More Than Bread

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This is a hard one. Matthew 18:23-35 is a hard story, but it contains a liberating truth that our hearts need to hear. Jesus says it's our choice. When someone offends, hurts, or betrays us, will we build a prison of bitterness or live in God's overflow of grace?

It's our choice...

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This is the last message in our Life Refreshed, summer in the Psalms series. It was given for a weekend of celebration. But at it's heart it is an invitation to join the story of God, a God whose greatness goes beyond imagination and whose greatness is matched in abundance by His goodness. And how do we join the story of God? Well that's why you need to listen. :)

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 Here is a principle I've repeated more than once in this series. "God's uncontainable blessings come from God's unmistakable presence." But let me add to that with this truth. "His presence comes in community." Now I'm not saying that He's never with you when you are alone. But there is a certainty and power to His presence when even just two or three gather with one heart focused on Jesus.  Why is that important for a discussion on generosity? Well first of all don't miss the practical truth flowing from that statement. Here it is. "We can't live in the overflow alone!"

And living together requires a generosity of another kind. It requires a generosity of grace and forgiveness that begins with the overflowing grace and forgiveness of God. That's where we are headed in this episode.

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In this episode we are going to tell the generosity story of Mary. In the last few days of his life, she gave Jesus a gift that touched his heart. She had a love-burst. She had a moment of tender affection that gripped and expanded her heart so much that it seemed like it might burst. And she had a moment, an act of generosity that has not been forgotten for thousands of years.

I don't know about you, but I want to be remembered as a generous person...a person who gave with his heart...not just his head...a person who was crazy
in love with Jesus and willingly gave into his love-bursts. Have you ever had a love-burst? 

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In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story. It's a story about helping or ignoring Jesus in need. Now at first glance I'm a little unnerved by this story. I don't like the idea of ignoring Jesus in need.  I'm pretty sure that if I saw Jesus, (and I knew it was him) I would help. I would help Jesus-in-need. Don't want to miss him. But what if the point of the story is less about who I've missed and more about my heart? The point of this generosity story isn't to lay out a set of rules and regulations, the point is my heart.  Do I have a generous heart? Am I motivated to get in the generosity game?

And if you think about it, Jesus makes it pretty easy to get in the game. These are not unattainable goals. This is not super bowl giving; a cup of water for someone who is thirsty, a meal for someone who is hungry. This is simply baseline behavior for someone on the Jesus journey. Take a step. Do it for Jesus!

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Why do we long to be rich? And is there a better way? Those are the questions I'm tackling in this episode, still looking at Paul's words to his young friend, Timothy. But in the end, rather than going after more stuff, we need to trust a better Savior. We need to live entrusted rather than entitled and we have to grab life through generosity.

Then we start stepping into the overflow!

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We have entered a week of 24/7 prayer at Calvary. Actually if you want to join us, you can sign up at www.calvarycwow.org/resources -- just look for the "Sign Up Here" button. If you sign up I'll send you a prayer guide!

But we start the one-hour prayer guide with gratitude. I wrote this, "We begin where revival always begins — not with our striving, but with his goodness. Gratitude is humble preparation for a reviving work of God. In hard times, gratitude turns our eyes back to the God who has already been at work all around us. Before we ask God for a move of God in Central PA, let’s thank him for every move of God we have already seen."

Psalm 67 is a great Psalm to focus our gratitude. It uses the word "bless" a lot! It's a good thing to be reminded that in so many ways, we have been blessed beyond belief.  So this episode will continue our Psalms series with a pause on gratitude. Next episode we will step back into generosity!

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In this episode, I just want to share with you a great story of generosity that might begin to shape our understanding and even future experience of "the good life." 1 I Timothy 6 contains some good, hard words that have helped me dig into the reality of God's good life. I hope they will do the same for you!

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It may seem a little bit weird, but I get a little bit emotional on this episode. I think in part it goes back to the idea that generosity is not about what God needs/wants from us, but about what He wants to give to us.  And there are some stories of that kind of shaping that just grab my heart.  In 2 Corinthians 9, you will hear Paul say this, "God loves a cheerful giver..." I think God loves cheerful givers so much that He's passionately creating them, if we'll let him.

So my prayer for you, for me, for us is simply this, "God would you make us what you love."

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You've heard me say it more than once during this series, and you will probably hear me say it a few more times  before we are done. "God has an unlimited capacity to give, but we have a limited capacity to receive." So if we want to live in his overflow we have to learn to let go, open up and give away what He gives us. We need to make space for His generosity, for His overflow. And from those days all the way back in Zarephath, don't you suppose He's been trying to show us the
way? 

The widow of Zarephath became an extraordinary giver. Now what is extraordinary generosity? I'd define it simply as something beyond your ordinary. It's different for each of us, your ordinary is not my ordinary. It's simply the call to take a step beyond your ordinary. And I have to be honest, I want to be an extraordinary giver. How about you?