Cheerful Giving

This was written for the context of my own church members. We are currently doing a series on 'Planned Giving' - I hope and pray in sharing this it may touch some hearts.

As you know when we first moved in to the Quarters (house) we had an empty vege patch, and while we weren’t avid gardeners we just couldn’t let that patch sit there with nothing in it, so off to the garden shop we went to buy loads of seeds to plant. To get all the vegetables we wanted we had to plant the seeds, and if we didn’t we weren’t going to get anything. It has been amazing watching the garden grow, because we have planted what we thought was enough but as it has all grown we have been seeing some amazing results that are beyond what we expected. We were blessed with a huge tomato crop, we were blessed with hundreds of beans, we were blessed with capsicums and much more.

The Message Version of 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 says this:

A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.

^8-11 God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.

When we have planted seeds we get back what we planted and more. We are amazed by what grows in our garden and we can be amazed by the blessings God gives back when we give. And this is a promise. Because God is good and he is generous.

Let me give you a bit of context behind this particular scripture first:

From A.D. 52 to 57 a huge proportion of Paul’s time and energy was devoted to organizing a collection among his Gentile churches for the poor in Jerusalem. In Chapter 8 Paul had been boasting about how the Macedonians gave even through their most extreme trials and poverty. It was testament that even though they were small gifts, God was full of grace towards them. Paul He was amazed that even in the small gifts they gave he saw God’s grace and wanted it for his people in Corinth.

He wasn’t commanding them to give but he was encouraging them to because he saw the benefit in generous giving.

Paul used the picture of the farmer sowing seed because it’s what their lifestyle was like. The people were into farming in a big way and this picture made sense to them. The image of harvest naturally suggests the freedom of the sower to plant as much seed as he chooses similarly each person is responsible for deciding in his heart what he will give and then give it to a cause.

POINT 1: - Decide

So there are three points I want to pick up on today the first is that the people had to decide what to give.

Verse 7 says ‘Each man should give what he has decided in his heart’.

Now I guess if you read that on the surface its saying we get to decide what we want to give and give it, but if we go deeper than that I actually see it like this:

We can decide what to give, and if God is in our heart he will be in that decision also, this making our giving the idea of the God given goal that would have been talked about last week.

How do we know if what we are giving is the amount from God? The God Given Goal?

There are a few ways you can know for sure that God is speaking to your heart. First you may have niggly thoughts that line up each time about a certain topic. These niggly thoughts may come to you at the most random time, maybe even at 3 o cock in the morning when you feel like sleeping, God may be speaking to you, and maybe it’s time to listen.

Along with those niggly thoughts, you may also find that when you read your bible, scriptures will pop out to you that go with what you had been thinking and feeling or it may even say the words to the exact same words God told you. You may have people come to you and say something to you that goes along with all that as well.

I remember when we started thinking about college, there was no way it was our own thinking because I never in my life would have chosen to become an officer by myself. God was prompting us, and what started setting it in stone for us was that Logan and I would be apart all day, then when he came home we would talk about things and he would often have been thinking the same thing I had been. We had scriptures pop out that lined up, we had people say things that lined up. There was no way we could deny that God was speaking to us, and very clearly.

Another way of knowing is that you may feel an overwhelming sense of peace that doing something is absolutely God’s will.

When you have an overwhelming sense of peace it feels like whatever battle comes your way about the situation you still feel God with you. You know that whatever happens God is with you, and walking with you.

Deciding in our hearts what to give means that it will between us and God. It means that we don’t have to justify to anyone else but God as to why we are giving that amount. We also don’t need to compare with each other how much we are giving because that is between us and God in our own heart. Some of us may even do it as couple rather than singularly and that is ok too. But that is still between you and God.

 POINT 2: - CHEERFULLY

Verse 7 continues on to say ‘not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

God promises to bless us when we give, but if that is our only motive then there is no point.

In the book of Mark the story of the poor widower comes to mind. This little old lady turning up to church with her last 2 cents, around her people are throwing their coins and paper money into the box because they feel like they have to. They are giving their money because they can and they are doing it so everyone can see them. It makes them feel good to be seen giving loads of money without ever really thinking about it or why they are giving it. Then steps forward this lady and gently puts her last two cents into the box.

Jesus sees her do this and says to his disciples “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.”

She put her full trust in God that He would meet all her needs for her. That is cheerful giving. She is doing it because she wants to. She didn’t have to but she did.

Which brings me to the next point FAITH.

