Category: Christian Love

A Life that is Good

Life can not be good apart from God because only God is good. One of the meanings of the word “good” is the highest form of love.

Matthew 19:17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good…

The “good” person only does good to others. If it is not loving then it is not God’s will and if it is God’s will then it will always be the highest expression of love not only for you but for all who are affected by your action.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

This is impossible apart from God but through Him not only is it possible but it is the life that He has planned for you. You are His workmanship made for “good” works which he has planned beforehand for you.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

This is why it is crucial that you learn to hear His voice and follow Him because He will lead you in the good works that He has already accomplished but He wants you to share in the joy.

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

He knows you and knows what is best for you, or in other words, what is “good” for you. His plan for you is exactly what you need and what will fulfill you and make you the happiest. This is why it is so important for you to stay on the “potter’s wheel” and let Him finish making you into the vessel that He has designed you to be. You will love it!

Isaiah 64:8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand.

Does He not know what He is doing? Is He not the Master and you His masterpiece? Does He have hands to form you into something beautiful? Yes, yes and yes!

Isaiah 45:9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?

Don’t quarrel with Him or compare yourself to others. He knows what He is doing and it is perfect.

II Corinthians 10:12 For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.

When we compare ourselves with others then we are without understanding, which means that we do not know Him. When you thank Him for His plan for your life you are expressing trust in Him and faith and then you will receive understanding.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

His plan for you is not only good and loving but when you trust Him and experience His plan then you will have a future and a hope.

A Life that Wins

Everyone wants to wins. The Lord wants you to win and so He tells us how you can live like a true winner. A graceful wreath is what the Olympian winners used to wear and even today the winners of the Olympics wear an ornament around their neck.

Proverbs 1:8,9 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;
Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head
And ornaments about your neck.

This father’s instruction to his son, the very first thing that he addresses is who his friends will be and what to do if sinners try to entice him.

Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.

This father knows that people will want to lead us astray and there are certain people that we need to stay away from and they are the ones who gain by violating the Word of God. You will win or lose in life by the friends you choose.

Proverbs 1:19 So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence;
It takes away the life of its possessors.

The opposite of gaining by violating God’s ways is wisdom. This father knows his child needs wisdom. We desperately need wisdom. The naive person just does not have knowledge and they don’t understand the need for knowledge. To the naive person ignorance is bliss. Scoffers turn their back on knowledge and fools are hostile to knowledge and don’t want to hear it at all.

Proverbs 1:20-22 Wisdom shouts in the street,
She lifts her voice in the square;
At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:
How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools hate knowledge?

People don’t love the knowledge of God’s ways because it brings reproof. However, the Lord has a sweet promise for those who will turn to Him and receive His reproof. He will pour out His Spirit on their lives and make His Words known to them.

Proverbs 1:23 “Turn to my reproof,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.

If you want to know God’s Words then He tells you that you must turn to Him and listen to His reproof. Reproof is correction and it may be painful but not nearly as painful as the consequence of not listening to His wisdom.

Proverbs 1:24-30 Because I called and you refused,
I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
And you neglected all my counsel
And did not want my reproof;
I will also laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your dread comes,
When your dread comes like a storm
And your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,
Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord.
They would not accept my counsel,
They spurned all my reproof.

Turn to Him now and call upon Him while He is near. Call on Him before the anxious moments come and the stressful times are upon you. Choose to be naive and choose death. Choose to be foolish and choose destruction.

Proverbs 1:31,32 So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way
And be satiated with their own devices.
 “For the waywardness of the naive will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

Fill your heart with His wisdom. Don’t neglect your time with Him. Choose Him and you will choose life. This father knows that his child needs wisdom to live securely and to be at ease from the dread of evil. Do you struggle with anxiety? Do you listen to the news of the world and it puts a dreadful feeling in you? The Lord does not want you to live this way. Listen to Him and learn His ways.

Proverbs 1:33 But he who listens to me shall live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

 

A Life that Delights

We all delight in certain things in life, whether it may be food or certain forms of entertainment or something else. To delight in something means that it brings us immense joy and happiness to do it. One of the secrets of a life that is lived to the fullest is delighting in the right things. Some of the things may be harmful and some may not be harmful but not all are profitable.

Psalm 119:16 I shall delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word.

When we learn to delight in His Word then we will remember it. One of the keys for retaining God’s Word is to delight in it. We remember the things we love.

Psalm 119:24 Your testimonies also are my delight;
They are my counselors.

When we delight in God’s Word then His Word will counsel us and tell us what to do. Also, God’s Word will provide the counsel that we can give to others so that their lives will be helped rather than damaged by bad counsel. If it is not God’s Word then it is not godly, Christian counseling.

Psalm 119:47 I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love.

