Good day and praise God for another day to glorify His name. Use this and everyday wisely. Today’s subject is one I have spoken on before. I just had a similar conversation with a group of young people just this past week so with it fresh in my spirit I’m going to share it again with all of you so get ready to be blessed.
Today’s Prayer
Father, This morning I am moved to pray for all of my brothers and sisters in Christ, especially the new Christians. Satan does not want them to be happy with their decision to follow you. He wants to trip them up any way he can. Please, send a legion of guardian angels to surround them and protect them from harm and evil. Give them extra strength to reject the temptations that Satan sends their way. Help them to stand strong upon the Rock of their salvation and not to doubt. I pray for them and for all Christians to have faith that can move mountains, grace for the moment, and guidance for today and every day to come. I praise You and thank You, all-powerful, all-knowing God, full of grace and truth. In JESUS’ name I pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
Mixing Faith with Commerce
(Derived from 2 Kings 4:1-7)
The bible tells us that one day the wife of one of the seminary students came to Elisha to tell him of her husband’s death. He was a man who had loved God, she said. But he had owed some money when he died, and now the creditor was demanding it back. If she didn’t pay, he said he would take her two sons as his slaves. “What shall I do?” Elisha asked. “How much food do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a jar of olive oil,” she replied.
Her husband had died. There was no way to fulfill her debts. Her creditors decided to take her two sons as slaves for payment of the obligations that still remained. She pleaded for assistance with the only man of God she knew.
Elisha then instructed her to go and collect all the empty jars that her neighbors might possess. “Ask for as many as you can,” he instructed. When the jars were collected, he instructed her to pour what little oil she had into the jars. The oil was more than enough to fill the jars. In fact, there was more oil than jars to fill. “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left” (2 Kings 4:7).
God often mixes faith with the tangible. The widow believed she had no resources to meet her need. God said she had more than enough resources. She didn’t see the oil as a resource. It didn’t become a resource until it was mixed with faith. Her need was met when her faith was mixed with the practical step of going into the world around her to sell what she had in order to receive her needed income. In fact, there was so much income she was able to pay her debts and live on the money she got from the sale.
Quite often we forget that God works through business to provide for our needs. It is wrong to place total trust in business without faith in God. He often requires simple obedience to an act that seems ridiculous to the logical mind. It is this faith mixed with the practical that He honors.
Do you have a problem or a need that is bewildering to you? Do you see no way of meeting your need? God may have already given you the skills and talents to meet your need. However, He may be waiting for you to mix them with faith. Ask God to show you the steps necessary to solve your problem. Be willing to take the next step. My hope is that this message has helped someone make a positive turn in their particular situation.
Quote of the Day
It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.
George Muller
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REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
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James H. Taylor Sr. – Kankakee City News has published my Daily meal message for a decade.