Compared to people around the world
would say that you are more blessed than most? Do you agree with God when
he says “it is more blessed to give than to receive”? Giving what we have
to the church or with others is not always easy. In fact you can watch or
listen to kids and see that most people don’t share naturally.
Yes,
there are people who seem more generous, yet God calls His kids to be
givers. This is not just about money. We can and should be generous
with all the resources that God has blessed us with
He who has a generous eye will be
blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.
Some
of you have an eye for talent, others have an eye for art, you might have an
eye for food and some have an eye for generosity. What did the Bible say
about the person who is generous? They will be blessed. You and I
will be blessed when we are generous with what we have.
In
the first week we talked about a verse that Jesus said big things about
giving. Here it is…
Our
spiritual enemy cannot stop the blessings of God. But Satan can try to
DISTORT our relationship with God and our understanding of God’s
blessings. Think about our responses to what God has given us especially
in how these truths can get twisted in wrong ways.
When
we misunderstand our blessings, when we don’t honor or recognize that our
blessings come from Him, we have a major problem. This is an issue that
God spoke to His people about.
Because you say, "I am rich, and
have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that
you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
Forgetting
the source our blessings often lead to pride or guilt. If we don’t deal
with these negative attitudes, our view of blessings gives us a distorted of
many things in our lives. The warning God gave those people was to buy
things that last. Go back to what Jesus said in Matthew and make sure
what you treasure is what will last. We can use what we have for the
right or the wrong reason and that includes how we look at and use what we
have.
God
blessed us with a purpose. Everything God does has a purpose, and we see
what God is doing when we take the focus off of us and put it on God.
Yes, you will be enriched in every way
so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who
need them, they will thank God.
He
will make us rich in EVERY WAY, not just money, so we can be generous to others
on every occasion. Being generous leads others to be thankful that God
blessed you
Maybe
you are like many other American Christians that are trying to increase their
standard of living by getting a nicer car, a bigger house, or a higher paying
job. How about instead of increase your standard of living, increase your
standard of giving?
The best way to increase your standard
of giving is to recognize it is not all for us. Life is all about
God. When we are generous, we are allowing God to work through our lives
to bless others. That will give us a new view of being generous and make
us more like God than ever before.
NOTE: this was first shared in March of
2012 and remains true now. This coming
Sunday at The Community Fellowship is week 4 of our series STAY POSITIVE and
will deal with generosity!
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