...be a river.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith; and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10

Okay, so you’ve experienced black Friday, buy more Saturday, take a break and worship Sunday, cyber Monday and today is ‘Giving Tuesday’.  This is a special day for me, members of my family  and also for Trinity/HOPE as the funds that I am donating today for the ‘Brinkmeyer Memorial Fund’ will matched up to $500 and will mean my donation will go twice as far for the school that my family has been sponsoring since 2009.  The details are on the attached photo; it is easy to do something really special today.  On Saturday I read a quote by Mark Hall with Casting Crowns that, “Don’t be a pond, collecting the good and being stagnant.  Be a river; grabbing the good and letting it flow through you and out to others.”  Read the above scripture and then these words from Mark again and just pause what you are doing and be honest; am I a pond or a river?  God prepared you to be a river and today, you have an opportunity let your financial gifts flow twice as strong into Haiti and bring twice as many meals to hungry kids; be a river.  I’m closing today with the words from a really special song by Steve Green called ‘Find us faithful’.  May the Lord and those along our pathway find us being like a river; a faithful river.

“We're pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road and those who've gone before us line the way.  Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace; surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us run the race not only for the prize but as those who've gone before us, let us leave to those behind us the heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives.  Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.  May the fire of our devotion light their way.  May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe and the lives we live inspire them to obey.  Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful after all our hopes and dreams have come and gone; and our children sift through all we've left behind.  May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.  Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.”

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen. 

May God be with you…Jay