Tuesday, December 23, 2014

The MOST AMAZING gift: What Chloe taught me about giving!


I met sweet little Chloe, a six year old girl, at one of my speaking engagements in Northern California last spring. I had just completed a series of Sabbath meetings on prayer at her church, and throughout my entire presentation she had paid attention taking in every detail and every picture.

Although no offering appeal was made, when my presentations were over, Chloe decided that she wanted to give me a special gift to help with my ministry and work. So with the approval of her mother, she brought me a jar of specially saved up pennies and small coins. "Here is something for you, Miss Melody," she told me eagerly as she handed me the jar of coins. "I want to give you this to help with your ministry." I couldn't believe her thoughtfulness as I knew those precious coins had taken awhile for her to save up and came from the deepest generosity of her heart. I hugged her tightly, and not long after we went outside to snap this picture together.

Later when I got back to the place where I was staying, I counted the coins. The sum amounted to $6.40. That's not much in the adult world, but believe me, this was one of the biggest gifts I've ever received financially because I knew the heart behind the gift. I was so touched that I brought the money home and put it in a special container. I couldn't bare to spend it, but began praying with thanksgiving over that sweet little offering, asking that God would bless it and multiply it many fold for His glory, just like He multiplied the widow's "TWO MITES" for His own glory.

Well, God has done just that. In the eight months since I received that gift, God has multiplied those coins many many times for me. Yes He has!!!

Just a little back-history: I haven't received a normal paycheck for almost four years. However, I've not once lacked, or failed to pay one of my bills. In fact, I continue to stand amazed at how God keeps providing for my daily needs and keeps giving me exactly what I need to live, pay my expenses and keep up with ministry and travels. What's even more amazing to me though is that He has not only generously continued to provide for my needs, but He even sent me the funds, just when I needed them this past year, to fly to TWO overseas weddings that I really couldn't bare to miss: One of those weddings was in Romania, and the other one was in New Zealand. Don't tell me God doesn't care about the desire of our heart!

However, above and beyond the financial blessings that I received from Chloe's offering being multiplied (God actually multiplied it OVER a thousand-times these last eight months since I received it) is the lesson that Chloe taught me that day. It really doesn't matter how small and seemingly insignificant our gift might appear as long as we give it with our full heart. If we give with our heart, no matter how meager the offering, God cannot resist. And His blessing will be upon it.

As we enter the Christmas Holiday season, how should we approach the concept of giving?

To be honest, I think my favorite part of the Holiday is having an extra excuse to GIVE. To me, there's no joy like creating a special gift for someone you care about, or taking painstaking effort to put together a special holiday package for those people in your life that you want to make happy, or for those in need. Cooking goodies, sweet treats, listening to Christmas carols, going Christmas caroling, and sitting by the fireplace reading stories…these things are blend together to make many precious memories.

However, the ONE who deserves the best gift of all is our Heavenly Father. But what can we give someone so great as He when we have so little? Do we even consider this in the Holiday rush of looking after loved ones?

I expect we've all had those times when we long to do something special and great for God, but we feel like we really don't have much to offer. We look around at what others are giving and think, "What I have to offer God is nothing in comparison with them! My talents, my resources... They are so little. How could they matter to God??" And so we timidly hold back. But you know, God's not looking for great resources or talents or magnificent gifts. He's looking for the heart behind the gift giving. THIS is what is most valuable in His eyes. And if our hearts are really seeking to give all to Him, then even if we only have "two mites" to give (like the poor widow from Mark 12:42, and like my little Chloe who gave her all with that jar of coins), it will be more valuable in the sight of heaven than ALL the pompous gifts of the world combined.

However, I believe that the best gift we can give is OURSELVES!!! That's the gift that matters most. Are we willing to give Him ourself this Holiday season?


Consider what Inspiration has to say about the widow who gave her ALL:

"It is the motive that gives character to our acts, stamping them with ignominy or with high moral worth. Not the great things which every eye sees and every tongue praises does God account most precious. The little duties cheerfully done, the little gifts which make no show, and which to human eyes may appear worthless, often stand highest in His sight. A heart of faith and love is dearer to God than the most costly gift. The poor widow gave her living to do the little that she did. She deprived herself of food in order to give those two mites to the cause she loved. And she did it in faith, believing that her heavenly Father would not overlook her great need. It was this unselfish spirit and childlike faith that won the Saviour’s commendation." – Desire of Ages, p. 615. 
Soooo….even if you feel like you don't have much to give the Lord this Holiday, don't hold back. Remember it's the heart and motive behind the giving that really counts most! And as History will testify, sometimes the GREATEST GIFTS come in small packages, like the gift of a baby born a couple thousand years ago in an obscure stable in Bethlehem.

One of my favorite verses says:

"It is more blessed to give than it is to receive." Acts 20:35

God gave us His ALL!! Now what will we give Him?

Happy Holidays and love from my heart to yours!
Melody

Friday, December 05, 2014

Intro to my book, Daring to Ask for More

If I told you there was a divine key to success in life and ministry, would you go after it? If I told you that this key is more valuable than all the resources at the disposal of magistrates and kings, would you desire it? What if I told you that this key would open up a whole new world of life and endless possibilities? Would you listen?

