100:00:00,260 –> 00:00:09,920A generous person is a person who goes the extra mile. A generous person is someone who200:00:09,920 –> 00:00:16,760is motivated by love rather than merely by law. Love always goes beyond where law can300:00:16,760 –> 00:00:18,000take you.400:00:18,000 –> 00:00:22,320Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick. Glad you could be500:00:22,320 –> 00:00:28,200with us today and if you’ve just joined us, we’re in a series called Overcoming Evil.600:00:28,200 –> 00:00:32,840It’s based on Romans Chapter twelve and today we’re going to find out how generosity700:00:32,840 –> 00:00:35,240plays a part in overcoming evil.800:00:35,240 –> 00:00:40,119Yeah, and this is of real importance for us. Here we are at a time where there’s so great900:00:40,119 –> 00:00:46,000division. People are divided. There’s a sense of antagonism. What can Christians do?1000:00:46,000 –> 00:00:51,439That’s the great question. And Romans twelve, the Apostle says to us, do not be overcome1100:00:51,439 –> 00:00:54,660by evil but overcome evil with good.1200:00:54,660 –> 00:00:59,439In other words, there is something positive that we can bring here. But how do we do it?1300:00:59,439 –> 00:01:04,220Well these verses in Romans twelve really give us a step-by-step guide and begin with1400:01:04,220 –> 00:01:09,339let love be genuine. It’s got to be sincere. It’s got to be from the heart.1500:01:09,339 –> 00:01:13,360And we’ve been looking at how we can restore our own spiritual passion and now we get to1600:01:13,360 –> 00:01:16,839this place where we’re called to have a generous heart.1700:01:16,839 –> 00:01:21,660In other words, Christians who are just concerned about ourselves and what’s in it for us1800:01:21,660 –> 00:01:26,739are never going to overcome evil, they’re never going to reach out and be able to have1900:01:26,739 –> 00:01:31,260a healing effect in this culture in which we find ourselves.2000:01:31,260 –> 00:01:37,940We’re being called to a generosity of spirit that does not only involve generosity in terms2100:01:37,940 –> 00:01:41,500of giving, that’s always the first thing we think of and that’s really important,2200:01:41,500 –> 00:01:46,379but a generosity that reaches out to others, to weep with those who weep, to rejoice with2300:01:46,379 –> 00:01:50,180those who rejoice, and even those who are not part of our circle naturally.2400:01:51,000 –> 00:01:53,900to have a heart that really cares about other people.2500:01:53,900 –> 00:01:58,500These are things that genuinely make a difference and what the Apostle called the first Roman2600:01:58,500 –> 00:02:05,940Christians to practice when they were oppressed by a brutal regime and we as Christians are2700:02:05,940 –> 00:02:10,779being called to exercise this kind of influence in our troubled world today.2800:02:10,779 –> 00:02:17,539So if you can, join us in Romans in chapter 12 as we begin the message Overcoming Evil2900:02:17,539 –> 00:02:19,820With Generosity, here’s Colin.3000:02:20,460 –> 00:02:24,339Now our title today is Overcoming Evil With Generosity.3100:02:24,339 –> 00:02:29,919I think that generosity holds the three themes that are in these verses together, I have3200:02:29,919 –> 00:02:36,419for many many years looked up key words in a message in my trusty old Oxford English3300:02:36,419 –> 00:02:39,639dictionary that’s on the shelf next to my desk.3400:02:39,639 –> 00:02:46,619I’ve discovered now that I can simply press a button on my iPhone and ask Siri for a definition3500:02:47,440 –> 00:02:53,339all kinds of words and according to Siri I am reliably informed that the word generous3600:02:53,339 –> 00:03:00,339when it is applied to a person means a readiness to give more of something than is strictly3700:03:00,860 –> 00:03:05,020necessary or expected, that’s what it means to be generous.3800:03:05,020 –> 00:03:12,020A readiness to give more of something than is strictly necessary or is expected.3900:03:12,820 –> 00:03:18,300In other words, a generous person is a person who goes the extra mile, a generous person4000:03:18,300 –> 00:03:24,940is someone who is motivated by love rather than merely by law, love always goes beyond4100:03:24,940 –> 00:03:31,419where law can take you, love always goes beyond the range of law.4200:03:31,419 –> 00:03:38,419So a generous life really has three dimensions and I think that they are reflected in the4300:03:38,979 –> 00:03:45,720three verses that are before us today and particularly that each of these dimensions4400:03:45,720 –> 00:03:52,259of generosity reflect something very wonderful that we see in our Lord’s incarnation, in4500:03:52,259 –> 00:03:58,580His crucifixion and then in His resurrection and in His ascension and we’ll trace these4600:03:58,580 –> 00:04:00,759things together today.4700:04:00,759 –> 00:04:04,580So let’s look at these first and we’re not going to take them in the order in which they4800:04:04,580 –> 00:04:09,800come. We’re going to take them in an order of ascending difficulty. None of these are4900:04:09,800 –> 00:04:15,320easy but we’re going to start with the least difficult and then we’ll see how we progress5000:04:15,320 –> 00:04:20,000from there. May God give us grace as we hear the challenge of His Word today.5100:04:20,000 –> 00:04:25,540So let’s begin with verse 15 and I’ve titled this be generous by reproducing the example5200:04:25,540 –> 00:04:31,079that God has given you in Christ. And particularly here we’re thinking of the example that God5300:04:31,140 –> 00:04:38,359has given in the Incarnation of our Lord. And the verse 15 says, rejoice with those5400:04:38,359 –> 00:04:46,260who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Now if you are going to rejoice with those who5500:04:46,320 –> 00:04:49,899rejoice and if you’re going to weep with those who weep, very simply you have to get5600:04:49,899 –> 00:04:56,239close to other people. It is simply not possible to share in another person’s joy or to share5700:04:56,380 –> 00:05:03,380in another person’s sorrow unless and until that proximity, that closeness to other people5800:05:03,579 –> 00:05:09,559is part of your life. And each of these exhortations that we’re looking at in the Scripture today5900:05:09,559 –> 00:05:15,640carries of course an implicit temptation and the temptation here, the implicit temptation6000:05:15,640 –> 00:05:22,640is to remain aloof, to keep yourself to yourself, to be detached and to live as it were, in6100:05:23,079 –> 00:05:30,019your own world. And I’m very aware that among us here there may be a good number of us,6200:05:31,059 –> 00:05:36,279perhaps even including anyone who like myself comes from Great Britain, who would say something6300:05:36,279 –> 00:05:41,899like this, while I’m a very private person. Is there anyone here who would say, I’m6400:05:41,899 –> 00:05:47,779not asking for a show of hands, you’re the last person who would ever raise your hand,6500:05:47,779 –> 00:05:55,339I’m a very private person? Well, I know a little about that I think. And here’s6600:05:55,339 –> 00:06:02,920the response of Scripture to that, God calls you to be a very loving person. God calls6700:06:02,920 –> 00:06:10,500you to be a very loving person and to do that you have to find ways to get close enough6800:06:10,519 –> 00:06:18,980to other people to feel that pain and to share their joy. Rejoice with those who rejoice.6900:06:18,980 –> 00:06:26,619Weep with those who weep. So whose pain are you feeling right now? Whose joy are you sharing7000:06:26,619 –> 00:06:35,859right now? Now think about how God models this dimension of generous love for us. God7100:06:35,859 –> 00:06:42,899is in heaven and He is completely self-sufficient. He has everything that He needs in himself.7200:06:42,899 –> 00:06:49,119All the love that could ever be is already within the very nature of God. Love flowing7300:06:49,119 –> 00:06:53,820from Father to Son and Spirit and back and forth. God is completely self-sufficient.7400:06:53,820 –> 00:06:58,739He doesn’t need the world. He doesn’t need the human race. He does not need anything7500:06:58,739 –> 00:07:05,779outside of himself. So when