From The Sheep Pen

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. William Shakespeare

Today is Valentine’s Day. Thus, it seems fitting that I would write about love again. After all, today is all about showing love to someone special. All the local stores display endless shelves of candy, sweets, fresh flowers, chocolate dipped strawberries, etc, etc, enticing one to spend a little extra for our sweethearts. My hubby gave me a sweet min rose bush loaded with of tiny red buds . He knows me so well ! It couldn’t be more perfect on this grey, dreary February 14. My brother who works at Kennedy airport in New York as an agricultural inspector says Valentine’s Day, second only to Mother’s Day, becomes a madhouse for all the workers unloading tons of shipped flowers. I wonder if my red roses came from there?

However, Valentine’s Day has little connection to love. It’s origin is murky but the history of February 14th is far removed from pudgy cupids shooting love arrows and flower bedecked Victorian children sending out heart shaped kisses There were possibly two different Valentines connected to the day. Supposedly, both were beheaded for preaching Christianity by the emperor Claudius in the third century on February 14th. The Church incorporated that date into its liturgical calendar and included St. Valentine as a martyr of the faith. It was not until the thirteenth century that love became associated with Valentine when Geoffrey Chaucer did so. Again, much later Shakespeare popularized the idea. (For a more thorough history of t Valentine’s Day, you might enjoy reading the Smithsonian’s website https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gory-origins-valentines-day-180968156/ )

Over hundreds of years, Valentine’s Day has evolved into its present overly hyped and commercialized holiday. But then who doesn’t like sentiment? I am a poet at heart and found many poetic and sappy verses extolling love and lovers. My favorite right now is this one from Dr. Seuss:
You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.

There is another verse in the Bible which touches my yearning heart even more than Dan’s lovely gift of flowers. It is not the only Scripture about love for all of the Bible is really about God’s loving heart toward us. John tells us the true reason why we can love one another.
We love because he first loved us. John 4:19

It is not about an ancient tradition, liturgical practices or even great writing. It’s not about one holiday a year. It’s not about sentiment. It is not about things we purchase but about the one who purchased us. It is about the person of Jesus who first loved us into Love itself. What can possibly be more extraordinary than that!

…Jesus answered him, ‘It is as you say.’ Matthew 27:11

Our country is in the throes of such political and social upheaval I’m finding it painful to remain an informed citizen. From news which is downright evil and disgusting to contradictory, confusing and untrustworthy information doled out daily, what is one to think any more? Some of my friends can’t turn off the news and listen 24/7; others refuse to listen at all. But neither being a news junkie nor becoming an ostrich buried in sand can solve our worsening dilemmas. The problems are moral ones and the only solutions are moral.

We need a king!

Such a statement seems ludicrous to 21st century Americans. Our country was founded in rejection of monarchy and on the principles of liberty and justice for all men. Despite opposing arguments about “freedom” or huffy offense at my remarks, I believe in both freedom and the need for a king. Social media warriors may not approve my solution, but they can’t find me. I’m not on their radar. Actually, I’d relish any firestorm which leads to conversation about Christ.

For of course I write about Jesus. He is the King we need desperately. I’m speaking of Jesus’ kingdom and His rule within our rebellious hearts which defy God Himself, much like Israel did in the Old Testament.
… But they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 1. Samuel 8:7

The king we need is not of this world and certainly not political. This king reigns in God’s kingdom who has given Him all authority over heaven and earth. His kingship is not dependent on civilized processes or violent revolutions.
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now, My kingdom is not of this realm.” John 18:36 And again…
… the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:21

It is God’s kingdom and the only way into it is by being reborn, not of flesh but of the Spirit.
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. John 3: 5

There is a dangerous, false idea about “the kingdom being within you” which is fed by Gnosticism and currently advocates universal salvation for all people. Jesus never taught that we’re to set up our own personal empires, enthroning ourselves. That is the way the world operates and the resulting chaos is a growing disastrous tsunami. When God and His Son are rejected, it is every king and kingdom for itself. Jesus’ kingdom is of God who is divine, eternal and holy and Jesus alone is king thereof. All others are not. We should be warned.

