A Living Benevolence

I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35.
We should regard ourselves as stewards of the Lord’s property and God as the supreme proprietor, to whom we are to render His own when He shall require it….
The servants of God should be making their wills every day in good works and liberal offerings to God.
Dying legacies are a miserable substitute for living benevolence.
Hoarded wealth is not merely useless, it is a curse. In this life it is a snare to the soul, drawing the affections away from the heavenly treasure. In the great day of God its witness to unused talents and neglected opportunities will condemn its possessor…. He who realizes that his money is a talent from God will use it economically, and will feel it a duty to save that he may give.
It is utter folly to defer to make a preparation for the future life until nearly the last hour of the present life. It is also a great mistake to defer to answer the claims of God for liberality to His cause until the time comes when you are to shift your stewardship upon others. Those to whom you entrust your talents of means may not do as well with them as you have done. How dare rich men run so great risks! Those who wait till death before they make a disposition of their property, surrender it to death rather than to God. In so doing many are acting directly contrary to the plan of God plainly stated in His Word. If they would do good they must seize the present golden moments and labor with all their might, as if fearful that they may lose the favorable opportunity….
We must all be rich in good works in this life if we would secure the future, immortal life. When the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened, every man will be rewarded according to his works.
The Faith I Live By p. 162
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Prayer Requests
—-Prayers needed for my daughter. Infection and in the ER. Johanna
—-My daughter’s mother-in-law needs prayer in a big way. Barb arrived in Germany for her alternative cancer treatment (which this doctor has been successful with). As she was getting into the van to leave the airport, the hand-hold that she was using to pull herself up, broke. She fell and had to have emergency surgery for a fractured bone(s). Now they may have to delay her treatment, all while her numbers continue to rise. She is weighing the financial cost of continuing the fight to live versus giving up. Vicki
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Dear Friends,
When I was twelve, I lived with my mother and Eddie, her husband, in an apartment across town from my grandparents. One day, while my mother was picking Eddie up from work, I decided to ride my bike down the steep hill that ran alongside the apartment house. At the bottom of the hill, the alley took a sharp turn to the left. I loved the exhilaration the speed of that turn gave me. That particular day, however, I failed to turn at just the right moment, hit the corner of the curb and was thrown off from my bike rather abruptly. Basically, I flew in one direction, while my bike flew in the other.
This broke my ankle and lower leg in five places (including in the growth center) and dislocated my ankle rather badly. After lying there for about an hour, a neighbor boy happened to come by. I gave him my grandmother’s phone number and asked him to call. I knew that they were going to stop by there before they came home. My mother and Eddie rushed home and loaded me in the car to take me to the hospital. After an eleven day stay in the hospital, I came home with a cast from my toes to my hip. I had that cast on from the beginning of September until the week before Christmas.
Finally, the day arrived when I could get that cumbersome and heavy cast off. I was full of joy and anticipation. As they cut that plaster monstrosity off from my leg, I was shocked that my right leg was much thinner than my left one. The skin was yellow tinged and flaky. In my young mind, I had expected that I would be able to get up and walk out of the office, but that was an unreasonable expectation. My leg was very weak from lack of use and my brain had forgotten how to command it to move. The doctor instructed me to practice putting my foot on the floor and to come back and see him in a few days.
Disappointed, I went home. After working at it for awhile, I finally could get my knee to straighten enough that I could follow the doctor’s order. My foot felt so very strange when it came in contact with the floor. Still I could not make it take even one step. It was such a surprise to me that I had completely forgotten how to walk. That really worried me. Would it always be like this? However, by faithfully doing the exercises the physical therapist gave me, by February I was walking pretty well and by the middle of March, I was back riding my bike to school. How good it felt to be back to my normal activities.
Had I given up when my leg was bent and weak, it would always have stayed that way; but through persistence I succeeded in regaining all that I had lost. It is the same spiritually. Our Dear Saviour tells us, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Luke 11:9,10 Oftentimes, we must ask over and over. This is according to His will. Our Great Redeemer desires us to be persistent in prayer for our own benefit. This helps us to desire an answer to our prayer with our whole heart. The heartfelt prayer is never turned away. Paul admonishes us to “pray without ceasing.” 1 Thes 5:17 James tells us, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16 Throughout the day we have the privilege of pressing our petitions to the throne of grace. We have the privilege of coming to our Only Helper for the strength that we need to overcome. By continually having our heart uplifted in prayer, the enemy has no power over us, for our mind is fixed upon the One Who gave His life for us.
Jesus says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7 “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” vs 10 “Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:22-26
Paul tells us, “in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Phil 4:6 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb 4:15,16
May we “continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” Col 4:2 May we be persevering and sincere in our prayers. May we keep our heart uplifted moment by moment to our Dear Saviour is my prayer.
Rose