Amazingly, this divine key is already in our hands. Indeed, it’s been in our hands from the very beginning. The problem is, while we talk a lot about it, most of us haven’t yet discovered its true power. To illustrate what I mean, let me tell you a story.

Alexander the Great was a mighty conqueror and king, and although he lived long before the time of Christ (around 300 B.C.), his reputation still lives on today. As history tells us, he conquered all of the “then known world.” In fact, it is told, that when he reached Asia, he realized there were no more countries to conquer, and he actually wept.

Besides being a great conqueror, he was also a compassionate ruler. Every year he set aside one day that he called “compassionate day.”

As the story goes, on this special day of the year, he randomly se- lected different people across his kingdom whom he allowed to come and make special requests. They could ask for whatever they wanted or needed. And he would grant their requests. Most people asked for food, clothes, money for medicine, and so on. However, one year, there was a man who dared to ask for more! Speaking through the king’s spokesman, this man shared his request. “Can you please tell the king that I want a large palace?”

But before he could continue, the king’s spokesman inter- rupted him with irritation. “What impertinence! Don’t you see all these people asking for food and medicine? How dare you to think that you can ask the king for a palace!”

But the man continued earnestly, “I want the palace to include a large banquet hall where I can host a celebration, because I have lots of friends. And I want the palace to be well furnished, and I want a special meal prepared.” 

But the spokesman stopped him again, as he was get- ting more angry. “I will not ask the king for this! This is the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard!”

At this point, King Alexander saw the commotion. “What does the man desire?” he inquired of his spokesman.

The spokesman reluctantly turned toward the king and came forward, whispering in low tones that only the king could hear. “King, I’m afraid to tell you this. I can’t believe how unreasonable this man is, and I know you will be upset. But he’s asking for a palace. Not only does he have the audacity to ask for a palace, but he’s asking that you’d make a large banquet hall in this palace, because he evidently has lots of friends. And he wants the whole thing to be fully furnished and supplied with food. I’m so sorry. I know this is such an unreasonable request, and I tried to get him to ask for something more reasonable, but he persisted.”

King Alexander paused for a moment, then with a large smile on his face, he turned toward the petitioner and enthusiastically replied, “Request granted!”

The spokesman looked at the king in astonishment. “How can you grant such an outrageous request?” he asked in shock.

The king replied, smiling, “You see, all these people are asking for food, for medicine, and for mundane things. They think that’s the only thing I can give. But they don’t need a king to give them these things. Anyone with extra resources could do these things for them. But this man . . . THIS MAN . . . He’s the first man that’s really made me feel like the king I am. For only I can grant such a request!”

The Bible tells us, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20; emphasis added). Why do we so often settle for superficial blessings when we serve the King of the universe? Why do we settle for living life three inches below the water-line, barely surviving spiritually, when God is longing to give us so much more?

We are living in the last days of earth’s history, and if the gospel is going to go to all the world and Jesus is going to return, things can’t continue as they have been any longer. We need a much deeper spiritual experience than we have yet imagined possible. We need a much deeper prayer life. We need a much deeper faith in God’s Word. The reality is that we have settled for being spiritual dwarfs when God is calling us, modern-day Israel, to become spiritual giants standing in the gap, interceding for the lost.

Unfortunately, Satan knows the power that there is in God’s Word. He knows the power that there is when we pray. In fact, he knows better than most Christians the unlimited spiritual possibilities that are within our grasp if we look to God in faith. Because of this, he will do anything he can to keep us from genuine faith-filled prayer! At the sound of fervent prayer, we are told, “Satan’s whole host trembles.” They tremble because they know they will suffer loss.

Because of Satan’s hatred for God’s Word and true earnest prayer, he’s created a maze of deceptions to counter God’s work, and he’s been all too successful. I will take some time in this book to talk about some of these subtle deceptions creeping into modern-day Christianity and how we can avoid them. I will also talk about what it means to have true faith, and how we can become so firmly grounded in God’s Word that no storms can blow us over; and how we can pray with bold confidence knowing that God is hearing and will answer our prayers.

My fervent prayer is that this book will launch you on the most incredible journey you’ve ever taken—into the endless frontier of spiritual possibilities that God has waiting for you. I encourage you to keep your Bible near so you can look up the verses I reference. His Word will be our foundation, launching pad, and the fuel with which we move forward in successful prayer and ministry. As I’m sure you will soon discover, God is just longing to pour out His Spirit and just longing to do so much more in your life than you’ve ever imagined possible for His glory. And the key that opens the door to all these possibilities is within your grasp! It is prayer, faith-filled earnest prayer, for we are told, “Prayer and faith will do what no power on earth can accomplish.”

So with Bible in hand, let the journey upon our knees begin—the journey of faith—as we humbly and audaciously dare to ask God for more!

To learn more, visit: www.daringtoaskformore.com


[Note: This book was released in October of 2014. It is available online, from Pacific Press Publishing Association or at your local ABC.]