One of the great privileges we get is to be God’s hands in this world. In other words, we get to express His love to this world by our actions of love and grace. One of the ways we get to do this is to be kind to the poor. When we give to the poor, it blesses God’s heart, and He rewards us when we do so. Proverbs 19:17 (ISV) says: “Whoever is kind to the poor is lending to the Lord— the benefit of his gift will return to him in abundance”. Notice that it says the gift to the poor will return to us in abundance! We can never out-give God. He is MOST generous, and when He sees that we are righteously representing Him, He will continue to resource us with abundant provision so that we could continue to be generous with others. 2 Corinthians 9:8 & 11(NLT) says: “AndGod will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous”. Most people know what it is to be in need. And when someone blesses you when you are in need, it’s like a cold glass of water in a hot, desert day!. Now it’s your turn. Who are you going to bless? Or let me put it this way: Who is God going to bless through you?
Stop with the excuses already!
Since Adam, excuses have existed. Excuses are a natural reaction to being caught in a lie or failure, or not wanting to accept responsibility. Adam told God this famous statement: “Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12). Adam refused to take responsibility for Eve’s actions, yet God had clearly told him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The problem with the habit of making excuses is that they keep you from the very actions and mindset that will propel you to great accomplishment and effective influence. It will keep you stunted emotionally, socially, and even in business. People do not respect those who are always utilizing excuses to not take care of their responsibilities. Most will simply “blame-shift” so that the perception will seem to be that it’s not their fault. It’s always someone else’s fault. Think about this: Adam made excuses instead of embracing his responsibility, thus he allowed sin to enter his life. So now his legacy is known as the man who helped to release sin onto mankind. Conversely, the Lord Jesus accepted responsibility for mankind, thus His legacy is that He loved us so much that He died for us, and made a way for us to be delivered from sin and death. One is unrighteous; the other is righteous. One refused his responsibility; the other accepted responsibility. One made excuses; the other refused to make excuses and did what was needed to redeem mankind. Adam’s name is infamous because of his refusal to accept responsibility; Jesus’ name is great and is the name above all names. So, what’s your excuse?
Ecclesiastes 5:6 “Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?”
