Don't count the cost

Hi there.
How's things?
I've been away for 2 weeks, so I've been a bit amiss with things.
I've had a great time away, I've had a good break, and caught up with my family, which I haven't seen for the last 6 years so it was a nice time of catching up.
It was nice seeing my Nana in her 90th year, so it was nice just have time with her.
And driving her around in her 1986 Honda accord, it had character.
I had some really nice chats, and it encouraged me in the Lord.
I've come back with a good renewed mind, and spirit.
I did have one problem, in Wellington, because my Taxi got lost from the air port, to my friends flat.
 I kept watching his money monitor in the taxi, and being half Scottish I was thinking of the cost.
Then God came to me in that Taxi, with something, very crucial.
He asked me what my cost was to follow him.
Was I buying the blessings, and putting the amount of what I think he was worth  in the offering bag?
I was.
And I have to say, that sometimes, we go through life, when we don't have much money, then boom, we have a good job, and we have worked for it, when he asks of ourselves, we back away.
Why?
Because of the cost.
And it's so easy, isn't to bless others who are good to us, or who like us?
But how about the other side?
What happens if we find it hard to be kind to people who we can't ''fix''
God hasn't put us on earth to Fix people, or to wave a magic wand over them and make them all better, to turn a blind eye, to talk them up so that they feel better, that they can take on the world.
If we are doing this, we are tricking and lying to ourselves.
We lie every 10 minutes, hard to believe at times isn't?
And we lie out of fear, because we want to be rescued, by us or other people.
And it's so easy to lie.
Sometimes we need to see the truth for what it is, sometimes we need to get it out so that we can see clearly.
But it takes time to see it, it's not going to happen over night, we can be dictated by a feeling, because that person wants to control us, or to give us gold stars, just because we earn them.
We don't earn anything from  God, that's what is so amazing, about Grace.
Conflict, no one really wants it or enjoys it.
You know exactly, what's happened if you walk into a room where someone has argued.
It's not a room filled with joy.
God is there when it hurts, when quite frankly you've been so hurt in your life you don't even know if you can stand let alone walk, or enjoy things you've once enjoyed.
God isn't a one Hit wonder, he's not  a fleeting vapor.
When he talks to you, don't think about the cost,  do it because he knows that the cost is worth it.
When you cry out to God, with all you have, you get the most amazing clarity.
You're not controlled by a certain feeling, or oppression.
You're not under that law.
When you give out of God, you give unto him, he sees what you have done.
Those with the money should put it to where it should get used, other people abuse that, the people with the money has the power or the hindrance  of blessing.
God doesn't like corruption, he doesn't like it when people hold money back for their own uses.
Ananias and Sapphira's, is a good example of that.
So if you're an organization that says to people that every cent goes to that mission make sure that it does.
Because you are robbing people, and deceiving them and yourselves.
Don't hold things back that hinder God.
Do what is right, in God's sight, stick to your principles, stick in there, don't just drown in the storm, rise above it.
There's people out there to help you if you're feeling that oppressive nature, or holding funds back from people who need them.
They have faith in you, and miss-trust is worse than  death,  don't betray goodness.
Thank God for every good thing because it is good in his sight.
If you want to grow in Christ, don't count the cost.
love people when it seems like it's impossible.
Don't just sit in the pews, thinking about what God's plan is for your life.
Don't settle for 2nd best, be the 1st be the best.
That's all I have for you today.
Chloe