Day 36 - GENEROSITY - Readiness

1 John 3:1

As we enter our final four days leading up to Annual Conference, we will begin each day with the “Wake Up Call” consecration statement which comes from J.D. Walt and Seedbed ministries.  We will conclude each devotional with the daily prayer from Lectio 365. I encourage you to read each of these aloud declaring it as God’s truth for you - for us - today:

    Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  
2 Corinthians 9:6

    A person reaps what they sow… Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:7b, 9 

Daily Consecration Declaration- Read Aloud.   Seedbed’s Wake Up Call

      Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

      Jesus, I belong to you.

      I lift up my heart to you. 

      I set my mind on you. 

      I fix my eyes on you. 

      I offer my body as a living sacrifice.

      Jesus, we belong to you.

      Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

REJOICE -
In His mercy and grace that is available for you today. 

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23

My friend, Roy, keeps a $5 bill in the cup holder of his car. This is his reminder to be generous toward those he encounters at a street corner, holding signs, asking for help. Several years ago, the Lord convicted him about all his excuses and prejudices that prevented him from living out a generous attitude towards panhandlers.  He sensed the Lord was telling him to stop judging and just give. Since that encounter with Jesus, he has always kept a $5 bill ready to share when the need arises.  Once given away, he then replaces the $5 bill.  For Roy, this $5 bill in the cupholder is a reminder that what’s his is actually God’s.  Roy is always ready to be generous. His readiness eliminates excuses and opens doors.

Take a few moments to reflect on God’s love for you and invitation to all people     described in 1 John 3:1

      See what great love the Father has lavished on us, 

      that we should be called the children of God! 

      And that is what we are!  1 John 3:1

Read through this verse again, slowly, out loud.  Let it soak into your spirit.

      See what great love the Father has lavished on us, 

      that we should be called the children of God! 

      And that is what we are!  1 John 3:1

Like a $5 bill in a cupholder, we need to daily recall that we are children of God living our lives in response to an inconceivable love lavished on us by God through Jesus.

A story from “Will You See Me?”

Things aren’t always as they seem. This is undoubtedly the case with Alicia, a youthful-looking 45-year-old with many scars, but not the kind of scars one can easily see. Her bubbly demeanor masks a life full of painful experiences. Hers is a story of one who doesn’t easily give up. Distressful memories and disappointment etch deep scars within her soul.  Yet she is still here. She is still moving forward. And she still maintains a trust in God’s divine goodness.

From: Will You See Me, (Shawn Morrison and Shawn Nielsen, 2025, p 14)

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:7-11

Judgmentalism becomes an issue when we compare ourselves with others.  So a homeless person must be lazy, or they’re an addict that somehow deserves their fate for the choices they’ve made. When we judge others, we lose our capacity to love like Jesus. This is why we need to take up our cross daily.  Compared to Jesus we are all broken, lost people unworthy of His love.

Reread and REFLECT again 1 John 4:7-11. What word or phrase stands out to you? Read it again. Does the same word stand out? What portion of this is God highlighting in your heart today? 

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

1 John 4:7-11

The last sentence struck me: Dear friends, (This is not a harsh rebuke but a loving invitation.) Since God so loved us, (Picture Jesus on the cross - broken and bleeding.) we also ought to love one another. (This is what God’s children do - love as we have been loved).

Consider the words of this classic hymn written by Isaac Watts

   When I survey the wond’rous Cross on which the Prince of Glory died

   My richest Gain I count but Loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

   Forbid it Lord, that I should boast, save in the Death of Christ my God

   All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood. 

ASK -
Lord, how often does my pride deny your love for others? How can I be more ready to love generously and share your love freely with others? What are you calling me to set aside and make ready so that I can share my blessings with those I might encounter today? Time, energy, a willingness to be interrupted? 

YIELD -
Lord, as I pray this Lectio 365 prayer, I also invite the Holy Spirit to speak, move, and prompt me through the day. 

Prayer for the day - Lectio 365

      Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to you in every way. 

      Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet. 

      Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.        Amen