Extreme Giving

Do you give from your surplus or is it a true sacrifice?

Habakkuk 3:17-19 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD!

I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.

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Habakkuk chapter three doesn't make sense to anyone that has not established a personal relationship with God. If your circumstances are as bad as Habakkuk was facing would you have any reason to rejoice in tribulation? Would you be able to trust God's plan and purpose for your life?

Trusting God when it doesn't make sense is probably the most difficult when it comes to giving away a portion of what you have when you seem to have so little or when it isn't clear how much you will have.

In the Old Testament law God's people were required to bring a first fruit offering to the temple. This offering required a level of trust because you were giving a sacrifice at the beginning of the harvest before you knew how much you would earn. (Leviticus 23:14)

This idea of giving before we get is very foreign to us, we want to give after the paycheck or the bonus comes in, but the Bible teaches that our giving should show that we trust God to take care of us regardless of our financial circumstances.

Give Sacrificially

Mark 12:43-44 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. 44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”

Jesus told his disciples that the poor widow at the temple was the best giver that day while he was in the temple. Her gift was a true sacrifice that created a financial struggle that none of the other people experienced that day.

Looking back at Habakkuk's situation, the country was in full economic collapse, their wealth had disappeared, the ability to provide for their families was destroyed and the possibility of having a meal on any given day was bleak.

Giving sacrificially requires that you give until it hurts, your giving should make you a little bit uncomfortable, and your lifestyle should be affected by your giving. Is your giving really a generous sacrifice? If you are only giving from your surplus then what happens when the surplus is gone?

Give Joyfully

Deuteronomy 26:8-11 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and powerful arm, with overwhelming terror, and with miraculous signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey! 10 And now, O LORD, I have brought you the first portion of the harvest you have given me from the ground.’ Then place the produce before the LORD your God, and bow to the ground in worship before him. 11 Afterward you may go and celebrate because of all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household. Remember to include the Levites and the foreigners living among you in the celebration.

In the teachings about the first fruit offering they didn't just drop their offering in the collection box and walk away. Their offering was given joyfully with a testimony about the one that provided the offering.

We give our money cheerfully to the things that we are passionate about, it doesn't matter what your interest is, you will spend money easily on those things that you love the most. You will have to be careful not to spend too much on those things.

What do you treasure so much that you can effortlessly give money to? Do you give as cheerfully to God as you do to your earthly pleasures?

Give Graciously 

2 Corinthians 8:2-3  They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.  3  For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will.

When you give your time, treasure or your talents to God it becomes part of God's grace to others. God didn't bless me so that I can accumulate the blessings and keep them to myself, I have been blessed so that I can introduce the people that I bless to my loving God who provided for me.

When God's people share their blessings we fulfill our mission here on earth, our blessings help bring charity, good works and justice to our hurting world. Our giving will help us be better ambassadors for our Savior who was the most extreme giver.

I need to be faithful to give even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD!

RELATED ARTICLES

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow: An Analysis (medium.com)
What Was The First Fruits Offering? (gotquestions.com)
Doxology (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

The Feeble Church

Do your actions please God?

Revelation 3:1-6 "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the One who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: "I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive--but you are dead.

2 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of My God. 3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to Me again. If you don't wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.

4 "Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before My Father and His angels that they are Mine. 6 "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.

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Busy people hate to know that all of the stuff they were doing doesn't matter to anyone, that is the ultimate letdown for a follower of Jesus, the worst thing that can happen is to find out that your work and sacrifice isn't pleasing God.

What a sobering thought to know that it is possible to think that we are working for God and doing things that we think that he wants us to do and then get a message from him letting you know that you are wrong.

"I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of My God."

The church of Sardis was a busy church with a great reputation with the community but it didn't receive the same praise from God. Physically they were very alive but spiritually they didn't have much life left in them. The community didn't have any reason to oppose these people because even though they were busy they were powerless.

Dead people don't accomplish very much so there isn't any reason to oppose them, the same is true of a spiritually dead church, their busyness doesn't concern Satan. The church didn't have any spiritual attacks against them because they were not effective for the Kingdom of God.

Don't try to impress the community with your programs that are built on your own strength, these will produce little for the Kingdom without God's approval, the plans must be his and the heart of the people doing his plans must also be his and must be right with him.

