Category: giving

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What is God saying to you and me?

Isaiah 1-4 Recently, a group of men entered a submersible and set off to view the Titanic. One was a billionaire, but did he know the God of Isaiah? When the submersible imploded, what good would all of his wealth do him? Could he take that wealth into eternity?  

Isaiah, God’s prophet, is asking the Israelites and us that same question. What are we doing with the abundance of wealth God has given to us? Do we invest, hoard, share, or give it away? The nation of Judah was wealthy beyond words, but they were greedily seeking to gather more and more. Like them, we find that many of us do the same, but if God were to call us to eternity would we take that wealth with us? Remember the parable in Luke 16:19-31? The rich man discovered that all of his prosperity meant nothing in eternity. How about us?

Instead of wealth Isaiah advised them to promote justice for those oppressed, just as James reminded the early church; fulfill the royal law; love your neighbor as yourself. [James 2:8]

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Preciseness and Sweetness

Num 28: God is precise in what He desires. The amount that was offered was staggering! Are the offerings we give to our church staggering and sacrificial? Why do we give? How much do we give? God loves a cheerful giver, and He blesses both the gift and the giver. [2Cor 9:7] God looks at the heart and desires that the heart matches the gift, yet He gave precise instructions for what was to be offered. It was to be the best of their flock, unblemished and given as prescribed. They were to select the best of their lambs and bulls because nothing is too good for God; it must be the best, for God has given His best and we must give our best.

May we have the right motivation, the right heart, and the best of our best for God this week.

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“Saved for Service”

Saved for service

Numbers 18 We often are reminded of this saying, so where does that come from, and is it true? The priesthood in the OT is our model. God only spoke to Aaron in Numbers 18:7 and Lev 10:8 to remind him that his position as High Priest was a gift from the Lord. He was not to keep it for himself but to be a ministering servant priest for the congregation. Today we are to be ministering servants, and we take our orders from Rom 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And again in [2Cor 8:14], Paul reminded the Corinthians: your abundance will meet their need, so that one day their abundance may also meet your need,


Is there someone in need today? Consider meeting another’s need as your work order for today.

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Sharing and Serving

Exodus 25-27 God gives Moses the plan for building the Tabernacle. God owns it all, but He wants the people to share in the building. He wanted the people to give willingly, not because they had to but because they wanted to.

God gives me that same opportunity, and with it comes pride; not pride of self but pride in sharing in the building. When we are just given an enormous or precious gift, we often do not appreciate it. So our wise God knows that when the people share in the building, they will take ownership of it and be blessed. He doesn’t order the amount we are to give but only what our heart tells us.

Where has God given me a project and provided all the materials but asks me to participate by sharing out of my abundance?

Paul told the Corinthians that God is not a God of confusion but order, and these chapters prove that statement. [1Cor 14:33]The practical is proven wise.

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Freely received, freely given.

donations

1Cor 9 You may not know this fact, but all of the materials on Bible.org are free to anyone. Only three out of eight employees are salary based; all others, including this author, are full-time…get that… full-time volunteers. You might wonder why? The answer comes from the words of Paul to the Corinthians:  “What then is my reward? That when I/we preach the gospel I/we may offer the gospel free of charge, and so not make full use of my/our rights in the gospel.” [1Cor 9:18]

Bible.org is not only volunteer-based; all monies that are received are used for this work strictly by your donations. We are grateful beyond words for you who choose sacrificially to donate to this ministry. Truly Paul’s words ring true: “For since I am/we are free from all I can/we can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people.” [1Cor 9:19]

If you are looking for an end-of-year place to donate, please would you pray to include Bible.org in your donations? It takes hours and much planning to bring these materials to you freely. Again, Paul reminds us why he is, and we are volunteers in the Lord’s ministry: “I/We do all things because of the gospel so that I/we can be a participant in it.” [1Cor 9:23]

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Rewards and Grace

Grace is what we do not deserve

Matt 20 As we move through life, we seem to think we deserve this or that. In reality, we deserve nothing, for we are a part of the evil and adulterous generation, as Jesus said to a listening audience. But, when God’s grace appeared, and we accepted that grace as our salvation, we were given far more than we deserved. We all deserve the wrath of God, but Christ came to pay our sin penalty. Why, then, are we jealous when we see others gain more notoriety or more fame, or rewards? We deserve hell, but we have been given grace. That is the point of the parable Jesus was teaching. He revealed the true heart issue is one of jealousy, not gratefulness. 