Again, we will remember His commandments when they are our delight and they will not seem burdensome but a joy to keep. If God’s Word seems like a burden to you then something is amiss in your relationship with Him. Go back to just delighting in Him and you will again want to please Him by living a life of faith and obedience.

Psalm 119:77 May Your compassion come to me that I may live,
For Your law is my delight.

When His Word is again your delight then His love will come to you in new and fresh ways that you never saw before and you will live life to the fullest.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.

He reserves one of His sweetest promises for the person who learns to delight in Him. Ask Him to help you. He wants to be your delight and He wants to give you the desires of your heart.

A Life that Reaches Out

Jesus Christ has touched your life if you are a Christian. He reached out and touched you through someone else. When Jesus walked on earth He touched the lives of many people. He was not afraid to reach out and touch others.

Psalm 72:13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the lives of the needy he will save.

The godly lady learns how to reach out to the poor and needy. Some of us have to learn how to reach out and touch but for others it comes more naturally or they were brought up in an affectionate and loving environment. Either way, however we learn to touch and reach out, it is something God has called us to do and will bring healing and love to others.

Proverbs 31:20 She extends her hand to the poor, and she stretches out her hands to the needy.

The Lord has called us all to reach out to someone. Ask Him to put someone on your heart who He wants you to reach out to. The guilt of Sodom was that she did not reach out to the poor and needy, thus she became haughty and immoral. She and the other cities around her had abundant food, arrogance and time but rather than reaching out to the poor and needy she became prideful, indulgent and self centered.

Ezekiel 16:49,50 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.

Jesus did not reach out to everyone but He touched the poor and needy and the children.

Matthew 19:13-15 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

Jesus even touched the lepers who were considered the untouchables.

Luke 5:13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Jesus allowed Himself to be touched by His disciples. John wrote at the beginning of His letter that they touched Jesus. Jesus was the Word of Life that became flesh and dwelt among men on earth. He reached out and touched and He was allowed to be touched.

I John 1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—

All of us are at different levels of maturity in our Christian life and have different gifts. If you are beginning to grow in the Lord, ask him to help you. If you need healing so that He can use you to bring healing to others then ask Him for healing. He is the Great Healer and He restores us. He has blessed you and He wants you to bless Him and be a blessing to others.

Psalm 103:1-4 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

 

A Life that is Not Timid

Three times in Scripture the Lord talks about the timid and timidity and uses the same Greek word. The first time is in the Gospels when He was with His disciples and He rebuked them for being timid. He reproved them doubting His love.

Mark 4:36-40 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still have no faith?”

The word cowardly in this passage has the meaning of being timid. He reproved them because they questioned whether He cared about them during the storm in their lives. The Lord does not reprove us for being afraid but He does reprove us for doubting His love when we are afraid. He wants you to by faith, trust Him and His love for you then He wants you to come to Him so that He can calm the storms in your life. Has He not promised to care for you and He loves you.

I Peter 5:6,7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

It is more tempting to doubt His love than to doubt His power. Martha and Mary did not doubt His love but His power when their brother died. 

John 11:21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

Again, if He had been there the situation would not have happened.

John 11:32Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Often we do not come to Him because we feel that He really does not care about us in our situation.

II Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

The Lord says that He has not given us a spirit of timidity. He wants us to come to Him to receive power to face the storms that He will still. He wants us to love Him and loving Him is coming to Him with our fears. He wants us to be disciplined in our relationship with Him and give Him our cares and concerns every morning before we face the day.

Revelation 21:7,8 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

The word here “cowardly” in the book of Revelation means the same as timid. In all three of these instances in Scripture it is the same Greek word, which means timid or cowardly or afraid. The second death is hell. These are the cowards, timid and those who are afraid to come to Him. Sin and unbelief causes us to not go to Him.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

Grace is an invitation to come to Him and faith is coming to Him. Salvation is the gift He gives to those who come to Him. His salvation includes not only eternal salvation in the life to come but saving us from the storms in this present life, .

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Are you struggling with storms in life? Go to Him and experience His rest for your soul in this present life. Are you struggling with sin and guilt? Go to Him and experience His forgiveness and cleansing. He loves you and cares about the things that concern you, whether it is an outward storm or an inward storm. Jesus is our salvation and came to save us.

 

A Life that Gains Understanding

Understanding is the knowledge of Him that the Lord gives to us but understanding can also be taken away from us.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Wisdom and understanding go together and the lady is blessed who gains wisdom and understanding.

Proverbs 3:13 How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.

With understanding comes less discipline. Discipline is painful.

Proverbs 10:13 On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found, But a rod is for the back of him who lacks understanding.

The Lord gives understanding.

II Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

Jesus came that we might have understanding.

I John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

Immorality and indulging our flesh takes away understanding.

Hosea 4:11 Harlotry, wine and new wine take away the understanding.

