Great giving is giving prayerfully!

Colossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” In Malachi God encourages His people to trust him and test him on this…it is God that desires for us to have a relationship.

A man took his small son with him to town one day to run some errands. When lunch time arrived, the two of them went to a familiar diner for a sandwich. The father sat down on one of the stools at the counter and lifted the boy up to the seat beside him. They ordered lunch, and when the waiter brought the food, the father said, "Son, we'll just have a silent prayer." Dad got through praying first and waited for the boy to finish his prayer, but he just sat with his head bowed for an unusually long time. When he finally looked up, his father asked him, "What in the world were you praying about all that time?" With the innocence and honesty of a child, he replied, "How do I know? It was a silent prayer."

 

This is exactly how many of us pray about our finances…we pray silently. God is very interested in you and your gifts and your offerings. A word of caution…He might tell you something that you do not want to hear. My advice, It is better to hear it in this life than wait and regret your unwillingness in the next life.

So - Pray that your gift will be used in a great way, ask God how much you should give to your church and charities, then thank God for what He has used your gifts for, and finally thank God that you are able to give. 

You know I love ya, Don

Great giving is giving out of your poverty...

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Money is just a piece of paper until I do something with it. God is owner of everything. He reclaimed all of life in his death, burial, and resurrection. The tremendous responsibility is then laid on us to act responsibly with the gifts, treasures, and wealth that God has allowed us to be caretaker. God’s people are made great in their giving.

So how do God’s people live in greatness… Zig Ziglar says; “You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”  The same applies to our tithes and offerings… “We don’t have to be great to start giving, but we have to start giving to be great.

Great giving is giving out of your Poverty

Another way of saying it, is “Give until it hurts” or to say, “Give Sacrificially.” In our text God reveals he is the same yesterday, today, and will be the same tomorrow! He has not changed. He is creator of it all and we think we can manipulate it but holding on to our small little piece… if you want to be great, you give out of your poverty.

Jimmy Stewart in the movie Shenandoah plays a farmer who has a bunch of sons. The Boys are of fighting age and the father will not let them go off to fight. The family gets the reputation of sitting out the war. There is a scene where they are all around the dinner table and they bow their heads for prayer. Jimmy Stewart says “Lord we planted this seed, we watered the plants, we picked the food and we cooked it, we did it all ourselves, we worked dog bone hard for this but we thank you just the same amen” 

The prayer is foreshadowing of the Stewart's character that is not willing to give everything up. He is still thinking about Himself. He would have to willing to give up his sons to protect prize Shenandoah.
 

People who give sacrificially know that they worked hard for what they take home, but they also know that God blessed them and provided for them. When you give sacrificially you are saying “Lord I want you to be God of my whole life, and my giving needs to reflect that.”

People who give sacrificially trust in God to provide. They are not only socially secure in Jesus they are spiritually secure in Jesus as well.

Do you give out of your poverty?

You know I love ya, Don 

What is a Tithe for today?

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Leviticus 27:30 says, “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.” The Old Testament standard of giving was the tithe, and this principle is found many places throughout the Old Testament. It was among the earliest laws of the Israelites. The idea was that 10% of what they owned belonged to God, therefore it was holy. It was to be set aside for him and not used for common purposes. It was sacred. God was claiming ownership of 10% of everything the Israelites owned. They had worked for their food and money, but it was God who blessed them with crops and herds, and the ability to work. Out of gratefulness to him they were to return a tenth of everything to him. And when they acknowledged God’s ownership of 10% of their belongings God made a promise. Malachi 3:10 says, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’”

You may say, “Yes, that is all very well and good, but that is the Old Testament. What about the New Testament?

Tithing is not even mentioned in the New Testament.” You are correct. The New Testament standard for giving is not the tithe. The New Testament has a totally different pattern for stewardship than the Old Testament. To understand the New Testament concept of giving we have to look at the story of the Rich Young Ruler. This young man came to Jesus in search of heaven, and asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus’ response was to explain that he must first follow the basic laws of God — the ten commandments. The young man replied that he had kept all of the commandments from his youth. And then Jesus completely astounded him by saying, “Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21). The Bible sadly reports, “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

What was Jesus saying to this young man? He was giving the New Testament principle of stewardship, and that principle is this: Whereas the Old Testament taught us that 10% of everything we own belongs to God, the New Testament, and in particular Jesus, is teaching us that all we have belongs to God. The Old Testament was a partial picture of a greater truth. The Old Testament showed us that God had certain claims on our lives, but the New Testament shows us the full extent of those claims. God does not just own a part of me; he owns all of me. To acknowledge this and live this way is an act of worship. The New Testament principle of giving without hesitation is the declaration of how much God is worth in your life. When we come into contact with God we dare not be stingy for we serve a great and awesome God. As an act of worship we acknowledge that he owns all that we have.

Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). The point is not whether you will literally give away all you have, but whether or not you recognize God’s complete and unconditional ownership of all you possess. We are talking about an entirely new attitude toward life. This is true worship.

Is your giving an act of worship in your life? You know I love ya, Don

Financial Crisis...where's my credit card?

Are we really in a new financial crisis OR are we just realizing that the crisis is real?

Karen and I (and the children) went to the Mall on Saturday. Why would you do that, you might be asking? Well, we purchased some shoes online through J.C. Penny on Labor Day because the shipping was free and the shoes were buy one get one 1/2 off. Karen's shoes were a size too big, so we had to exchange them. Karen needs them to wear to our nieces wedding in two weeks....aren't you glad you asked.

So, we are at the mall (all four of us) and there were people everywhere. It was like the day before Christmas and people were spending money left and right and USING CREDIT CARDS! Now I understand that there is a difference in the type of credit we are talking about and yes, I know that this will "trickle" down to the average American if something is not done, but what is the doom and gloom all about. It doesn't seem to be slowing us down.

And then there is the price at the gas pump...I rode my bike into to work today, not because of gas prices, but because it is absolutely beautiful in Greenfield today....I love the Fall... but after the mall we needed gas and I went to "Swifty" and there was a line of cars getting gas. People are still buying gas...Swifty is cheaper if you pay with cash, there might be hope in that....but the gas prices don't seem to be slowing us down.

What about the light bill....We went for a walk last night and there were lights on in every house as well as T.V. sets or I should say "plasmas." Don't even get me started on the amount of cars parked in the Walmart Parking lot....it wasn't just employees.

This morning on Fox News the commentator was explaining it this way; The American financial house is on fire and we need to put the fire out so that it doesn't burn down the house....I say let it burn. It doesn't seem to be slowing us down.

O.K...I know I am just an ignorant American, but common...Don't blow me off but realize my treasure is not in this world, but in the next. I whole heartedly believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. I also know that this world is not my home, I am just passing through. I pray you do to.

Now go out and hoard up some money... You know I love ya, Don

PS - Lets not put all the blame at President Bush's White House Door-step...our country does not have ONE person that has that much power or that much blame! Oh yeah..."Obama is up in the polls...so was Kerry and Gore..."