50 Days of Generosity Devotional Week 3

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1 50 Days of Generosity Devotional Week 3 Sunday May 4 Day 15 Malachi 3:10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. Hopefully you ve noticed by now, that there is a fundamental connection between a person s spiritual life and their attitudes and actions concerning money and possessions. It is one thing to agree with this conceptually. It is an entirely different thing to put this into practice. The prophet Malachi speaks of the ancient practice of tithing. The Bible abounds with examples of tithing. We see generous donations of livestock, precious metals, money, perishable food items and even real-estate. When we refer to tithing now, we usually mean giving 10% of your annual income to your local church. Sometimes people use the word tithing to refer to any amount of money given to the local church or any other Christian cause. In the Bible however, if you want to get very specific, a tithe would only begin at 10% and often the full demands of generosity could involve as much as 20-25% of someone s annual income. Already, in the early church we notice tithing had become an accepted Christian practice. Bishop Augustine of Hippo said: Tithes are required as a matter of debt, and he who has been unwilling to give them has been guilty of robbery. Whosoever, therefore, desires to secure a reward for himself... let him render tithes, and out of the nine parts let him seek to give alms. And Jerome: If anyone shall not do this [pay tithes] he is convicted of defrauding and supplanting God. Although American Christians are reportedly considered quite generous, research shows the average American Christian gives 2.5% of their income. I m curious; do you tithe? Why? Why not? Is this something you talk about with your friends, spouse, or children? This week, I m hoping you will prayerfully consider beginning or continuing this ancient biblical practice. Perhaps you will even be one of the 50 families at APCH who commits to tithing for the first time.

2 Monday May 5 Day 16 Jeremiah 17:7-8 But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. We are on a 50 day adventure together. This is not first and foremost a financial adventure. It is primarily a spiritual adventure. If you are considering giving 10% of your income to APCH, you must first begin to trust God with your finances. If you don t trust God, your commitment to generosity will be short-lived. Bills will pile up, vacations will seem alluring and there will always be something else you will need to invest your money in. Trust is a foundational concept for practicing stewardship. This may be one of the most difficult habits of all to develop. For many of us, it s easier to trust God for our eternal salvation than it is to trust him for our daily living. When it comes to practical things like putting food on our table or making the mortgage payment, we operate as if we are on our own. As a result we often worry and experience anxiety. Fear is the result of our inability to trust God in all aspects of our lives. This actually causes some of us to stockpile assets beyond all reason. Others worry about every possibility of loss, including health issues, layoffs and economic collapse. There s a big difference between constructive planning and destructive worry. There is no reason for us to be bound by fear. We need to put our trust in God and to commit both our faith and our finances to Him. I sincerely hope you will begin to trust Jesus more during these 50 days. Trust him with your life, but also specifically, with all your finances. Trust him by giving generously. Tuesday May 6 Day 17 Matthew 22:21 They said, Caesar s. Then he said to them, Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar s, and to God the things that are God s. Sometimes Jesus can be super blunt. He just tells it like it is. When it comes to money, sometimes this is the wise approach. Be clear. Be direct. You pay taxes because you owe it to the government. You pay a tithe because your money belongs to God.

3 Please allow me to get a bit blunt and very practical. Let s say you get paid twice a month. Automatically your company deposits this money into your account. Sometimes you don t even notice it. When you check your online statement, voila! It is there. Without fail. Now what? Giving your first ten percent means setting aside the first ten of every hundred euros you earn for God s work in and through the church. To discipline yourself, it might even help to arrange an automatic withdrawal from your account to the church s account. Not only does this help the church finance planning process tremendously, but it also reminds you that you can only spend your money one time. It reminds you that you are putting God first. It reminds you that stewardship is a way of life. Giving is the result of understanding what it means to live a life of stewardship. Wednesday May 7 Day 18 2 Kings 12:4 Joash said to the priests, All the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed the money from the assessment of persons and the money that a man s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, What is the Lord prompting you to give? Have you asked the Lord to guide you in your giving? Have you searched the Scriptures to discern His will for your life and for your finances? Are you able to listen to what the Lord is saying about money amidst the noise of what the world around you is saying about money? Making a commitment to start tithing requires a complete change of heart. In fact, it requires a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, convincing us of the reliability of God s promises and the trustworthiness of His character. Open-handed living in a tight fisted world requires a supernatural change of heart. Today, I will pray for you to experience this transformation. Will you pray for me and for others at APCH? Thursday May 8 Day 19 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not

4 reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Some churches are notorious for checking tax statements at the end of the year; Elders and deacons pour over tax statements to ensure complete financial accountability. I don t think anyone at APCH has ever suggested this practice. I hope no one ever will. Paul is clear: giving should not happen under compulsion. While tithing is most certainly a practice and a spiritual discipline, tithing is really a matter of the heart. What do you want to give? What do you want to invest in? What do you want to spend your money on? If you are giving out of guilt, because you feel manipulated, or because you think people will think more highly of you, you are giving for all the wrong reason. No one is making you give anything. If you don t experience a change in attitude towards money, towards kingdom causes and your participation in them, at APCH, no one will force your hand. God loves a hilarious giver, that s what the Scriptures tell us. This means the offering should be the most light-hearted, playful, bright and joyous moment in our worship services. It must never be a fundraising moment, a guilt-trip or a manipulative way to fill the church accounts when they seem to be running low. It should be the moment where we express our deep gratitude and joy in God! We say yes to God and to his promises! We say no to fear, anxiety, worry and stinginess. Friday May 9 Day 20 2 Corinthians 9:9-11 As it is written: They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever. 10. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. When I was a kid, my parents gave me a weekly allowance. I thought the pocket money was there for me to spend on myself. Go figure. I don t know if I was that different from most kids. Sharing does not

5 necessarily come naturally to us. The first words we learn seem to be me, mine, I want, give and I want it first! Pretty quickly, I noticed my parents had a different reason for giving me the allowance. When eagerly receiving the weekly allotment, I was also given some free instructions: set aside 10% of this to give in the offering plate on Sunday, set aside 10% to save, 10% for gifts for others and the rest, spend or invest it wisely. My allowance was a teaching tool. At an early age I was taught to give freely, regularly, sacrificially (or at least that is what it seemed like to me) and in proportion to my income. I am grateful for this early training. I m wondering what you are teaching your children about money. Raising disciples of Jesus includes raising them to become cheerful givers. As Randy Alcorn has said, When it comes to handling possessions in light of eternity, the most important point is this: sometimes our children will fail to listen to us; rarely will they fail to imitate us. Today s kids will need all the help they can get to thrive financially in this world, while fully understanding the connection between faith and finance. Our children and young people are under assault with messages to spend, be greedy and grab immediate gratification wherever. It is important to provide our children with the proper environment to practice the discipline of handling finances, to monitor their activity so that we can maximize teachable moments, to help those set attainable goals, and to offer them encouragement and praise for their effort. Saturday May 10 Day 21 2 Corinthians 9: This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! For many of you Saturday is a day off. Today, perhaps you have some free time. Would you take some time to explore a great resource? Randy Alcorn (among other things, author of the fabulous Treasure Principle ) has a helpful website called Eternal Perspectives. Randy has been teaching Christians to live from the perspective of eternity. He has carefully applied this perspective to finances.

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