If we mess up either of those conditions then we will eventually receive the news that we need to make some changes, God will deal with us when we least expect it, like a thief in the night.

“Wake up! Be watchful! Repent! Remember the Word you have received and obey it!” 

The church is Sardis had a little bit of life left in them, God could have just sat by and let that spark die out but he desires better for us and gives us a warning that our actions do not please him.

God knows our weakness and our inability to totally follow his ways one hundred percent. The cure for this nearly dead church was to remember the way that they had first responded to the truth of God and to repent.

Thankfully he is a gracious and merciful father that gives his children a chance to change their ways.

RELATED ARTICLES

Autopsy Of A Dead Church (thomrainer.com)

Our Loyalty To God Is So Weak

God's blessings are not enough to keep us from walking away from the fountain of living water.

Jeremiah 17:7-10, 13-14  "But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.  8  They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit."

9  "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?  10  But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve."

13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who turn away from You will be disgraced. They will be buried in the dust of the earth, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.  14  O LORD, if You heal me, I will be truly healed; if You save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for You alone!

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It is probably very easy for us to believe that the person that is living to please God instead of indulging in a life of sin is going to reap a bunch of blessing from God. That doesn't mean that they will live on easy street, fine cars in front of a mansion is not what we are talking about, they will struggle and have to deal with real life just like everybody else but there will be a difference in their outlook.

The people that are living to please God will have a resource, a refreshment, they will have the energy to keep on going despite the challenges that come. They will have every wound healed and they will be saved on judgement day but those that walk away and say to God "no thank you, I have a better deal," they will find out how wrong they were. (Jeremiah 17:13-14)

The thing that is hard to believe is that there are so many benefits to living God's way and yet we see everyday that mankind walks away from God despite this blessed state with all of it's benefits. We wonder off from the fountain that is the source of every blessing, we choose a different path. (Isaiah 53:6)

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.

-Paul

God gives us the knowledge of good and evil, most of the issues that we face are very plain to discern in light of scripture I need to be aware of my need for God and turn towards him in order to receive the riches he graciously offers. The devil has some things to offer as well, money, power, lust and pride are his main tricks that we have to be aware of.

I must give my heart to God and allow him to confront me and bring up all of the stuff that he sees that doesn't please him. I need to stay in his word everyday so that I will remember his blessings and benefits when the world seems to have a better deal that could pull me away from him.

Change My Heart Lord

Heart too hard? It is time to break out the plow.

Jeremiah 4:3-4,14 This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns. 4 O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power.

Change your hearts before the Lord,or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins. 14 O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart that you may be saved.

How long will you harbor your evil thoughts?

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Israel has turned their backs on God for so long,it is hard to imagine how God can be so patient with his wayward children, it is even more difficult to understand how bad they were. This will help you to understand how extremely bad they were, in the message that God gave the prophet Ezekiel, they were told that they are worse than the Samaritans and the people of Sodom. (Eze 16:46-52)

What a wake up call that should have been to Israel, two cities that they didn't like were said to be closer to God than they were. When we think of the most sinful people on earth the people of Sodom come to mind and it would be difficult to hate anybody more than the Jews hated the Samaritans.

God doesn't rush to judgement but rather he gives his people time to get it right but his people are hard headed and now the time is short, it is time to break out the plow. Jeremiah warns them that they need to soften their hearts, their pride, idolatry and all of the rest of their sins are making the soil too hard. Instead of God's people affecting the culture for good they had allowed the culture to affect them.

Hebrews 3:12-13 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.

We must keep our guard up so that we do not go back to rebellion, before we were saved we resisted God's authority and we were opposed to his ways, we must be careful that we don't go back to living that way again. God's ways are not the natural tendency of man, without vigilance we will be deceived by Satan and we will go back to our old ways and take up our old lifestyle.

James 4:7-8 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

Humility is so important. We need to be humble and see ourselves the way that God sees us, it is the only right way to approach God, we can't fool him, he already knows how bad we are. It doesn't work too well if we try to be loyal to him and try to hold onto the world, Jesus warned us that we can't serve two masters. (Luke 16:13)

I need to guard my heart at all times, I don't want to bring God's judgment on myself, I must not refuse to hear and obey the word of God and live as a rebel.

