DEVOTIONAL SERIES ON LOVE (part-51)

I LOVE THE LORD BUT HOW CAN I SHOW HIM THAT I DO?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give,
not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
(2 Corinthians 9:7)

MEDITATION:
Who do you think was the greatest giver of all time? It would have to be
Jesus Christ, wouldn’t you agree? He gave His life for everyone in the
world during the time He walked the earth in human form, and He also
gave His life for everyone born in future generations.

When He gave His life, He opened the door for everyone to spend an eternity
in paradise. But the question is, why did He do that? He did it because it was
part of God’s plan, because He loved the Father, and because He loved us as
God’s creations.

His sacrifice taught us how to love others, including ones who don’t love us.
Jesus taught us the joy of doing things for others. He taught us the value and
importance of showing appreciation. When we have His Spirit alive within
us, we will want to freely give, and give without keeping a ledger to determine
if we have received in proportion to what we have given.

When His Spirit is living in us, we look past the worldly pleasures and
focus on the rewards we will receive when we enter heaven to be with
the Lord. His Spirit teaches us how to let the Lord transform us now,
so that when we enter heaven, there will be minimal changes required
in us. The Holy Spirit also shows us how to experience heaven while we
are still living on earth.

Even though He doesn’t demand it, we owe an incredible amount to
the Lord for what He did for us. We probably can’t even fathom the
magnitude of what His sacrifice means to us. And all He asks is that
we show our appreciation for Him by returning a portion of what
He has provided for us. It is actually a command and not a request.

When we are obedient, we will have an awareness that we are in
a partnership with God, that we have become participants in His
efforts to offer salvation to everyone in the world (which is available
because of what Jesus did for mankind), and that we are showing our
love for God by doing what pleases Him.

One question we should ask ourselves is,
    “What is our attitude when we obey His command to
      return what belongs to God, rather than robbing Him?”
        Ever since the time of your ancestors you have
        turned away from my decrees and have not kept
        them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says
        the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to
        return?’ “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you
        rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
        “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse,
        your whole nation—because you are robbing me.
        (Malachi 3:7-9)

Do we give liberally and cheerfully (as the scriptures tell us), or do
we give sparingly, grudgingly, or not at all? When we give, are we
thinking to ourselves,
        “I could have used this money for (fill in the blank)”
    or,
        are we glad that we are obeying God by giving
        to His ongoing ministry of reaching the lost?

The greatest blessing of giving is not on the financial side of the ledger
but on the spiritual side. The pleasure of giving is not in what we can
get, but in knowing what God can do with our gifts. If we give God the
leftovers of our substance and our life, we will miss the true joy and
blessings available to those who obey all His commands.
    Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may
    be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty,
    “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and
    pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough
    to store it.
    (Malachi 3:10)

    “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours
    will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
    (Malachi 3:12)

We can rationalize and find reason to justify ignoring the Lord’s
command to return what belongs to Him, but look at these words
from Jesus (which are simple and direct):
    “If you love me, keep my commands.”
    (John 14:15)

ACTION:
Questions to ask ourselves:
    – Am I obeying the Lord by returning the ten percent
      He asks of His followers, or have I allowed the attractions
      of the world to steal what belongs to Him?
    – If I am not obedient, then why should I ever
      expect to receive all the blessings He has for me?
          As we have seen in the scriptures, He really does have
          additional blessings for those who have proven that He
          is number one on their priority list.

Some say that ten percent is such a large amount that they just
cannot give Him that much (even though he gave His life for them,
and He asks for that amount). Perhaps if their income was reduced
considerably, then ten percent would be a smaller amount and they
would then be obedient to Him.

Satan wants us to focus on the ten percent and believe that we are
losing something. But God wants us to focus on the ninety percent
we are allowed to keep and enjoy, when we are lovingly obedient
to His commands.

We must never forget that we have all that we have, because it
was given to us by God. If we have special abilities or talents to
be successful, we received them from God.
    He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up
    for us all—how will he not also, along with him,
    graciously give us all things?
    (Romans 8:32)

    For who makes you different from anyone else? What
    do you have that you did not receive? And if you did
    receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
    (1 Corinthians 4:7)

The spiritual gifts we have for serving God were given to us by God.
Satan wants us to take the credit which belongs to God.
    For instance, if someone is an effective minister who is encouraging
    many people to receive God’s salvation, it is a gift from God. It can
    be a direct gift as God fills their mind with the messages to share. Or,
    it can be an indirect gift where God has given them the ability to prepare
    the messages they share. In either case, it is from God and He deserves all
    the credit and praise.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, You have given me so much! Forgive
me if I have not shown You my appreciation by returning
to You all that You have asked of me. Forgive me if my gifts
to You consist of leftovers when Your gift to me was the most
valuable gift You could give – Your life. Teach me to ignore
the attractions of this world so I will be able to cheerfully give
to You; not out of obligation, but cheerfully from a heart of
love and appreciation for You and all You have done (and are
doing) for me. I know that obedience to You in one area will
encourage me to be obedient in all areas, which will increase
my personal relationship and fellowship with You. Help me to
reject Satan’s attempts to discourage me from obeying You.”

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