He chose to make the world, He could have made the world and7600:07:05,779 –> 00:07:10,760having planted this marvelous garden in Eden and brought the man and the woman who He created7700:07:10,760 –> 00:07:14,679together and given them the marvelous gift of marriage, He could’ve simply put them7800:07:14,679 –> 00:07:20,760in the garden and said, well that’s that. I’ll leave them to get on with it. But God7900:07:20,760 –> 00:07:27,000doesn’t do that. What do you find right at the beginning of the Bible, that He comes8000:07:27,000 –> 00:07:33,260down, He takes a visible form so that He’s able to walk with the man and the woman in8100:07:33,260 –> 00:07:40,140the garden in the cool of the day? Now why does God do that? It’s not because He needs8200:07:40,140 –> 00:07:47,140to have the man and the woman in His life. No, there’s no need in God for them. Why does8300:07:47,160 –> 00:07:56,799He do this? He comes down because God is love, and this is what love does. It does not remain8400:07:56,899 –> 00:08:03,980in splendid isolation, remote. It comes near and in the garden of Eden, walks with this8500:08:04,480 –> 00:08:13,160woman and with this man and enters into their joys rejoicing with those who rejoice.8600:08:13,299 –> 00:08:17,779Now of course these appearances of God, in a visible form, keep recurring throughout8700:08:17,779 –> 00:08:22,459the Old Testament, and why are they there? Because clearly they are pointing forward8800:08:22,459 –> 00:08:27,540to the great outpouring of love that is at the very center of the Bible story, where8900:08:27,540 –> 00:08:32,859God actually becomes a man, not simply appearing as a man for a little while. He becomes a9000:08:32,859 –> 00:08:39,619man, in the incarnation, in the Lord Jesus Christ. He comes close to us and he enters9100:08:39,619 –> 00:08:46,619into our joys and he enters into our sorrows. And it is surely very significant that the9200:08:46,619 –> 00:08:54,380apostle John records seven miracles of our Lord Jesus, and these seven miracles he calls9300:08:54,380 –> 00:09:04,580signs, indicating that they are pointers to who Jesus is and what Jesus does. Signs. And9400:09:04,580 –> 00:09:10,020the first sign if you think about it is rejoicing with those who rejoice and the last sign is9500:09:10,020 –> 00:09:16,340weeping with those who weep. What’s the first sign, the first miracle in John’s gospel?9600:09:16,340 –> 00:09:22,179The wedding at Cana of Galilee where Jesus turns water into wine. Whose wedding was it?9700:09:22,179 –> 00:09:29,859Nobody knows. An ordinary couple whose names aren’t even recorded, never famous just an9800:09:29,859 –> 00:09:34,700ordinary couple getting married and Jesus Christ enters into their joy. That’s your9900:09:34,700 –> 00:09:45,960savior isn’t that wonderful? He comes alongside and enters human joy. And what is the last10000:09:46,179 –> 00:09:52,340of the seven signs, it’s the raising of Lazarus from the dead. And you remember how that happened10100:09:52,340 –> 00:09:58,840that Lazarus was the deeply loved brother of Martha and of Mary and a dear, dear friend10200:09:58,840 –> 00:10:04,979of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this man died and Jesus was in another place when he died.10300:10:04,979 –> 00:10:11,020And so by the time Jesus came to Bethany where the family lived, the funeral had already10400:10:11,020 –> 00:10:16,340taken place. But the family of course, was still in mourning. And Mary came out from10500:10:16,340 –> 00:10:22,219Bethany and met with the Lord Jesus Christ as he was coming to the town. And John records10600:10:22,219 –> 00:10:29,520that when Jesus saw her weeping, he was deeply moved. The strongest of words, he was moved10700:10:29,520 –> 00:10:36,859to the core. The son of God was moved to the core of his being by a woman’s tears.10800:10:37,859 –> 00:10:47,000That’s your saviour. And being moved to the core of his being, John records Jesus,10900:10:47,000 –> 00:10:58,539the son of God, wept. He wept. Rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who11000:10:59,299 –> 00:11:07,880weep. Why would he weep when he knew that he would very shortly raise Lazarus from the11100:11:07,880 –> 00:11:18,179dead? Well simply this Jesus Christ truly enters our sorrows. He feels the pain of our11200:11:18,179 –> 00:11:26,619loss. Right now the Lord Jesus Christ is enjoying the resurrection life in heaven at the right11300:11:26,659 –> 00:11:32,539hand of the father but he does not look down from a distance in heaven and say there is11400:11:32,539 –> 00:11:38,380no need for tears because it won’t be long until the resurrection. No, he weeps with11500:11:38,380 –> 00:11:45,380those who weep. Now that is what we are taught from the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ11600:11:47,780 –> 00:11:53,859and this is being commended to us as the first dimension of a generous life, that is a life11700:11:53,900 –> 00:11:59,179that gives into others, that we learn what it is to rejoice with those who rejoice and11800:11:59,179 –> 00:12:05,260weep with those who weep. God does not remain at a distance. You know that song that you11900:12:05,260 –> 00:12:10,760keep hearing? God is watching us from a distance. Oh, thank God. He does much more than watch12000:12:10,760 –> 00:12:17,760us from a distance. God of the Bible comes to us and engages in our lives.12100:12:17,780 –> 00:12:23,239Pastor Ted Olson has a wonderful phrase that has really helped me, actually as many phrases12200:12:23,239 –> 00:12:30,140that have really helped me but I especially love this one. Irrigate your soul in the joys12300:12:30,140 –> 00:12:37,039and sorrows of other people. Isn’t that beautiful? Water your own life by entering12400:12:37,039 –> 00:12:42,260into the joys and into the sorrows of other people. Come alongside others. Expand your12500:12:42,260 –> 00:12:47,200horizon. It will expand your own capacity to love. Is there someone here today and you’re12600:12:47,200 –> 00:12:55,799saying I need to learn how to love well. I need to expand the capacity of my own heart.12700:12:55,799 –> 00:13:03,280I need to learn to feel more deeply than I do. Here is where you can begin. Look this12800:13:03,280 –> 00:13:13,580week for someone who is rejoicing and enter as fully as you can into their joy. And look12900:13:13,580 –> 00:13:17,559this week for someone who is grieving, someone who is sad, someone who is down and enter13000:13:17,559 –> 00:13:23,659as fully as you can into their sorrow and you will be reflecting the very nature of13100:13:23,659 –> 00:13:27,539God as revealed to us in the Incarnation.13200:13:27,539 –> 00:13:33,520You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and Overcoming Evil with13300:13:33,520 –> 00:13:38,340Generosity – part of our series, simply called Overcoming Evil. And if you’ve missed13400:13:38,340 –> 00:13:42,000any of the series or want to go back and listen again, don’t forget you can always come13500:13:42,000 –> 00:13:47,659online to our website openthebible.org.uk – there you’ll find all the messages which13600:13:47,659 –> 00:13:52,340have already been broadcast. You can also find them as a podcast and those are on all13700:13:52,340 –> 00:13:55,440the podcast sites. Search for Open the Bible UK.13800:13:55,440 –> 00:13:59,760Back to the message now, we’re in Romans Chapter 12. Here’s Colin.13900:13:59,760 –> 00:14:06,559And that’s the first thing, than be generous by reproducing the example that the Lord has14000:14:06,559 –> 00:14:11,440given to us in Christ and especially in His Incarnation.14100:14:11,479 –> 00:14:19,880Here’s the second thing. Be generous by releasing the gifts that God has given to you in Christ.14200:14:19,880 –> 00:14:27,299And here we are thinking particularly about Christ in His resurrection and in His ascension.14300:14:27,299 –> 00:14:33,739And we’re looking at verse 13, Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show14400:14:33,760 –> 00:14:41,140hospitality. Remember as Siri tells us, generosity a readiness to give more than is14500:14:41,140 –> 00:14:49,940necessary, more than is expected. And here Christ calls us to