Without understanding we are ruined.

Hosea 4:14 …So the people without understanding are ruined.

A true spiritual leader, who is a shepherd of God’s people will feed His people with the knowledge of Him. Go where you will be fed spiritually. The Lord has not called His shepherds to entertain or to even be popular but to be faithful. Jesus said to Peter before He departed, “if you love Me, feed My sheep”.

Jeremiah 3:15 Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding.

In this world where we don’t know who to trust, we know that we can trust Him but we must know Him and understand His ways. He promises to deliver us from those who are deceitful if we know Him and have understanding.

Proverbs 2:2-12 Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will discern the fear of the Lord
And discover the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
Guarding the paths of justice,
And He preserves the way of His godly ones.
Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course.
For wisdom will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
Discretion will guard you,
Understanding will watch over you,
To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things;

Make your ear attentive, cry to Him and lift your voice for understanding. Seek understanding. He will be your shield and preserve your ways. You will discern the right course to take and discretion will guard you. Understanding will watch over you to deliver you from the way of evil and from men who would lie to you and try to deceive you to take advantage of you.

A Life with Love is More than Being Sorry

Even when Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying what the Lord had commanded them God still loved them. He still wanted to communicate with them.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. Genesis 3:6,7

They hid from Him but God did not hide from them.

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8

They hid from God and knew they were naked so they made coverings out of fig leaves for themselves. For the first time they were afraid.

Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9

However, even in their fear they were honest with God about what they had done. They did not deny what they had done.

He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” Genesis 3:11

The Lord provided for them because He loved them. In spite of their sin the Lord knew that they needed help. The Lord gave them what they needed.

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Genesis 3:21

Cain, on the other hand, denied his sin to the Lord.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9

Of course the Lord knew what Adam and Eve had done before He asked them and He knew what Cain had done. He also knows what each of us has done but He wants to know if we will be honest with Him.

He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4:10-12

Adam and Eve repented of their sin and sought to obey God from that time on. Cain seemed to be sorry for the consequences rather than sorry for what he had done. There does not seem to be any desire for obedience.

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear! Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Genesis 4:13,14

The Lord still showed Cain mercy and provided for him. He did not need coverings as Adam and Eve did after they sinned but he needed protection. The Lord provided protection for Cain. The Lord still loved Cain and heard his cry for help.

So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him. Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Genesis 4:16a

There are still two kinds of people. There are those who repent of their sins and turn to the Lord and there are those who are sorry for the consequence of their sins but there is no desire to change. Peter wept over his sin when he denied the Lord and grieved over what he had done.

And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. Matthew 26:75

Judas on the other hand, was sorry for what he had done, but there was no repentance.

Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. Matthew 27:3-5

The Lord loved both Peter and Judas. The Lord loves each of us and has shown us His kindness over and over again desiring that we will repent and come to Him.

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:4

Peter was restored in his relationship with the Lord and Judas was not. The Lord came to restore us. He loves us but He wants us to not only be sorry for what we have done but to turn away from our sin and turn to Him with all of our heart. He wants us to love Him. He wants our hearts. Love is more than just being sorry for what you have done. Love is changing and going in a different direction so you won’t do the same thing. If you love someone then you will get help rather than continuing to hurt them over and over again. Love is more than just being sorry. Love is repentance and changing.

A Life with Love Gives Worth

Love gives worth to the one being loved. It is sin that makes us feel worthless. The more we sin then the less worth that we will feel about ourselves. We are made in the image of God and each time that we sin then that image becomes hidden more and more and our worth diminishes in our own sight until we feel totally worthless.

A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, Proverbs 6:12

A wicked person begins to be wicked in their heart. The heart of the wicked is worth little.

The heart of the wicked is worth little. Proverbs 10:20

A wicked person is one who believes in God but only enough to make himself feel good. Their belief in God does not change their behavior or life. The wicked are ungodly and live as if there will be no judgment day before God. They are pretentious enough to seek to be accepted by others. They want God and the world.

Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
For it flatters him in his own eyes
Concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.
The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
He plans wickedness upon his bed;
He sets himself on a path that is not good;
He does not despise evil. Psalm 36:1-4

The wicked person will say that he hates what he does that violates his conscience…uses bad language, drinks too much, looks at things they should not look at, gossips, etc. but they do not hate it enough to stop. They are not willing to get help or to do whatever they need to do to be set free from the snare of sin. The wicked person has ceased to be wise and to do good. At one time he wanted to do right and to do good but he no longer despises sin. Either we will love sin and hate God or we will love God and hate sin. We can not do both.

Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Your judgments are like a great deep.
O Lord, You preserve man and beast. Psalm 36:5,6

It is only God’s love that can preserve us. Only the Lord can restore the worth that God gave to man before the fall. Something is worth only what someone is willing to pay for it. God was willing and wanted to redeem us from the power, penalty and presence of sin and He did so by sending His only begotten Son to pay the price for our salvation. Jesus Christ paid the ransom for our life. Jesus Christ took our place on the cross and took death for us so that we could have life.

For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. I Corinthians 6:20

We could not redeem ourselves or restore our worth.

knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. I Peter 1:18,19

We were helpless. Christ died for us while we were sinners. We have been justified and saved from the wrath of God which is coming upon those who have not believed in Jesus Christ. We have been restored in our relationship with God. It is God’s love that saves, justifies and reconciles us.

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Romans 5:6-11

It is only in Christ’s love that our worth is restored. It is only in God’s love that we can give worth to another. For this reason, it is important that we are filled with God’s love. When we are filled with God’s love then we give worth to each other. If a husband and wife fuss and fight with each other then they destroy each other’s self worth. When a wife does not feel loved then her worth in her own eyes is diminished. When a husband is shamed or not respected then the temptation is to become bitter toward his wife because she is destroying his self worth. When two people marry then they give each other the power over their lives to build up or destroy. People will go where they are praised and built up. Children will go where they are loved and praised. Let your marriage and home be filled with the love of God so that it will be a refuge and shelter from the storms of life and where all who enter will feel loved and of great worth.

A Life with Love Perseveres

Love does not give up when it wants to quit. Sometimes life can seem overwhelming and the temptation is great to stop trying to do what we need to do. Adam and Eve, in a sense, lost both of their sons at the same time. Cain killed Abel and then he had to leave home. We know that he married for he had offspring and the only girl that was available was one of his sisters. So, that means that Adam and Eve also had a daughter leave home at the same time.

Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.” Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Genesis 4:1.2a

Adam and Eve could have given up and not had anymore children. Maybe they felt like a failure. Their firstborn son had killed his brother. Their hearts were probably broken and there was much grief. Sin brings grief, not only to the one who commits the sin, but also to everyone else that feels the impact. There is a ripple effect. The devil wants you to believe that the “action” that you want to do will only affect you. That is not true. Sin will cost you more than you want to pay and hold you in its power longer than you want to stay. Sin brings death. This was never a part of God’s plan for Adam and Eve or for Cain and Abel.

For the wages of sin is death Romans 6:23a

However, Adam and Eve did not allow circumstances to determine their obedience. They persevered in obeying the Lord. He had instructed them to multiply and so they were committed to having more children.

Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.” Genesis 4:25

Eve had become very humble. Each time that she gave birth she gave the glory to the Lord. Eve realized that she can do nothing apart from the help of the Lord. Adam and Eve could persevere during the dark days because their help was in God. The only way that we will not give up is if our faith is in One who is greater than ourselves.

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5

We can do nothing good apart from God. We will bear fruit, much fruit, when we learn to abide in the Lord. Even though Adam and Eve lived in a barren land their life became fruitful because they depended on the Lord. When they lived in a land of plenty, in the Garden of Eden, they did not bear fruit because they depended on their own reasonings rather than on the Lord.

To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord. Genesis 4:26

In the barren land Adam and Eve bore fruit for eternity because they looked to the Lord. Men began to call on the Lord after Seth was born and a godly line began that eventually brought forth the promised One who would strike the serpent on the head. It is in our humility that we can persevere and bear much fruit and then we will see the goodness and power of God.

A Life of Generosity and Joy

Generosity and joy go hand and hand. The Lord Himself said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Giving gets your eyes off of yourself and your interests and needs and causes you to become aware of the needs of others around you. The ore yo give, the more your cup of joy will overflow.

Acts20:35 In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Giving gives you a heart for the Lord, for where your treasure is there will your heat be also. Your heart will follow your treasure. Time and money are two of your treasures that you can give away.

Matthew 6:21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The generous person will be prosperous or successful.

Proverbs 11:25 The generous man will be prosperous,

Give to those who can not pay you back. The Lord says that even sinners give to those from whom they will receive something back. When you give to the needy of His people you are giving to the Lord.

Matthew 25:35-40  For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

The person who gives to the rich will come to poverty. Give to a person in need and they will give you their heart.  When you meet the need of the needy then you are removing the obstacle in their life so that they can hear the Gospel. You are allowing them to see the love and truth of God so that they can hear the love and truth of the Lord.

Proverbs 22:16 He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself Or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Give to the poor and the Lord says that He Himself will pay you back. It is the only time in Scripture where the Lord says that He will become man’s debtor. His payment is in full and more. He remains no man’s debtor.

Proverbs 19:17 One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord,  And He will repay him for his good deed.

Give to those who have helped you spiritually.

Galatians 6:6 The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.

Your cup of joy will overflow as you give to the Lord by giving to His people, the needy and to reach others for Christ.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”