You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9
“Christian joy and security is not about the absence of pain and sorrow, but about the presence of the Spirit. Our hope is not based on what we see, but on what is not yet visible. While circumstances in our lives may make us question God’s love and provision, the gift of His Spirit reframes our vision to include the future. While we continue to groan inwardly in anticipation of this future, we have received firstfruits from that future–the Spirit of Christ–who enables us to pray and rejoice in the midst of trouble and scarcity, fear and grief…To experience the Spirit as an abundant supply of nourishing water is to grow up and flourish in the freedom of giving one’s self away.”
Kelly Kapic in God So Loved, He Gave: Entering the Movement of Divine Generosity (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) 103-105. This book offers a good “theology of generosity” and required reading for my D.Min. students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School this summer.
What a joy to serve church pastors, ministry administrators, and congregations in Hong Kong this week. Financial transparency will not only contribute to greater Christian generosity, it will also show people how to live in God’s economy, which is secure, abundant, trustworthy and dependable.
But do we live as if we are confident in God’s love and provision?
Because of the difficulties in our world, our tendency is to retreat to comfort rather than go forth with compassion. This is not an Eastern or Western crisis but part of the human condition: we conform to the culture. Those who are under the realm and reign of Christ will show it by our lives.
With the Spirit of Christ in us, giving ourselves away results not in emptiness, but enrichment!