be generous14600:14:49,940 –> 00:14:55,380in relation to our homes, to do more in relation to your home than would be normal or would14700:14:55,380 –> 00:15:03,400be expected. Generosity in relation to our home, in relation to our time, in relation14800:15:03,400 –> 00:15:10,219to the gifts that God has given to us and in relation to our possessions.14900:15:10,299 –> 00:15:14,099Now this word hospitality, literally translated, has the meaning15000:15:14,099 –> 00:15:23,140of loving strangers. It’s the same word that is used in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 2.15100:15:23,140 –> 00:15:30,059Do not neglect to entertain strangers or to give hospitality to strangers.15200:15:30,059 –> 00:15:37,320The two concepts are actually in the one word. Being a lover of people who are alone, a lover15300:15:37,320 –> 00:15:44,599of people who do not have a network of connections such as other people may have.15400:15:44,599 –> 00:15:48,760Now remember that the apostle Paul was writing on the eve of one of the great persecutions15500:15:48,760 –> 00:15:53,840endured by the Christian church and already the first waves of that were beginning to15600:15:53,840 –> 00:16:00,260appear. And so what would happen, and Jesus spoke of this in Matthew chapter 10 and verse15700:16:01,039 –> 00:16:07,979He said when you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. So if you have Christian15800:16:07,979 –> 00:16:12,919believers who are persecuted in one town and they flee to the next, where are they going15900:16:12,919 –> 00:16:17,940to live when they get to the next town? They are going to depend on the kindness of their16000:16:17,940 –> 00:16:23,080brothers and sisters in Christ who they may have never met before, opening their own homes16100:16:23,080 –> 00:16:28,760and giving them this gift of hospitality, and as the prospect of greater persecution16200:16:28,760 –> 00:16:35,020is on the horizon, the Apostle Paul is giving this exhortation to Christian believers in16300:16:35,020 –> 00:16:43,039Rome. Make sure he was saying to Christians that you are especially generous in the use16400:16:43,039 –> 00:16:48,640of your home with regards to other believers because no one else will want to open their16500:16:48,640 –> 00:16:57,599homes to other believers. Only Christians will do this. Notice the language here – contribute16600:16:57,599 –> 00:17:03,799to the needs of the saints, a wonderful New Testament way of describing all believers.16700:17:03,799 –> 00:17:11,239The needs of the saints are to be our first concern, not our only concern, but our first16800:17:11,239 –> 00:17:17,739concern. You have the same principle in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 10. As we have opportunity,16900:17:17,739 –> 00:17:25,400let us do good to everyone but then notice the priority within the whole. Let us do good17000:17:25,439 –> 00:17:33,420to everyone, and especially, especially to those who are of the household of faith. So17100:17:33,420 –> 00:17:37,800this is not the language of exclusivity. It’s not saying only do good to other Christians17200:17:37,800 –> 00:17:42,540but it’s saying especially do good to other Christians. It is the language of priority.17300:17:42,540 –> 00:17:49,219There are some things that only Christians can do. Only Christians would open their homes17400:17:49,739 –> 00:17:56,060other Christians fleeing persecution. Only Christians are going to be able to deploy17500:17:56,060 –> 00:18:00,819their gifts for the service of God, for the advance of his work in the world. No one else17600:18:00,819 –> 00:18:06,619will do it if we do not do it, brothers and sisters. Only Christians are able to give17700:18:06,619 –> 00:18:11,500generously in such a way that sustains the work of God in the world, meeting the needs17800:18:11,500 –> 00:18:19,500of the saints. Nobody else will do it, and therefore there is a particular priority that17900:18:19,500 –> 00:18:24,979is given to us with regards to generosity in the use of our homes, in the use of our18000:18:24,979 –> 00:18:30,119time, in regards to the use of our gifts, and in regards to the use of our money with18100:18:30,119 –> 00:18:37,359regards to the needs of the saints, that is the needs of the work of God in the world.18200:18:37,819 –> 00:18:43,819Now obviously the implicit temptation that comes with this is simply to regard what God18300:18:43,819 –> 00:18:51,099has given to us as our own. To say, well, it’s my home, yeah well it’s the home that18400:18:51,099 –> 00:18:57,099God has given to you, now how are you gonna use it? It’s my time, I’ve got my life18500:18:57,099 –> 00:19:00,900mapped out, I’m gonna have these years doing this, and then these years doing that. Well18600:19:00,900 –> 00:19:06,660however much time you have is time that God gives to you, how are you going to steward18700:19:06,680 –> 00:19:13,420it for his glory? These are my gifts. Yeah, well, how are you going to use them? You have18800:19:13,420 –> 00:19:18,640no right to keep gifts that God has given to you, to yourself, they’ve been given18900:19:18,640 –> 00:19:24,459for the building up of the body of Christ. How are you going to use that gift that you’ve19000:19:24,459 –> 00:19:30,140been given? It’s my money, well it’s the money that God in his great kindness has19100:19:30,140 –> 00:19:36,319trusted to you as a steward, how are you going to use that, effectively, strategically,19200:19:36,319 –> 00:19:44,880for the advance of his work and for the needs of the Saints so that his work gets done in19300:19:44,880 –> 00:19:52,040the world. Now, think about this in relation… we’ve thought first about the incarnation19400:19:52,040 –> 00:19:57,819of our Lord, think about this in relation to the resurrection and the ascension of our19500:19:57,859 –> 00:20:02,040Lord. Because, remember, everything in this wonderful chapter is in the light of the mercies19600:20:02,040 –> 00:20:08,479of God, it’s all in the light of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. What did19700:20:08,479 –> 00:20:17,479Jesus do, you see, we think about hospitality, generosity, what did Jesus do when he ascended19800:20:17,479 –> 00:20:20,819to the right hand of the Father in Heaven?19900:20:21,439 –> 00:20:25,880His answer, he opened his home. Heaven20000:20:25,880 –> 00:20:33,060is his home, and we had no access to it. But in his Resurrection and in his Ascension he20100:20:33,060 –> 00:20:41,900has opened his home. And to whom has He opened his home? He’s opened his home to strangers,20200:20:41,900 –> 00:20:47,339to foreigners and exiles like us, who were alienated from God and he said, you can come20300:20:47,540 –> 00:20:52,959in and my home can be your home, you can become a citizen of Heaven, a member of the Family20400:20:52,959 –> 00:20:59,380of God. So, in his Resurrection and his Ascension he opens his home, he welcomes the stranger,20500:20:59,380 –> 00:21:05,479what else does he do? The Bible says He pours out spiritual gifts. That’s in Ephesians20600:21:05,479 –> 00:21:13,920chapter 4 and verse 8, when He ascended on high He gave gifts to men. This risen Lord20700:21:13,939 –> 00:21:20,939Jesus Christ has poured gifts, spiritual and material, into your life and into mine. He20800:21:21,699 –> 00:21:28,500has blessed us, we are blessed in every way in Jesus Christ. Now look at what he’s done.20900:21:28,500 –> 00:21:33,579He opens His home, He welcomes strangers, He pours out lavish gifts, all of this is21000:21:33,579 –> 00:21:38,780what God has done for you in Jesus Christ in the light of this. Be especially eager,21100:21:38,780 –> 00:21:44,520the Apostle is saying in the light of the mercy of God that you should welcome strangers,21200:21:44,520 –> 00:21:49,900that you should open your home as God has opened His to you, that you should deploy21300:21:49,900 –> 00:21:54,780your gifts and everything that He has trusted into your hands in His own generosity, that21400:21:54,780 –> 00:22:01,739you should reflect that generosity as you live as His child in this desperately needy21500:22:01,739 –> 00:22:08,140world. So do you see how this is the second dimension of a generous life? The first reflecting21600:22:08,219 –> 00:22:15,260the incarnation of Jesus, not staying at a distance from others. God is watching us from21700:22:15,260 –> 00:22:19,219a distance. No, God comes near to us in Jesus Christ.21800:22:19,219 –> 00:22:24,839You’ve been listening to Pastor Colin Smith on Open The Bible and a message called Overcoming21900:22:24,839 –> 00:22:31,160Evil With Generosity. We’re surrounded by terrible news of tragedy and evil in many22000:22:31,160 –> 00:22:36,660places in the world and we are called to not be overcome by evil, but rather to overcome22100:22:36,660 –> 00:22:43,660evil with good, to not run away and not give up. The Apostle Paul shows in Romans 12 how22200:22:43,660 –> 00:22:49,680God calms our fears, builds up our hope, and strengthens the resolve of His people when22300:22:49,680 –> 00:22:53,540evil is all around. I hope you’ll stay with us for the rest of22400:22:53,540 –> 00:22:57,660the series, Overcoming Evil, and if you have missed any of the series, or if you want to22500:22:57,660 –> 00:23:03,859go back and listen again, they are all available on the internet by coming to our website,22600:23:03,859 –> 00:23:09,540bible.org.uk, or by going to your favourite podcast site and searching for Open the Bible22700:23:09,540 –> 00:23:13,780UK. Open the Bible depends on the generous support22800:23:13,780 –> 00:23:19,020of our listeners, and if supporting Open the Bible financially is something you’ve been22900:23:19,020 –> 00:23:24,020thinking about, we have an offer for you this month. If you’re able to set up a new direct23000:23:24,020 –> 00:23:29,699debit to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of £5 per month or more, or a one-off23100:23:29,880 –> 00:23:35,380gift of £50 or more, we’d love to say thank you by sending you three copies of Pastor23200:23:35,380 –> 00:23:40,819Colin Smith’s devotional Green Pastures, Still Waters. Colin, why23300:23:40,819 –> 00:23:45,739did you write this devotional? That goes back to the pandemic, and in these23400:23:45,739 –> 00:23:51,180dark days, I guess, along with every other pastor I was asking the question, what will23500:23:51,180 –> 00:23:57,579help and encourage God’s people to get through these difficult days? And I turned to Psalm23600:23:58,140 –> 00:24:05,800and just found such joy and help in mining the wonderful treasures that are in this marvellous23700:24:05,800 –> 00:24:11,020chapter of the Bible. And my colleague, Tim Augustine has now arranged23800:24:11,020 –> 00:24:16,920that material in the form of a 31-day devotional and I’m just delighted that we’re able to23900:24:16,920 –> 00:24:23,920offer this, looking at the Lord Jesus Christ through Psalm 23, will bring strength and24000:24:24,119 –> 00:24:29,560encouragement and peace and joy. And to do that for 31 days, to meditate on one of the24100:24:29,560 –> 00:24:33,839best-known and best-loved chapters in all of the Bible and to get our eyes fixed on24200:24:33,839 –> 00:24:39,359the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you need some encouragement, Green Pastures, Still Waters24300:24:39,359 –> 00:24:43,859is going to be a great help to you. Well we’d love to send you three copies of24400:24:43,859 –> 00:24:49,319Pastor Colin Smith’s devotional Green Pastures, Still Waters along with a special open the24500:24:49,319 –> 00:24:54,459Bible pen and bookmark to say thank you for setting up a new direct debit to the work24600:24:54,459 –> 00:25:00,780of Open the Bible in the amount of £5 per month or more, or a one-off gift of £50 or24700:25:00,780 –> 00:25:08,959more. Full details, terms and conditions are on our website openthebible.org.uk. For Open24800:25:08,959 –> 00:25:14,040the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll join us again next24900:25:14,040 –> 00:25:16,300time.25000:25:19,520 –> 00:25:24,380How would you feel about blessing someone who you think doesn’t deserve it, or would25100:25:24,380 –> 00:25:29,619be very unlikely to return your blessing? Find out next time on Open the Bible.