So we begin our 3rd friday of fasting and prayer together as a church
tomorrow. We are asking God for faith, fortitude and provision in the
area of finance.
We have heard of many amazing God stories already. We have had people
receive surprise checks in the mail, get jobs and receive salary
raises. We keep asking God for 100% employment, 100% of our students to
obtain sufficient study loans, and for 100% tithing in the Southlands
community.Our faith is also out for our entrepreneurs to sign new contracts.
Here is one amazing recent answer to that prayer.
"About 4 weeks ago during a sunday meeting Aubrey Burge had a
picture of a girl standing at the edge of a cliff in a horrible,
tattered, old and torn wedding dress and as she jumped off the
cliff she landed into water and came up with this bright blood red
dress that then turned to this beautiful brilliant white wedding
dress.....the lady that came up for prayer that believed that
picture was of her is Elba. She was sharing with me last Sunday her
business has COMPLETELY turned around. She is a designer. She owns
her own business and has developed her own clothing line.The
business has been struggling now for the past 3 years and has
brought in little to no money. After we prayed for her , her
business has COMPLETELY turned around! Her clothing line is totally
running out in the stores that they are in and more production is
needed. She said she has made more in the past month than she has
in the past 3 years and that top designers are now interested in
her line of clothing...God is good!"
God is an incredible Provider. We can trust Him. David said at the
end of his life. "I once was young and now I am old, but I have never
seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." Ps 37:25
We are also asking that God would stir us in the area of radical
generosity. God wants us to smash the idol of Mammon. He wants us to
keep ourselves free from the love of money, uprooting the weeds of
'the deceitfulness of riches' that choke the Word and our faith-
filled response to it.(Mark 13)
Generosity is not always out of abundance. God gave the only Son He had.
Isaac sowed in famine and reaped a hundred fold in that same year.
(Gen 26) That required a faith in God that gave rise to radical
generosity.
It was in the opposite spirit of the season, where saving
would have seemed more appropriate than sowing.
The Macedonian churches' "severe trial, overwhelming joy and extreme
poverty welled up in rich generosity...they gave beyond their ability"
2 Cor 8:2
Can we similarly, out of a faith-filled love for God, and a genuine
care for others, learn to live in radical generosity?
I guess we shouldn't just be expecting a surprise check in the mail.
We should be willing to send a couple too.
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Am I willing to give so much that it would change my life-style?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. Are you?
ReplyDeletePaul said that church leaders (aka Timothy) should "command" people who are rich to bless others - in my limited observation most church leaders are too scared to command, and so end up with endless sessions on a Biblical justification of their finance theology, only to end up at the same point where they started, but at least their people - standing with closed fists in their pockets - know what the leaders believe in!
ReplyDeleteOh! If only the democratic (small 'd' for you Yanks!) church would allow for some courageous commanding!
Go for it though - stretch the faith!
Blessings
A three day fast? What an aggressive and powerful dynamic. Perhaps you would be willing to post some details? Details like: how one should approach, enter, and break the fast; the details of how your church fasts for three days without health risks, i.e. what are folks allowed to consume during the fast, if anything; and, any other tips to help others start such an initiative in their lives and/or in their church.
ReplyDeletethanks Colin. Agreed. Courage needed for every church leader in this regard, and the integrity to live what we preach.
ReplyDelete@kingston. Dude, great to hear from you! Are you still rocking out those DeGarmo and Key songs? Man, you could sing. On the fasting, although we have done a five day fast as a church recently, this one is actually just four fridays in a month.much easier.we have generally found soup and fruit juice fasts work the best - a bit easier on people who are not accustomed to it. you get more buy in. the emphasis though is not so much on what you are eating or not, it is denying yourself so that you remember God - it is a great way of uniting the church in faith and prayer. we generally meet each night of the fast to pray around a particular theme. a very fruitful discipline.
Alan, I don't kown either.
ReplyDeleteWow, great posts! Very powerful statement to think of how God gave his "only" son and in comparison there shouldn't be anything we arent willing to give, eh?
ReplyDelete