I recently read someone else’s blog that was extolling the virtues of Oprah’s giving heart. The first two things that came to mind as I read were the verses in Mark 12 and Matthew 6.

And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. ~ Mark 12:41-44

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. ~ Matthew 6:1

Oprah is worth 1.1 billion dollars. She is giving out of her excess not from her from her want. If a man from the Bronx sold his house and car to do something like this then he would be doing an extra-ordinary terrific thing before God. I am sure that any giving she has done did not put a niche in her wallet and more than likely she got the tax credit for it also. From a secular human standpoint she did a great thing even if it was for P.R. sake. From a Christian/religious perspective what she did earns her no kudos. (Yes, I understand she is not calling herself a follower of Christ.)

I wonder if Oprah does any ‘secret’ giving done completely anonymously. That would be a greater virtue to extol. It is sad though when folks desire the attention and kudos from other humans rather than from their Creator.

And in regard to them the prophecy of Isaiah is receiving signal fulfilment: `You will hear and hear and by no means understand, and you will look and look and by no means see. For this people's mind is stupefied, their hearing has become dull, and their eyes they have closed; to prevent their ever seeing with their eyes, or hearing with their ears, or understanding with their minds, and turning back, so that I might heal them. "But as for you, blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For I solemnly tell you that many Prophets and holy men have longed to see the sights. ~ Matthew 13:14-17

I suppose if all the money in the world will not buy her spiritual understanding then she should at least spend it on doing something that will earn her secular human respect and admiration… oh, and some good P.R. also.

I would that God were laughing at me, yet I fear He is crying. God does not care about all our religious efforts especially when it is us humans getting the praise and glory instead of him.

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. ~ Acts 17:30-31

In my art I do portraitures of people. I take a photo that folks give me and I create art out of it. I can erase blemishes and lines, add color or a tan, add a special background, give the whole picture a dreamy glow and then make it look as if it was painted in watercolor, oils, pastels or more. The end result can be quite different than the beginning. The women are usually happy with the upgrades. There are so many things I can do to make them 'model-like'.

Recently I had a woman that isn’t too happy with her overall appearance admit the difference I could make in her facial exterior. But forlornly she went on to also say, 'I wish someone could do that for my insides'. That was so sad.

In one graphics program I use there is a ‘healing brush tool’. I use it to take care of blemishes or any imperfection. This woman knows of Christ but hasn’t given her wretchedness over to him to ‘heal’. God has the ultimate healing tool.

In Matthew 13 Jesus was speaking in parables and his disciples were asking him why. He started an explanation then said in verses 15 & 16,

For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; 'lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear'.

God can do a far better job at healing emotional and spiritual blemishes if we just let him in to do the work. He is like an artist that won’t start the work until they are officially commissioned. Come humbly before your Maker and commission him to start a new work in you lest at any time you should see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and should understand with your heart, and should be converted, and he should heal you.

In most relationships there is a giver and a taker. It isn’t cut and dry as in one only gives and the other only takes. But typically there is one partner that gives more than takes and the other tends to take more than give.

The giver usually likes to give for various reasons whether it is from an emotional need to be recognized, to gain credit or because they genuinely enjoy giving. Most true givers love to do it anonymously and watch from afar. A number of givers are prone to not being able to receive. That is a hard reality that eventually gets worked out with time and maturity.

Some takers are just that. They are self-absorbed and just suck from every situation in their life. They usually drain the folks closest to them and do not have the ability to acquire true relationships. There are other folks that just ‘are not’ givers thus they fall into the taker position. Maybe no one taught them how to give or the joy in giving. Or perhaps the two people are givers but one usually exceeds the other in their desire to give.

‘Takers’ do not necessarily enjoy receiving. True receiving requires a fragment of humility and most takers do not clothe themselves in meekness. They almost feel as if the world is obligated to them for something, everything or anything. And golly gee, that they truly deserve it so even if they can ‘receive’ something it is cloaked in a pride that thinks you owed it to them anyhow.

Unfortunately our relationship with Christ is the same. He, for obvious reasons is the giver and thus we become the takers. We can receive or take his salvation, blessings, healings, and anything else we perceive that he has that we don’t have and we want. We pray with our hands outstretched asking for a host of things for him to do for us. We go to church and look for the blessings. We read our bibles and think we will get extra kudos for the good deed. We spend so much time looking for what more he can do for us or give to us to make our lives fruitful.

For the most part our relationships with our Maker are one of take, take, take and then ask for more to take. And God in his graciousness continues to give sometimes to our own detriment. We become fat and content and begin to worship the golden calf.

When our relationship with the Lord is like this it lacks definition and the character to be a true relationship. There has to be a give and take together. There is so much we can bring to God and give him. Our heart. Our obedience. Our lives. Our daily situations. Our jobs. Our families. Our lives stripped open to be used for his glory. Our willingness to let him bring us into his perfection and maturity.

