Giving Even When I Don't Have It

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

All week in this blog we have been learning that faith is believing when I don't see it, obeying when I don't understand it and the Bible tells us also that faith is giving even when I don’t have it.     

Giving and faith always go together.  God uses finances to test our faith.  Have you ever had to decide between tithing and paying a bill?  This is a test!  God is saying, "Who are you going to trust?  My promises to take care of you if you put Me first or yourself?" 

In Hebrews 11, this Hall of Fame, the first one who gets listed is a man named Abel.  Abel gets listed not because he did something great.  He didn't.  He had no great accomplishment.  No great achievement to his name.  The only thing he did was he gave an offering.  And God put him in the Hall of Fame.  Why?  It wasn't how much he gave, it wasn't what he gave.  It was how he gave.

Hebrews 11:4 "It was faith that made Abel's offering to God a better sacrifice than Cain's.  Through his faith God approved of his giving."   "Faith", "offering", and "giving" are all connected.  He said it wasn't what he gave that pleased God but how he gave it.  It wasn't the amount, but the attitude.  God doesn't care about the amount.  He worries about the attitude by which you give. 

You need to understand that there are two ways to give.  You can give by faith or you can give by fear.  You can give by reason or you can give by revelation.  One of these ways you don't get any credit for.  The other way pleases God. 

First, I can give by reason.  When I give by reason I look at my bank account and my check stubs and how much I've got and I figure out what can I afford.  And I give a reasonable amount based on what I can afford.  That doesn't require any faith.  An atheist can give by reason.  You don't have to believe in God for that. 

The other way to give is to give by revelation.  Revelation is when you pray, and you ask God and you say, "God, what do You want to give through me?  God, how much do You want me to trust You for this time?"  It's called giving by faith.  That's the kind of giving that God blesses.

This Sunday is the first of three Forward Faith commitment Sundays where we will be collecting our launch offerings and our 36 month pledge cards. We will also be sharing what our church has saved since paying off our existing building 13 months ago. Pastor Brant and myself will be sharing about Abraham, the father of our faith.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle