So much is going on right now for many of us. I was searching for scripture on giving when I ran across this. It fits so perfectly with the ups and downs happening right now. I hope this scripture will bless you. I pray it will give you some renewal of faith and mind in the hard times you are going through. Remember – you are not alone either. You think you are the only person going through these horrible trials and times. Everyone around you is enduring some sort of trial. Be there for your neighbor. Talk to them – and open up. Who knows, they may even be going through the same thing. If they are then both of you could actually be there to encourage each other through those times… not to mock and make fun of because that person chose to open up to you. God equips us to make it through the fiery trials. The only question really is whether or not you accept the tools (people, Bible and prayer) to get through them. You will not prevail to the end of the trial by yourself. Instead you will burn in the fire. Don’t have a haughty heart towards any one thing, one person, or one idea. Just because you feel one way does not make you right if your neighbor, spouse or friend have a different idea and both are in line with God’s word. Don’t snub the other person just because you don’t agree. Romans 14 says to make sure whatever you choose to do you do it for God’s glory. Pray for soft hearts and open minds while accepting your family, friends and neighbors as THEY are not how you WANT THEM to be.
2 Thessalonians 1:10-12 (The Message)
5-10All this trouble is a clear sign that God has decided to make you fit for the kingdom. You’re suffering now, but justice is on the way. When the Master Jesus appears out of heaven in a blaze of fire with his strong angels, he’ll even up the score by settling accounts with those who gave you such a bad time. His coming will be the break we’ve been waiting for. Those who refuse to know God and refuse to obey the Message will pay for what they’ve done. Eternal exile from the presence of the Master and his splendid power is their sentence. But on that very same day when he comes, he will be exalted by his followers and celebrated by all who believe—and all because you believed what we told you.
11-12Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.
Confession Letters 