An audience of One

Matthew 6:4
so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Pray in secret. Give in secret. But it isn't a secret if God knows!  It is only secret from people.  That is to combat our human tendency to compete.  We want to be the fastest, the best, the wisest, the most commented upon or followed. We crave that very thing which caused Satan to fall and that is our own pride fulfilled.  It is like emptying the ocean with a thimble.


Pray in secret. Give in secret.  Write not for the comments, cash or accolades but for Him. Write, sing, pray, create and live for Him.


It takes a lot to put ourselves out there creatively.  We risk judgement, ridicule, misunderstanding or worse not being noticed at all!  


A friend wrote about judgement today, you can read about it here (Thanks Carey!) and it really really convicted me.  It made me pray. It made me think.


We serve. We pray. We love. We give. We offer ourselves and actions to God as a blessing.  We obey when He prompts us to action.  We listen for the whisper of the Holy Spirit.  We don't own it though.


We may wash the feet of a sister or a brother.  We care enough to serve them.  But it ends there for us.  We don't own their feet, nor the cleansing.  We gave it away, freely, as a love offering.  Those don't have strings.


We don't get to question or judge whether they walk in dirt or mud again.  It's not our affair, even if we did wash their feet.


God blesses us with the words, images, art and song to lift up our brothers and sisters.  We give it as a love offering.  It is no longer ours to covet.  It is no longer ours to expect praise for.  We've done it for God, and it belongs to Him.


BUT WAIT...THERE IS MORE!  Our job is not done!  


Romans 12:8
if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.


God also expects His children to love, encourage, serve and care for each other.  We are supposed to be the encouragers to others! We are supposed to show them love and grace.  We are to lift them up. Love them. 


We don't get to ask for that back.  (part of me cries here though - we shouldn't have to ask should we?  if we are to encourage each other that assumes a two way exchange of encouragement doesn't it?)


We don't get to ask for that back.  God already has asked for it back, for us!  Encourage each other. Lift each other up. Be there for each other in prayer, love and in actions.  


Our love offerings are given to God, for His use to encourage our brothers and sisters. To convict them. To challenge them. To bring them to song or prayer. To move them to action against wrong.  They are for His use.  We write, sing, love, pray and serve for an audience of One.  


Matthew 25:40
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’


We serve Him by serving each other!  We show God's love by loving.  We show how life lived in grace looks by living it out loud. Actively.  By words. By actions. 


God blessed you with skills and talents to be used for His glory. They may not be the ones you wish you had or the ones you wish He'd use. But they are exactly what He knows is needed when He calls for them.  Can we be obedient to that?


Can we truly read someone's efforts, and leave some love?
Can we see a call for help and answer it?
Can we really pray when we type 'praying'?
Can we reach out our hands and hearts wholly?
Can we truly say, Your will and not my own?


If the only feedback you got was from God - would you be excited to hear His words or terrified?  Let's be overjoyed that He is our audience of One, let's be so excited we tremble that we can be His children.  Let's be the reason someone looks closer at our faith because of our joy, because we live under grace, because of Him.

What's your poverty?

What do you have? Is it better than what I have? Can I have it? I want it. I think.

God opened a door yesterday and I went through, in faith, and I met a person on the other side I did not know.  I thought I knew her, but I didn't!  She wasn't who I thought she was and I wasn't who she thought I was.  It was very good to talk to a sister in Christ who approaches things so differently from I and yet we share the same foundation, the same belief.

The one thing we talked about that could have been a sensitive issue was poverty and money.  I never thought about it the way she does and she had not considered how I look at it.  It was enlightening. Neither was out to change the other's mind.  We were talking.

She emailed me this morning to clarify what she had said. She was afraid she had offended me.  I wasn't offended, and I messaged her back saying that.  But it still weighs upon my heart what we talked about.  We each saw the same concept, the same word in such different ways. 

Consider that. Two sisters, in Christ. Faith filled, redeemed by grace, understanding our words and works are nothing without grace and love.  And yet on this issue and one other we are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  Not in conflict because we are not judging or questioning, we are seeking to understand.


In what I saw as abundance she saw poverty.  Where I saw friends as family, she saw only family OR friends.  What I saw as a chance to see yourself as a blessing she saw as her being bereft at making a wrong choice. 

Instead of arguing, we explored and found that much like a sphere, you can be on side very far apart and yet that makes you on the other side very close together.


She still may think I'm a bit crazy!  And I will still worry for her heart.  But we neither judged nor tried to discount the other's path.   What a richness and joy that is!  What a blessing!  Her strong faith leads her, just as mine does me.  But God in His great wisdom does not have us walking the same paths, roads or wandering the same deserts.

When we talk about hot trigger words like poverty with other believers are we speaking with our hearts tuned to God?  Or are we so certain in our rightness that we feel righteous?  There are many kinds of poverty - poverty of physical needs, poverty of spirit, poverty of fellowship and poverty of _____________.

God doesn't just speak of physical poverty, He speaks of poverty of spirit as well.  If you have all the physical abundance in the world and don't have a richness in your soul then you too are sitting in poverty.

In the town I live near there are many huge homes and fancy yards.  The secret is what is inside.  Very often yard furniture or nothing.  The people invested everything they had in an outward show of wealth and were left with a hollow, empty space to live in.  This is much like our hearts as well...so much of our lives can be dedicated to the exterior that we neglect the soul, the spirit, the Temple.  


It wasn't a word I would have chosen to use, poverty, because I see it in quite a different way.  But to her it felt and looked just like it should.  And it wasn't acceptable to her family, to her. And she felt led by God to go back to a place where she had an abundance to share with her brothers and sisters.  Her path. I pray she finds her way and is blessed as she travels it.

How do you share your abundance?  Do you question if you have anything to share?  We all do!  God gives us an abundance in the poverty of life without Him.  Are we going to share our talents, gifts and time?  Are we going to be bold and ask to be shown how to find abundance in our poverty?


I normally share a verse, but I invite you to share the verses that speak to you on this!