The Power of Giving

The Power of Giving

Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

It seems a little strange to hear a devotional on the Power of Giving when we are in a church that is probably as sound as any in our members' gifts and tithing. But the Lord laid this on my heart and when you feel the Lord leading, it is best to follow. There could be someone here today that God wants them to have this great opportunity to be blessed.

I study a lot in my spare time on bible topics, habits, mindset, and investing. All these topics are different, but amazingly they all tie together to give you an accurate picture of life. One of the books I was reading about Godly Christian Investing by David Johnson pointed out that unless we see all of our finances as gifts from God, we can not glorify the Lord with our lives. His directive was if you are not doing it as a good steward of the money God gave you, it would be better to not invest than to have a heart of covetousness. Our number one goal should be to glorify the Lord and advance His kingdom.

Another point he brought out was that in his research, the people who gave the most were the ones who did the best in their investments. This man is a money manager, and has seen a lot of people’s finances. While I don’t believe in prosperity teaching at all, I have seen in my life, (and also in the history of our church), God has proven over and over that you can not out give the Lord.

God owns it all. All the cattle on all the hills are His. We are but stewards of the resources God has placed in our hands.

Psa 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Psa 50:10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

Psa 50:11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

This morning I want us to review a few of the scriptures surrounding tithing and giving and see how that God makes it such that you are blessed MORE when you give out of a loving and compassionate heart.

Pro 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

Pro 3:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

These are promises from God, not man. God setup the system of tithing in the Old Testament. Jacob made a vow to God to give a tenth of his earnings to the Lord.

Gen 28:20 And Jacob vowed 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 raiment to put on,

Gen 28:21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:

Gen 28:22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

When Moses led the people out of Egypt and then Joshua led the people to the promised land, God made a promise to the people if they would give.

Deu 26:1 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;

Deu 26:2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there.…

Deu 26:10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:

Deu 26:11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.

Deu 26:12 When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;

Deu 26:13 Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:

The giving provided needs for the Levites to minister unto the Lord, and the extra givings allowed them to help the poor and the fatherless. The bible says when we help the poor, we lend unto the Lord.

Pro 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

When you lend to the Lord, do you not think he will greatly bless you? All blessings we have are from God, so we should be faithful in helping those in need.

Psa 112:5 A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.

We are to understand scripture and manage our money and resources with discretion. God will give us guidance on who to help and who may not be deserving. This takes wisdom to not squander your money.

Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The heart is where it all comes down to. What is MOST important to us? If serving God, honoring and glorifying Him is not number 1, we are missing the reason for our existence.

If you study the Old Testament in their tithing and gifts and add them all up, I found that sometimes their annual giving exceeded 30%. I think the tithe is our minimum that we should give. Gifts and offerings are above the tithe. But we can’t put a legalistic number on what we should give. God should direct you as to what he might want you to give, but it should always be out of a heart of love. Paul explained to the church at Corinth how we should give.

2Co 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

2Co 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

2Co 9:9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.

2Co 9:10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

2Co 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

If we are not giving cheerfully, I doubt the rewards will be there. But when we give out of a desire to glorify Christ and bring honor to Him, great rewards will come.

We will close with one of the greatest promises God ever made to his followers in Malachi.

Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Mal 3:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

Mal 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

Mal 3:9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

I recently read a poem by Tao Te Ching. While it points to physical death, the Christian can relate it to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Our hearts must be tender to allow us to follow after the Spirit’s guidance.

Men are born soft and supple

Dead, they are stiff and hard.

Plants are born tender and pliant;

Dead they are brittle and dry.

Thus whosoever is stiff and inflexible

Is a disciple of death.

Whosover is soft and yielding is a disciple of life.

The hard and stiff will be broken,

The soft and supple will prevail.

Man can promise us a lot, but they may not follow through. God has never lied and never will. We need to think about our spending and giving. If you waste $2.71 a day, you waste $1,000 in a year. Bump that up to our normal wastes of $27.10 per day, it is $10,000 a year.

We need to consider our ways. Stop and think about how we manage our money and put the Lord first in our thinking and giving. Pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit. Verse 10 in Malachi Chapter 3, God says to try him. “PROVE ME NOW HEREWITH”. Trust God, and you can’t go wrong.

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