When we enter heaven’s gate, we will be placed in line to receive our rewards. Some behind us will have received God’s grace millennia ago, while others are standing before us, having accepted Christ on their deathbed and had no service, just like the thief on the cross. He did not belong to a church, had no baptism experience, and did no service in Christ’s kingdom, but Christ told him, today you will be with me in Paradise.

Today may we be grateful for every avenue of service God has given us and every reward, whether it be little or plenty.

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Using Your Spiritual Gift

Elisha had a tender spirit

2Kings 4-6 God heard the prayer of Elisha. He asked that he receive a double spiritual gift if he saw Elijah depart to heaven. When God responded to his humble request, he didn’t just take that gift and put it on the shelf.  He used that gift to meet the needs of those who were hurting. Do we do the same? What spiritual gift has God placed in your hands that can be used to minister to the hurting? The Ephesians had the gift of ministry, but they had left their first love. (Rev 2:4) Have we been busy with sundry tasks but have left our first love? What does that look like? It looks like selfishness because we are keeping God’s gift to ourselves. Instead, God has given it to us to minister to others.

Remember this principle: “If your enemy is hungry, give him foot to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.” [Prov. 25:21-22] And when you are obedient to that you will hear: well done, thou good and faithful servant. [Luke 19:17]

What do I want to hear from the Savior’s lips today? 

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The Holy Spirit and Christmas

The Holy Spirit is our gift

1Cor 12 It is December, and that means Christmas is coming! God gave us the best Christmas gift ever when He sent His Son Jesus. But, God also plans ahead and He had your name on a special gift; the Spirit to reside with you FOREVER AND EVER!

Jesus said: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;” [Jn 14:16] He is our permanent teacher, not just on Christmas morning but FOREVER! and EVER! In addition, Jesus prayed that; ” But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.”  [Jn 14:26] And then in 1Cor 12, we read that the Spirit gives; better than Santa! He also distributes; not to just good boys and girls but to every saved believer as He wills. He works all these things for His glory and that we might edify others and especially the church. There may be a diversity of gifts, but the same Spirit who does all of this and more, and we are to receive each one gratefully. 

Since eternity the Spirit has been actively distributing gifts, and you are blessed to have received His gift, whether it be knowledge or wisdom or the gift of x, y, z as he gave to Daniel. 

Do you know your gift? Do others recognize that you have been anointed with the Holy Spirit? Are you grateful for the gifts He has given to you?

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One Man’s Gift

Joseph's tomb was a gift to Jesus

Mark 15, Matthew 27 As the holidays approach, we begin to think and consider a gift for those we love. What would our gift be?

Joseph of Arimathea needed Pilate’s permission to remove the crucified Jesus from the cross. Then he and Nicodemus prepared his body for burial and transported it to Joseph’s tomb, which was new and had never been used, thus fulfilling the prophecy: “His grave was assigned with wicked men; Yet He was with a rich man in His death.” [Is 53:9]

Joseph was a secret believer, as was Nicodemus. Yet, they took courage and sought to bury Jesus properly. What a precious gift for our Savior. He was disparaged by those he came to serve, but he was honored by a wealthy man and his tomb in death. Those who wore the robes of religious piety were not willing to be defiled; they would not stoop to enter the governor’s residence so they would not be ceremonially defiled, yet were ready to break the sixth commandment: “you shall not murder.” [Ex 20:13; John 18:28]

One man’s gift and his name will live on in eternity as one of the righteous, but one man’s evil words will live on as testimony as a dishonor until he sees Jesus in the clouds. [John 11:50; Matt 26:64]

Which man and which gift do you think gave God pleasure? What will my gift be?    

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Leaving a Legacy

leaving a legacy

1Chron 26-29; Ps 127 As David closed his reign and set Solomon to begin, he had one more thing to do: prepare the gifts out of “his” treasury to finance the building of the temple. David said: “Now, to show my commitment to the temple of my God, I donate my personal treasure of gold and silver to the temple of my God, in addition to all that I have already supplied for this holy temple.” [1Chron 29:3] What a legacy and example to Solomon and the nation of Israel! The lesson is this; our passing should leave a lesson to those who will be the recipients of our earthly goods. Our example should follow this principle: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [Mat 6:21]  Also, from 2Cor 9:6-8, “Each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver.”

Nowhere in scripture does God command what David chose to do; he chose to do this because he was a man after God’s own heart. David was passionate about God and his work. His heart was sold out to God. He willingly chose to donate all of his earthly holdings to the work of the Lord. The question is this:

What will leave as picture of our heart’s passion?

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