What if we tried to out give God? I know the churches like to teach the unscriptural New Testament practice of tithing and would talk about trying to out give God. But what if we tried to out give him in heart, emotional and physical principles? What if we tried to take our prayer life and instead of asking for all he can do for us, we ask what we can do for him? Instead of going to the scriptures to find the ‘blessing of the day’ you go trying to find the heart of God and see what new thing he wants to do in you today? What if we go to church not expecting a blessing but are there to be a blessing to our Creator? What if we made an honest effort to see how many things we could do to turn the tides just a tad in him being the giver and us the takers?

I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. ~ Acts 20:35

I am on a prayer chain and I see many various prayers. This one is made up for the purpose of this post but it could be as real as the one’s I read all the time.

“Prayer Warriors, As you know my sister Janie had an inoperable tumor in her left side. She has had a lot of chemo and a range of things being done over the last 8 months. They finally went in yesterday and did surgery and they were able to get all of it out and the doctors said that it didn’t spread anywhere else. She is healed! God healed her!! Thanks for praying that God would heal her!”

My question at that point is, did God heal her or did the doctor and his specialty?

Yes.. I can hear you now! ‘God used the doctor to heal her. God blessed that doctor with the ability to know how to get the job done. Maybe the doctor was a Christian.” I agree.

In the New Testament Luke was a physician. It doesn’t exactly say of what specialty whether it was ob/gyn, oncology or general practice. (Just teasing!) Ironically in the book of Luke it mentions Jesus sending out the twelve disciples and he gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. Luke was not in this group of the original twelve. Neither is it mentioned that they were to take a physician with them to accomplish these cures or healings.

If you have a toe problem you go to a podiatrist. If you’re going to have a baby you go to an ob/gyn. If you have heart problems you would see a cardiologist. I would think that if you go to a physician ‘of need’ then that doctor is for the most part quite capable of diagnosing and giving you all the alternatives to how to get well again. Be it medications; see other specialty doctors, surgery or any other variety of alternative medicines.

If you get well, whether in a short time or over a period of time, did the doctor ‘heal’ you? I am meaning in the biblical sense of the word. When Jesus ‘healed’ he didn’t refer them to Luke for a prognosis. He used the mighty power that was at his disposal. There is not a mention in the NT where someone was healed over time. They all use the word and meaning of ‘immediately’.

I have no problem with giving God all the glory for whatever I want to at the time. But if we ascribe a doctor’s touch as a ‘healing’ then does that dilute the reality of GOD being able to reach down outside of a human’s hands and miraculously heal someone?

To me a ‘Praise God he healed her!’ would be followed with the climax of ‘before they even entered the surgery she was able to jump off the bed and dance like she was a little child! The doctors did some quick x-rays and tests and she appeared quite healthy! Everyone in the room was in awe and they stared at each other in sheer amazement. Some obviously knew it was God’s mighty hand that reached down and they each praised him in their own way!’

If a doctor does a good work and everyone ascribes it to God healing that person and if the doc isn’t a God fearing man then he might not want to know this God who keeps getting all the credit for what he went to school to learn. When H&R Block finishes your taxes do you say, ‘Hallelujah, God did my taxes?’ No. The H&R Block guy did them for you. The car mechanic changed your oil unless you saw with your eyes how that oil went from black to a pretty amber color instantaneously.

Let’s give the humans the credit where credit is due and let God do the immense, mighty, wondrous, awe-inspiring acts that only he can do.

One of the things that I am being bent over lately is not that some people see demons under every rock but that some see angels in every picture frame!!!!

It seems that Christians are not just utterly bent out of shape but backwards about the spiritual realm. At one point every one wants love and blessings and prophecies that say God will bear you up under every attack, and blah, blah! Then they don't want to talk about demons and witchcraft, forbid, in the church!!! They assume everyone in the church is a Christian especially if they speak Christianese! They want all the good promises of the Bible and the exhortation done with the quiet, loving voice that wears a perpetual smile! They want to see angels everywhere because that is their 'sign' that God is there and protecting them.

They don't want to see the scriptures that say to put on the full armor of God or to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. Notice it doesn't say be gentle first, but be wise. They don't want to hear a prophecy that might show the finger of Gods' wrath because of their infidelity and sins. They won't judge and forbid, they won't be judged! They call down curses and use the scripture, ‘touch not mine anointed!'

I am weary from the Christians using scripture out of context to benefit whatever ails them! In my relearning I am having various scriptures come past me and I am seeing as if for the first time that they are 1) being taken not as a whole and 2) they are sorely out of context. These are the famous scriptures all the spirit-filled/faith teachers have passed across for the last 25 years (since I have known of them!). I believed theses teachings. I looked them up and studied them but it is almost like brainwashing or witchcraft. They put you in a submission mode that they know better, and hear from God (gosh, almost sounds like Catholicism!) , and because they are who they are (and obviously you aren't ) because they have a big ministry (and you don't), then what they are saying and teaching must be from God or at least right. Hogwash!!! There are so many Christians that are barely standing or standing their ground because of the weak, watered down Christ they have been fed. The scriptures have been so perverted and the so-called saints are eating it up… because they will hear what their itching ears want to hear.

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. ~2Timothy 4:2-4