Giving.
Giving.
Acts 20:35.
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Proverbs 11:24.
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
Giving is a characteristic of God.
John 3:16.
For God “so loved” the world “that He Gave” His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
James 1:17.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God owes us nothing, not even a thank you.
Job 41:11.
Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
Luke 17:7-10.
Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, Come along now and sit down to eat?
Won’t he rather say, Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink?
Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.
Giving is a characteristic of worship.
Giving is something that is very much part of our Christmas season. Wisemen from the East travelled a very long distance to worship Him and bring Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They gave more than just gifts
Myrrh being commonly used as an anointing oil, frankincense as a perfume, and gold as a valuable. The three gifts had a spiritual meaning: gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) as a symbol of deity, and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death.
Wikipedia
The season for giving?
Luke 14:12-14.
He said also to the man who had invited him, When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.
Hebrews 13:16.
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Giving a characteristic of repentance.
Luke 19:1-10.
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.
Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Ephesians 4:28.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Giving gets God’s attention.
Acts 10:3-4.
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.
Giving a characteristic of commitment.
So far as he could judge, Studd’s inheritance was £29,000. But in order to leave a margin for error, he decided to start by giving £25,000. On January 12, 1887, he sent off four checks of £5,000 each and five of £1,000.
He sent £5,000 to Mr. Moody, expressing the hope that he would be able to start some gospel work in North India. Moody hoped to carry this out, but was unable to, and instead used the money to start the famous Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, writing, “I will do the next best thing and open a Training School with it.”
CT Studd & Pricilla
Giving a characteristic of commitment.
He sent £5,000 to Mr. George Müeller.
He also sent £5,000 to George Holland, in Whitechapel, “to be used for the Lord among His poor in London,”
He sent £5,000 as well to commissioner Booth Tucker for the Salvation Army in India. This arrived just after they had had a night of prayer.
In a few months he discovered the exact amount of his inheritance. He then gave further thousands, mainly to the China Inland Mission, leaving another £3,400 in his possession. Just before his wedding he presented his bride with this money. But she said, “Charlie, what did the Lord tell the rich young man to do?” “Sell all.” “Well then, we will start clear with the Lord at our wedding.”
They then wrote this letter to General Booth: July 3, 1888
Giving a characteristic of commitment.
My dear General, I cannot tell you how many times the Lord has blessed me through reading your and Mrs. Booth’s addresses in The War Cry and your books. And now we want to enclose a check for £1,500. The other £500 has gone to Commissioner Tucker for his wedding present. Besides this I am instructing our Bankers, Messrs. Coutts and Co., to sell out our last earthly investment of £1,400 and send what they realize to you. Henceforth our bank is in heaven. You see we are rather afraid, not withstanding the great earthly safety of Messrs. Coutts and Co. and the Bank of England, that they may both break on the Judgment Day. And this step has been taken not without most definite reference to God’s Word, and the command of the Lord Jesus, who said, ‘Sell that ye have and give alms. Make for yourselves purses which wax not old.
C. T. Studd
Giving a characteristic of commitment.
Luke 12:33-34.
Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.
Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The Lord has chosen to support His work through our giving?
Philippians 4:14-18. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.
Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
Being faithful in little.
Luke 16:10-15.
Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
Being faithful in little.
Mother Teresa said, “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
“It sounds like an easy enough quest, because big changes and big projects may feel intimidating.
However, the little things can be so hard to do. We often won’t even consider the little things because they may seem silly, ridiculous, perhaps even useless.
Being faithful in little.
Naaman was a good man and a Syrian soldier of great prestige, greatly affected with leprosy, an incurable disease at the time. After obtaining gold, silver and fine linens to pay the king for restoration of his health, Naaman went to see the prophet Elisha.
Being faithful in little.
Elisha didn’t even come out to speak to Naaman, but sent his servant to tell him to go dip seven times in the Jordan river. Naaman was given a cure that wouldn’t take much time, would require no money or resources, and very little effort.
Being faithful in little.
But Naaman felt indignant. I mean, “How could this crazy activity clean him and heal him from a deadly disease?” Naaman’s servants helped him see that his pride was interfering with his recovery, so he returned to Israel and dipped seven times in the Jordan and he was completely cured.
He had the skin of a baby!
Being faithful in little.
