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Sustenance Secret #1: For His Good Pleasure
(Motive)
Rising Above Recession
Introduction When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior God instantly placed His Holy Spirit in our hearts (Eph. 4:30). So, as much as we are willing, we are controlled by the Spirit, and our motives begin to please the Father. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God. (1 Cor. 2:12) The first step toward rising above recession (our circumstances) is to listen to the Spirit. This produces a godly motive.
The Lord GOD is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds' feet, and makes me walk on my high places. (Hab. 3:19) The Word – Mat. 6:1-4 (NASB)
1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
The Secret Jesus taught that a wrong attitude and motive precludes God from blessing us. Therefore we must allow Him to receive the recognition, and not draw attention to our service or giving to others. We must allow Him to work in us and through us “for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). If we draw attention to ourselves we rob Him of His glory and are left on our own.
Insights
◘ Deep Within God sees the heart, where no one else can see. He knows our motive and our ambitions. He evaluates our merit and rewards us accordingly.
“…for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7b)
9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.” (Jer. 17:9-10)
◘ Louder Than Words We like to say that “actions speak louder than words”, but a man's attitude is more important than his actions. Our attitude is driven by our heart’s impulses. When God fills your heart (as you grow in Christ) your attitude and therefore your responses will become more and more godly.
◘ Silent Alarm The Pharisees, when they gave, found a prominent street corner and blew a trumpet to call the poor to them, followed by a public display of their giving. Their motive was for others to see them give. Jesus said, “Do not sound a trumpet before you” (vs. 2). As believers we have God’s Holy Spirit who sounds an inner alarm to tell us, “be humble; do this for God and not for men”. When we ignore this silent alarm we violate God’s purpose and lose His reward.
◘ Secret Reward “…your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Did you ever successfully hide something you did wrong from your parents when you were a child? Maybe, over all the years since then you’ve thought about this and it has bothered you somewhat. At the time you may have been glad that they could not see what you did “in secret”, but it left a bit of a chasm in your relationship with them.
On the flip side did you ever do something good for someone that they never knew was from you? How has this felt to you in the ensuing years? Fortunately there is no hiding from God! He sees not only the action but the attitude and the motive. And he rewards every person with complete equity, even when it appears He takes no action. We like to receive God’s blessings, His provision, His leading, and His help. But we sometimes forget the rest of the formula! This is not to say that our good works or generosity to others produce God’s blessings – never! God is the one who chose us and blesses us, thankfully apart from our merit, by His grace! However there is a relationship between our attitude, motive, and actions and His blessings, much as a father or mother has with their children. Love is freely, unconditionally given, but the reward is not the same for each.
◘ Flexibility Index How flexible are you? Is your heart yielded to God? God loves a pliable, yielded Christ-follower.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. (Ps. 51:17)
As noted in the “Deep Within” notes above God sees the heart and weighs the motive (1 Sam. 16:7b, Prov. 16:2. Ps. 51:17). No wonder Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:1)
When I am inflexible, insisting on “my way” over God’s, He patiently waits for me to “get it” before giving me His best. He reminds us in Isaiah 55:8, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways…," (Isaiah 55:8)
Here is a checklist to evaluate your “Flexibility Index”. Check all that are true of you.
¨ When I’m reading the scripture I often ask God to show Himself to me and direct my life, rather than asking Him to bless what I’m already doing. ¨ When my plans, although godly ones, don’t succeed I consider that God may be saying “wait” or “no” or “change” (do it MY way). ¨ Even when I have very little I take joy in giving to others, even anonymously. ¨ I’ve learned to “wait upon the Lord” for strength and wisdom, not getting ahead of Him. ¨ I sincerely pray, “Have your own way Lord” and I stay alert to His leading. I can honestly say, “Not my will but Yours be done”. I often pray, “For Your glory, Lord”. ¨ I listen carefully to the godly views of others (including my spouse) and ask God to show me if I should do things their way. ¨ Even if God has blessed me when I’ve done things in a certain way with a godly attitude for many years, I submit to a “closed door” (even a business failure) as His new direction for me.
If you checked four or more boxes above you are learning to be flexible and to submit to God’s ways. Flex!
God rewards those who have a “contrite spirit”. How’s yours?
"For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,"
declares the LORD.
For Discussion
1. What is the difference between being steadfast (see 1 Cor. 15:58) and flexible (Ps. 51:17)?
2. Evaluate the statement, “When my pride precedes my prayers God will not hear me”. (See Job 35:12-13, Prov. 1:24-31; Psalms 66:18; Psalms 109:7; Jer. 7:9-10, with 16)
3. On a 1 to 10 scale, one being “completely satisfied”, how content are you with God determining your “reward”?
4. How would you teach a 10 year old the relationship between motive, attitude, and actions?
Next Week: SECRET MESSENGER (Prayer) – Mat. 6:5-18 © copyright 2010, Daniel Kinnoin Lesson: < Previous Lesson | Overview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Next Lesson > |
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