Thursday, April 24,
2014, 8:30 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put the song in mind, “Gracious Father.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 2 Co. 8:16-9:15 (NIV).
The Gift of Giving
Chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians speak to the subject of giving
and of Christian service. Evidently, there was a collection being taken for the
saints in Jerusalem. I wanted to understand the purpose of this collection,
i.e. to whom the money was going and for what reason, so I read a commentary on
Biblegateway.com. The author began by addressing the issue of the endless
number of pleas for money, in our world today, from various organizations. “Sophisticated
marketing strategies abound,” he stated. Some people make a bad name for
fundraisers with their gimmicks, hard-sells, and manipulations of people’s
emotions to get people to give, he suggested. This makes it difficult to know,
sometimes, who is legit and who is not, and where the real needs are and who is
just taking advantage of a situation. I believe this calls for much discernment
and prayer.
So, what was this collection (offering) being taken, and
then given to the saints in Jerusalem? The author of this commentary said that
it was “to help Judean believers who
were facing harder than usual economic times as a result of a famine during the
mid to late 40s.” That is a worthy cause, to help the truly poor of our
communities, or to help people out when they are in dire straits or going
through economic hard times. This commentator asked the question, “Why did Paul
do it?” Why did he put forth this effort to make the collection for these
saints? “For one, the need was genuine,” he stated. I believe that is very
significant here. These Christians were in need of the basic necessities of
life – food, shelter and clothing, he said. The author also suggested another
reason for the collection was that it served as a visible expression of how the
church body worked together to supply one another’s needs, not just monetary
needs, and that served as a testimony for Christ.
Thanks to God!
Thanks
be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For
Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much
enthusiasm and on his own initiative. And we are sending along with him the
brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. What
is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the
offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show
our eagerness to help. We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer
this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the
eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man. ~ 2 Co. 8:16-21
In going over the lyrics to the song “Gracious Father,” I
realized that this song tells the story of how God sets the example for us in
love, kindness, mercy, compassion and giving, and how, through his free gift of
salvation, he places these same qualities within the hearts of his followers by
his Spirit. Our salvation and not one of his acts of love and kindness toward
us, and not one of these heavenly qualities can be bought with money. We can do
nothing to earn them or deserve them. He gives us these treasures from heaven
as a free gift of his grace to us. Yet, not all of us have received this free
gift of his love into our lives, so not everyone possesses his great salvation
or these heavenly treasures. They must be received by submission to Christ and
to death to sin so he can make us alive in Christ.
This song also describes what our heart response should be
to his love, mercy and grace to us. First of all, we should be eternally
thankful. Our hearts should adore him. We should be humbled by his love and
mercy toward us, realizing how underserving we all really are. And, we should,
in view of his mercy, offer ourselves (our all) to him as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to him, which is our reasonable and acceptable service of
worship of him. We should no longer be conformed to the ways of this world, but
we should be transformed of the Spirit of God in the renewing of our minds (See
Ro. 12:1-2). When we consider the subject of giving, we should realize that it
all belongs to God and that we owe him everything! So, he should be the one to
decide how much we give, when to give and to whom to give it. And, we should
give as unto the Lord with wholehearted devotion to God, for his honor and
praise, recognizing that it is HIM only that we serve. Amen!
Sowing and Reaping
Remember
this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows
generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have
decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all
things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good
work. As it is written:
“They
have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”
Now
he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and
increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every
occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
This
service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people
but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the
service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the
obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for
your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their
prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing
grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! ~ 2 Co.
9:6-15
To sow means to spread, scatter, seed and/or to plant (deposit;
establish). To reap means to gain, obtain, gather, harvest, collect, and/or
acquire, etc. In other words, as the saying goes, “You reap what you sow.” This
means that one is the direct result of the other. We get in what we put out. We
receive a return back from what we invest. If we give little, we get little in
return, not that we should give in order to receive, but that if we are stingy
and not generous, we will have little to show, for our giving, in the lives which
it is able to bless.
Yet, this is not speaking merely of just giving people
money. Jesus Christ gave to us as we had legitimate need. He gave us his life. He
does not always give us what our selfish hearts desire, especially if what we
want is so we can spend it on our own selfish pleasures. He gives good gifts to
his children. Good is what is best for us, for he knows what we really need. He
knew that we needed to be set free, not just from the punishment of our sin,
but from slavery to sin, and that we needed to be also set free to love, honor,
worship, and obey him in the Spirit of God, and to walk in his ways and in his
truth, for this is where we would find pure joy, satisfaction and meaning for
life, and where we would be filled to overflowing with his Spirit so that we
could, in turn, share his love with others in need.
So, he set the standard for giving, not only that we should
give freely, and not just to those who we feel are deserving of our gifts, but
that we should consider the true needs and give accordingly to what is truly
best (good) for others. Sometimes, in our giving, we can do more harm than
good. It is not good, for instance, to give a screaming child who is throwing a
temper tantrum what he or she wants at that instance. What is best at that
moment for that child is some loving correction, guidance and training in the
appropriate way in which to ask for things. It is also not good to feed others’
bad habits. It is better to teach a man to fish rather than just feeding him
the fish that we gather, that is, if he is able.
Certainly we are not limited to only supplying the basic
necessities of life, for people have needs beyond just the basics, at times,
and we are free to give to others as we choose, as well. Yet, I do believe that
we should consider what are the true needs, what is the best way to meet those
needs, and we should consider if, in our giving, we are truly doing what is
best, i.e. what is in the best interest of those to whom we wish to give love,
affection, money, time, talents, or our service, etc.
Of course, the greatest gift we can give is to share with
them how they, too, can come to know Jesus Christ so that they, too, can be set
free of sin and can have eternal life with God. As the scriptures say, “Freely you have received, freely give”
(See Matt. 10:8), referring, apparently, both to the working of miracles in
others’ lives, and to the preaching of the gospel, freely imparted by God into
the life of the believer, and so he or she can thus freely give to others. Or
else the healing of the sick could refer to those who are spiritually in need
of having their sick souls cleansed by the blood of Christ, and the raising of
the dead could refer to Christ raising those to new life in Christ who were
once dead in their sins, and thus the sharing of the gospel would be an
instrument of that divine healing and resurrected life in their lives. And, all
should be done for the honor, glory and praise of God.
Gracious Father / An Original Work
/ April 6, 2011
How great are
You Father; how great are You, Lord.
My heart so
adores You; Your mercy outpour.
Your love and
your kindness; Your gracious reward
Are treasures
from heaven that we can’t afford.
So, freely
they’re given and humbly received
O gracious
Redeemer; my Master and King,
To You I owe everything
- my offerings I bring
With whole
heart devotion, to honor and praise
My loving
companion and friend for always.
It’s You I
serve only, to walk in Your ways,
So I have your
promise for all of my days.
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