Before His crucifixion, Jesus stood before His own people while Pilate offered an exchange: Jesus for Barabbas a murderer.
And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” At this, they shouted, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” “Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” replied the chief priests. John 27:21-22

It is still the same choice. It is either Jesus, Prince of Peace, the eternal King who died for sinners and offers His kingdom to those who accept Him – or becoming subjects of the realm of the world, the flesh and the devil. It’s either Jesus on the throne or imperialistic, soulish Caesars who have usurped Him.

… But the greatest of these is love.1. Corinthians 13:13

In the thirteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul had a great deal to say about Love. Love is above all other virtues, even greater than faith and hope and so love must also hold first place in believers as fruit of the Spirit. Love is neither an emotion nor an abstraction since it’s demonstrated in very specific ways.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1. Corinthians 13:4-8

Jesus’ unfailing love for the Father and for others was undoubtedly the most visible fruit. Jesus fulfilled the commandment in Deuteronomy 6:5 to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength” to the uttermost. From the temple to the cross, He yielded to the Father out of love. When a lawyer tested Jesus as to which was the greatest commandment, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy, including the corollary “to love your neighbor as yourself.” The Torah already commanded the Jews to love Yahweh, but then Jesus took that commandment to love to an entirely new level, the level of His own heart. Those who study these things believe that the Greek word agape was not used very often in the first century until Jesus manifested a love unknown in the Roman world. The unconditional, sacrificial love of Jesus even to His death on a cross was such an extraordinary love that the writers of the Gospels needed a new word to try to describe it. Christ’s agape has upset the world ever since.

I came of age during the 60’s where it was all about love – (as well as “Peace, Man!”). From the Beatles to just about everyone else, music’s singular theme was “all we need is love, sweet love. Love is all we need.” I do not remember that time as a season of love at all. I don’t recall a love that never failed or that was patient and kind. There was plenty of eros loving going around and the vapid filios, brotherly love offered by the flower children. But I do not recall love which served others first, dishonored no one and forgave all as Jesus taught. I do remember a hedonistic culture of drugs, rage and violence, of sexual promiscuity and Eastern gurus who taught how to empty the mind instead of filling the spirit with the Word of God. When everything is pleasurable and equally valued, love becomes as meaningless as clanging gongs, .

Eros and filios are human attributes; agape is divine. When the 60’s declared God to be dead, there was also an implicit rejection of the love of God. Scripture tells us in the first few verses of John that God is love. To reject God is to reject the very essence of who He is. God’s love can’t be separated from God’s completeness. Take agape away and the world’s without any substance at all.

What’s love got to do with it? Simply everything. What the world needs now desperately is the love of God in Christ Jesus as written in John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Here is the real answer. God loved us first. That love sent His Son to die for our redemption. Jesus’ sacrificial love paid a price for sin we never could pay. Why? So that no one should perish; so that we could have eternal life. While we have breath, God never stops offering His agape love to us. How desperate do we need to become before we yield to the Lord of the Universe who loves us so?

In my Ladies’ Bible Study group we’re discussing Dr. David Jeremiah’s explanation of Galatians 5:24, the “Fruit of the Spirit” which according to Wikepedia is “ a biblical term that sums up nine attributes of a person or community living in accord with the Holy Spirit, according to chapter 5 of the Epistle to the Galatians: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.’ “ Dr. Jeremiah teaches that the Christian life, when filled with each of the nine attributes, transforms that life “beyond amazing.” I’m more than ready for such a promise to be fulfilled. Aren’t all of us who follow Jesus?