Sometimes we make excuses for not giving, we say that we can’t go to China as a missionary, but all the Lord wants, is for us to witness to our next door neighbour.
We say “If only I had a million rand, I would give it to the Lord, or to some worthwhile mission, or to the poor,” but the Lord just wants the R100.00 in our wallet.
We imagine the big things we could do for the Lord, if only we had the resources, but He just wants us to be faithful in something small, something seemingly insignificant, something that will get us no applause and no pat on the back, but like the man with one talent we bury what we have in the ground and leave the work to someone more gifted or richer.
Lifters and leaners.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
There are two kinds of people on earth today,
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say,
Not the good and the bad, for ’tis well understood
The good are half bad and the bad are half good.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
Not the rich and the poor, for to count a man’s wealth
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life’s busy span
Who puts on vain airs is not counted a man.
No! The two kinds of people on earth I mean
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.
Wherever you go you will find the world’s masses
Are ever divided in just these two classes.
And, strangely enough, you will find, too, I wean,
There is only one lifter for twenty who lean.
Wherever you go you will find the world’s masses
Are ever divided in just these two classes.
And, strangely enough, you will find, too, I wean,
There is only one lifter for twenty who lean.
This one question I ask. Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner who lets others bear
Your portion of worry and labour and care?
Lifters and leaners.
Is it only the rich who God wants to be givers?
1 Kings 17:7-16.
Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there.
I have directed a widow there to supply you with food. So he went to Zarephath.
When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks.
The widow who took care of Elijah.
1 Kings 17:7-16.
He called to her and asked, Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink? As she was going to get it, he called, And bring me, please, a piece of bread.
As surely as the LORD your God lives, she replied, I don’t have any bread, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug.
I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
The widow who took care of Elijah.
1 Kings 17:7-16.
Elijah said to her, Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.
For this is what the
LORD, the God of Israel, says:
The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.
The widow who took care of Elijah.
1 Kings 17:7-16.
She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.
Jesus and the widow’s mites.
Luke 21:1-4.
And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.
So He said, Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.
Generous people give out of their own poverty.
We see in this account, that Jesus observes the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury, but He also sees a poor widow put in two very small copper coins, and he says
“this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on”
Generosity is not something that comes later after you accumulate wealth.
It’s something you live out wherever you are in life today. It’s not something that “shows up” it’s a lifestyle you cultivate.
Timothy L. Smith has over 35 years of experience with Non-Profit Organizations and currently serves as Chief Development Officer for Museum of the Bible.
Generous people give out of their own poverty.
Timothy Smith shared this:
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to some of the most impoverished areas of east Africa. I was taken to many villages to speak, and I visited with the leaders in those communities. I’ll never forget the moment I saw firsthand the generosity of people giving out of their own poverty.
After I had spent a full day in one village, the people came to send me off on my journey. They brought chickens, vegetables, fruit, even a goat. This was a very poor village, people had very little to spare. Yet they gave of their own poverty to thank me, someone from far away, who merely gave them a day in his life. It took me years to fully grasp that moment of generous and sacrificial giving.
The boy with the 5 loaves and two fishes.
John 6:5-9.
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite! Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother spoke up, Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?
The boy with the 5 loaves and two fishes.
John 6:10-13.
Jesus said, Have the people sit down.
There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.
He did the same with the fish.
The boy with the 5 loaves and two fishes.
John 6:10-13.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.
So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
The joy of sacrificial giving?
II Corinthians 8v1-7. (Macedonians)
They gave not only what they could afford but far more; and I can testify that they did it because they wanted to and not because of nagging on my part.
They begged us to take the money so they could share in the joy of helping the Christians in Jerusalem.
Best of all, they went beyond our highest hopes, for their first action was to dedicate themselves to the Lord and to us.
The joy of sacrificial giving?
II Corinthians 8v1-7. (Macedonians)
They were so enthusiastic about it that we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to visit you and encourage you to complete your share in this ministry of giving.
You people there are leaders in so many ways you have so much faith, so many good preachers, so much learning, so much enthusiasm, so much love for us.
Now I want you to be leaders also in the spirit of cheerful giving.
Tithing (Zondervan article)
Malachi 3:10.
“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 there will not be room enough to store it”
While this is not an automatic guarantee that we will receive material blessings every time we give to God, this verse does show us that God will bless us and provide for our needs. Note that the Bible doesn’t teach us to give in order to get. The Bible says that we get in order to give.
