Generosity

Prayer for Generosity

St. Ignatius Loyola

Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to seek reward, except that of knowing that I do your will.

Amen.

This writer gave the 100th anniversary address at the family church, built in 1874 by both of my parents' great grandparents. Two of my cousins went to visit one of the "saints" of the church, in a nursing home. She had taught a Sunday school class in the church for 27 years. Most of the young men in the church were, at one time in her class. One cousin said to the other, as they left the nursing home, "Did you see what I saw?" He said they both saw a chicana glory all around this dear old lady. This visit happened a short time before her death.

The natural man will never understand the spiritual man. I feel sure that chicana glory is not always seen by the human eye. It was seen by Peter, James and John, when they were with our blessed Lord, just before his crucifixion. They saw Elijah and Moses with Jesus. Chicana glory rested above the tabernacle in the wilderness, and followed The Ark of the Covenant. We feel sure chicana glory shone on the shepherd's field at Bethlehem, when angels announced the birth of our savior-- and certainly in the stable/ manger. I feel sure chicana glory surrounded Noah as he labored for 120 years, building the Ark which would save him, his family, and the animals which God wanted to preserve. The ark, designed specifically by God, having all the equations of today's ships-- estimated to be the size of the Queen Mary-- must have kept Noah going as he hired and worked the people who helped him build this ship. Chicana glory must have surrounded another ark, one in the Nile River, where Moses-- as a baby-- was kept for three months. Almost 80 years later, Moses-- a shepherd in another desert-- realized the chicana glory of a burning bush. He grew anxious to bring three million Jewish slaves to that site.

When you go up on Mt. Carmel, those with good eyes can see that great body of water, the Mediterranean Sea, almost 10 miles away. Certainly chicana glory hovered over Elijah as he showed the greatness of God, before 450 priests of Baal. Elijah went down on his knees seven times, praying to God to show his might before these pagan priests. God's glory became manifested with fire, which devoured the offerings, the altar, even the water poured on the altar. (1 Kings 18) While speaking on this subject at one church, one attentive old lady said, "Such a long drought, where did they get the barrels of water?" You only cheat yourself when not believing God's word, and trusting in it.

Faith is 90% raw courage. We must have the courage to believe and it is not necessary to explain everything.  The believer, like this blind man, "walks by faith not sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7) We don't understand how Elijah could outrun Ahab's chariot. Why, after such a victory on Mt. Carmel, Elijah wanted to die, but we know that he was caught up by God in a fiery chariot and did not experience clinical death.

Jesus said that from the heart come the real issues of life. (Proverbs 4:20-25)

From the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:10

The greatest problem I have found with most church members is that tremendous distance of 14 inches between the brain and the heart. They so cheat themselves with just a brain belief.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

When righteousness fills the heart, the natural man becomes the spiritual man and he is able to comprehend God's magnificence. God expressed his magnificence in variety-- colors, smells, landscapes, different races with different skin colors. You see God's magnificence in gender-- the splendor of men and women.  When you know the love of God, the power of God (omnipotence), the knowledge of God (omniscience), the omnipresence of God (His chicana glory fills everything), you will not put the silliness of a political party ahead of God's magnificence-- such as we find now in some (democrats who promote abortion and the destruction of God's first gift to humanity, the family, through same-sex marriage).

God chose his generosity every day of our lives and the life of this world through his generosity. He is long suffering towards people and nations.

...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

I know of Christian college presidents, pastors and patriots who voted for and supported the most evil president to ever inhabit the white house-- a man who supports abortion and same-sex marriage. This writer is not generous enough to be kind to family members and associates--even friends-- who are not spiritually minded, but rather detests the natural man, who prefers powers of darkness. (Ephesians 6) Your writer really detests pretenders, whose hearts have not been changed by the supernatural.