Dear Friends

Its a wonderful day today in Mt Morgan..........its raining outside (which rarely happens) and its a lovely 24 degrees Celcius. My knee is feeling much better and seems to have recovered from my hiking mishap and best of all, God loves us all very much.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an email about being clean on the inside. After that I was encouraged by some friends to continue to write about this subject. It seems to me that because our faith if very much based on the inside, and that because so little is understood about it, that I should keep it up for a few weeks. So I want to write about what motivates us. Our motives are the reason behind everything we do and our motivation comes out of our heart. If we understand our motives, we often start to understand why we do things and we are able to pray and begin to change to be more like Jesus as a result.

Two people can do the exact same thing but have different reasons for doing it. For example 3 people could both give $20 to a poor beggar. The first gives because he feels that "I should do this, its the proper thing to do". The second gives because "My friend is watching and I don't want to seem miserly." The third however gives because in his heart he is moved and sad for this man and so he gives because "He cares about this person."

Outwardly a bystander would not be able to tell them apart..............they all seem to have done the right thing. But God sees the motive in their hearts. The first didn't want to give but felt he had to. The second didn't want to give, but someone was watching..............and only the third gave from a true motivation.

Everything we do, from attending church, to treating a marriage partner well, or raising children, or working hard at our job all comes out of a motivation of some sort. Our faith in Jesus is also based on a motivation too. But if our motivation is the wrong one, then it means that we are still struggling on the inside. But if our motivation is fixed and becomes sincere and devoted to Jesus, then everything we do will be for God and will be a real act of worship to Him.

Ultimately our motivation needs to be that we want to please God in everything we do.................and I guess its something we all need to pray and work towards....God help us to be more like you. So today I encourage you (as I also encourage myself) to remember that when we do things for God to be cheerful and give it our best shot.

Catch you soon & God bless you
Cheers
David