Your Refreshing Supply Is In Refreshing Others!
(Editor's note: The Hebrew notion of Salvation (Deliverance) included much more than forgiveness and eternal life. Salvation meant freedom from debt, worry, fear and sickness. Power over enemies, total victory and possession of a land was integral to the concept. Today many believers have been put off by hyper-prosperity teaching. This teaching may have been responsible for many believers retreating entirely from the True Gospel, which portrays CREATOR as SUPPLIER!
Refreshed Picture this. You are climbing a mountain in the heat of summer. You have been on your trek since early morning and it is now mid-afternoon. The sun has been beating down and you are tired, sweaty and thirsty. Suddenly you come across a small but adequate spring bursting from a mountain rock. It falls a few feet into a pool. You remove shoes and wade right into the pool. It is cool but not too cold. The sweet fragrance of artesian, spring-fed water fills your nostrils. Then you cup your tired and hot hands and drink your fill of this cool living liquid! Now that's refreshing! There have been times in my life when I was financially climbing that same mountain. It seemed like nothing I was doing was working. Well actually it seemed like everything I was doing was working against me! Been there? Then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, refreshing came! Usually it came just in time (way past my schedule). But I will tell you a sad story. There were times when refreshing did not come. I have heard a story or two about the LORD causing money to appear in the hands of the needy. This may have happened, but the usual method for refreshing comes at the hands of HIS faithful and obedient servant. My next statement is going to come as a blow to some. If you are wealthy in this world's standards, FATHER did not bless you to spend it all on yourself. Not that you do. But is is not only for your biological family either. And it is not just so that you can tithe to your church . . . HE has given you stewardship over wealth to be a refresher! And when I say wealthy in this world's standards, remember that 75-80% of this world's population do not have enough to eat! To be able to put food on our table and clothes on our backs and have a place to live is a form of great wealth! You may be saying to yourself, "Yeah! Go get the rich . . . They need to be giving that money away." Well, here is something for us all. The widow lady that JESUS praised at the temple was not rich! She was a wise steward, though, and she gave everything she had. She may have been reading the same Scripture we have before us today. FATHER refreshes those who refresh others. There is a cute saying I have heard over the years, "If what's in your bank account won't meet your need, it can't be your harvest. it must be your seed." Clever saying. Something to think about. To sum it up . . . Would you like to prosper? Then be generous! Would you like to be refreshed? Then go today and refresh someone. Maybe you could anonymously buy groceries for a single mom (or single dad) and leave them on the doorstep. A friend of mine overheard a co-worker lamenting the theft of her wallet with all her money in the world inside. Later that day he slipped a $100 dollar bill into her purse without her knowing. Visit a local home for unwed pregnant teens who are avoiding abortion, and bring gifts of love. Make it a fun thing! Buy Teddy Bears for your local hospital children's ward. Be creative. Be spontaneous. Be Blessed! Be Refreshed! |