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SHARING  TOGETHER

Be good stewards of the manifold grace of God,

serve one another with whatever gift

each of you have received.

Day 30 - The Blessing of Giving

The Blessing of Giving

Day 30

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

---Matthew 6:21

Can’t find the heart?  Look for the treasure.   Why would we need

to look for our heart?  Because we need to give it to Jesus!

When a young man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what

must I do to get eternal life?”  Jesus told him to  obey the

commandments.

“All these I have kept,” the young man said.  “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come follow me.”

The man went away sad because he had great wealth. The young man had to give up his heart to Christ for eternal life.  If your heart is set on earthly things, there your  treasure is also.  Obeying the commandments is an expression of our faith, not a point system with God, as the young man had hoped.  He failed to realize that storing his treasure in heaven is far greater than accumulating wealth on earth.  It may seem obvious to us, yet the one thing Christ wants, we find extremely difficult to give.  Christ knows what treasure we have – money, possessions, jobs, personal achievements.  These are not bad in and of themselves, but our hearts do not belong there!

In order to live in God’s will each day, I must remember my treasure must be in heaven for my heart to belong to Christ.  As a church, our success in God’s will can only result from putting our treasure chest in heaven.

Day 29 - The Blessing of Giving

The Blessing of Giving

Day 29

“…and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

--Isaiah 58:10-11

Who are the oppressed and hungry?   All too often, we think of far away people in far away  places.   If this is all the involvement we have with the hungry and oppressed, we are missing the point.  Isaiah teaches us to “spend yourself on the hungry” and “satisfy the needs of the oppressed”.  We’re told to get involved in a way that goes beyond just giving money.   If we are  to meet  people’s  needs  in a way that consumes us, then we need to get involved on a personal basis.   We need to meet people where they need us most—to pour ourselves into meeting their needs physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Where are the hungry and  oppressed?    Sitting  next  to us  in church, at our kids’ soccer  practice, in our backyard---anywhere there are people.  It’s amazing that God uses the act of us pouring ourselves out for the needy as an avenue for blessing us.  He promises light for our darkness, guidance when we feel lost, strength when we feel weak, and water for our parched lips.

Day 28 - The Blessing of Giving

The Blessing of Giving

Day 28

“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the

surpassing grace God has given you.”

--2 Corinthians 9:11-14

Paul  is  writing  to  a  maturing  church  to  offer  love,  guidance  and exhortation.  One of the issues he writes about is generosity.  Verses 11 & 12 relate to the scope of our giving.  In verse 11, Paul says, “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion.”  What a powerful promise!   I am assured God will  equip me so that whatever situation I find myself  in, I will be able to give generously.   Whether giving involves helping others with material items such as food, clothes, and money or simply donating my time to someone, God will provide me with the resources to serve others.

Verse 12 broadens our view of giving by stating that giving is a direct way to thank God personally for His blessings.  Not only are we satisfying the needs of others with our gifts, but we are also praising God through our giving.

Verses 13-15 describe the results of giving.    First, the recipients of each gift are blessed  directly as a result of receiving each gift.   Then  these people pour out blessings to God through their praise for His generosity and grace.  Finally, the giver is blessed through the prayers of the recipients and through God’s promises for faithfulness.

A healthy view of God includes a broad scope for giving as well as a true belief in the blessings that result from giving.  If I maintain these two things, it  is  easy  for  me  to  echo  Paul  in  verse  15,  “Thanks  be  to  God  for  His indescribable gift!”

Day 27 - The Blessing of Giving

The Blessing of Giving

Day 27

Remember this.  Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,

and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”

--2 Corinthians 9:6

Although many of the Bible’s teachings are not practiced in

The business world today, this principle is adopted regularly.  Many business investors use the motto:  Invest a little, make a little… invest a lot, make a lot!  Although this principle has worked for some people, it has been a catastrophe for others who invested in the wrong thing.  Investing can be risky if you don’t understand what you are investing in.  The beauty of giving to Kingdom work is that you’re investing in an unchanging God who freely gives eternal life for those who seek Him.

God calls us not only to give, but to give generously and for the right reasons.   King  Solomon expressed the principle of generosity in Proverbs 11:25, “Be generous to others and  you’ll grow prosperous; refresh others, and you’ll be refreshed”.  God does not want us to give with a selfish intent.  Galatians 6:7-8 warns, “Don’t make a mistake: you can’t fool God.   Whatever  you sow, you’ll reap.   If you sow to please your own flesh, you will from your flesh reap destruction”.

2 Corinthians 9:12-15 also warns us not to expect to be wealthy through our giving.   Instead,  our gifts will praise God and help others who receive our gifts.  When we bless others, we also will be blessed, not necessarily with earthly gifts, but with spiritual rewards.

Day 26 - The Blessing of Giving

The Blessing of Giving

Day 26

“He and his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously

to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about

three in the afternoon he had a vision.  He distinctly saw an angel of God,

who came to him and said, ‘Cornelius!’  Cornelius stared at him in fear.  ‘What is it, Lord?’ he asked. The angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.’”

--Acts 10:2-4

In the Old Testament, the sacred gifts expressed devotion to God— an aroma pleasing  to the Lord.   Generous and God-fearing people  obey God  by  generously  giving  to  those  in  need  and  ask  to  be  in  a  daily relationship with God.

We need to be more aware of what we give—not only in money, but also in our time and talents.  Our attitude should be to trust and obey out of gratitude to God for the gift of Jesus  Christ.   The  self-serving manner in which many of us in America live isn’t glorifying to God.  At our church, we need to refocus on what God would have us do rather than “buying” what our society is doing.

A practical application of this passage would be to allow our comfort zones to be pushed to  the  uncomfortable.   Seek God through prayer and His Word.   Ask yourself, what can I do to be more effective in our church community?   Participate.   Commit to more than just walking in and out of the church doors like a consumer does in the world.  What is on this earth will pass away.  What God has given us in Jesus is eternal.

Being a generous people involves more than lip service; it involves action.  Action motivated not by worldly standards, but by what we profess will  last  eternally—transferring  our  trust  to  Christ  alone.    And  when  we respond as Cornelius did, our gift, too, will be a “memorial offering before God”