Where did the money go?

Have you ever said to yourself, "I meant to pay my tithe this month or I wanted to give to help the youth ministry but, where did the money go?" As I briefly touched on in my last post, you should never have to give your last $20.00 to help with God's work! Now that does not mean that you should not give or that God looks the other way if you feel that you have a more pressing need in your life and therefore you don't give back to Him what is rightfully His in your tithe and offerings...What I am saying here is that God should be the first person that you pay when you get your check and therefore you should never have to give your last $20.00 to Him, because you gave your first $20.00 to Him!?!

It all goes back to faith. It takes a step of faith to say, "God, You know I don't have the money for this but it is Yours anyway." It takes trust to give of your need and not of your excess. For instance, consider this passage of scripture from Mark 12:41-44...

"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

She needed the money to live on but she gave it to God! She didn't have ANY money left! Not a penny! Yet she still gave. A wise man said the following, "Where God guides, God provides." Do you believe that?...How you give back to Him will tell the truth...

Cheerful Giver?!?

Have you ever stopped to think about what it means when the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:7 that God loves a cheerful giver? I mean really look at yourself and ask do I give cheerfully? It's easy to kinda shrug off the question and say immediately yeah, of course. But is that the truth?

First ask yourself, what does it mean to be cheerful! Notice it does not say happy, glad, or even content. Those are all emotional responses that constantly change due to the circumstances that we are going through. No it says cheer-ful!?! Maybe I'm picking this apart but are you completely overjoyed by the thought of giving of your time, talents, finances, and self? Are you "full of cheer" at the prospect of giving up your Saturday morning to help out at the church. What about giving your last $20 to help the youth go to camp (that's another problem that we'll be talking about shortly). Now you may be thinking, "No one feels that way all the time, so are we all bad?" No! It is when your mindset changes from seeing your giving as an obligation to seeing it as an opportunity that the transformation begins. I said BEGINS not is complete!

We all have to realize and understand that we are NEVER going to be perfect in any aspect of our lives, and while this is no excuse to stay in a dilapidated condition, it is a call to a deeper and more meaningful acknowledgement of our need to constantly strive for a better you. A more caring, loving, impacting, compelling, and CHEERFUL you...

Knowing Your Enemy...

Many of you are familiar with this expression. Maybe some of you have played sports where you would get a scouting report on the person that you were going to be going up against so that you could study up on that person. You could learn their favorite moves or tendencies so that you could be better equipped to slow them down or stop them entirely. Why don't we do that with the devil?

I have had many people say to me that "I must have done something wrong since my life is in shambles," or "They must not be living right" due to the circumstances that someone may be going through. But I look at those situations completely differently. Maybe you are going through what you are going through because you are doing everything right!?! Think about that for a second...Now realize that every time God opens the windows of heaven to pour out your blessing, Satan opens the gates of hell to try to take that blessing from you. Don't you understand, the devil will do ANYTHING to keep you out of heaven!

He will allow so-called miracles to occur in churches that pose no threat to him. He will allow physical prosperity to come to those whose souls are already his. He will raise up men who he can control to prominence and fame so that all the world will think that the lifestyle that they are living must be the way since they "appear" to be so blessed. WHATEVER IT TAKES! Much like Malcolm X's philosophy, "By any means necessary!"

We as the Church need to develop this same mentality! We need a few men and women who understand that this war that we are in, is not going to be won without sacrifice. That saying "Freedom isn't free!", couldn't be more true. We have go to be willing to give our time, our monetary blessing, and our talents (you wouldn't have it if God didn't want you to use it) to make a difference in the lives of the people around us. If we don't do it now, then when? Know this, hell doesn't give it's workers a day off, breaks, or even a lunch hour to relax. We have to be willing to do our part in this fight to confront this foe head on. Then and only then can we know our enemy...Then and only then can we win people to God!