Being Steadfast - Part 4: Being Stedfast in Love
Being Stedfast • Sermon • Submitted
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Americans who make the most money also donate the most money to charity causes.
Americans who make the most money also donate the most money to charity causes.
Charitable giving by income group figures show that households that earn over $162,000 give, on average, $5,805. This amount represents about 2% of their income. Around 93% of these families donate money to charities. As the yearly income of a household drops, the percentage they contribute grows. So, families making under $25,000 give about 12% of their income to charities. Their average donation is $934, but only 37% of these households donate money.
7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
1. It’s Easy to Give What You Have Received
1. It’s Easy to Give What You Have Received
7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
2. God Promises That Can Expect to Receive
2. God Promises That Can Expect to Receive
9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts,
10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.
12 And when you go into a household, greet it.
13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts;
3. Love is God’s Greatest Gift and Motivation
3. Love is God’s Greatest Gift and Motivation
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
lavish
[ˈlaviSH]
ADJECTIVE
1. sumptuously rich, elaborate, or luxurious.
"a lavish banquet"
synonyms
sumptuous · luxurious · luxuriant · lush · gorgeous · costly · opulent · grand · elaborate · splendid · rich · regal · ornate · expensive · pretentious · showy · fancy
2. (of a person) very generous or extravagant.
"he was lavish with his hospitality"
synonyms
generous · liberal · bountiful · openhanded · unstinting · unsparing · ungrudging · free · munificent · handsome · extravagant · prodigal · fulsome
3. spent or given in profusion.
"lavish praise"
synonyms
abundant · copious · ample · superabundant · plentiful · profuse · liberal · prolific · generous · plenteous
VERB
(lavish something on)
1. bestow something in generous or extravagant quantities on.
"the media couldn't lavish enough praise on the film"
synonyms
give freely · spend · expend · heap · shower · pour · deluge · give generously · give unstintingly · bestow freely
LAVISH (VERB) - bestow something in generous or extravagant quantities on. SYNONYMS: give freely · spend · expend · heap · shower · pour · deluge · give generously · give unstintingly · bestow freely
God’s Love is Immeasurable
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
AMP give a word picture...
17 How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awoke, [could I count to the end] I would still be with You.
4. God is Calling Us to Freely Give What We Have Freely Received
4. God is Calling Us to Freely Give What We Have Freely Received
… and to be motivated by what motivates Him
7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
He Gives Us the What, the How & The Why
He Gives Us the What, the How & The Why
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
What? Love.
How much? As much as I did.
Why? I have loved you.
The other John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Lack of love is the foundation of all the negative feelings like doubt, fear, shame, depression, hopelessness, aggression and violence. Many of the bad things that happen in our present society stem from not having love in our hearts. The expression God is love indicates where all the love comes from.
Thus, it’s easy to see how lack of love leads to sin. For the utter lack of love takes us farther and farther away from the Creator who is full of love. If He is so full of it, then how come we, His major creation is so lacking in it?
The answer is that the wages of sin are lack of love. In other words, if you have been in rebellion from love Himself, then it’s only logical that you are a pauper in love. Hence, the opposite is also true. When you’re so full of love, then you’ve got to be very close to the source. (What Lack Of Love Can Do: The Effects, Consequences, And Insecurity – Health Center - Written by Tomasz Faber)
The How-To of Love
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
From Bad Beginnings to Happy Endings, by Ed Young, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publ., 1994), pp. 3-5.
A young man cowered in the corner of a dirty, roach-infested death row cell in a South Carolina prison. His body curled in a fetal position, he seemed oblivious to the filth and stench around him. His name was Rusty, and he was sentenced to die for the murder of a Myrtle Beach woman in a crime spree that left four people dead.
Police arrested twenty-three-year-old Rusty Welborn from Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1979, following one of the most brutal slayings in South Carolina history. Rusty was tried for murder and received the death penalty for his crime. Bob McAlister, deputy chief of staff to South Carolina's governor, became acquainted with Rusty on death row. Bob had become a Christian a year or so earlier and felt a strong call from God to minister to the state's inmates&md;especially those spending their last days on death row.
