Good day dear friends.
We begin our day with prayer.
Gracious God of all gifts. We thank you again, as we should every day and every time we think about, the wonderful and precious gifts You share with us. Help us to be honest with ourselves and You about the matter of financial giving to Your work here on the earth. May you bless all who read this, especially those who are challenged each day by worries about money. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Our text for today comes from the text I used Sunday for our sermon time: Romans 12:11-14, but we'll be focusing on verse 13.
First, let's read the study guide for today:
Thursday: Let’s be honest about our financial/stewardship life with God. The Stewardship campaign has concluded and most of you made a financial pledge to the work of the Lord here on the earth that requires money. Did you give in proportion to your income? Or are you giving the Lord a “tip.” Pray about what we studied Sunday in the Romans text. Look at verse 13 again in that chapter 12. As we’ve shared the many things God has done for us and our loved ones why do we try to “steal from God” as the book of Malachi reads? Look again at Malachi 3:7-10. What does the concluding chapter of the Old Testament have to say about our giving to God? What are you doing with your gifts?
Romans 12:11-14: Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. **13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.** 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
It was Monday morning and I was on our church's record program that tracks membership and all aspects of membership life, including giving. I was very discouraged to say the least. I knew we have a very serious spiritual problem facing us and I believe the whole church: Tithing. We have a church full of "tippers" that "tip" the Lord for good service now and then. We don't have that many who worship God with their givings. I saw very few who give sacrificially. And as I've shared with some, when moments of discouragement set in, God always sends a gentle message of encouragement and that morning was no exception. A knock on the door and God's messenger brought the message of encouragement to me. And the messenger and I talked about this and we believe we as Americans live beyond our means and find ourselves heavily in debt. That's a scary place to be, but it's not a place to say, "Well, I'm in debt and as a result I don't have to give until I can afford it." Scarier still would be to imagine God saying that to us! Paul knew the importance of giving and giving as a part of worship. Malachi also, closes out the Old Testament with a very strong word about tithing and quotes God as saying we are robbing Him!
Malachi 3:7-10 has these words: Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, "How shall we return?" 8 Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, "How are we robbing you?" In your tithes and offerings! 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me—the whole nation of you! 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.
I'll leave it to you and God to wonder and prayerfully resolves YOUR givings to Him and His work among us. What is your financial situation? Are you trusting God enough to give sacrificially? Or are you hiding behind debt and fear? I love verse 10 of that passage right above. GOd has some awfully BIG windows and once they're open, BIG windows bring BIG pourings of blessings. But they'll only come through our faithfulness.
PRAYER: God, lead us to faithfulness and trust. Let us face the truth in our financial lives right now. Let us learn about giving to You firstfruits and from our best, instead of leftovers if we can afford it. Let us know just how big those windows of heaven are by our being obedient to you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen
Have a great day!
Blessings,
e.v.
