<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Mark 10;19-22<div><br></div><div>(Jesus said)</div><div><b>19. &nbsp;You know the commands: &nbsp;‘Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother.’”</b></div><div><b>20. &nbsp;And he,</b>&nbsp;(the man) <b>said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.”</b></div><div><b>21. &nbsp;And Jesus looking upon him, said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell all you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”</b></div><div><b>22. &nbsp;At that saying his countenance fell, for he had great possessions.</b></div><div><br></div><div>When Jesus called his disciples, scripture records that, <i>“at once they left their nets and followed Him.”</i></div><div>(Matthew 4;20)</div><div><br></div><div>Again later we read, “<i>Peter said in reply, ‘Lo, we have left everything and followed You. &nbsp;(What shall we have’?’)</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>So it would seem that discipleship begins with financially putting God first in our lives. &nbsp;If we refuse to or fear to give to God first of our possessions, true love of God cannot be in us. &nbsp;For the hallmark of love, is giving. &nbsp;<i>“For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son.” &nbsp;</i>(John 3;16)</div><div><br></div><div>But, giving which is based upon the law remains coercive legalism. &nbsp;The giving which honors God is founded upon love and faith.</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;For,</div><div><br></div><div>Jesus did <u>not</u>&nbsp;just say, ‘Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven,’. He also said, ‘<u>And come, follow Me.’</u>&nbsp; Giving which pleases God must be founded upon love, God’s love at work in us.</div><div><br></div><div>Paul writes, <i>“If I give away all that I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. &nbsp;Through H</i><i>im we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. &nbsp;More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, </i><u>because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us.”</u>&nbsp; (Romans 5;1-5)</div><div><br></div><div>Therefore, giving which pleases God is <u>not</u>&nbsp;a work of the flesh, but rather the fruit of the Holy Spirit living within us. &nbsp;<i>“In this is love perfected with&nbsp;us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgement, because as He is so are we in this world. &nbsp;There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love. &nbsp;We love, because God first loved us.” &nbsp;</i>(1 John 4;17-19)</div><div><br></div><div>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, by the love which you have poured into our hearts through the gifts of repentance, faith, and the Holy Spirit, bless us to love You and our fellow man without fear. &nbsp;Make us to be like little children who give without fear, without regard of self, for You are our source of all life. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</div><div><br></div><div>Love,</div><div>Dad/Baba/Eric</div><div>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</div><div>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Mark 10;19-22
(Jesus said)19.  You know the commands:  ‘Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother.’”20.  And he, (the man) said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.”21.  And Jesus looking upon him, said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell all you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”22.  At that saying his countenance fell, for he had great possessions.
When Jesus called his disciples, scripture records that, “at once they left their nets and followed Him.”(Matthew 4;20)
Again later we read, “Peter said in reply, ‘Lo, we have left everything and followed You.  (What shall we have’?’)
So it would seem that discipleship begins with financially putting God first in our lives.  If we refuse to or fear to give to God first of our possessions, true love of God cannot be in us.  For the hallmark of love, is giving.  “For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son.”  (John 3;16)
But, giving which is based upon the law remains coercive legalism.  The giving which honors God is founded upon love and faith.
 For,
Jesus did not just say, ‘Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven,’. He also said, ‘And come, follow Me.’  Giving which pleases God must be founded upon love, God’s love at work in us.
Paul writes, “If I give away all that I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through Him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us.”  (Romans 5;1-5)
Therefore, giving which pleases God is not a work of the flesh, but rather the fruit of the Holy Spirit living within us.  “In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgement, because as He is so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.  We love, because God first loved us.”  (1 John 4;17-19)
Prayer:  Merciful Father, by the love which you have poured into our hearts through the gifts of repentance, faith, and the Holy Spirit, bless us to love You and our fellow man without fear.  Make us to be like little children who give without fear, without regard of self, for You are our source of all life.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”





Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