True Repentance Is A Matter Of The Heart

God tells us to stop playing around and get real.

Joel 2:12-14 That is why the LORD says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.”

Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. 14 Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse. Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the LORD your God as before.

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In today's world, it is difficult to imagine that it is impossible to tolerate something, we have been told that truth isn't rock solid so therefore we can't possibly know what is right and wrong. The result of that kind of logic is that you have to tolerate everything, you get to decide what is right and wrong for yourself but don't impose your thinking on anybody else.

My God isn't tolerant, he is patient, merciful and forgiving, but he isn't going to allow me to live how I want to live for very long. In the tolerant society we live in, it is hard to understand that he cannot tolerate our sin, holy God cannot do it. He isn't going to tolerate fake repentance either, God doesn't want me to go through the religious motions and check off all of the boxes on my religious to do list, he wants a true change of heart.

Signs of a renewed heart
✔ Loves the Bible - Psalm 119:162 ✔ Confident hope - Ephesians 1:18-19 ✔ Desire for holiness - Colossians 3:1-2 ✔ Desire to seek God - Psalm 119:10 ✔ Encouraged - Psalm 73:26 ✔ Joyful - Psalm 4:7

The prophet Joel told the people of Israel that God is reaching out to us to save us from judgement, God said "Give me your heart." basically he said "make a u-turn and come back."

If we are truly his children then there was a time when we knew with all of our heart just how disgusting and filthy we are, we knew that we needed a heart cleaner, and at the moment that we ask God to come into our hearts he starts the cleaning process.

Sometimes we walk away from the cleaning, that's okay, if we are truly repentant for doing so, God says that we can come back without fear. He is anxious to take us back and keep working on us, the prophet says in today's scripture that he is "eager to relent" he would prefer to shower us with love and mercy but he will not tolerate our arrogance and rebellion forever.

My God says that I need to be patient, merciful and forgiving but he doesn't give me the luxury of tolerating wrong, not even in my own life. This Easter season, I need to choose to receive a blessing instead of a curse from God, I need to examine my heart daily and be sure that is has the signs of a heart that has been renewed.

Thank you Lord for your patience and mercy, thank you for going to the cross and healing that nasty wound called sin, making a way for me to be your child. I want to live for you every day.

Related articles

• Are You Making Time To Talk With God? (tampabaptistchurch.blogspot.com)
• Perseverence (devotionsfordisciples.com)
• God's Word Is The Best Heart Cleaner (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

Can You See Me Now?

The Pharisees loved for people to admire them.

Luke 16:14-15 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him.

15 Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.

Proverbs 21:2 People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.

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The Pharisees have an addiction problem, if there had been a local chapter for "Be Seen As Righteous Aholics" then they would have to signup. They were so full of self righteousness that they were rebellious right to God's face.

In the last blog post we were looking at "Using Your Money Wisely" In that lesson Jesus taught about the use of money, a subject that the average church goer hates to hear and the Pharisees didn't like it either and in a style similar to the Pharisees, a lot of us react negatively as well. 
 
There were many times that the reaction to Jesus teaching was scoffing or mocking, the Pharisees wanted to appear righteous and honorable, but Jesus would expose them as less. The Pharisees should be mad, after-all they have spent a lot of time on their image and then Jesus has the nerve to tell them that they don't measure up, he tells them that they wasted their time because he looks at the inside.

Jesus stressed the importance of a good heart, he doesn't like heart problems, he said that the people with a pure heart will be blessed (Matthew 5:8), he said that I am to love God with all of my heart (Matthew 22:37), he said that good deeds can only come from a good heart (Luke 6:45).

The Pharisees were known for their "book learnin'" but Proverbs says that they will never get it:

Proverbs 14:6, 15:12, 21:24  A mocker seeks wisdom and never finds it. Mockers hate to be corrected, so they stay away from the wise. Mockers are proud and haughty; they act with boundless arrogance.

I must be careful that I assess who I am and if I am living with God's approval. I can easily have man's approval for a while but God's assessment of my condition is the one that matters. I need to  remember that Jesus said that his own heart is gentle and humble (Matthew 11:29) and remember that he wants the same from me.

Help me Lord to inspect myself accurately when I hear a teacher or pastor sharing about your ways.