Have you noticed lately everywhere you look there are people desperately trying to get what they can for themselves with little regard for the next guy? Mark regularly tells me stories about encounters with people who have abandoned integrity in an attempt to profit in business and the few he meets that have an honest and generous spirit. Unfortunately as the times escalate, fear and greed will increase.
It’s not always easy to be generous in times like these, unless you are sure about where your provision comes from. All of the security we think we control can be altered in an instant. Just look at the change in the world market. What once appeared unshakable now teeters on the brink of collapse. Our confidence can’t rest in temporal kingdoms.
In Matthew 24:10-12 Jesus warns in the last days that many will fall away and betray one another and because of an increase of wickedness most people's love will grow cold. Clearly we can see signs of this all around.
I have personally witnessed the heartbreak of love growing cold in families I know who sell one another out for personal gain. While people are panicking about the economy and acting from a spirit of fear and greed, how do we guard against being those who fall away and allow their love to die?
More than ever this is a time when we need to respond in the opposite spirit of fear and greed. Rather than precipitate the battle over turf and self preservation, hording and hunkering down, we need to walk in faith and generosity. This can be a time of great blessing and provision for those who walk in faith. Get ready this could be your time to reap the fruit of your reward.
2 Chronicles 16:6 says, “The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” Another way to say this is, to bless those who are completely His. He wants to support, display strength, sustain and encourage those who are in this with Him as lovers and co-laborers.
We don't have to allow this to be a time of panic and fear. We can move into a time of divine encounters and provision for those who lean their head on the chest of their beloved and walk in confidence with their God. This is not the time to focus on material things that draw our eyes away from our beloved and cause our hearts to grow lukewarm. It’s time to draw near to the embrace of our beloved, so we can continue to walk in peace and the spirit of generosity. Lets be those who the Lord wants to favor, in whom He sees the reflection of Himself.
