May. May I?
May Day! Cinco de Mayo. National Day Of Prayer. Memorial Day.
Spring Flowers. Marlene’s
Birthday. Angela’s Birthday. I graduated from Texas Christian University
(1967). I graduated from The Eastern
Baptist Theological Seminary (1972). My
(first) Wedding Day. My son, Ryan,
received his Ph.D. Baseball. May I ask, ‘What’s May to you?’
Months,
dates, numbers, years…. As we reflect on
these – as we reflect on life – what memories do we have? What memories are we making? What goals do you have for your life that you
will be working on during May? Age is
inconsequential! I received a Christmas
letter from a retired Missionary a number of years ago in which he stated that
during the past year he had attained one of his ‘life goals.’ Namely, he had completed reading the whole
Bible for the 200th time! He
was in his 80’s. I was impressed.
As
I look at my life, I am often driven to admit that ‘I’ve traveled around this
mountain long enough!’ I must climb higher. I must move forward. I must get out of the rut I’m in. I must change. I remember such a time. I knew things had to change. I was not born and saved and called for the
rut that I was in. I cried out to God
and He took me down a couple of paths in the ensuing months.
The First Path: I got serious
about giving as seed that I was sowing – about giving with an unknown, but
intended, end (harvest) in mind. I came
to know in my knower that harvesting follows sowing, reaping follows planting,
receiving follows giving. I don’t have
the gift of giving, but I have the heart and desire to give – AND GOD JUST
KEEPS GIVING BACK TO ME MORE THAN I’VE GIVEN TO HIM AND IN HIS NAME! I want to give more. I want to give my best. I want to give my all – my everything. This is true whether it’s money, time,
giftings, effort, etc. I began tithing
my income as a young guy – not because my parents told me to, but because God
in His Word told me to. By God’s Grace,
I’ve grown beyond that – and I want to grow more and more! I came across two quotes today that impacted
me along these lines.
(1)
Blessed are those who can give
without remembering and receive without forgetting. ~ Elizabeth Bibesco
(2)
A
wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a
stream. The next day she met another
traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her
food. The hungry traveler saw the
precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good
fortune. He knew the stone was worth
enough to give him security for a lifetime.
But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how
valuable the stone is, but I give it back to you in the hope that you can give
me something that is far more precious.
Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”
~ Unknown
So,
what are YOU holding onto too tightly?
What’s holding on too tightly to you?
The Second Path: Hmm.
I’m about out of time here – and space.
I’ll pick this up next month. Let
me just say that this path was all about learning to Pray ‘The Prayer Of
Jabez.’ Prayer is a command from God’s
Heart to the hearts of His children. I
can’t find a Teaching in His Word where He tells us to Pray so He can say,
‘No.’ In ‘The Prayer Of Jabez,’ Jabez
asked for four things and God said ‘Yes’ four times. Check it out for yourself in I Chronicles
4:9-10.
Keep
giving and keep Praying! God Bless! - P. T. J
