Shirlee Abbott

Sovereign Debt (Thursday)

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Shirlee Abbott

Me: Not harvesting to the edges of a field seems out of touch with our culture.

God: Most Americans don’t harvest fields for profit, true. But you have income.

Me: A paycheck—for me, direct deposit. And with my handy-dandy credit card, I can spend even more than I earn!

God: When you spend more than you earn, you are harvesting on the other side of the fence, so to speak, from someone else’s field—with their permission, I hope.

Me: . . . in return for the interest charged for the “loan” from their harvest.

God: And if you don’t pay them back . . .

Me: That’s stealing!

God: Indeed. As a person, as a nation.

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Sovereign Debt (Wednesday)

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Shirlee Abbott

God tells us to live within our means; that is, to keep our expenses inside the boundaries of our incomes, and in so doing share our left-overs with those who are less fortunate.

Leviticus 23:22 (CEV)
When you harvest your grain, always leave some of it standing around the edges of your fields and don’t pick up what falls on the ground. Leave it for the poor.

What would it be like if our entire nation lived within the edges of our individual and corporate incomes?

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Sovereign Debt (Tuesday)

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Shirlee Abbott

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Sovereign Debt (Monday)

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Shirlee Abbott

thought

How do you feel about the national debt?

Government always runs on borrowed money.
A nation and its people should live within their means.
Owing money to our enemies doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Deuteronomy 28:1,12 (AMP)
If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you this day . . . the Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

Would you be more confident in our nation’s future if we borrowed less? Or is it more about listening diligently to the voice of our God?

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Worthy of Hire (Friday)

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Shirlee Abbott

Ecclesiasties 2:24 (CEV)
The best thing we can do is to enjoy eating, drinking, and working. I believe these are God’s gifts to us.

Solomon has a point. Consider your job a gift from God. Stop grumbling about it, stop fanaticizing about the life of leisure. Your work is worthy of your effort and your gratitude.

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Worthy of Hire (Thursday)

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Shirlee Abbott

Watchman Nee (1903-1972) was a modern-day Samuel. His mother, like Samuel’s, promised him to the Lord before he was born. As an adult, he adopted the name Watchman, because he considered himself a watchman raised up by God to sound the warning call. He established churches throughout China and spent the last 20 years of his life in prison. He has passed on to us a wealth of spiritual revelation.

“A work with the Blessing of God upon it should be our normal work.”

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Worthy of Hire (Wednesday)

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Shirlee Abbott

God:
You do understand that nothing you do will make me love you more—I already love you with an unsurpassing love.

Me:
Right. I know that.

God:
But I want you to carry these two Scriptures in mind: “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12 NIV) and “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).

Me:
Not to earn your love, but out of your love. A payback to the One who is worthy.

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Worthy of Hire (Tuesday)

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Shirlee Abbott

The parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) shows that God is gracious and merciful, not fair. He grants us blessings we don’t deserve.

Romans 6:23 (NIV)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We receive his grace not because we are worthy, but because he loves us. I hate to think what my present and eternal life would look like if God was fair instead of gracious.

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Worthy of Hire (Monday)

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Shirlee Abbott

The Bible says that the worker is worthy of his hire. What’s your experience been?

I do a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay
Underpaid and overworked—that’s me
Who am I kidding? I do just enough to keep the job.
All the above—my paycheck is more consistent than my performance

I’ve always thought these worthy of hire passages are directed toward employers: don’t shortchange your workers. Lately I’ve been wondering—as the minimum wage increases, are low-skill, no-experience teens worthy of the regulated wage? What happens if they aren’t?

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Roots and Wings (Friday)

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Shirlee Abbott

Do you pay attention to your dreams? I do.

Back when my youngest child was learning to drive, I dreamed that I gave him the keys to the car. He drove off, and the car developed wings and took off into the wild blue yonder.

Analysis: God was telling me, Let him go. I did–8 years later, he’s still flying fine on his own.

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