Devotion, Impartiality, and Embracing Our Unique Callings
Devotional
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Today, our giving verse, I'm going to share with you in just a moment, but I actually get to give you a project all in update. Who's ready? Come on now. All right. Who's ready? All right, let's try it out. Who's ready to give? All right, now hold your neighbor accountable, all right? Here's our giving verse for today. I actually just saw this this last week. It kind of jumped off the page to me. I love it when the Lord does that. Acts 10, verses 1 through 2, the Bible says that Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius. He was a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. Shout out to the Italians. He and his family, it's going to be a fun message, I can tell. He and his family were devout and God-fearing. They were devout and God-fearing. And he gave generously to all those in need and prayed to God regularly. [00:29:27] (56 seconds)
That word devout, we don't use that word a whole lot, do we? I've heard people use it sometimes, a devout Catholic, right? Sometimes denominations. A devout believer. That word devout in Greek is eusebius. And it means devotion and reverence to God. It's the way that it was describing this man, Cornelius. He was devoted to God. Devout. Wow, I love that. You know, what's interesting is when we look at the actions of a devout person. Look at the actions of Cornelius, this devout man. Do you realize what the Bible says? It gives us two actions. The Bible says the first thing that he did, he was a person who prayed. That was one of his actions, the actions of a devout man. [00:30:24] (41 seconds)
Have you ever thought about somebody being devout in their faith and giving? That's what we are as believers. We show God that we're devout when we give. You know, many of us have been taught different things. Well, if I do this, I'm devout. Or if I do this, and yet the Bible shows us here, this devout man of God was a giver. Wow. That encourages me. That makes me want to be even more of a devout person. I hope it does the same for you. You know, when Brittany and I were first getting together, and before we even got married, we made the decision that we were going to be devout believers. And that we were going to be givers. [00:31:10] (34 seconds)
And that was at a time when we didn't have very much money, but we made the decision that we were going to give 10 % of our income. Not because our parents told us to, or because we wanted to look good in front of other people, because it was real. We were going to be devout, and we were going to follow Jesus. And much could be said about 10%, and, you know, giving a whole lot. The theme of the New Testament isn't so much tithing, it's more generous giving. But if you ask me, generous giving is probably 10 % or even more, although it's a little subjective. And we prayed about it. We said, God, we want to be devout, we want to be givers. [00:31:44] (30 seconds)
Thank you, God, for how you're speaking to our kids and our little ones. And, God, let us reflect you, which is you are a generous God. Forgive us. Forgive us at times for being stingy. us at times for being greedy. God, everything that we do is for your glory. Thank you, God, that we get to do this. Thank you for all the great things you've done thus far and all the amazing things you're going to do in the future. We love you, and we give you honor and praise. We pray these things in Jesus' name. And everyone said amen. [00:36:46] (31 seconds)
Now to give you a little context and you just probably picked up on this but the people in the church there were rich people coming in whenever a rich person came in many times you would know a rich person would come in and say by their left hand they would wear gold rings that's how you identified a rich person and many what they would actually do is they would actually allow people to rent out rings so they could pretend to be rich and people would come in with with rings and they would get the best spots they would have them sit in the very front oh rich person yes please many times poor people they would have them sit right there on the floor they saw people different they were playing favorites and james is saying favoritism is not in the dna of believers wow what an interesting challenging statement. [00:47:39] (41 seconds)
Every single one of you in this room has a unique calling. So sometimes what we do is we compare ourselves to someone else and we forget they're called to do something else than you're called to do. Why would you compare yourself to them? God equipped them to do something, an assignment different than you. He equipped you to do something that you're supposed to do. He equipped them to do something they're supposed to do. And sometimes we look at that and we're like, they're God's favorites. And you know what? They can look at you and say the exact same thing. What happens is, as believers, as we mature in our faith, we need to get comfortable with our calling. We need to get comfortable with our calling. We need to begin to push away comparison. [00:55:47] (36 seconds)
