In a day when many churches are closing their doors, and many others are struggling to stay opened, if I told you that the answer to the all time problem of giving could be solved through unity in the church that, in turn, increases the joy in the hearts of the people that, in turn, encourages the people to give of a joyful heart and, in turn, allows God’s work to flourish, you would struggle to believe me. However, read these few verses carefully and see if you can conclude with me this exact thing that happened to David and over 200,000 men that joined him to fulfill the will of God. Are willing to chance that this couldn’t work for us and our respective churches? The last part of verse 40 concludes that all this giving was going on because of the joy that was felt among the people. Perhaps we need to concentrate more on unity and the joy of the hearts, then we might see giving maximized, all for the glory of God!

All these soldiers, ready for battle, went to Hebron, determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the people of Israel were united in the same purpose. They spent three days there with David, feasting on the food and drink which other Israelites had prepared for them. From as far away as the northern tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, people came bringing donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen loaded with food—flour, figs, raisins, wine, and olive oil. They also brought …

1 Chronicles 12:38–40 (GNB)

The Bible (The Good News Translation) – John 18:

¹⁷The girl at the gate said to Peter, “Aren’t you also one of the disciples of that man?”

“No, I am not,” answered Peter.

Thought:

Let me guess, you accepted Jesus as Lord; was ready to evangelize the world on His behalf; told everyone you came into contact with that you were saved and living for the Lord; right? Now, before we criticize Peter in this story for denying Christ, I want you to think about: you are in a business meeting with many of your peers (many of them being non-Christian), and the president of the company shares their pleasure in seeing such a difference in your attitude and work ethics over the past six months, and they ask you to explain what happened in your life to impact this change, as they would like other workers to take note. You know that you surrendered your life to Jesus around that time and through daily prayer and Bible study, you have been truly impacted by Jesus. So what do you respond to your president and peers, knowing that the whole room will go silent – perhaps out of embarrassment, and don’t overlook that you may be jeered at for months? Will you tell the whole truth? Jesus said that if we are ashamed of Him down here, He will be ashamed of us before His Father. Do you suppose He is proud to call you His own?

Faithlife.