The nine fruit(s) of the Spirit are often taught as separate characteristics. Check out images of Galatians 5:24 on the internet and there are countless pictures of nine fruits often hanging from a generic tree. Love? It’s an apple. Peace? A smiling pear? Etc. Etc. While that’s a pictorial way to remember the nine attributes and makes for cute coloring pages, it’s also inaccurate. The word which English translates into fruit (often plural) means the part of a plant which encases its seed -and is not necessarily the tastier counterpart (fruits) to veggies. It’s the more general word fruit, implying fruition, a coming into completeness and reproduction after its own kind. It’s a birthing image. Think of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth when she saw Mary six months pregnant:

…she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!Luke 1:42

So yes, the word fruit is confusing unless you’re a linguistic odd ball.

I usually considered the “fruit of the Spirit” abstractly, as concepts and ideas. I had far too much of Plato’s philosophy and Thomas Aquinas’ theology in my education – and therefore still tend to analyze and conceptualize. If I can over think something – well, that’s why God gave us brains, to shape it all into tidy systems of philosophy and theology? Right? Uh, that would be a No!

The Holy Spirit cut through my inductions and deductions with this simple fact: Jesus Christ embodied every one of the “nine fruit” in His time on earth! Who else was filled with constant love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and gentleness? With faithfulness and self control even to death? The fruit of the Spirit is not a crate of mixed fruits to be chosen and savored one at a time. Nor are we to seek love, peace and joy now and hope for the rest later . Jesus loved while being gentle and also simultaneously patient, kind and faithful. His goodness can’t be separated from His peace. His life is the fruition of the Father’s will and plan, and in this age, the true “fruit of the Holy Spirit” is Christ’s life in the believer. Paul is describing the character of Jesus manifested in the believer through the Holy Spirit and not mental constructs.

Jesus spoke several times to the disciples of their need to abide in Him so as to be fruit bearing.

…Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5

The beyond amazing life is this: Christ in us so we can be fruitful through Him. Apart from Jesus, the “fruit of the Spirit” becomes pretty word pictures.

As this year begins, I am reading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Actually I’m rereading a used, well-thumbed, yellowed -with -age edition, marked with margin comments. It took me a few pages to realize the notes are my own so it will be amusing to see my take on the book way back when!

I’m rereading this classic novel because I gave it to my oldest granddaughter for Christmas and wanted to be reading along with her. Hopefully, she’ll actually open the book and get engrossed. This year I gave all my grand kids classic literature because I am concerned with both content and quality of the books which they’re reading. They’re great readers because they’ve been encouraged to read at home by their parents. How thankful I am for that! However, a thousand pages of Harry Potter will never compare in moral teaching, mental challenge and grace of language to a chapter or two of Mark Twain or Charles Dickens. I fear for the loss of inspirational, challenging, righteous literature for my grandchildren’s generation.

I’m reading Jane Austen again because her use of the English language is vastly different from English in the 21st century and I’ve become language lazy. I have to consciously engage my mind to unearth the wit and gentle ways Austen skewers class society of her time. (Today Austen would probably get into hot water with the pc police, if they could even understand what she was saying!) She wrote with magnificent abundance of words; in contrast, my casual reliance on texting, emojis and cliff note analyses show how I’ve let shallow language to shape even shallower ideas. I’m chagrined to even admit it.

As I’m rereading, I think of my friend Rex McCoy who taught English with me. Rex was in special forces in Vietnam and sent into mine- filled tunnels after the Viet Cong. After that nightmare, Rex returned home, attended college, majored in English and specialized in Austen. It was the strangest academic fit, but his classes were never dull or boring. He got his students’ attention with war stories but challenged them to think with Austen. I believe Rex needed to work through untold horrors in Vietnam and he found solace in literature and hope in teaching. He chose well, imparting to young people something timeless, beautiful and inspirational. I desperately want to thank Rex now.

