Give Pt. 1

 

GIVE 

Part 1

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “A Word of Encouragement

for Village Church Planters.”

In the months and years after I gave my life to Christ, I had a hard time

understanding what means to have faith. When I was a young Christian, I

thought that faith was primarily demonstrated when people prayed for a

miracle and God answered their prayer. That, I thought was the most

important sign of faith. I think one reason I didn’t understand faith very well

was that I had a hard time understanding the Book of Hebrews. It is in chapter

11 of that book in which we learn about faith as we hear stories about men and

women who obeyed God. Once I started reading the book of Hebrews, I came

to understand that one of the greatest signs of faith is to obey God, even when

it is hard to obey Him.

This podcast is about Jesus’ command to give. He said, “Do not judge, and you

will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive,

and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure,

pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your

lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

That’s right, Jesus commands us to give. And not only are we supposed to give,

we are supposed to give generously, giving to the Lord ten percent or more of

what we earn. This is not easy. Just like every other point of obedience to

Christ, it takes faith to give. We ask ourselves, “If I give to God, how will I

live, how will I survive, how will I have enough money for food and clothing?

We wonder, “If I teach others to give, how will they survive? They are so

poor.” This kind of reasoning is the reasoning of a person who is not walking by

faith. The Scriptures are clear, “Give and it will be given to you.” When we

give, God gives us more. How do I know this? First of all the Bible teaches us

this truth and I trust the Bible. Secondly, I have known many followers of Jesus

who have testified that when they gave, God continued to meet their needs.

And thirdly, I have given to God for the past 41 years and I am still alive, I still

have clothes to wear and food to eat. God is good.

So here is my message to Village Church Planters today. Give. Give generously.

Give ten percent or more of your earning to God. Give in faith. Once you have

begun giving, teach others to give. Giving to God is a great joy and a great

privilege for those who trust their heavenly Father to meet their needs.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

E2-15

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters #GiveGenerously #Faith