DAY 633 - Money Can Express Love? (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)

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Confirmation from John Stott in 2009: 
http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html
My MicroMacro Discipleship, A missing DNA in Discipleship Development: http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/introduction-micromacro-discipleship.html
Subject Shifting Devotion Method(Inspired by John Stott in 1991: http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

                               Today's Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

** If you would like to learn a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please read my “Count Down 5” from my Devotion on Fire blog:

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

To use this simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please click this link:

 .Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf

Please click this link to read 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

English(ESV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1 Thessalonians 4&version=ESV

Chinese: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=帖 撒 羅 尼 迦 前 書 4&version=CUV

Bible Study

     Paul leads us to think of love and money in this passage. Can money and love related to each others? 

Bishop N.T. Wright says ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._T._Wright ) :
     At the point of this little paragraph is that money can express love, and, indeed, that if the love is genuine it will find an outlet in financial generosity…
     The rest of the paragraph makes it clear, as do similar passages elsewhere in the New Testament, that this 'love' is expected to issue in practical support within the Christian community, and also, as far as this may be possible, in the world outside.  God's own expression of his love resulted in his total self-giving in the person and death of his son.  Christian expression of the same love must have the same self-giving quality, and money is an inescapable part of that. 

N.T. Wright. Paul for Everyone:Galatians and Thessalonians. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p.120-121.

      What kind of insight have you got? Do you agree with Paul that money can express love? 

      
Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

Spiritual Journal

    The title I heard from Jesus today is: Money can express love?

    What I got from Jesus today is a challenge to each one of us that we need to have a new insight to use our money. When we say we love God and one another, how do we express our love using our financial resource?

     One of the brothers in a church gave a funny but important address to the people of his church during a Vestry concerning with the use of money to a building project. He said,"I have a good news and a bad news. The good news is that we have all the money for this project. The bad news is that those money are all in our own pockets." May this joke be a reminder to us that Paul tells us today that money can express love.  

Dear Lord Jesus,

Lead us to be willing to use our financial resource in a better way so that we can also love you in a better way. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Please click this link to worship with us -

從心合一

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJWZQyLzDRQ

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) Matt Redman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

You may choose to follow my other daily blog: 

Daily Devotion on Fire 2(2 years plan -One year New Testament, one year Old Testament): 

http://bishopsilas2.blogspot.ca/

Daily Devotion on Fire (3 years and 3 months plan, one chapter a day to finish reading the whole Bible): 

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/

Break.Build (40 days daily devotion- For Renewal or First Step for new Christians): http://www.breakbuild.blogspot.ca/

Emmanuel330 (40 weeks First Step Bible Study): 

http://emmanuel330.blogspot.ca/

This blog:

Discipler 123 (Daily devotion using N.T. Wright's NT for Everyone as source)

http://discipler123.blogspot.ca/