Tom and Cindy Sipling, our contacts in South Africa. Love them.!!!!!!!
“Do all things for HIS GLORY and others benefit, not for a
position that we gain.” (Rick
Joyner) So often we strive for the
praises of man, position and status.
We are selfish beings, we want to be gloried in every good deed we
accomplish…so frequently our mentality surrounds a “selfish” lifestyle instead
of a “SELFLESS” lifestyle.
Joyner goes on to say in his book something like,
“you truly have a heart for the Lord when you can do 1,000 and more things and
be ok with someone else getting credit for all of it!” That really stuck with me…how many of
us would really be ok with that?
Romania, our back yard!!!!!!! It is amazing here!!!!
Humility is a strange thing; it’s a matter of the heart that
can be transformed to a false state in an instant. Giving as the Lord calls does not mean to keep account of
how much you have given, it does not mean that you deserve a pat on the back
for your good deeds…it simply means that you want to serve God with your whole
heart no matter what it costs or looks like. It means you would be just excited to give because your
giving to Gods kingdom even if nobody else ever found out.
God has been teaching this to me all year long through my
finances. Since the beginning
someone/multiple people have been supporting me anonymously. To be honest, it has
driven me crazy, I’ve wanted to thank them and give them “credit where credit
is due,” but God had a different plan.
Not only did He want to teach me the concept of humility, He wanted me
to see that it’s all really ONLY ABOUT HIM. You see, these people don’t care about getting “credit where
credit is due.” They only care
about being obedient to God and furthering His kingdom. These people don’t need my praises or
the praises of my family to feel rewarded, God is ENOUGH for them.
Lost my bags, this is what I had to wear in public for days….lol. (Had to wear a skirt to church, my towel acted as that….lol!!!! This is me being an official scrub!!!
Is God ENOUGH for us?
At times, I know I can’t answer this with an astounding yes, but I sure
as heck am striving for it daily.
No praise any man could give us will ever fully satisfy, it will die out
and we will need more…it will turn in to an addiction to man praising and
awarding us for our salaries, our houses, what we give/donate, our cars, our
promotions, etc. But if we could
just understand that His praises and gifts are far better than any other we would
not be dependant on someone who will guaranteed let us down at one point or
another.
(Romania….we are here and it is so beautiful….I love it!!!)
I struggled at first to write this blog…I thought, “If I
write this blog I’m praising man and defeating the purpose of the whole
anonymous card.” But then God so
graciously hit me with truth.
There is nothing wrong with thanking people and being appreciative for
what they do, but the focus is not that, the overwhelming focus is giving
thanks to God first and secondly to those people for being obedient to
God. This money was not given to
me or for me, it was given to God and for His kingdom. Why should I be the one thanking as if
I am receiving for my own? When we
give as God guides, we simply give back to Him what is already His. We are not owners of ANYTHING, we are
only stewards of what God has entrusted us with.
That all being said, I’m thankful to God for each and every
one of my family, friends, prayer and financial supporters. God calls some of us to give anonymously and some of us not too, both are amazing and I love both. Normally my words would read, ” I could
not do this without you” but today I want to thank you differently, a way that
is bigger and better than anything in my mind. Today I want to thank you for being obedient to what God has
asked of you. I ask that you continue to pray about giving to Gods kingdom in whatever way He asks you. I love you all and
can’t wait to see you all soon.
