Responsible Giving part 1

In preparation for Stewardship Month, I have designed 4 sermons that revolve around the Christian and his/her money.  I have titled this series, “Me and Money.”  Over the next 4 weeks, we will be spending our snack time chewing on what God says in His Word about obedience, responsibility, sacrifice and cheerfulness.
Here’s a little snack:  John 15:7 says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  This text is a river flowing from two directions: first, our action (“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you…”) and secondly, God’s reaction, (…ye shall ask what ye will, and it will be done unto you”).  For every Christian action, there is a much greater reaction from the hand of God.

Be sure not to miss something of great significance in this verse.  Notice the confidence that we have in God’s reaction to our action.  Praise God, we can be confident that God sees our obedience and WILL respond accordingly.  Nothing goes unnoticed by the all-seeing-eye of God.  He sees every abiding and responds with blessed caretaking.

Someone once said that there are two emotional factors that result in our lack of financial giving to the Lord: one is greed and the other is fear.  I truly believe, for most Christians, fear is the greatest hindrance in giving.  We are afraid that either God <span>will not</span> keep His promise of caring for our needs or He simply <span>is not capable</span> of caring for our needs.

Ask yourself this question: “Am I failing to give because I do not believe the promise of God or the capability of God?”  You see, when we first called upon God for salvation we did so on the basis of confidence.  That’s right!  We were confident that God heard our prayer and redeemed us from the punishment of our sin.  Now, may we continue living in that same confidence that God can and will keep His promise to provide for us as we are obedient unto Him.

Another question to ask is this, “Who am I placing my confidence in for my daily bread? Myself or God?”  Friend, your response will determine your level of giving.  If you are struggling in the area of giving, please know that I am praying for you.  You are dear to my heart and I truly care for you. I am excited to see what God is going to do in your life through this series.  I truly believe it will be life changing.  May God bless you as He heals you in this area.