Bob's first look at Rusty revealed a pitiful sight. Rusty was lying on the floor when he arrived, a pathetic picture of a man who believed he mattered to no one. The only signs of life in the cell were the roaches who scurried over everything, including Rusty himself. He made no effort to move or even to brush the insects away. He stared blankly at Bob as he began to talk, but did not respond.
During visit after visit, Bob tried to reach Rusty, telling him of the love Jesus had for him and of his opportunity&md;even on death row&md;to start a new life in Christ. He talked and prayed continuously, and finally Rusty began to respond to the stranger who kept invading his cell. Little by little, he opened up, until one day he began to weep as Bob was sharing with him. On that day, Rusty Welborn, a pitiful man with murder and darkness behind him and his own death closing in ahead of him, gave his heart to Jesus Christ.
When Bob returned to Rusty's cell a few days later, he found a new man. The cell was clean and so was Rusty. He had renewed energy and a positive outlook on life. McAlister continued to visit him regularly, studying the Bible and praying with him. The two men became close friends over the next five years. In fact, McAlister said that Rusty grew into the son he never had, and as for Rusty, he had taken to calling McAlister "Pap."
Bob learned that Rusty's childhood in West Virginia had been anything but "almost heaven." His family was destitute, and Rusty was neglected and abused as a youngster. School was an ordeal both for him and for his teachers. Throughout his junior high years he wore the same two pair of pants and two ragged shirts. Out of shame, frustration, and a lack of adult guidance, Rusty quit school in his ninth grade year, a decision that was to be just the beginning of his troubles. His teenage years were full of turmoil as he was kicked out of his home many times and ran away countless others. He spent the better part of his youth living under bridges and in public rest rooms.
Bob taught Rusty the Bible, but Rusty was the teacher when it came to love and forgiveness. This young man who had never known real love was amazed and thrilled about the love of God. He never ceased to be surprised that other people could actually love someone like him through Jesus Christ. Rusty's childlike enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air to Bob, who came to realize how much he had taken for granted, especially with regard to the love of his family and friends.
In time Rusty became extremely bothered by the devastating pain he had caused the family and friends of his victim. Knowing that God had forgiven him, he desperately wanted the forgiveness of those he had wronged. Then a most significant thing happened: the brother of the woman Rusty had murdered became a Christian. God had dealt with him for two years about his need to forgive his sister's killer. Finally, he wrote Rusty a letter that offered not only forgiveness but love in Christ.
Not long before his scheduled execution, this brother and his wife came to visit Rusty. Bob was present when the two men met and tearfully embraced like long-lost brothers finally reunited. Rusty's senseless crime ten years earlier had constructed an enormous barrier between himself and the brother. The love of Christ obliterated that barrier and enabled both men to realize that, because of Him, they truly were brothers reunited on that day. It was a lesson Bob would not forget.
Not only did Rusty teach Bob McAlister how to love and forgive, he also taught him a powerful lesson about how to die. As the appointed day approached, Rusty exhibited a calm and assurance like Bob had never seen. Only his final day, with only hours remaining before his 1:00 A.M. execution, Rusty asked McAlister to read to him from the Bible. After an hour or so of listening, Rusty sat up on the side of his cot and said, "You know, the only thing I ever wanted was a home, Pap. Now I'm going to get one."
Bob continued his reading, and after a few minutes Rusty grew very still. Thinking he had fallen asleep, Bob placed a blanket over him and closed the Bible. As he turned to leave he felt a strong compulsion to lean over and kiss Rusty on the forehead. A short time later, Rusty Welborn was executed for murder. A woman assisting Rusty in his last moments shared this postscript to his story: As he was being prepared for his death, Rusty looked at her and said, "What a shame that a man's gotta wait &ls;til his last night alive to be kissed and tucked in for the very first time."