Today, I’m going to tell you something very specific God absolutely loves to see you do. Something you can do that brings him tremendous delight. You would want to make God happy today, wouldn’t you? You would want to please him.
I do. Gosh, I want to make God absolutely giddy he gave me this day of life. But sometimes I wonder how to please him. How to make him smile. How does a really normal girl like me bring great delight to my Almighty creator? Have you ever asked the same question?
2 Corinthians 9:7 “God loves a cheerful giver.”
You’ve likely heard that before along with a guilt trip to give your money. But what if your opportunity to be a cheerful giver goes far beyond money and meets you right where you are today. God is asking you to give what you have with joy, with excitement, with open hands and an open heart. To stop holding back, and let God flow through you in all you have to give.
MSG: “God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.” The Voice: “Giving grows out of the heart—otherwise, you’ve reluctantly grumbled “yes” because you felt you had to or because you couldn’t say “no,” but this isn’t the way God wants it. For we know that “God loves a cheerful giver.”
Right here, this Monday. Will you be a cheerful giver?
Let’s take an inventory of what you have available to give today.
First, your time. In this single day you have 24 hours – or 1,440 minutes. Will you give your time cheerfully today? OR WILL IT BE A CHORE FOR YOU TO SIT DOWN AT THE TABLE WITH THEM? WILL IT BE A CHORE TO LISTEN? WILL IT BE A CHORE TO REALLY BE THERE? Will you be happy about giving time with God today?
How many of us are there, but we’re not really there? We’re begrudgingly showing up and checking the box but we don’t really want to be there. That’s not GIVING your time … that’s allowing someone or something to TAKE your time. Today will you GIVE your time. Purposely. Intentionally. Cheerfully. Will you gladly be there? Will you fully be there?
God loves that. He loves when you cheerfully show up for your own life and invest in it. He loves when you are fully there, engaged. Not because you have to, but because you GET to.
And he really loves it when you view this life you have to live through the eyes you have been given instead of a screen you hold in your hand!
What else do you have to give today? Your energy. Within you is the power to GSD. Get stuff done. You have a set of 2 choices.
Do it – or don’t do it. If you should do it, then you have another choice to make – Do it happy – or do it miserable. Colossians 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.”
Here in Bali, I’m learning what a privilege work is. Everyone I meet is delighted to have a job. They are working long days to make $25 per week. They are perpetually early, genuinely eager, with attitudes of gratitude. Have we lost that? Have we become too entitled to remember what a privilege this all is?
There are a whole lot of people showing up for work today miserable. They’re there, they’re completing the tasks before them, but it’s not because they want to be. How incredibly sad. How sad that there are moms holding babies, wishing they were somewhere else. How sad there are wives making the bed in an angry fit today. How sad there are daughters taking their gifts for granted and complaining about all they HAVE to do.
Or the girl that landed the job and is bringing home the paycheck, you know the job she prayed for … and she’s just wishing she didn’t have to work today. Oh has she forgotten that job was given to her? It’s a blessing. She’s giving her energy to that work today, but it’s begrudgingly. But what if she could show up to work today and be a cheerful giver? Do you know how much better the day would be? Same work, different attitude.
That’s it … that’s the difference I’m experiencing in Bali. They are cheerful givers. Freely giving of their time and energy. Our waitress, Dayu, went into the jungle after her long day of work, to find a special leaf to make a tea for my husband’s upset stomach. Our waiter, Darma, brought fresh fruit from his home to share with me this morning at breakfast. Fruit I’ve never seen before. He gave it to me so cheerfully after picking it in his village before the sun came up today.
It makes me question, what do I have to give, and will I give it cheerfully? If a leaf cut from the jungle, and a fruit picked from a tree could be offered as a blessing to a foreigner in this beautiful land, what could you and I offer as a blessing?
God loves a cheerful giver – yes I believe it brings him joy to see his girls giving of their time and energy and resources with happiness – however on a deeper level I believe God loves a cheerful giver because he knows what it does for us. He knows he created us to thrive when we are giving our most valuable resources from a place of plenty.
And there’s the secret … a place of plenty. Don’t you recognize you have more than enough? You don’t have to live in lack. Not when the creator of the universe is on your side. Not when the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills, the maker of heaven and earth, is in charge of your supply.
It is our own mismanagement of time, energy and money that causes lack.
God lacks nothing. You are his daughter … all he has he desires to make yours. BUT CAN YOU BE TRUSTED WITH IT?
Psalm 84:11 says “The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.”
You have enough today. Enough time. Enough time to sit down and value the moments with your family. Enough time to spend with God. Enough time to do all you need to do and do it well. Enough energy. Enough energy to give your best. Enough blessings to share.
Today, you will be called on to give. Will you be a cheerful giver? Will you be absolutely giddy over the opportunity to give what you have, knowing that as you pour out, your cup will be filled right back up. Knowing that some things can only be received through giving first.
I’m saying don’t just show up today, but show up and be happy about it. Don’t just work today, but work and be happy about it. Don’t just give today, but give and be a cheerful giver.
When I got my head and heart right about money, money has never been an issue again. Before then, it was nothing but a problem.
I’m still in the process of getting my head and heart right about my time. I’m finding on this journey I have more than enough time when I spend it intentionally.
Energy … energy multiplies when poured out in the way we were created to spend our energy. You can’t outgive God. Give him your energy, and watch His supernatural energy flood your days!
God loves a cheerful giver, because he knows you can be trusted to receive even more of what he has to give. Just let it all pour out, Sis!
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