What Do You Have - That You Did Not Receive?!

5/21/2023

“What do you have - that you did not receive?!”

Why should it EVER be difficult or painful or even “sacrificial” to give back to God what He never owed us and we never earned or owned in the first place?

All of our obsessive “claims” to mine-mine-mine this-is-so-harrrrd... are absurd, are they not?

It was never ours in the first place.

“What do you have - that you did not receive?!”

How about a little LOGICAL, gracious gratitude and relentless trust in place of the shallowness, eh? :)

Some of y’all live this way, and some are grabby in a way that “the widow and her two mites” would feel the need to yank on your ear. Help one another? :)

Several scriptures have kept going through my mind related to this message from yesterday. When I went to look them up, I searched “the Lord gives.” There were literally hundreds of results :) scrolling through them all sure paints quite a picture!! I posted a few of the ones I had been thinking of, plus some more...

“Job said, ‘I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!’” (Job 1:21)

“The poor and the oppressor have this in common — the Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.” (Proverbs 29:13)

“He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. Praise the Lord!” (Psalms 113:9)

“Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones. Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” (Psalms 127:1-3)

“Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a refuge for their children.” (Proverbs 14:26)

“But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.” (Psalms 42:8)

“Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

“We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.” (2 Corinthians 1:7)

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, **all whose thoughts are fixed on you!**” (Isaiah 26:3)

“I have experienced times of need and times of abundance. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of contentment, whether I go satisfied or hungry, have plenty or nothing. I am able to do all things through the One who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:12-13)

“**The true bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world**” (John 6:33)