WEALTH
11/04/18 10:17
Hi, I recently started releasing studies where Scripture tells us of how we are to have a giving heart. I’ve received feedback from two different sides, some who fight hard to keep what they got and some who just openly say, “OK, I’m going to sell stuff and give it away”
I talked to a couple a few weeks ago, who said the church they went to before FORCED them to give 10%. This couple is a lovely couple and they really don’t have much at all. She said that the 10% was more than they could handle; especially when they have such a giving heart and give to other people in need. They ended up virtually losing everything and homeless.
What happened is not really this couples fault, but rather they were being forced to do something, making them feel guilty for not, by a pastor who was pulling Scripture from context and who felt that HE needed to get involved in a principle that is a principle of the heart. Why didn’t the principle work? Why didn’t God provide? Anyone who studies this subject must understand, if you do it only because your told to, or being forced to, only because the Bible says so, and not because of a genuine love for someone, don’t do it.
The key to Matthew 25, when Y’shua is talking to the sheep, the sheep did not know they were doing all those good things for Y’shua. They just loved the people they were helping as much as they did themselves, and they wanted to help them. We must remember, there is no good work that we can do to be saved - it’s a love relationship in which we love God that much that we love His people more than us.
All through Scripture, we are told to give and not hoard up; but we’re told to give with gladness. If we are regretting putting that money in the plate, giving it to a person in need, filling up their gas tank, or whatever, we might as well not do it - we’re just doing it because we were told to.
The ones who fight against this Kingdom principle always run to the other side, saying, “God does not want us poor”. Well, that’s not really Biblical doctrine but Paul did say not to burden yourself with this process. Yet, define burden. If what we are fighting to hang on to is nothing but things or time that provides worldly pleasures, losing these is not a burden unless one loves the world so much. To not really burden ourselves is, we don’t go hungry, but we’re not fattened either; we have a home, but not a home much larger than we need; we have a car, maybe two if both work, but they are not luxury cars with lots of toys.
In all honesty, this principle is a natural way of doing things when we follow God. We really don’t have to think about it much, we just become a giving person. The more we love God, the more we love others. The more we love others, the more we want to give to help others. The more we love and want to give to help others, the less we desire to spend on ourselves. There’s really no thought, it just happens. Kinda like when your dating. When I was young, I would spend money on myself, quite a bit. Once I fell in love, I stopped buying for myself and started buying for the one I love. I really didn’t have to think about it, it just happened. This Kingdom principle happens the very same way.
Can you give more than you have? We see that in the Bible. The widow, in the story of the widow's mite, gave all she had. What was happening here was a gathering of the storehouse. We see Y’shua talking about how others gave in their abundance. The first fruit tithes were for the Temple and Priests. Then, the people would get what they need and then would give what was left and put it in the storehouse to help those in need. Christ really was not condemning those for giving what was left: this story is about the one who should have been getting OUT OF the storehouse but had such love and faith that she put INTO it instead - all she had.
I would never talk anyone out of a Kingdom principle. These studies, I’ve been releasing, is a type of wake up call to Laodicea. Most professing Christians that I meet THINK they are just fine in the way they live. They may say they need to grow, but they are not growing. The walk with God is more like a sprint up a downward moving escalator. You have to be sprinting up while dealing with all the people going down, giving you those ugly looks as you move in the wrong direction. As soon as you start standing still, you're going down. You see, the opposite of sinning is not “not sinning”. The opposite of sinning is doing good works. Virtually everywhere we read in Scripture, we see that Christ came to free us from sin and to do good works. If you think you're doing fine just because you’ve made it without committing those old sinful acts, your standing still. That’s the fence - Satan owns the fence. Yet, the majority of professing Christians live their lives very similar to the non-believer and believe they are fine; but, when I look in Scripture, I see that we are largely in error and not even close. And, we are actually doing, or not doing, the very things that we are told are going to send us to Hell. It’s not anything that is a secret, it’s written clearly in Scripture, we just choose to do our own thing instead of studying or obeying.
Now, don’t get me wrong; this is a tough thing to do. My wife and I are still working on this. We live far different than we use to, and our priorities have shifted greatly, but we still struggle with a few things that we like and I still struggle with wondering if we will have the means if something was to happen.
The disciples asked Y’shua why they could not cast a demon from a little boy and
“Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting’”
(Matthew 17:20-21)
Yeah, I know, we’ve all heard this one - that’s the faith like a mustard seed comment. Many attribute Christ’s comment of prayer and fasting towards the casting out the devil. Yet, in verse 17, Y’shua snapped at and scolded them for not being able to cast the devil out. The comment about prayer and fasting is towards the faith as a mustard seed. Y’shua was trying to show how little faith it takes; yet how hard one must strive for that faith. It only takes as much faith as can be found in a mustard seed to move a mountain, but even that little bit of faith only comes by prayer and fasting. When is the last time you fasted for a closer walk with God, so others could eat, for more faith? When I look in the mirror, I can see I haven’t fasted near enough. Yet, even if we had this faith, it seems most of us would rather move that mountain than our lifestyle.
So, If you are going to fight the Kingdom principle; if you are going to do it just because the Bible says and you don’t want to go to hell; don’t do it. The first thing these people need to work on is their relationship with God and their love for their brothers and sisters. Once that is straight, this stuff will come naturally. If you have already had these desires, you knew something wasn’t right, but you just didn’t know what Scripture said and where to start - here you go. This is not anything that you have to be really smart and have this big education to see - I’m just a truck driver. I believe that everyone who can understand these principles has the capability of seeing these same things in Scripture - we just need to choose spending time with God over many of the needless things in our lives. You can do it!! It’s my desire to see people fall in love with God; fall in love with His Word.
