Little things?

(05.17.21 – Value -Matthew 5:38-42)

My friend, may I ask you a question? When we choose to see our problems as obstacles, something to try to find our way around instead of something that can be tackled head-on, do we often end up making the problem bigger and deeper than it is?

My friend, life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

We invest a good deal of time watching television or playing video games without demanding an equal return on every minute we invested in the time spent. We invest effort in eating a hearty meal without thinking to invest an equal amount of effort in exercising to insure that the food be put to good use. However, when it comes to our money, many of us are much more zealous in accounting for every penny we spend, even to what we put in the offering plate on Sunday morning. Why? What is it about parting with our money that makes us accountable when other things in life, things that God freely blesses us with, don’t? Is it because we trust that God will always give us the time to live but not the means to live by that time?

How DOES God want us to invest our time? Where does He want us to look for the value of each moment that He gives us in this life?

Here's a story: The Women's Ice Skating Competition in the 2002 Winter Olympics was supposed to be a clash of the titans for the gold with U.S. skater Michelle Kwan pitted against Russia's Irina Slutskaya. Sara Hughes, a 16-year-old fourth place contender, however, stunned the world when she took the gold. Both Kwan and Slutskaya felt the pressure of the event. Kwan fell during her performance and Slutskaya's performance appeared uninspiring. Hughes, on the other hand, wasn't concerned about the outcome. She stepped out onto the rink and skated her heart out. She skated with style, innovation and polish. As a result, she skated a performance that was both beautiful and flawless. Her attitude seemed to be that she had a gift that was fun and she was anxious to share it; what she had that the others lacked was, simply, joy. She skated with a sense of joy that was immediately revealed in not only her scores but also her smile. Her concern was for the joy of skating, as she trusted in her performance, not in the investment she had made to get there. (Source Unknown)

When dealing with the temporal goods God has given us, including our money, we need to trust that even when it doesn’t seem likely our dollar will return equal shares on our investments any time soon, Christ calls us to "freely" give without regard for the return. It is a matter of trust, trust that God will always replace what we give with something of even greater value! The next time you are tempted to be ungenerous in favor of being practical consider this: generosity is God's way of training us to receive His great blessings. Step out in faith and be filled with joy. Acquire the art of trusting God in the little things. It will pay great dividends both now and in eternity.

We pray. Heavenly Father, when dealing with our temporal goods, includingmoney, give us a spirit to trust that even when it doesn’t seem likely our dollar will return equal shares on our investments, You call us to "freely" give without regard for a return. Forgive us when we do not trust that You that our investment will reap even greater value in You heavenly bank account! The next time we are tempted to be ungenerous remind us of this: generosity is Your way of training us to receive even greater blessings. Move us to step out in faith and be filled with joy so that we acquire the art of trusting You in the little things that will pay great dividends both now and in eternity. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.

If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”

<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.

Little things?

(05.17.21 – Value -Matthew 5:38-42)

My friend, may I ask you a question? When we choose to see our problems as obstacles, something to try to find our way around instead of something that can be tackled head-on, do we often end up making the problem bigger and deeper than it is?

My friend, life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

We invest a good deal of time watching television or playing video games without demanding an equal return on every minute we invested in the time spent. We invest effort in eating a hearty meal without thinking to invest an equal amount of effort in exercising to insure that the food be put to good use. However, when it comes to our money, many of us are much more zealous in accounting for every penny we spend, even to what we put in the offering plate on Sunday morning. Why? What is it about parting with our money that makes us accountable when other things in life, things that God freely blesses us with, don’t? Is it because we trust that God will always give us the time to live but not the means to live by that time?

How DOES God want us to invest our time? Where does He want us to look for the value of each moment that He gives us in this life?

Here's a story: The Women's Ice Skating Competition in the 2002 Winter Olympics was supposed to be a clash of the titans for the gold with U.S. skater Michelle Kwan pitted against Russia's Irina Slutskaya. Sara Hughes, a 16-year-old fourth place contender, however, stunned the world when she took the gold. Both Kwan and Slutskaya felt the pressure of the event. Kwan fell during her performance and Slutskaya's performance appeared uninspiring. Hughes, on the other hand, wasn't concerned about the outcome. She stepped out onto the rink and skated her heart out. She skated with style, innovation and polish. As a result, she skated a performance that was both beautiful and flawless. Her attitude seemed to be that she had a gift that was fun and she was anxious to share it; what she had that the others lacked was, simply, joy. She skated with a sense of joy that was immediately revealed in not only her scores but also her smile. Her concern was for the joy of skating, as she trusted in her performance, not in the investment she had made to get there. (Source Unknown)

When dealing with the temporal goods God has given us, including our money, we need to trust that even when it doesn’t seem likely our dollar will return equal shares on our investments any time soon, Christ calls us to "freely" give without regard for the return. It is a matter of trust, trust that God will always replace what we give with something of even greater value! The next time you are tempted to be ungenerous in favor of being practical consider this: generosity is God's way of training us to receive His great blessings. Step out in faith and be filled with joy. Acquire the art of trusting God in the little things. It will pay great dividends both now and in eternity.

We pray. Heavenly Father, when dealing with our temporal goods, includingmoney, give us a spirit to trust that even when it doesn’t seem likely our dollar will return equal shares on our investments, You call us to "freely" give without regard for a return. Forgive us when we do not trust that You that our investment will reap even greater value in You heavenly bank account! The next time we are tempted to be ungenerous remind us of this: generosity is Your way of training us to receive even greater blessings. Move us to step out in faith and be filled with joy so that we acquire the art of trusting You in the little things that will pay great dividends both now and in eternity. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.

If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”

<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.