This reverse perspective makes all the difference.
Tithing (Zondervan article)
God blesses us so that we can give to others.
Instead of trying to manipulate God to nurture our selfish expectations, our giving should come as a response to God’s blessing upon us.
The New Testament assumed that God’s people would give proportionally from their income, but giving goes beyond our tithe obligation.
Paul urged the Corinthian Christians to set aside a certain amount of money on the Lord’s Day, depending on how much they had earned.
This would then be given to other Christians enduring hardship in Jerusalem.
Giving to the Christians in need.
1 Corinthians 16:1-4.
Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
HEBREWS 13:16.
Giving to the Christians in need.
1 Corinthians 16:1-4.
Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
Paul’s instructions provide us with a good model for giving today.
We should give as God has blessed us.
We should set aside money regularly and purposefully.
Tithing.
This habit of regular, proportional giving will remind us of several things:
(1) that God graciously provides for us;
(2) that we are responsible to support others;
(3) that we need to use our material treasure to secure spiritual gains. God’s grace is such that when we give him what is his, he gives generously to us.
Tithes pre-dated the Law.
Genesis 14:18-20.
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)
And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Tithes pre-dated the Law.
Genesis 28:20-22
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house.
And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.
God is the owner and we are the stewards.
Everything belongs to God and even our ability to generate income comes from Him.
1 Chronicles 29:13-14.
And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly?
For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
Deuteronomy 8:17-18.
Beware lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.
You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
Four important principles about stewardship.
The principle of ownership.
Psalm 24:1.
The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
In the beginning of Genesis, God creates everything and puts Adam in the Garden to work it and to take care of it. This is the fundamental principle of biblical stewardship. God owns everything, we are simply managers or administrators acting on his behalf.
Stewardship is the commitment of one’s self and possessions to God’s service, recognizing that we do not have the right of control over our property or ourselves.
The principle of ownership.
There is something vital about giving, even though God doesn’t need anything from us.
Psalm 50:8-12.
I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
2. The principle of responsibility.
Although God gives us “all things richly to enjoy,” nothing is ours. Nothing really belongs to us. God owns everything; we’re responsible for how we treat it and what we do with it.
While we complain about our rights here on earth, the Bible constantly asks, What about your responsibilities?
Owners have rights; stewards have responsibilities.
We are called as God’s stewards to manage that which belongs to God. While God has graciously entrusted us with the care, development, and enjoyment of everything he owns as his stewards, we are responsible to manage his holdings well and according to his desires and purposes.
3. The principle of accountability.
A steward is one who manages the possessions of another. We are all stewards of the resources, abilities and opportunities that God has entrusted to our care, and one day each one of us will be called to give an account for how we have managed what the Master has given us.
Like the servants in the Parable of the Talents, we will be called to give an account of how we have administered everything we have been given, including our time, money, abilities, information, wisdom, relationships, and authority.
We will all give account to the rightful owner as to how well we managed the things he has entrusted to us.
4. The principle of reward.
Colossians 3:23-24.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
The Bible shows clearly that faithful stewards who do the master’s will with the master’s resources can expect to be rewarded incompletely in this life, but fully in the next.
Matthew 25:21:
Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!
4. The principle of reward.
Matthew 19:27-30
Peter answered him, We have left everything to follow you!
What then will there be for us? Jesus said to them, Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
Look at what God has given up for us.
He gave up His Glory.
John 17:4-5.
I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Hebrews 2:9.
But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
B. He gave up His divine knowledge as part of the God-head.
Mark 13:32.
But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
John 5:19. Jesus gave them this answer:
Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
C. He gave up His divine power.
Matthew 4:1-3.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.
Matthew 26;53-54.
Put your sword back in its place, Jesus said to him, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled..
D. He gave up His reputation.
Philippians 2:7.
Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
1 Peter2:20
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.
E. He gave up basic needs for the sake of ministry.
Matthew 8:18-20.
When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.
Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.
Jesus replied, Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
F. He gave up His life on the cross.
John 10:17.
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.
God still continues to give to us on a daily basis.
Romans 8:32.
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
We pray
“Give us this day our daily bread” but we are blessed far beyond this as He cares for us in so many ways.
AUTHOR: Ken Paynter
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