People that are focused on their calling don't tend to compare very much with others' callings. People that are focused on what God's called them to do. Look at Paul. You don't see Paul going, oh, look at this person. No, he was locked in. Can I ask you today? Are you locked in on your calling? What has God created you to do? Do that. Stop comparing yourself to somebody else. You weren't gifted to do that other thing. You were gifted to do what God called you to do. Do that for God's glory, not something else. I love what the Bible says in Colossians 3. Whatever you do, do it with all your heart and for the Lord, not for human masters. Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord, you will receive an inheritance from the Lord. It is the Lord Jesus Christ you are serving. [00:56:58] (45 seconds)
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That word devout, we don't use that word a whole lot, do we? I've heard people use it sometimes, a devout Catholic, right? Sometimes denominations. A devout believer. That word devout in Greek is eusebius. And it means devotion and reverence to God. It's the way that it was describing this man, Cornelius. He was devoted to God. Devout. Wow, I love that. You know, what's interesting is when we look at the actions of a devout person. Look at the actions of Cornelius, this devout man. Do you realize what the Bible says? It gives us two actions. The Bible says the first thing that he did, he was a person who prayed. That was one of his actions, the actions of a devout man. [00:30:24] (41 seconds)
Have you ever thought about somebody being devout in their faith and giving? That's what we are as believers. We show God that we're devout when we give. You know, many of us have been taught different things. Well, if I do this, I'm devout. Or if I do this, and yet the Bible shows us here, this devout man of God was a giver. Wow. That encourages me. That makes me want to be even more of a devout person. I hope it does the same for you. You know, when Brittany and I were first getting together, and before we even got married, we made the decision that we were going to be devout believers. And that we were going to be givers. [00:31:10] (34 seconds)
And that was at a time when we didn't have very much money, but we made the decision that we were going to give 10 % of our income. Not because our parents told us to, or because we wanted to look good in front of other people, because it was real. We were going to be devout, and we were going to follow Jesus. And much could be said about 10%, and, you know, giving a whole lot. The theme of the New Testament isn't so much tithing, it's more generous giving. But if you ask me, generous giving is probably 10 % or even more, although it's a little subjective. And we prayed about it. We said, God, we want to be devout, we want to be givers. [00:31:44] (30 seconds)
Thank you, God, for how you're speaking to our kids and our little ones. And, God, let us reflect you, which is you are a generous God. Forgive us. Forgive us at times for being stingy. us at times for being greedy. God, everything that we do is for your glory. Thank you, God, that we get to do this. Thank you for all the great things you've done thus far and all the amazing things you're going to do in the future. We love you, and we give you honor and praise. We pray these things in Jesus' name. And everyone said amen. [00:36:46] (31 seconds)
Now to give you a little context and you just probably picked up on this but the people in the church there were rich people coming in whenever a rich person came in many times you would know a rich person would come in and say by their left hand they would wear gold rings that's how you identified a rich person and many what they would actually do is they would actually allow people to rent out rings so they could pretend to be rich and people would come in with with rings and they would get the best spots they would have them sit in the very front oh rich person yes please many times poor people they would have them sit right there on the floor they saw people different they were playing favorites and james is saying favoritism is not in the dna of believers wow what an interesting challenging statement. [00:47:39] (41 seconds)
Every single one of you in this room has a unique calling. So sometimes what we do is we compare ourselves to someone else and we forget they're called to do something else than you're called to do. Why would you compare yourself to them? God equipped them to do something, an assignment different than you. He equipped you to do something that you're supposed to do. He equipped them to do something they're supposed to do. And sometimes we look at that and we're like, they're God's favorites. And you know what? They can look at you and say the exact same thing. What happens is, as believers, as we mature in our faith, we need to get comfortable with our calling. We need to get comfortable with our calling. We need to begin to push away comparison. [00:55:47] (36 seconds)
People that are focused on their calling don't tend to compare very much with others' callings. People that are focused on what God's called them to do. Look at Paul. You don't see Paul going, oh, look at this person. No, he was locked in. Can I ask you today? Are you locked in on your calling? What has God created you to do? Do that. Stop comparing yourself to somebody else. You weren't gifted to do that other thing. You were gifted to do what God called you to do. Do that for God's glory, not something else. I love what the Bible says in Colossians 3. Whatever you do, do it with all your heart and for the Lord, not for human masters. Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord, you will receive an inheritance from the Lord. It is the Lord Jesus Christ you are serving. [00:56:58] (45 seconds)
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