what to do to be financially free…

how do we use the influence that money has?  well we do that by giving money generously. 

proverbs 11.24-25 (msg), the world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. the one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.

this principle is taught over and over again in scripture.  give and it will be given unto you.  just like seeds, the more we sow the more we reap.  there are more promises in the bible related to giving than any other subject.   it’s incredible what GOD promises when we learn to give.  HE wants us to learn to be givers because GOD is a giver. 

if we are going to learn to become like GOD we’ve got to learn to be giving people.  no matter how wealthy i’ve become, i’m not financially free until i’ve learned to give.  in order to live abundantly, i’ve got to give abundantly. 

just a thought from the front porch…

a radical idea…

work allows me to be generous. ephesians 4.28 (nlt), begin using your hands for honest work and then give generously to others in need. now that is a radical idea.

many of you are possibly planning early retirement. have you ever considered that GOD might have you keep on working after you've made it, just so you could give that money away, to keep working simply so you could have more to give away.

you see, if you don't have any money then you don't have any way to give. no resources, no generosity.

GOD says, i want you to be generous with your resources. work allows me to be generous.

my work is also an example to others. it demonstrates what you believe. it's a testimony, it's a witness.

1 thessalonians 4.11 in the today’s english version, make it your aim to live a quiet life, to mind your own business, and earn your own living...in this way you will win the respect of those who are not believers.

it's an example to unbelievers. it's a testimony. actions speak louder than words. GOD wants audio-visual CHRISTians.

maybe the people at your work would become CHRISTians sooner if you would quit being so vocal about it and just live the life. and then they say, what's up. to be different to make a difference. what's different?

think about joseph in the bible or daniel who by their very integrity, people wanted to know their GOD.

there is this guy named gene wore who lives in oklahoma who one day had a carpenter working on his house and gene was so impressed by his conscientiousness in his carpentry and his hard work that he said, what gives, what is it with you? and he found that this carpenter was also a lay pastor, and he said if that is the way you work then i want to know what you believe. and he ended up by going to his bible study and gene wore became a CHRISTian.

it was the quality of his work that made the difference. it was the quality of the man's effort that caught his attention.

just a thought from the front porch…

GOD is a giving GOD…

GOD is a giving GOD. the world is a gift. everything you have is a gift from GOD. if GOD were not a giver, you would not even be here. neither would i. when we give we are most like GOD. we need to learn to give. the more i give, the more i'm like GOD. GOD is a giving GOD. romans 8 tells us what HE's done for us and what HE's made possible. none of us could repay these kind of things.

one pastor told of when he was a freshman in college. he had never really given by faith before. he had two big bills and it was getting to the end of the semester. he had a $500 bill he owed the college and a $10 bill he owed a friend and he had $50 in the bank. no savings, just a checking account. he said he was reading in luke 6.38 (niv), give and it will be given unto you pressed down full measure. for the measure you use it will be given back to you, and other verses that say you cannot out give GOD.

he then claimed those verses and then went down wrote a check for $50 and closing out his bank account and he sent that money – he said i'm going to give this money away, seek ye first the kingdom of GOD and HIS righteousness and all of these other things will be added unto you. matthew 6.33 (kjv) – so he sent this $50 to the american bible society in new york. why he picked them he had no idea. he just thought it was a real spiritual organization. so he wrote a check for all he had – the $50 and he wrote a little note that said, “use this the way you can. please pray for me because i'm giving to meet other people's needs and in return i'm believing (as the scripture says) that GOD will meet my own needs.”

about a week and a half later, he got invited to speak in a church in the la area. he was there for three nights and he spoke to the youth. at the end, the pastor stood up and said, “we want to take up a love offering for this poor college student.” he hadn't told them what his needs were. he sat there, not knowing what was going to happen and they took up an offering. the offering was $565. that meant he took $500 and paid off the college, $10 and paid off his friend. that left $55 for tithe. exactly what he needed.

he said, “do you think that made a believer about giving of me? that was the very first experience in my life where i learned to give where i didn't have it to give.”

listen i have seen that happen over and over in my life. it's thrilling to see it. i could give you example after example that has proven the fact that when you have a need, you plant a seed. GOD's ways are not our ways. we think the way to get is to grab. GOD says the way to get is to give. that's what trust is all about.

GOD will give us a life without limitation.

just a thought from the front porch…

giving and loving…

if i don’t live a life of love, nothing i give will matter.

1 corinthians 13:3a (nlt), if i gave everything i have to the poor and even sacrificed my body [in other words, i became a martyr – sacrificial giving], but i didn’t love others, i would be of no value whatsoever. can you be in a relationship and give for selfish motives? absolutely, you can. giving is not necessarily always loving.

some people give just in order to get back. that’s not love. i'm going to give to you because i know you’re going to give back to me. that's not love. that’s selfishness. i know what will get you to do something for me, so i’ll do this for you. that’s selfishness.

some people give out of guilt, to try to ease a guilty conscious so they give and give and give trying to make up for something they did in the past.

some people give to control other people. parents do this all the time – the way they give to their kids in order to try to control them.

some people give for prestige, for glory, for honor. they want a little plaque that says, “look! i'm a great giver!” that’s not love.

you can give for a lot of wrong motives, and the bible says if i'm not doing this in love, none of my giving counts. and nothing i give will matter.

a guy said one time, “i don't understand. i’ve bought my wife everything she could ever want, and she's leaving me.” the pastor he was talking to said, “but did you love her?” you can’t buy a wife, just like you can’t buy your kids. a lot of parents try to compensate for the lack of time they spend with their kids by buying them lots of things. they don’t need things. they need your time. they need your love. “i’ve bought my kids all these things, but they still reject me.” maybe you didn’t love them. maybe they didn’t sense that in the way that they needed.

just a thought from the front porch…