the day (Matt. 3). It was also here that the Essenes labored over their scrolls, and early Christians built monasteries, some of which still function today.
Source: http://www.followtherabbi.com
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So until next week.......
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD!
His servant and yours
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A DAVID'S DOODLING
629. A true believer is thankful whatever the circumstances.
David Tait
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Check
out the WWJ website for….
More David's Doodlings: www.wwj.org.nz/dd.php
Facts for Fun: http://www.wwj.org.nz/facts.php
Marriage and Family Facts: http://www.wwj.org.nz/maffacts.php
Just jokes: http://www.wwj.org.nz/jokes.php
Waxing Lyrical: http://www.wwj.org.nz/waxing.php
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