Fw: December 12, 2012 - Giving is an Opportunity to Show Your Love - Daily Hope

[stella egidio]

This is worthy sharing friends,

Stella.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012     Giving is an Opportunity to Show Your Loveby Jon Walker You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. 2 Corinthians 9:13 (NLT)    My mother gave me a great gift and that is sensitivity about giving gifts. She taught me giving a gift is an opportunity to show you’ve thought about the person, taking time to discover likes and needs. What this translates into is you don’t use Christmas to give a household item you were going to purchase anyway: “Gee, honey, thanks for the vacuum cleaner.” Or, you don’t give your eighty-year-old aunt a power drill (unless that’s what she really wants!). The fact that there are so many returns after Christmas and so many gift cards purchased (okay, I buy them too) shows we’re not taking the time to make gifts personal, and that means we’re not taking the time to truly know one another. But, as Pastor Rick has been teaching us, God is a giver and to become like him, we must become givers: “The godly are generous givers.” (Psalms 37:21 NLT) God so loved the world that he gave, and our giving is meant to be rooted in God’s love. Here’s the thing: just like gifts, love operates as personal. Jesus came in person. He didn’t come to us as a religion, a set of laws, or merely as an ideal; he came in person. Through his death and resurrection he brings us into the personal embrace of a passionate and loving relationship. We live in an increasingly impersonal world where “don’t call us until you’ve read through all the frequently asked questions” is the norm, and when we finally do call, we get a recorded voice. And this makes it all the more important that we stay focused this Christmas on the truth that we are from God, the Creator and Protector of all that is personal. Through our personalized expression of love for each other we proclaim: “Do you want to see who the person of God is and how he personally loves us? Watch how we love one another.”   Jon Walker’s Breakfast with Bonhoeffer: Best Christian book this year!! - Jon Walker weaves the words of his own story of brokenness with the words of salvation from Jesus Christ teaches us all where our true treasure resides. … He gives us Bonhoeffer’s biblical guidance to inch closer to God, to focus on God, and make God the center of his life. By jc via Amazon. This devotional © Copyright 2012 Jon Walker. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Choose JoyWhy are some people - even in the toughest times - always filled with joy, while most of us can't seem to find lasting joy no matter how hard we search? Do joy-filled people know something we don't? The answer is yes! And in her warm, candid style, Kay Warren shares that life-transforming truth with you.MORE   Love Powered ParentingWhile there are many helpful tips that can help you sustain the role of mom and dad, none surpass Jesus' greatest teaching about love, where we find the foundation, encouragement, and lasting power that every parent needs. MORE Missed out on one of the Daily Devotionals? View the online archives. Did someone forward this Daily Devotional to you? Get your own free subscription to The Purpose Driven Connection Daily Devotional, your daily inspiration via email. Follow Us: Follow Pastor Rick on facebook and Twitter. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. http://profile.purposedriven.com/managesubscriptionssimple.aspx?eid=E9D4E5A