Today's Blessing - A Bountiful Eye

BLESSED BOUNTIFUL EYE
Proverbs 22:9
"He that has a bountiful eye shall be Blessed; for he gives of his bread to the poor."

What does 'bountiful eye' even mean? When we realize that God has a bountiful eye and He directs that eye on us, we begin to understand it even more so: 

The LORD has a bountiful eye and is Blessed; for He is our Bread and has given Himself for us.
Jesus answered, "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst." John 6:35

As Christ's ministers, we are to give of this Bread to the poor in spirit, the lost and undone, the lonely of heart, the naked soul: basically everyone we meet whom the Holy Spirit directs us to. Not everyone is meant to preach to large crowds, most encounters are one-on-one. 

There is more than enough of God's Bread of Life to go around. This bountiful eye shared His Bread with the whole world, when He sent His Son to die on the cross for us. Though there are more people on the face of the earth now, there is still enough Bread for each one. 

2 Corinthians 9:7-8, 11 "Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for loves a cheerful giver. .. And God is able to make all grace abound towards you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work ... Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causes through us thanksgiving to God."

We are to give of what God has given us with a cheerful heart. Not grudgingly, as if we don't want to give, but we will anyway. That way? Not the right way, nor will God accept it as a gift to Him. But because we choose to share our bounty with others in a joyful manner, God makes all grace abound towards us, and what we have given away is multiplied to us. God's math is higher than our math.

And because we have given cheerfully, we are 'enriched in every thing to ALL Bountifulness'. We have more than enough, more than enough bread (storehouse/pantry) that the stomach requires, and more than enough Bread that the soul requires. 

It is this bountifulness in us through our obedience to Him that causes our soul to give spontaneous thanksgiving to God. "Always rejoicing" 1 Thessalonians 5:16 & Philippians 4:4.

As the man said in John 6:34, "Sir, give us this Bread at all times."

Wisdom Denied

The Path of The Just

The path of the just is as the shining Light, that shines more and more until the perfect day. Proverbs 4:18.

The path of the just is walked in faith. Eyes open, heart ready to receive what God has to give. Not blindly following The Word of God, but obediently following, holding onto Love's right hand. Trusting with the heart of a child, going wherever and whenever God leads us.

The path of the just is narrow, the width of two walking together: Jesus and I, or Jesus and you. At first there is only room for one it seems. We see Jesus and our heart leaps within us. Walking or running towards Him, we place our hand in His. Eventually, as we become more like Jesus in every way, we appear to become one figure on this path.

The path of the just is lit by the Light of God's Mercy and Grace through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. When we allow The Holy Spirit of God to clean us up, Christ's Light shines through us more clearly. As you well know, clean up processes such as this take several days, sometimes months; perhaps, even, years. Only when the process is finished do we reach our 'perfect day'.

More and more the Light of Christ must shine through us. Why? To reach out into the evil world and pull someone to safety is the Christian's job description: Go (ye) forth into all the world and preach the gospel. Mark 16:15. The world is a dark and lonely place. It it not safe here, yet here we are. Someone shone the Light of Christ into our darkness and pulled us into safety: into the salvation that is only found in Jesus Christ.

Do not write this world off just yet. Do not give up. Persevere. Stand fast. Hold. The perfect day is coming and you and I need to be ready to greet it with joy, with dancing, with laughter. Fear not, God tells us, over and over in His Word. He is with us. Knowing God is not just close by, but with us, we have nothing to fear in this world, in this life, on this path.