Offerings and Caring for the Poor

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Ministry Lesson 2 of 12 meeting 1a - Giving

Ministry – Offerings and caring for the Poor.

Having sojourned along the ministry path of Thanksgiving and Justice we now begin building the Ministry of Offerings to the Lord and Caring for the Poor and Needy in the disciple.

We’re growing the disciple in two ways here, expressing love to the Lord and love towards one another. Like two wings on a plane, both must work or we fly in circles rather than grow in Ministry.

The goal is to love the Lord and others just like Jesus and the Apostles did. The plan is as follows.

* Note - each new posting builds upon the prior ones so to understand this posting FULLY you'll need to start from the first posting in March 2009 and read and study each one in chronological order.

“Ministry to the Lord” must come from a heart filled with love for God and the outward manifestation of that love includes our giving or offerings to the Lord. Jesus made this very clear:

Matthew 6:21 “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Luke 16:13 “" No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth."

The choice for the disciple is not between the Devil and God but rather between Wealth and God. It is understanding which one has gripped our heart, which one is our treasured possession - Money or God, earthly things or heavenly things, to please ourselves or to please God.

Colossians 1:10 “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

It is true that the more earthly wealth and possessions we have the more our heart is attracted to and anchored to this earth, to the things of the world such as our degrees, careers, titles, positions, fashions, fads, cars, homes. gadgets, sports etc. As all these earthly things become more and more important to us, our love for the Lord grows lukewarm and then cold.

Hebrews 13:5 “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, " I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,"

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”


Revelation 3:16 “'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17'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,”

Luke 8:14 “"The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

How does the disciple know if he/she has some measure of love for money and thus lukewarm-ness to the Lord? Most of the time they don’t know so we must help them see it.

One sign is a lack of satisfaction and contentment which leads to a pursuit of worldly wealth:

Ecclesiastes 5:10 “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.”

1 Timothy 6:9 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.”

Luke 12:15 “Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."

The opposite is like two sides of a piece of paper where on one side is a short list of ones earthly possessions, not poverty mind you but not overly abundant accumulations either. On the other side is a long list of reported giving to the Lord, sharing with others and an abundant generosity. Jesus and the Apostles denied themselves, lived having only their needs met and were not consumed with money and possessions and gave all they had to others, sharing all things. To be a disciple means follow them as an example and that takes time to grow in.

Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

1 Corinthians 7:31 “those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.”

Luke 9:25 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

We are helping the young disciple to recognize his/her own condition of having some measure of the love of money in his/her heart, repenting of it and then growing in loving God.

How many possessions of this world did Jesus and the Apostles have?
Did they have a luxury car – the latest greatest luxury chariot of the day?
Did they have an inexpensive cart they rode in?
Or did they walk like the common non-wealthy people did at that time?

How would they have lived in the modern world of today knowing the principles they lived by?
Did they have the latest gadget, largest house of the day?
Did they have the fashionable jewelry, clothes, hair styles, tattoos as the world did?
Did they have a closest full of clothes and sandals like the wealthy or did they have what the common people had?
Did they take vacations at the luxury resorts of the day or like the common people did?
Did they eat the finest of food as the wealthy did or was their diet the common man’s diet?
Did they have a house and garage and storage shed full of stuff they didn’t need or use?
Did they have the most expensive rugs, finest beds and furniture etc?
Were they poor and needy, or rich, or neither?
Were they always concerned about making more money or giving more money?
Did they seek & find opportunities to help themselves or to help others?
There are many ways to examine the lives of Jesus and the Apostles regarding these things and from them find our example to follow in this matter.

1 John 2:6 “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”

1 Thessalonians 4:1 “ Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.” NIV

Colossians 1:10 “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

We should be growing in having more treasure in heaven and less possessions on earth.

Other forms of loving money are selfishness, buying more and more things for oneself, being rich towards oneself, stinginess toward God and others, a reluctant giver, giving to impress others instead of because one loves God, stealing, taking advantage of others etc..

For example some verses:

2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Acts 5:3 “But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4"While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."

Matthew 6:3 “"But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Luke 12:18 “"Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."' 20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' 21"So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

We also must avoid a common practice in our day of giving to God from a greedy heart instead of from a loving heart. This is often seen when people give expecting God to give them more money back as if it were an investment in the stock market rather than a love offering to the Lord. Giving to get is not love, its selfish greed. The greedy will find a verse like Malachi 3:10 to comfort themselves and their greedy hearts.

All ministry, including giving to God and the poor, must be from love. Jesus connected the two – service and love -- as did the Apostles:

John 21:16 “He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, " Shepherd My sheep."

1 Corinthians 13:3 “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing"

1 John 3:17 “But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

Hebrews 10:24 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,

1 John 2:15 “ Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

Luke 16:13 “" No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth."

Pray with the young disciple asking the Lord to increase his/her love for God and increase their treasure in heaven and radically part with loving money and the world.

Encourage the disciple to judge himself and see if He/She is manifesting love for God and growing in becoming more generous and more joyful in giving.

Help the disciple develop a plan to grow in giving.

2 Corinthians 8:7 “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us —see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” NIV

The disciple should settle the starting % amount giving/offering between him/her and the Lord rather than follow a starting point of 10% tithe and the reason is that the Lord is more concerned about the heart of the giver than the gift and the giver must give JOYFULLY, not grudgingly, FREELY, not under compulsion either by a LAW of Tithe or by an appeal such as a picture of a poor child somewhere.

2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Whatever % the Lord and the disciple agree on, start there and every year add more %. For example year one give 5% of total earnings to the Lord, year two give 7%, year three give 12%, year four give 15% etc. This simple plan will help the disciple maintain a growth in loving the Lord and denying self. At some point they will reach giving 51% to the Lord and living a sacrificial and blessed life on the remaining 49% of total earnings.

Acts 20:35 “"In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

May the Lord anoint you to make disciples who love the Lord with all their heart!

Disciple Maker

P.S. Subsequent meetings on this Ministry topic will cover growing in self denial and compassion, growing in living on less and needing less, growing in giving to the poor and needy. Sharing all things with the brethren. Discernment and Wisdom in giving. Overcoming Cathedral building and the spirit of Babylon in our hearts. Being led by the Spirit in deciding where to Give. Overcoming insecurities, confiscations, robberies, losses of earthly things. Overcoming wrong motives in giving, Overcoming neglecting the kingdom and missions in giving, etc.

Original post here: http://disciplemakerforjesus.blogspot.com/