Challenged by Austen, I am alarmed how today’s public language mirrors our personal and national character. Scripture says that out of the mouth come both blessings and curses. Listen to the news and it’s apparent we’ve gone over the edge. Increasingly, language is a deadly weapon in the mouths of the ungodly who curse and fear no one any more, especially God. Sadly, words are also foolishly misused by those chosen to lead us. Just when I think it can’t get worse, appallingly, it does. I am utterly weary of the world’s speech.

Language is God’s precious gift to us humans for we are the only species with the privilege. From the beginning to the end of time, God is speaking – and He engages men through words so that they learn God’s character, actions and nature and are invited into relationship with Him. Jesus is the Word through whom all things exist so we must hang tightly to God’s Word and truth. Despite all the vulgar, screaming voices condemning and cursing, the Bible has to be our highest language standard to love, bless, encourage and give hope. Thank God for writers like Jane Austen, daughter of a minister, who choose to honor God and one another with uplifting language. Pray that He raises up a new, courageous generation of righteous authors who will do likewise.

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He restores my soul. Psalm 23

It is the end of Week # 2 for my Reset Prayer Time. There have been more challenges than I was expecting, especially distractions which appear seemingly from now where like a nasty hatch of mosquitoes. It always amazes me how easily I get off track. My best time is in the morning. It’s when I write in my journal before my brain fully kicks into “over thinking” the day. As the sun rises over the valley I often am already in prayer mode. I want to pray! It shouldn’t be that hard to simply go to “my secret place”, shut the door, open my Bible and spend the minimum 20 minutes in prayer.

However, as soon as I close that door it is as if a flood of mental and emotional flotsam and jetsam washes into the room and I get so involved trying to clean it all up that prayer becomes perfunctory. Sometimes God and I have to hash it out and invariably in His loving kindness, He reminds me that I am a sheep, pretty dimwitted, prone to wander and get stuck in the briar bush without His guidance.

He reminds me that the Psalms are wonderful prayers for abiding in the secret place with Him. After all, David’s poems and prayers come straight from Holy Spirit so in that sense the psalms are already God’s thoughts breathed toward us. What terrific conversation starters with the Father are available in the Book of Psalms. As a sheep, I know the Lord is my Shepherd because I recognize His voice.

In the often messy secret place, surrounded by thorns, thistles and brambles, isn’t that what your heart yearns to hear for 20 minutes? The Beloved Shepherd’s voice leads you toward still waters. His gentle chiding makes you lie down in verdant pastures of peace and safety. His loving Word anoints your head with oil and then sets up a banquet table with your name emblazoned on it.

I haven’t been consistent to pray during this week’s Reset but this sheep chooses to follow Jesus as He leads me to the pasture of His secret place for the next seven days. Twenty minutes there with Jesus encouraging me to be still, to know Him and love Him will fly by like the blink of an eye. And then, who knows? Maybe another 20 minutes … and then another!

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [a]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

It is Day 5 of Reset. I wonder. Is anyone else already behind in their morning prayers like I am? Despite all my best efforts to be faithful to the 20 minutes of daily prayer time, it has not happened. The author forewarns us at the outset. “Even though your decision is firm, it’s probably challenged already. “ (p 15). Then comes the encouragement to put aside every failed attempt to pray – including yesterday’s. I love God’s freeing grace to reset as often as needed.

One of my very favorite movies is Christmas Story. Having grown up in that era I relate to the setting and the characters, especially with 12 year old Ralphie who is navigating young adolescence. He dreams of owning a Red Ryder BB gun. The Old Man, his father secretly approves, but Mama know he’s going to shoot his eye out. Ralphie’s daily nemesis is the school bully, a nasty, freckled faced kid who wears a Davy Crockett coon skin cap. Along with his two cronies, he torments Ralphie and his little brother every day after school. The seminal moment in the film takes place when Ralphie has simply had enough and loses all control. Like a crazy bull seeing the red cape, he charges onto “Davy Crockett” and just pounds the tar feathers out of him. He has to be pulled off the kid by his mother who is completely shocked at her little boy’s fight. The cronies run off in terror, leaving the bloodied bully blubbering like the coward he is.

