Speaker 1: Greetings and praise God.
Speaker 1: Buona asifiwe, wherever you are logging in from, my name is Pastor Andrew Mashina and I will bring to you the meditation word for this morning about being a responsible steward.
Speaker 1: And the text comes from 1 Peter, 4, verse 7.
Speaker 1: And I will read and it says 1 Peter, chapter 4, verse 7, the aid of all things is at hand.
Speaker 1: Therefore, be self-controlled and of sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
Speaker 1: Above all, keep loving one another honestly, since love covers a multitude of sin.
Speaker 1: Show hospitality to one another without grumbling, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace.
Speaker 1: Verse 11, the final, says Whoever speaks as one who speaks on the cause of God and whoever serves as the one who serves by the strength that God supplies, that is in order that, in everything, god may be glorified through Jesus Christ, and therefore, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: I wanted us to reflect on that text, the book of 1 Peter, about being responsible steward, everything that God has given unto us.
Speaker 1: He has given unto us to be good trustees, to be good stewards, and Peter here mentioned, highlighted three things being responsible steward, one in prayer, being responsible steward in love and being responsible steward in hospitality, all this so that his name may be glorified, not for our own gain, not so that we be recognized, but for his name to be glorified.
Speaker 1: And therefore, as we live and even as we come to the end of the month of July, he opens that text by saying the end of all things is near.
Speaker 1: May we know we are in the last times before the second coming of Jesus and therefore we are reminded, may we be self-controlled To do what, to pray.
Speaker 1: Jesus, who is our anchor, will always retreat to go and pray.
Speaker 1: May we follow his steps, always praying, always turning our place, our homes, our vehicles, our offices to a point of prayer.
Speaker 1: Don't start the day without praying, don't send your child to school without praying, don't go to bed without praying.
Speaker 1: Prayer is key and it's food for the believer.
Speaker 1: The second thing he talks about.
Speaker 1: He says in verse 8, above all, keep loving one another honestly.
Speaker 1: This is Peter saying.
Speaker 1: Love covers a multitude of sin.
Speaker 1: And Jesus said in John, chapter 13, verse 35 to 36, I add you another commandment.
Speaker 1: I add you another commandment.
Speaker 1: I add you another commandment John 13, 34 to 35.
Speaker 1: A new commandment I give to you that you love one another.
Speaker 1: Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
Speaker 1: What does it say by this?
Speaker 1: It says by this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.
Speaker 1: May we have a revival of genuine love, true love to one another.
Speaker 1: Love covers a multitude of sin.
Speaker 1: May this love be able to see the other person, with the eyes of Christ embracing them with the love that Christ loved us with, for he loved the world and he gave his only begotten son.
Speaker 1: May that love be seen be part and parcel of the lives that we are living today.
Speaker 1: That's being a responsible steward in the area of love.
Speaker 1: The third thing he talks about being a responsible steward in the area of hospitality.
Speaker 1: May we be responsible.
Speaker 1: May we be responsible in the area of hospitality.
Speaker 1: May we be responsible.
Speaker 1: May we be responsible in the area of hospitality, being entertaining, being welcoming.
Speaker 1: When you have the little you have, share it with someone else.
Speaker 1: I have an extra jacket.
Speaker 1: Share it with someone.
Speaker 1: You have a pair of shoes.
Speaker 1: May you remember there's someone who doesn't have.
Speaker 1: You have two packets of milk.
Speaker 1: May you know there's someone who doesn't have something else to eat.
Speaker 1: May we be hospitable and by doing so, by doing so we may entertain angels.
Speaker 1: The Bible talks about it in Hebrews 13, verse 2, that as we continue being hospitable, we entertain angels.
Speaker 1: Just like Abraham and Sarah, they were hospitable.
Speaker 1: They entertained guests.
Speaker 1: They didn't know who they were entertaining and by doing so they entertained angels and actually that was an opening door for them on what they were waiting God.
Speaker 1: For Some of us, whatever we have been trusting God for within the year is a trigger.
Speaker 1: By being hospitable, by buying someone lunch, by paying for someone's school fees, by paying someone bus fare in that matter too, that's being hospitable.
Speaker 1: That's being hospitable.
Speaker 1: May we grow into this varied grace that God has given unto us and those three things being responsible steward in our life of prayer, being responsible stewards in our life in the way we love and the way we express God's love into one another.
Speaker 1: And the third thing, being responsible steward in the way we love and the way we express God's love into one another.
Speaker 1: And the third thing, being a responsible steward in the area of hospitality.
Speaker 1: May we entertain angels and through that may we experience God's varied grace.
Speaker 1: May we experience God's open door.
Speaker 1: That will be a blessing not only to us, but being responsible, like the widow in the Zarephath, for her being hospitable with the little she had, it became a blessing not only to her, but even to her community and to her family.
Speaker 1: May we grow into those varied three graces that God has given unto us the grace of prayer, the grace of genuine love to one another and being hospitable as much as we can.
Speaker 1: Thank you, and may God bless you even as we come to the tail end of the month, as we enter to a new month, may there be a revival in those three areas that we are trusting God for.
Speaker 1: So God bless you, shalom, love you, baraka.