Shirlee Abbott

Taxes or Riches

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

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Taxing Prayer

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

I may not be the most cheerful taxpayer, but I can send my money to the government with a blessing.

Lord God, may this money accomplish good things.
Use it to bless others. Amen.

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Better than Taxes

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

Leviticus 19:9-10 (NIV)
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner.

I like the Old Testament approach to welfare. Planned generosity. No tax-collecting middle man. A relationship between the haves and the have-nots.

Likely the gleaner said, “Thank you.” And the land owner said, “You’re welcome.”

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Tax Day Cometh

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

Taxes?

Ben Franklin was right about death and taxes
Everybody cheats when it comes to taxes
I willingly pay my fair share

April 15 is almost upon us. Some hate the process, some hate the payment, many hate it all.

You remember what Jesus said about taxes:

Mark 12:17 (KJV)
Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.

The Romans levied both property taxes and head taxes. The more people in your household, the more money paid to the government.

Jesus paid my heavenly head tax.

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Enough!

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

Proverbs 30:15 (NIV)
The leech has two daughters.
“Give! Give!” they cry.
There are three things that are never satisfied,
four that never say, “Enough!”

It is much better to be one who says that less “would have been enough” than to be one who never says “enough.”

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Personal Enough

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

I’ve been thinking about dayenu–“it would have been enough”–and how it applies to me. Here are a couple personal enoughs:

If I had a safe, warm home, it would have been enough. But You provided a unique house that is charming and lives well. Oh Lord, I’m so grateful.

If I had a job that pays the bills, it would have been enough. But You provided a job I enjoy and coworkers who are also friends. Thank you, Lord God.

How about you? What’s your personal dayenu?

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Beyond Boundaries – Spurgeon

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

Follow my blog for a few weeks, and you’ll meet up with Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). He preached to 10,000,000 people in his lifetime. Count me in, too.

Let’s ponder his insights yet again, this time on God’s blessings beyond our imagination (Ephesians 3:20):

“Our unbelief is a great impoverishment to us . . . we have to thank God that He is not bounded by our narrow faith, but even goes beyond what we believe concerning Him!“
Paul’s Doxology, 11/1/1875

Thank you, God, for being more than enough, for overflowing my boundaries!

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It Would Have Been Enough

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

If God just let us live out our years in the wonderful world he created and did not also grant us eternal life, it would have been enough.

Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV)
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

If I knew only this world, I would be unable to to ask or think about the hereafter. Exceedingly abundantly, indeed.

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More Than Enough

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Shirlee Abbott

Do you want more?

More money
More sleep
More time
More wisdom

There is a part of the Passover Seder ritual called “Dayenu” – meaning it would have been enough (as in, “Had He brought us out of Egypt but not judged them, it would have been enough for us”).

I am writing this on Easter evening, thinking dayenu:

Had Christ died for our sins to save us from hell, it would have been enough.
But he also gave us eternal life with Him in heaven—more than enough.

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