Sunday, 21 August 2011

YWAM Update: Hilarious Giving

Posted by Nathan Sinclair at 14:51 Labels: , ,
Hello, everyone!



Coming home to you, safe and sound! now in Christchurch. It feels rather incredible that 2 weeks ago I was in Jerusalem, living in the old city. The things that people have said of it seem to be sticking, but I also know that God is bigger than what people say. The proof is here today.

I'm kinda surprised to be sharing this story, for the story that I want to share with you. Because it is one of those stories that is dear to my heart, God release the freedom to live this way all the time! So what is it, you ask? Let us think on some lyrics from a song that I'm singing.


"Beautiful One, I love!
Beautiful One, I adore
Beautiful One, My Soul must sing"

You opened my eyes to your wonders anew,
You captured my heart with this love,
because nothing is as beautiful as you
"Beautiful One" - Chris Tomlin

This may come as a surprise to you, but when God reveals Himself to us, the primary of this revelation, is simply, to stun us with beauty. The word for beauty literally means "without words" - not being able to describe. Secondary is bringing articulation to this word.

Star-struck. The second thing is this. When the word says "cheerful giving" in 2 Corinthians 9:7 - when it says "cheerful" this means "hilarious" - it comes from the greek word ἱλαρός "hilaros" which means "prompt to do anything". I just paid for an almost full tank of petrol. After I did this I felt good about it, I had peace about what I did. I didn't know until I looked it up - but this fits with the experience!

This is the story. Steve and I pulled into the garage because we noticed that the fuel light had gone on - his tank was nearly empty. I asked him a question before he went into the petrol station, "would you like me to pay for some of the petrol?" He said, "only if you want to, I don't want to force you" so I said, "okay - you pay for the petrol then" - but just as He went to pay I heard God say "I want you to pay for the petrol" so I went in and said "I will pay" - we walked back out and I asked Him a question "how much would it cost for a full tank?" He said "quite alot" I said "$80?" then I said again "I will pay another $60"

That's when Steve shared about the definition of cheerful.

In closing, I want to encourage you to live hilarious and star-struck. I want to thank everyone that has journeyed with me for the past year as I have been at YWAM. I will be having a night on the 27th of August, at 7:30 at Papanui Baptist Church, 144 Sawyers Arms Rd, sharing my experience of Israel and where to from here. God's inheritance is both hilarious and exciting.

I wanted to show some of God's sense of humour as well, coming home to 3 days of snowfall in Christchurch - book-ended by two different snow storms with Israel in the middle. I feel like my natural home and my spiritual home are coming together more every day - but I don't have footage of the snow yet. Hopefully in the next few days.

1 comment:

  1. Liz25 August 2011 at 10:00

    this is a beautiful testimony of obedience Nathan. I am encouraged to be a cheerful giver after reading it.

    ReplyDelete

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