Hello, I'm Matt Lucas, President of Our Daily Bread Ministries. We're so thankful to be a part of your regular devotions as you spend time in God's Word by listening to and reading Our Daily Bread. As a regular listener, you're accustomed to the devotion being read first and then the scripture reading. Many of you, however, have expressed a desire to hear the scripture reading first. We've heard you, and with this new year, we're introducing an updated edition of the audio that begins with the scripture reading. You'll also notice some additional elements that we hope will encourage a deeper engagement with scripture helping you to grow closer to Jesus. And as you listen, you can know that millions of people are reading, reflecting, and responding to scripture with you every single day. Thank you for being a part of this mission to make the life changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all.
See what comes from your hand. 1 Chronicles 29, verse 14. Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.
Giving Back to God was written and read by Sochil Dixon. 1 Chronicles 29, verses 10 through 16. David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our Father Israel. From everlasting to everlasting, yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom. You are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you. You are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks and praise your glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors.
Our days on earth are like a shadow without hope. Lord, our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your holy name comes from your hand and all of it belongs to you. Giving Back to God One year, the leaders of our congregation invited us to give gifts in addition to our regular weekly offerings, gifts to build a new gymnasium, a space we could use to minister to the families in our community.
After prayerfully considering the medical expenses caused by living with a disability, I asked my husband, Are you sure we can do this? He nodded. We're not giving God anything that's not already his, he said. He'll provide all we need.
And he did. Over a decade later, our church family still has the privilege of serving Jesus by serving people in that facility. In 1 Chronicles 29, King David showed the leaders of Israel his commitment to support his son Solomon as his God-chosen successor and the builder of the temple. Everyone followed suit, gave willingly, and rejoiced. David praised God and declared that everything in heaven and earth belonged to him. He prayed, Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your holy name comes from your hand and all of it belongs to you. As we consider all God has done and given to us, specifically the gift of a personal relationship with Jesus, we can express our worship and show our gratitude and love by simply giving back to God, the giver of all good things.
Let's pray. Loving God, thank you for being a generous and faithful provider. Please help us to give as generously and faithfully as you have given to us. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen. As you go about your day, reflect on these questions. How does acknowledging that all things belong to God change the way you view giving? How can expressing your gratitude through giving change you?
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-03 20:11:59 / 2025-01-03 20:13:56 / 2