I thought of Ralphie earlier today. For weeks this summer I have struggled with a problem which keeps me too tired to even want to pray in the mornings. When I read to “demonize distractions and declare war on every distraction,” I suddenly knew a very real bully has been hanging around my soul, none other than Old Scratch and his minions. They delight in misery, in nightly torment and daily discouragement, just to make me too worn out to pray.

Enough is enough. Like Ralphie, I’ve had it with being bullied by every sniveling demonic coward sneaking into my life. Like Ralphie, my dander is up for the bully is exposed. The very thing he is trying to do – keep me from Reset and Prayer – will backfire. I don’t have to use my fists to pound the devil back into hell. I have the full armor of God to wear, especially during the rest of Reset. Just call me Ralphie!

One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4

This week our church is initiating 21 days of prayer, using Bob Sorge’s splendid little book, Reset.

It is the third time we’re going through the series of dedicated, focused prayer. It is exactly what I’m needing as a busy summer ends and fall peeks through the windows. I hear the invitation of the Holy Spirit spoken by the prophet Isaiah to “ Come and drink freely of the waters.” It is time for me to find Jesus at the well in the desert and be refreshed, restored and reset.

Yesterday’s word/focus/prayer was “desire.” King David ‘s singular desire repeatedly in the psalms was to seek the Lord and gaze upon HIm intimately. If we’re praying to be Holy Spirit reset, then first must come the desire to do so. It is more than saying “I want to. “I may want to spend 20 minutes in the secret place talking to Jesus, but then the phone rings, the dog’s into the chicken bones and, well the list goes on and on. The devil will do everything he can to keep us off kilter prayer wise, including giving us a false sense of our self-serving desire for God. As for me, my desire for the things of God has to be initiated by God! Hello. I can’t even do that on my own and it is very, very humbling. The position is me on my knees before a God who’s already waiting to hear.

When I realize I can’t dredge up “holy longing” out of emotions or head knowledge, I can stop pretending, admit I’m out of gas and lock up every other gas station. My first prayer is, “Father, grant me Your desire to desire You for the next three weeks. “ Awkward? Yes, but it is exquisitely freeing.

My secondary desire for this prayer reset is to pour out what the Lord pours into me. Often that’s to write. I’ve desperately needed a reset in this particular area – and so my heart’s desire is to blog throughout Reset as the Spirit blows through and move me.

This is my desire, to honor You,
Lord, with all my heart I worship You. Hillsong

The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty. Let all the world rejoice!

As if overnight the weather has changed. Mornings are quite cool. It’s been barely 40 in my part of the world so I’ve dug out long sleeved shirts and grudgingly put on warmer pants in the morning. By mid afternoon, it warms up and I’m back to shorts and sandals. I am not yet ready to give up my flip flops – and summer – even if my toes shiver.

Thankfully, the smoke shrouding the area is gone. Last week’s thunder storms brought needed rain and wind which blew away the lingering, unhealthy pall. Local fires seem to be under control now and I am thankful that New Meadows and areas between here and Riggins have been spared. I know some of my neighbors were worried and praying for safety. Isn’t it a testimony that the God who ordains fire and rain on all, both believers and rebels, hears us? It makes sense only to those whose hearts are captivated by the Father. Our anxiety’s been settled, the prayer’s been answered. Now let’s not forget to say thank you for favor.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil 4:6

The splendid morning sun shows off again on the mountains. I didn’t realize how much I missed clouds tinged by the dawn and sunsets setting the western horizon on evening fire. The smoke from all the fires literally obscured the surrounding beauty I’d become used to and I got pretty grumpy. I came to two conclusions. One. I complain a lot about the weather and allow that to affect my attitude about my day. It may be human nature to fuss about today’s weather, but why become a curmudgeon? After all, there’s nothing to be done about it except admit lack of control and look to the One who is in charge.

