Lavishly Loving and Limitless God
A couple of months ago I read a devotional that has stuck with me and comes to my mind almost daily. The devotional was called “For the Joy Set Before Him,” and there was a small section of this devotional that shared on lavishly giving. Unsure of what the word “lavishly” meant, I decided to look it up. The definition that clicked for me was, “to expend or give in great amounts or without limit.” This all started stirring something in my heart that I did not yet understand. Days later I came across this verse;
“Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.” Deuteronomy 15:10
So I began praying and asking these questions, “How can I give more? What do You want me to give? How can my giving help further expand Your Kingdom?” The following weeks I continued to seek out God’s perspective on what it looked like for me to give without limit. During that time He revealed to me that giving lavishly is a lot more than just giving money but also giving my time to both Him and people, giving thanks, praise, and worship, giving words of encouragement, and so much more. The thing that struck home the most was, time; setting aside time throughout my day, getting in the scripture, singing praises to Him, and simply resting in His magnificent presence.
Now for those of you that know me well know that I’ve always been one that values organization, and prefers to be caught up on things. I’d say this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I will be honest and admit that I was often putting my “to-do list” before God because of it. It is neat to me that God used this one devotional, these two words, to help me come to realize why I was becoming easily exhausted, stressed out, and constantly feeling like I was running on E. Sometimes we simply need to put what we are doing on hold and be intentional about putting God first. It is true life gets busy and our list of things that we need to get done can be pretty lengthy. But on our busiest days we can get immeasurably more done if we start off by relaxing in His perfect peace. When I’m on the go I’ll try to listen to the Bible in the car, rock out to some worship music while doing cleaning or doing laundry, and/or read a short devotional. It is amazing how much more smooth my days go when I am intentional about spending quality time with Him! When it comes down to it, I’d rather His will be done in my life each day than my own.
Spending one-on-one time and being intentional with others is another area that God’s been bringing about in my heart. I’ve started praying at the beginning of each week asking Him if there was anyone specific He wanted me to connect with that week. Let me tell you, His direction and timing has been and always will be perfect!
Last week I was fortunate enough to travel to Anneville, Kentucky for a week long mission trip with a few members of my family and 30-40 people from another church. It was wonderful because throughout the week we spent a lot of time building, painting and cleaning up the community rec center, trade store, and two families roofs and yards.
–Part of our team listening to the campus director share some history on Anneville, Kentucky.–
–I love painting! Can you tell? 
We were able to paint the gym at the community rec center on the two rainy days we had. The day after we left Kentucky, there was a fundraiser for the city in this gym.–
–Some of my many helpers! They did an amazing job taping off and painting the whole gym!–
–My little brother Preston and my Papa Bear working on the flooring at the rec center.–
A testimony from this trip was from an encounter that I had with a women named Brenda. The fourth day of being in Kentucky a large number of us went to a home a few miles from where we were staying. We arrived to a house that had trash practically covering the entire front and back yard, and a roof that was in really rough shape. We split up into groups, some started fixing up the roof while the rest of us picked up the yard. I did not get many pictures beforehand because I did not want to be disrespectful to the owner. But here are a couple that I was able to capture near the end.
–Deck demo–
–Dad and little brother working on Brenda’s roof–
After a few hours of working I was able to meet Brenda who was the owner of the house. I learned about her passion for sewing and how she even created a quilt that was first put in a museum and later moved to a public library in Kentucky where it is currently displayed. As we kept talking she shared how her husband had passed away a few years prior and how it has been difficult to part with some of the things in her yard and house. But the relief and the gratitude that filled her face as she saw us working on her house and picking up her yard, brought joy to my heart! She told me she was not able to do it on her own. Her statement caused me to pause and think to myself. Though she meant she was unable to clean and rebuild on her own, it made me think about life and how we’re not meant to go through it on our own. God created us to love Him and to love others. He created us for community! This makes me glad that I got the opportunity to know Brenda better, briefly share the Gospel with her and offer prayer for her and her family. I was grateful to use what God had been teaching me about giving and to see the impact it had on Brenda. Though she was not completely receptive, I’m thankful that we were at least able to sew a seed and let her know how loved she is by our Creator. I’m expectant that God will water that seed and continue to pursue Brenda because that is the outstanding, loving Father that He is.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Mark 22:37-39
–Photo from Anneville, Kentucky campus where our group stayed–
With Easter right around the corner, I’ve been spending a lot of time reading through the Gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John) and about the life Jesus lived here on earth. It is astounding to me how much Jesus gave; he gave praise and worship, his time, knowledge, wisdom, thanksgiving, and his life. I’m left speechless thinking about how fully and authentically Jesus loved. He never complained or changed his mind when it came to giving up his life for all of mankind. Instead he gave thanks and kept his eyes on the Most High, continually. When he was spit on, beaten, tested and tempted by both man and the devil, he still kept his focus on our Abba, Father.
But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
Isaiah 53:5
How I look at it is if Jesus can give up his life for me, I can live my life for him. I love that if we continuously pursue Him, we will never stop learning or growing in our faith. He will always continue to teach us and in a variety of ways. God speaks to His people; whether it be through scripture, another believer, a whisper, a dream, a vision, or even through a devotional. He never ceases to amaze me!
