Category: Giving

Be One Who Gives Sacrificially

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Faith, Giving, Honesty, Obedience, TithingLeave a comment

A Quality of a Mature, Reproducing Disciple of Jesus Christ

 

How am I handling the resources God has entrusted to me?

 

SCRIPTURE

Studied: 2 Cor. 9:6–9, Prov. 11:24–25

OBSERVATION (What is God saying here?)

  1. 2 Corinthians 9:6-9 ~ [Remember] this: he who sows sparingly and grudgingly will also reap sparingly and grudgingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to someone] will also reap generously and with blessings. Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving]. And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]. As it is written, He [the benevolent person] scatters abroad; He gives to the poor; His deeds of justice and goodness and kindness and benevolence will go on and endure forever!
  2. Proverbs 11:24-25 ~ Sometimes you can become rich by being generous or poor by being greedy. Generosity will be rewarded: Give a cup of water, and you will receive a cup of water in return.

APPLICATION (How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

I believe that God expects us to be a giving people; after all, He has blessed us with a lot so we should then turn around and bless others also. I can see from this passage also that when we decide in our minds to give, we should do so in all happiness and with joy – in other words: out of appreciation for what we have, who gave it to us, and who will provide the next dollar to help us meet our financial needs. Unfortunately, this is quite opposite to what our carnal minds would convince us to do, for of ourselves we are convinced that we can only give out of the excess, after all our bills are met (which often include many of our unnecessary wants). We often fill our minds with many arguments to help us feel good about not giving our first gifts to God – well who knows what the church will waste that money on that I give, or surely God expects me to be a good manager of my funds and not give more than I can afford after meeting all my concrete, worldly, frivolous bills. I am convinced that when we give at least 10%, as taught scripturally, off our gross income then pay our bills and give to the poor, etc, I believe that God will honor our heart way more than if we depend solely on what it appears that we have left that we can give to the work of the Lord. Furthermore, I believe that this teaches me that I must give freely and happily to God, for He gave freely and happily to me, His child, out of love. One method that I have talked about here is seeing through our eyes of faith and out of thanksgiving, the other is our seeing based on the numbers in front of us. When God is in charge of our giving, He will help us take care of the numbers. He gives us the health and abilities to hold a job and earn the income, all the more should we listen to Him about how we should spend that money that He has blessed us with.

PRAYER (With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord Jesus, I believe that if I was asked what I believe is one of the most important things that the Bible says to me, it would probably be that God gave so that I may: have eternal life; have a beautiful earth to enjoy; have a beautiful family to help me in my daily physical and mental needs; have enough finances to meet my needs and many of my wants. Bottom line is that You gave, and gave and gave, even to the extent of giving Your one and only Son so that I may have eternal life. If I am determined to be Your disciple, and to be more like You in every walk of my life, then I have to give, and give, and give with a generous, sacrificial, happy and thankful heart. Please help me to always be of the mindset that what I have is all Yours, and that I should carefully follow Your commands in using what You have allowed me to have. I want to be known as a great example of You, because I want others to see You in my actions, words, and yes – in my giving. Thank You for blessing me with all that You have given for me to partake of, may I freely give to Your work and others in return.

Live a Humble, Giving life.

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Giving, Humility, Love, ObedienceLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Luke 14 

OBSERVATION

Luke 14:8-14 ~ When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best place. Someone more important may have been invited. Then the one who invited you will come and say, “Give your place to this other guest!” You will be embarrassed and will have to sit in the worst place. When you are invited to be a guest, go and sit in the worst place. Then the one who invited you may come and say, “My friend, take a better seat!” You will then be honored in front of all the other guests. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored. Then Jesus said to the man who had invited him: When you give a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. They cannot pay you back. But God will bless you and reward you when his people rise from death.

APPLICATION

On a first read through this passage we may very easily be tempted to say that this is a beautiful image that Jesus has portrayed and this should really speak to the proud. In other words, I believe that this is an easy passage to shrug off, thinking that this is not really speaking to us. But God spoke to me on several matters in this:

  1. Be humble – in a world of self promotion, because we often hear that if we don’t promote ourselves no one else will do it for us, therefore we tend to go overboard bragging about ourselves and seeking the attention of those in authority over us to ‘look at me’. Jesus gives us the example here of taking the least important seat in a meeting, and we may be honored, but taking an important seat may cause us to sometime have our egos ‘deflated’ as we may be asked to move for the honorable guest of the meeting. These days I often sit near the front for two reasons: (1) I can see any projection screens better and (2) I tend to be more alert to the speaker when I’m near the front. I believe that Jesus is speaking here to the idea of trying not to promote self by taking the best seat in the house that may have been reserved for a guest of honor. Bottom line on this is that it is better to be honored, than to self promote honor on you.
  2. Host the undeserving, not just good friends – when we host a luncheon or dinner we tend to invite friends who may have to choose whether to attend because of several other invitations for that same timeslot. Imagine how blessed the ones may feel who never get to eat out or attend a special event because they are just not a part of anyone’s inner circle of friends. They may be poor and unable to repay the favor. They may be mean and unwilling to share their time or wealth with anyone else. They may be non-Christian and not want to force themselves on believers as they may feel ‘out of place’. God has promised in this passage that He will reward us when He calls us home when we do such honorable acts.

PRAYER

Lord, I feel like this small passage that I have read many times before has come to life this morning. Thank You for drawing me to this. I pray that I may take a different outlook on life, because I want to do all within my will to follow the commands You have laid out in Your Word for me. I am even more convinced that Your Word contains direction for EVERY phase of my life and answers to EVERY question in my mind, if only I will turn to it instead of all the other directions I may turn to for advice. Please help me to have an ongoing desire to dig into Your Word each and every day, to look for ways that You would be speaking to me through the passages that I read, and then most importantly – help me to follow Your Word so that my life may be more in lined with Your will for me. Thank You for such direction, now please help to carry out what I have learned today!