Obedience Not Need - Monday

Greetings Internet Campus,

Malachi 3:10 (CEV) “I am the LORD All-Powerful, and I challenge you to put me to the test. Bring the entire ten percent into the storehouse, so there will be food in my house. Then I will open the windows of heaven and flood you with blessing after blessing.”

Why is generosity so difficult? That's what we're going to be talking about this week as we dig into the teaching from last weekend. Today's thought...

God asks me to give because of obedience NOT need.

How do you evaluate who gets your money? What goes through your mind? When it comes to giving resources at church...how do you decide if you are going to give or not? More than likely it is based on one of these three criteria:

1) How much extra money you have
2) What you are feeling at the time
3) What the church looks like where you are giving it.

I talk with people about giving and they tell me something like this..."You know, I'd give more...but I just don't have it, you know? Besides, all this place does is talk about getting my money...that's like, every sermon topic! I mean, look around....how can they ask me to give money to a place that looks like this? They sure aren't hurting for money..."

The problem with this is that none of these three take into account this verse that we shared from Malachi. Notice what God is saying here... "Bring the entire ten percent into the storehouse" Ten percent. A tithe. We are to bring a set portion of what God has given us so that the local church will be able to finance ministry and reach the world. Giving is an act of obedience to what God has told us to do and not based on our feelings or opinions...

A tough statement, I know...but has to be said. We don't give because we "feel like it" or "the church has a need"...no we give because we are instructed to by God. I know what you might be saying...and... no, I don't know your financial situation...I don't understand what your husband/wife might say if you started tithing. What I do know is that we need to make sure that we understand how to be more obedient to God's direction for our lives.

Question of the day: Do you think people give more to churches with less? Why or why not?

Write it Down: In your journal, list some of the barriers you might be facing in regards to giving to God out of obedience rather than need.

It's going to be a challenging week...Let's grow together!

Pastor Brian