God Bless
I talked to a couple a few weeks ago, who said the church they went to before FORCED them to give 10%. This couple is a lovely couple and they really don’t have much at all. She said that the 10% was more than they could handle; especially when they have such a giving heart and give to other people in need. They ended up virtually losing everything and homeless.
What happened is not really this couples fault, but rather they were being forced to do something, making them feel guilty for not, by a pastor who was pulling Scripture from context and who felt that HE needed to get involved in a principle that is a principle of the heart. Why didn’t the principle work? Why didn’t God provide? Anyone who studies this subject must understand, if you do it only because your told to, or being forced to, only because the Bible says so, and not because of a genuine love for someone, don’t do it.
The key to Matthew 25, when Y’shua is talking to the sheep, the sheep did not know they were doing all those good things for Y’shua. They just loved the people they were helping as much as they did themselves, and they wanted to help them. We must remember, there is no good work that we can do to be saved - it’s a love relationship in which we love God that much that we love His people more than us.
All through Scripture, we are told to give and not hoard up; but we’re told to give with gladness. If we are regretting putting that money in the plate, giving it to a person in need, filling up their gas tank, or whatever, we might as well not do it - we’re just doing it because we were told to.
The ones who fight against this Kingdom principle always run to the other side, saying, “God does not want us poor”. Well, that’s not really Biblical doctrine but Paul did say not to burden yourself with this process. Yet, define burden. If what we are fighting to hang on to is nothing but things or time that provides worldly pleasures, losing these is not a burden unless one loves the world so much. To not really burden ourselves is, we don’t go hungry, but we’re not fattened either; we have a home, but not a home much larger than we need; we have a car, maybe two if both work, but they are not luxury cars with lots of toys.
In all honesty, this principle is a natural way of doing things when we follow God. We really don’t have to think about it much, we just become a giving person. The more we love God, the more we love others. The more we love others, the more we want to give to help others. The more we love and want to give to help others, the less we desire to spend on ourselves. There’s really no thought, it just happens. Kinda like when your dating. When I was young, I would spend money on myself, quite a bit. Once I fell in love, I stopped buying for myself and started buying for the one I love. I really didn’t have to think about it, it just happened. This Kingdom principle happens the very same way.
Can you give more than you have? We see that in the Bible. The widow, in the story of the widow's mite, gave all she had. What was happening here was a gathering of the storehouse. We see Y’shua talking about how others gave in their abundance. The first fruit tithes were for the Temple and Priests. Then, the people would get what they need and then would give what was left and put it in the storehouse to help those in need. Christ really was not condemning those for giving what was left: this story is about the one who should have been getting OUT OF the storehouse but had such love and faith that she put INTO it instead - all she had.
I would never talk anyone out of a Kingdom principle. These studies, I’ve been releasing, is a type of wake up call to Laodicea. Most professing Christians that I meet THINK they are just fine in the way they live. They may say they need to grow, but they are not growing. The walk with God is more like a sprint up a downward moving escalator. You have to be sprinting up while dealing with all the people going down, giving you those ugly looks as you move in the wrong direction. As soon as you start standing still, you're going down. You see, the opposite of sinning is not “not sinning”. The opposite of sinning is doing good works. Virtually everywhere we read in Scripture, we see that Christ came to free us from sin and to do good works. If you think you're doing fine just because you’ve made it without committing those old sinful acts, your standing still. That’s the fence - Satan owns the fence. Yet, the majority of professing Christians live their lives very similar to the non-believer and believe they are fine; but, when I look in Scripture, I see that we are largely in error and not even close. And, we are actually doing, or not doing, the very things that we are told are going to send us to Hell. It’s not anything that is a secret, it’s written clearly in Scripture, we just choose to do our own thing instead of studying or obeying.
Now, don’t get me wrong; this is a tough thing to do. My wife and I are still working on this. We live far different than we use to, and our priorities have shifted greatly, but we still struggle with a few things that we like and I still struggle with wondering if we will have the means if something was to happen.
The disciples asked Y’shua why they could not cast a demon from a little boy and
“Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting’”
(Matthew 17:20-21)
Yeah, I know, we’ve all heard this one - that’s the faith like a mustard seed comment. Many attribute Christ’s comment of prayer and fasting towards the casting out the devil. Yet, in verse 17, Y’shua snapped at and scolded them for not being able to cast the devil out. The comment about prayer and fasting is towards the faith as a mustard seed. Y’shua was trying to show how little faith it takes; yet how hard one must strive for that faith. It only takes as much faith as can be found in a mustard seed to move a mountain, but even that little bit of faith only comes by prayer and fasting. When is the last time you fasted for a closer walk with God, so others could eat, for more faith? When I look in the mirror, I can see I haven’t fasted near enough. Yet, even if we had this faith, it seems most of us would rather move that mountain than our lifestyle.
So, If you are going to fight the Kingdom principle; if you are going to do it just because the Bible says and you don’t want to go to hell; don’t do it. The first thing these people need to work on is their relationship with God and their love for their brothers and sisters. Once that is straight, this stuff will come naturally. If you have already had these desires, you knew something wasn’t right, but you just didn’t know what Scripture said and where to start - here you go. This is not anything that you have to be really smart and have this big education to see - I’m just a truck driver. I believe that everyone who can understand these principles has the capability of seeing these same things in Scripture - we just need to choose spending time with God over many of the needless things in our lives. You can do it!! It’s my desire to see people fall in love with God; fall in love with His Word.
God Bless
