The Simple Life

Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests' garments. Ezra 2:68-69 (ESV)   People gave according to their ability, giving as much as they could. Each gave differently. God does not ask us to give what we cannot give. He asks us to give what we can give.   The widow's mite was a great gift, but the rich man never gave a gift. A sacrifice that costs nothing is not a sacrifice but a show. To give because we gain is not to give. To give to feel better about us is to give to ourselves because of ourselves.   Those who give honestly give when they do so because they want to participate in what God is doing. Doing so is a joy, a privilege, and an honor. God does not need us. He wants us.   https://www.podbean.com/relate365

Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. Ezra 1:5-6 (ESV)   Community is more purpose than presence. The people saw a need and worked together to meet that need. They gave freely or were, in a sense, joyful givers. We get into trouble when the community becomes more about presence than purpose. The community that gathers together at church should find commonality in the purpose, persecution, and provision they have been a part of throughout the week. Their purpose of bringing Christ to their worlds binds them together and provides a community like none other.   Being a part of God's work is challenging and often more costly than you’d like, but it is also more ...

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Ezra 1:1-2 (ESV)   The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. I wonder how God did this. Kings are often prideful and self-absorbed. Yet, God's message was clear, and Cyrus gave credit for the scope of his rule to Him, showing a degree of humility and understanding. Cyrus was to use his authority to show the world who God is and to build Him a house in Jerusalem. We all were created to show who God is through the assigned tasks, and when we do not do that, we malfunction. Malfunctioning people are not happy people.   Those who live malfunctioning li...