[Fwd: A Message from Larry Davies]: $7.43 - Taking Action

#1 · April 28, 2009, 3:51 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on April 28, 2009, 3:51 pm
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
Dear friends,

What follows in the attached message is a candid discussion of multiple opportunities to exercise kindness to others - with risks, to be certain. What if the need is really nothing more than a "scam"? What if the person is really a con artist - or worse? In this world, those are real risks that each of us has to personally assess when we consider whether to help another person or not. If we are short on resources ourselves, then it becomes an even more acute issue - will we meet our own needs first or will we help someone else out who is in need?

I suspect that most of us have been challenged with these kinds of difficult decisions more than once in our lifetimes, and I also suspect that many of us have taken the path that Larry took when faced with first helping out the woman looking for groceries, then in being inconvenienced to pick up someone wanting to go to church. Maybe we've also stepped out of our comfort zone a few times. Perhaps we have been "burned" by one of those "scams", even when we had the best of intentions in mind.

A prayerful attitude and a recognition that everything we have comes from God is the first step, in my opinion, to making well informed decisions in matters of this type. If we are not reading our Bibles regularly and we are not personally "in tune" with what God's Holy Spirit is directing us to do, we will miss opportunity after opportunity. Sometimes, even when we are willing, we will still miss opportunities, or in some cases, maybe we will be "warned by the Spirit" about a scam. Maybe, though, God may choose to use us, even to convict the hearts of deceptive "con artists"! Could that be a possibility as well? Are we willing to be "taken in" by such scams, should the Holy Spirit direct us in that way? (I am not certain that The Spirit WOULD direct us in that way, but remember that Jesus Himself at times placed Himself squarely in the middle of controversy, simply because He understood the will of His Father). What I am suggesting is that we live in the Spirit and be always sensitive to what God is telling us through the Spirit - being careful to "test the Spirit" to make sure that we are not unintentionally being deceived by a spirit that does not come from God.

When we are in the Word of God and actively seeking Him, I believe that, just as the Bible says, "Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105) and "⁵ Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. ⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6), referenced from the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.

When we fall short in any of these things, the Bible has the answer to that, too. "⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).

May God bless you in all that you do as you earnestly seek Him through the Word, the Bible, and through the Presence of the Holy Spirit, who is in all people who have trusted in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of their lives.

Yours in Christ,
Brian
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A-Message-from-Larry-Davies.eml

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

What follows in the attached message is a candid discussion of multiple opportunities to exercise kindness to others - with risks, to be certain. What if the need is really nothing more than a "scam"? What if the person is really a con artist - or worse? In this world, those are real risks that each of us has to personally assess when we consider whether to help another person or not. If we are short on resources ourselves, then it becomes an even more acute issue - will we meet our own needs first or will we help someone else out who is in need?

I suspect that most of us have been challenged with these kinds of difficult decisions more than once in our lifetimes, and I also suspect that many of us have taken the path that Larry took when faced with first helping out the woman looking for groceries, then in being inconvenienced to pick up someone wanting to go to church. Maybe we've also stepped out of our comfort zone a few times. Perhaps we have been "burned" by one of those "scams", even when we had the best of intentions in mind.

A prayerful attitude and a recognition that everything we have comes from God is the first step, in my opinion, to making well informed decisions in matters of this type. If we are not reading our Bibles regularly and we are not personally "in tune" with what God's Holy Spirit is directing us to do, we will miss opportunity after opportunity. Sometimes, even when we are willing, we will still miss opportunities, or in some cases, maybe we will be "warned by the Spirit" about a scam. Maybe, though, God may choose to use us, even to convict the hearts of deceptive "con artists"! Could that be a possibility as well? Are we willing to be "taken in" by such scams, should the Holy Spirit direct us in that way? (I am not certain that The Spirit WOULD direct us in that way, but remember that Jesus Himself at times placed Himself squarely in the middle of controversy, simply because He understood the will of His Father). What I am suggesting is that we live in the Spirit and be always sensitive to what God is telling us through the Spirit - being careful to "test the Spirit" to make sure that we are not unintentionally being deceived by a spirit that does not come from God.

When we are in the Word of God and actively seeking Him, I believe that, just as the Bible says, "Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105) and "⁵ Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. ⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6), referenced from the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.

When we fall short in any of these things, the Bible has the answer to that, too. "⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).

May God bless you in all that you do as you earnestly seek Him through the Word, the Bible, and through the Presence of the Holy Spirit, who is in all people who have trusted in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of their lives.

Yours in Christ,
Brian

  --  To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: 1corinthians7-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

A-Message-from-Larry-Davies.eml