Secondly, I’ve taken things very much for granted. For over twenty years God has been blessing Dan and me to live here amid beauty, in safety. In the beginning I could hardly breathe when I woke up and looked outside. I was new to the Lord and He opened my eyes as well as my heart. Grace and mercy flowed. Hummingbirds hovered by the windows, flowers were imprinted with design and I had a garden to nurture. Over the years initial joy turned to complacency. Some days I forget to breathe at all because I’m in such a hurry to be elsewhere. When I lived in New York, it was only my visiting European relatives who were thrilled to see all the sights, not those people who actually lived in the city. I wonder. When did the Statue of Liberty become just a statue? When did we quit oohing and ahing at the amazing things around us?

Can it be the Father just wants us to be tourists with Him and Jesus? I believe there are treasures and hidden wonders all around which we will not fully see, hear or understand until God takes us home. I also believe the Lord doesn’t keep all His splendid gifts in the dark, but gives us a foretaste right now, revealing “the sights” in His kingdom.

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” 1. Cor 2:9

This summer’s changed my perspective. I relearned to appreciate God’s abundance everywhere, in both smoke and sunshine. And so I pray. Father, forgive my complacency and grumbling. Forgive me for taking Your Name for granted. Count me in for the sightseeing bus and make me a kingdom tourist again. See! The hummingbirds are still hanging around on summer’s edge!

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25

My friend Lydia is one of the most generous people I know. Invariably when we get together, she brings a small gift – and it is always perfect. She remembers birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and personal events which are important to our friendship. She blesses me as well as others who are in her life, even peripherally. In Lydia, I see one “who refreshes others” through her special gift of generosity. She inspires me to be more generous to others.

Generosity is sorely needed in our world. Generosity has gone the way of humility and concern for others. Increasingly, those who scream “Me, Me, Me” the loudest are the proverbial squeaky wheels, upheld, lauded and even admired in the marketplace. Selfishness worships at the stingy feet of the idols of getting , grabbing, going after. Simply put, the unadulterated covetousness is greed run rampant. It’s opposition to true generosity and it is sin which violates the 10th Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.

It is against God’s law and contradicts the Way of Jesus. In His earthly life, the Lord’s generosity was boundless. He gave completely of Himself to His disciples and to the multitudes, whenever and wherever there was need. I think of the multiplication of bread and fish to feed thousands of hungry people who followed Him. I think of His generosity to heal, forgive, accept, admonish, encourage, teach, comfort and love the lost and the hurting. I think of God’s Son on the cross dying horribly for our sins and still giving his mother Mary into the care of John. Jesus’ pure generosity poured out because of the Father’s great unconditional love toward us.

There are days when I am readily generous for I like to give, believing it is more blessed to give than to receive. I can write a check or buy a little something for my friends. It’s heart warming to give something wrapped in pretty paper and tied with colorful ribbons. It’s much harder to give something intangible wrapped up in the love of God. Sometimes it is downright painful to love someone stepping on my precious perceived rights and privileges. But isn’t this exactly what Jesus asks of us? Follow Him . Keep His commandments. Be generous as He was generous because the Father is generous and has given likewise of His Spirit.

Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8

Jesus’ words remind me that generosity is the outcome of gratitude. God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, Jesus. What more perfect example of generosity can there be? Who is more generous than Jesus who gave His life freely, to die for us freely. His generosity costs us nothing and gains everything. There is no price for us to repay. We simply cannot do so, for the generosity of our God is eternal and without limit. However, something is required. Jesus told His disciples to freely give because they had received everything. We who follow Him in this age are to do likewise. Be generous to heal, accept, forgive, pray, intercede, encourage, comfort and most of all love. Generosity of the Spirit is available within our hearts if Christ abides. It is more than enough to overcome selfishness, greed and stinginess. The promise is that we then shall prosper and be refreshed through ever increasing, generous love of God toward one another.