Seasons

The speaker, Joshua, leads a morning devotion and emphasizes the importance of giving and serving God in any season of life. He uses examples of a poor widow and Cornelius, a wealthy man, to illustrate that God rewards those who give and serve with sincerity and sacrifice. He encourages listeners to not let their current circumstances be an excuse for not serving God, as God sees and rewards their efforts. The devotion ends with a prayer for continued grace and understanding in serving God. Salaam wonderful family and welcome to today's morning glory devotion. God bless you for being a part of the just ended prayer time. My name is Joshua from Harvest Chapel International Kumasi and it is a privilege to be facilitating today's morning glory devotion. Let us pray. Father we thank you for this wonderful day. Lord this morning we pray for your presence to be with us as we study your word. As we hear your word breathe your spirit and new life into us once again and empower us to be doers of your words and not hearers only. In the name of Jesus we pray for thanksgiving. Amen. Let us kindly take our confession from Joshua chapter 1 verse 8. Joshua chapter 1 verse 8. This book of the law shall not depart out of my mouth, but I shall meditate in it day and night, that I may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then I will make my way prosperous, and then I will have good success. Amen. The theme for today's devotion is seasons and our scripture reading for today is from Luke chapter 21 from the verse 1 to 4. Luke 21 verse 1 to 4. I'll be reading from the Berean Study Bible. Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. Truly I tell you, he said, this poor widow has put in more than all the others, for they all contributed out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, has put in all she had to live on. Amen. Beloved, in this scripture, the Lord Jesus points out a very important principle, not just in giving, but in service in general. He tells us the kind of giving and the kind of service that pleases God and catches His attention. The lesson here is that we can give and offer our services unto God no matter which season we may find ourselves in. Jesus in this scripture speaks about the rich who gave out of their surplus and the poor widow who gave all she had to live on. This contrasts people in very different seasons of life. Beloved, the poor widow did not withhold what she had with the excuse that the rich were there and they were giving lavishly. She didn't look at her lack or her poverty. She didn't consider what she had lost being a widow or what she would lose by giving all that she had left. She didn't consider that she was in an unfavorable or difficult season of her life, but only considered what she could give to the Lord even in her lack. She saw the opportunity to give as a privilege and a necessity, and she acted accordingly. Beloved, do you think that the king would let her go unrewarded after she has caught his attention by her sacrifice? No, that would be impossible. But this is not to say that God only acknowledges and appreciates the sacrifices of the poor. In Acts chapter 10, we see another individual whose service and giving caught God's attention. The Bible's commentary on Cornelius was that he gave generously to the poor and prayed to God regularly. And the angel's testimony to him was that his prayers and gifts to the poor had ascended as a memorial offering before God, prompting God to respond. Cornelius was by no means a poor man, and he had substantial military power and authority. He was not a Jew, and he could have done whatever he wanted. He had every right and opportunity to despise the Jews and their customs since they had been brought under Roman rule by conquest, but he chose to fear and serve God. He intentionally went out of his way to be generous to God's people and to help the poor. Cornelius was committed and consistent in his service to God and his focus on God, and God rewarded him for it. Beloved, the widow and Cornelius were in vastly different seasons of life, and one was a Jew while the other was a Gentile. But by their faith and service, they both caught God's attention. The same holds true today in our service to God and his people. We shouldn't choose to serve depending on whether we are in a favorable season of life. We don't give our time to God because we have a lot of free time on our hands. Don't let the season you may be in now be an excuse for why you can't offer pleasing service to God. We should serve because it is a privilege and a necessity, and we should do it no matter the season of life we may find ourselves in. God sees and God rewards, and God knows exactly how much it is costing you to serve in every season of life, and he will reward you accordingly. Let us therefore do well to rally ourselves together and serve wherever we can. Amen. Let us take our memory verse from Genesis chapter 8 verse 22, reading from the Iberian Study Bible. As long as the earth endures, sea, time, and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your word that has come to us today. We pray, Lord, that you will continue to grant us grace to serve you in a manner that is pleasing and acceptable to you. Help us to grow in our understanding of your will and expectations of us, and help us to live up to them. In the name of Jesus, we pray with thanksgiving. Amen. Thank you for listening, and stay tuned for more spirit-filled content on Radio ACI Today. Until we come your way once again, tomorrow morning at the same time, do stay blessed.