Life Capsule for Today Date: 3rd October 2024
Theme: Financial Prosperity and Stewardship (5)
Text: Deut 8:18
18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.KJV
Topic: Financial prosperity and giving
Memory Verse-Ps 24:1
The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.KJV
Words of the Ministry
Today we come to the matter of giving while considering the theme financial prosperity and stewardship. The subject of giving is severally emphasized in most churches and to some extent overemphasized to such a point that many believers see it as a fraudulent scheme to rip them off. Every truth in the bible when taught in isolation and overemphasized end up being misunderstood and could even lead to heresy. The bible encourages believers to give as it also affects our receiving, in a way it shows our appreciation to God and our stewardship.
Today I would be commenting on the need to give according to knowledge, give according to the leading of the Holy spirit and biblical stewardship. In Matthew 6, the Lord Jesus taught on giving, prayers and fasting, to the three he said when you do it, it should be done in secret and God would reward you openly. The passage makes us to understand that we need to be givers and the giving should not be to show the world but unto the Lord as such giving brings reward. So we can actually see from the passage that God expects us to give to the needy ones, he also gave a parable in Mathew 25.31-46, concerning his return, he said on his return, the nations would be grouped as sheeps and goats, the sheep would receive an eternal reward while the goats would suffer eternal punishment, the reason for the difference would be how they treated the saints, again we see the Lord stating that any giving we do especially to the saints is unto him. Paul taught the Church at Corinth that they should keep aside a portion of their wealth to send to the Church at Jerusalem (1 Cor 16.1-4), other examples include Act 4.32-35, Pil 4.14-19, 1 Cor 9.1-12. We can again see the act of giving as being practiced, firstly it was a general private giving to the needy and we also saw in Mathew 25, giving to the saints privately as individuals were led and the last example we saw the Church giving corporately. We can therefore say giving is an act approved by God.
Now that we have seen it’s a new testament practice to give, I like to address some issues concerning giving, the bible teaches that whatever we sow we reap, the act of kindness as sown in Mat 25, lead to the righteous inheriting eternal life not necessarily more money, the widow that gave the widow’s might that Christ himself commended saying she gave the most (Mrk 12.41-44) was never said to have become a millionaire afterwards. In Acts 4, the disciples gave all they had and many still had needs, infact the Church at Corinth and Galatia had to send them relief. The point am trying to make is that the Lord rewards our giving (Matt 6.1-4) but we must do away with the covetous idea that God doubles money. God is not into the business of money doubling, we give to the Lord because he owns us and owns the money, we give to him because we love him and love the saints, we give to show we have conquered mammon, we give to obey the commandment of giving, we give because we are led to give by the Holy Spirit. Should the Lord decide to give us more because we are faithful stewards, its left to him but we must never have the idea that I am giving to get more money. The Lord said we should lay our treasures in heaven through the act of giving (Mat 6.19, 19.21), by so doing we receive a reward, firstly a reward of righteousness and as God pleases financial provision. It is another gospel to teach, if you sow money you would reap tenfold.
We need to understand our giving is an act of kindness, an act of love, stewardship, worship, faithfulness and obedience, this virtue earns us a reward not limited to money. Many times when the Lord leads us to give and its followed by receiving, it could be because the Lord is teaching us obedience, absolute dependence and surrender, love or he is trying to correct us from being stingy and mammon consciousness, our natural frame determines how the Lord relates with us using our object of love and weakness. That deals more with our organic salvation, I would comment more on that in the next lesson but in conclusion I like to say that if you want to live a financially stable life, you must also learn to give. God hates idolatry, when a man lives his life depending on his account balance, it may hinder God’s provision as it has become an idol. Luke 12:15 “Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” NIV.
Bible in One Year: Mathew 7-9
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