Give Anyway

Psalm 50: ⁸ I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
⁹ I have no need of a bull from your stall
    or of goats from your pens,
¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine,
    and the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains,
    and the insects in the fields are mine.
¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you,
    for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴ “Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
    fulfill your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵ and call on me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

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As debts mounted I decided to go to church. I had nowhere to turn so I decided to go to a place I had not been in a while. Announcement after announcement distracted me for a moment. I had forgotten they did that in church. The offering plate was then passed and I had forgotten that too. It was like I was in a daze. “Should I give $1?” I thought to myself. To my dismay all I had in my wallet was a $5 bill. “I wonder if I should give it up” I thought.

• Sometimes I think all my riches are my riches.
• Sometimes I think my bank account is a testament to how much GOD loves me.
• Sometimes I think the accumulation of stuff is a blessing and having bills is a curse from GOD.

A small still voice said “Give what you have” and I unclenched my fist and gave. This was a sacrifice because I did not have any food and I was not going to get paid until the next day. I have no idea what the sermon was about that day. As the congregation was dismissed I got up and walked towards the exit in the cattle like crowd. Someone said, “Aren’t you staying for the meal?” I was amazed!

• GOD owns everything so HE knows my financial situation.
• GOD owns everything so HE knows my worries.
• GOD owns everything so HE does not need my giving but wants me to release all to HIM.

It’s amazing that the verse says “Sacrifice” before “Call on ME.” I would think this would be the other way around. BUT GOD says “I want your entire life not just a little of it.” HE knows my thoughts, HE knows my sins, yet HE loves me and wants me to have faith in HIM.

• Are you in debt?
• Are bills climbing higher and higher?
• Can you believe GOD knows this and loves you in the middle of your fear?
• Will you give to HIM what HE tells you to give soon?

Be compassionate with cash

Exodus 22: ²⁵ “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest. ²⁶ If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, ²⁷ because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

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It seemed like there was an extra dose of homeless this particular day.  I thought about it and was convinced that maybe I should tell a person about CHRIST instead of giving them cash. I stepped up on my pedestal and began talking down to this lowly thing of a person. “Uh huh, yeah, um hmm” were the patronizing replies to my rants.

“There” I thought to myself. I had pushed on him the greatest gift he could ever accept. I’m sure both of us were rewarded that day and I didn’t have to give him money!

• The love of money causes me to treat people like business transactions.
• The love of money strikes fear in me that I will lose it or have it stolen.
• The love of money makes me decide to keep it rather than give it away.

Money matters make me miserly. In other words the more money I get the more I try to protect the wealth and I lose my compassion for people. I dream of reasons they are poor or homeless and chalk it up to some bad choice, or a mental disease or an addiction rationalizing why this person doesn’t need my cash. BUT GOD has compassion.

• GOD has given plenty to me so I may give to others.
• GOD wants me to get over my fear of losing stuff and be compassionate to HIS people.
• GOD desires me to see needy people instead of “hiding” from them in order to keep my stuff.

I keep imagining standing in front of GOD, having HIM display my gadgets, trinkets and bobbles, then showing me all the people I passed by who could have used a meal that day. Yes, GOD wants me to spread the gift of salvation but if love and compassion are not with the message I’m wasting my time.

• Is there someone you need to show compassion to?
• Is fear holding you back from giving to that person?
• Can you show compassion to someone today?
• Won’t you ask GOD who you are supposed to help and “how” HE wants you to help them?

Desperate to be a slave

Genesis 47: ²⁵ “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”

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“Incumbent” was the word I learned at the end of my college career. It meant I owed them some money and unless I came up with the cash, I would not graduate. I hadn’t done the math but I quickly figured my lack of income plus bills equals problems.

I panicked and went into the counselor’s office.  Taking out a loan was my option but I knew I needed to start paying within months of graduation. I needed a job! One company took a chance on me. I was saved. I could pay my bills.

• When bills pile up I get nervous.
• When cash is low I get nervous.
• When the future seems cloudy I get nervous.

The Israelites grew desperate and sold themselves into slavery. They sold their land and themselves because of a sever famine. They were desperate.

When I get desperate, I panic and will do pretty much anything for self-preservation.  This may mean working for groups I don’t want to work with.

• GOD understands my desperations and has taken them into account when building a plan for me.
• GOD understands my panicked behavior and wants me to settle down enough to listen to HIM.
• GOD understands my blindness to my situation and desires that I communicate with HIM to show my reliance on HIM.

In order for GOD to be supreme in my life I must be willing to accept HIS plan for me, the way HE designed it. This may mean some bumpy times but rather than becoming desperate HE wants me to become reliant on HIM.

• Are you becoming desperate?
• Do you feel panic ensuing?
• Won’t you look to GOD for peace?
• Can you turn you panic into helping someone else become calm by telling them about GOD’s love?

A big stress reducer

1 Timothy 6: ⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

⁹ Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

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“Car” was the answer to the question what would you buy first if you had “x” amount of dollars. It seemed like we had many of these conversations. We would talk about vacations, houses, gadgets, clothes and jewelry. When the raises and bonuses were passed out we immediately went on a shopping spree to get more stuff.

Even when something broke there were no worries because we could just buy a new one. I guess the sleepless nights, political coos and not seeing my family was worth it, right? Hmm…

• When I think about losing my stuff I get stressed.
• When I look at bills mounting higher than cash I feel anxious.
• When I see new stuff has come out and my old stuff is obsolete I get discontent.

What is it about the “stuff” that makes me want it so bad? Is it the commercials that say my life will be better or is it the reaction from the crowd that points at me for having the latest thing? I don’t know what it is but I want it! Or maybe I don’t.

• GOD wants me to be content so I should take my eyes off of stuff.
• GOD wants me to have peace so HE says “don’t desire stuff so much.”
• GOD wants me to remain in the faith so I should guard my mind against the anxieties of the world and allow GOD to handle my finances.

I want to be rich but does GOD want me to be rich? Can I handle wealth or will I become the thing GOD hates the most namely an arrogant, proud, useless soul who cares more about the stuff than people. Being wealthy is not the problem, GOD blesses many. The “desire” to be wealthy is where I open myself to doing “anything it takes” to get there.

• Are you doing anything it takes to get more money?
• Are you content?
• What drives your worries the most?
• Can you let go of some of your worries and focus on what GOD is doing in your life?
• Won’t you spend some of the time you normally spend chasing your dream on GOD?