 POINT 3: - FAITH

We are living in a world today where there is extreme poverty and we even see it in our own neighbourhood. I absolutely do not believe God wants us to go into debt when we give but I do believe that when we give we will be repaid and it says so right in verse 8! God’s grace will give us everything we need.

When we give in faith, just as the widow did God’s grace falls upon us and he will bless us. (Please whatever you do, don’t think that just because God will repay it back we can give, that also is not cheerful giving, that is doing it because we want back what we gave and more – that is a selfish reason.)

There have been many times in the past when we have been low in money for whatever reason. Sometimes it is because we have had big things happen where we have had no control and sometimes it has been because of poor decisions  There have been times when we have felt to give our last $10 to someone, but you know what – EVERY SINGLE TIME we have been in a situation where it looked like we might go without food for some time until the next pay day, God has been gracious and faithful to us and has provided for us in that moment. Whether it has been someone inviting us over for dinner, or a secret squirrel posting a shopping voucher in the mail and it arriving on that exact day we have needed it.  The last time I was extremely worried and learned through God’s grace that he was never going to let us down was when we were at college. There was one week where we needed money for petrol so we could get to Woodville to preach and lead. That week our Working for Families didn’t go through. I spoke to IRD and I got off the phone and cried and asked Logan ‘what are we going to do?’ He said to me – it will work out. Isaiah had a really good friend and his mum looked after the boys for a couple of days in the holidays and when we went to pick them up on the same day, we knocked on the door and Malachi came to the door with a painting for me. He had painted me a rainbow, and instantly God said to me “It’s going to be ok” I almost cried right there. So as the peace started to surround me my worry broke away and from that moment on I have never worried about money because God will have our back. He has proven it over and over again. And I believe he can do the same for everyone.

So, I have talked a bit about deciding in your heart what to give, Paul encouraged his people to give what they decided in their heart. We can ask God to help us decide on that – that is our God Given Goal. Paul told his people to give cheerfully and not out of reluctance or under compulsion, meaning don’t because you feel like you are being pushed. Remember that God promises to bless us when we give, but if that is our only motive then there is no point. To give cheerfully is between you and God and no one else. Even if it’s the tiniest amount it’s what your heart is saying that matters. And lastly, do it in faith that God will provide your needs at all times and in all things. 

Journal Bible

I am a part of the Studio Calico Forum and a lovely lady by the name of Shanna (Shanna's Blog) posted about 'Art Journaling' in her Journal Bible. And I love the idea!!!!

At the beginning of this year I challenged myself to read my bible more and the only way I was going to be interested in doing that was having the room to write in it. Except I didn't have the room...
My wonderful hubby had bought a journal bible last year and planning on using it as his sermon bible but he never used it. So I asked him very nicely if I could please have it and he said yes. (Aren't I a blessed woman!)

I couldn't leave my cover black, it is boring, so I used some rub on and a few flower stickers to decorate it a bit, but I am not happy with it at the moment, so I am going to work on that part!

I then decided I would use my colour pens to make it look pretty when I write in it and have read a good amount.

Now that I have come across Shanna's post I am even more excited to read it and decorate it!

An example of the ESV Journal Bible. It has a great wide margin.

I journal with a lot of words and not a lot of pictures but after reading Shanna's blog post I am going to challenge myself to draw pictures a bit more. 

I can't draw very well, but I love doodle drawing and I can see that working in my bible. 

The other thing I never though of and picked up from Shanna's blog was to add tags and stickers etc. In the two pictures you can see a couple of tags. I used a couple of left over pieces of paper and added double sided tape to attach them. The light colored ones will have titles and reminders on them and the brighter ones that can't be written on will be there to make it look even more pretty but aren't necessarily the most important thing at the time. :-)

This is the inside of the front cover. The word 'FREEDOM' stands out because that is the word God gave me for 2014. Underneath are some significant scriptures that stand out to me and a few of them are from an old bible and they were significant at a time in my life and then when I read them they spoke to me again! God is good!

Underneath the attached PL Card I have added this quote - I found this in an old journal I had written while  I was at the training college to become a Salvation Army Officer. It was a difficult time for us and I watched the movie 'Facing the Giants' and one of the guys said it. 

This will continue to be significant to me because as Officers we will move a lot of places and see a lot of things and in the most hardest times I need to remember my calling and why I am doing what I do. :-)

(The bit under the flowers was a 'routine' I was hoping to get into, but I haven't stuck with it! Typical!! lol)

So, this is only the start of something that could turn out amazing! I am looking forward to looking back on this bible in the years to come!