Helping God [part 1 of 2] ...

There are many stories in the Bible about what happens when we (man that is) decide God needs some help in fulfilling His plans, and we set about to do so.  Just because these stories are captured and printed in the Bible does NOT mean that each episode was designed as an object lesson for us to follow; rather, they are presented to show us what problems we bring about when we do this.  At the outset of any such example story, our intentions are good, our plans are solid, they make “common sense”, and they would appear to have achieved the goals God had in mind.  All of this sounds true.  But what it leaves out, is a dependent faith upon God alone to do what He has promised.  We begin to “steal” some of the responsibility from God and lay the burden upon our own shoulders, hoping to share the accomplishment of fulfilling what indeed was only supposed to be what God alone can really do.  And because we are human, we insert our humanity, our ideas, our practicality into what was supposed to be divine, beyond our abilities to accomplish (indeed beyond the capabilities of any man) – and what results is far from the plans of God, and deep into the messes we are capable of making – all of it done, in the name of God.

Now there are many things that God has asked for our help in doing.  Things like loving each other, forgiving each other, showing mercy and compassion.  The basics.  In doing these things we are not trying to “accomplish” something, rather only trying to see in ourselves, how much we need God to truly accomplish even the basics; and trying to benefit others by reflecting His love.  What I am referring to however is far beyond the basics, but promises that need a divine intervention.  When we try to help God get those done, by doing some of the work ourselves, problems ensue, and messes follow.  Take for consideration an early example committed by the “father of the Jewish faith”, namely Abraham.  Despite him seeming to singularly be seeking the true God in his time (he wasn’t, the priest Melchisidek proves that).  Abraham was promised a son, and from that son, a nation, kings, and the salvation of the earth.  But Abraham was getting old, very old.  His wife along with him.  So Sarah decides to “help” God, by handing Abraham her servant to impregnate and fulfill God’s promise.  Abraham agrees with this plan, and executes it, Ishmael is born.  But Ishmael was NOT the promise, he was the result of our mistake of thinking “we” could do what God alone could do.

Despite our mistake, it was no fault of Ishmael, and God loves Ishmael and blessed him, and his lineage survives to this day (fairly numerous themselves).  But the animosity between Ishmael and Isaac also lasts to this day (and it is unlikely we may ever see peace in the middle east because of it).  Abraham makes yet another mistake in Egypt when he lies to Pharaoh to keep Pharoah from committing murder to steal his wife.  If God had not intervened, Abraham would have lost his wife anyway.  Just because Abraham was known as the father of the Jewish faith, does not make him perfect.  And when he broke trust with God, and tried to help God himself, instead of trusting to the promise of God, that required divine intervention, things went wrong, with lasting effects wrong.  These early stories are not told for us to emulate, they are told for us to learn from and avoid repeating.  But we seem bent on ignoring the lessons of broken trust and getting out of them, what only our selfishness could derive.  In Abraham’s case for example, we justify multiple marriages (as if that is what God had in mind).  We say that because God loved Ishmael and his mother, it must be OK with God that this happened (in effect blessing the idea of multiple marriages).  It was not.  It was human weakness that did this, not the plan of God.  But it is man’s selfishness that derives only this “justification” from what should have been a cautionary story.

Fast forward to the time of Christ.  Matthew in his gospel to his contemporaries focuses hard on identifying the traitor Judas, and describing his crimes in great detail.  From reading his gospel one could easily get a sense that Matthew was not too fond of any betrayer and not very interested in “why” Judas would do this great evil, only that he did.  But motives matter.  Consider for a moment how this may have been a case of “man” trying to help God do what man believed God was supposed to do and had promised to do.  Everyone in these days believed the Messiah would come to throw off Roman oppression and build a kingdom that would never end.  The disciples believed this too, no matter how many times Jesus said otherwise.  Matthew believed it, as did Judas, and Peter.  But Jesus despite clearly being the Messiah, was failing to accomplish what God had promised He would do (according to their interpretation of scripture at the time).  Jesus had too much love in Him.  Now sometimes, only when faced with the emminent threat of death, do we do what needs to be done to survive.  Judas may have been sure that if Jesus were actually faced with death, He would rise up, and become the king and conqueror each of the disciples believed Him to be.  But they were all wrong.  Wrong about their interpretation of timing, and of scripture, and of the real role of the Messiah, which was far greater than their limited interpretations would have allowed.

When faced with death, Jesus would choose to die.  His divinity would lay down its power in order that His sacrifice would save us all.  It is the basis of our salvation, that Jesus would herein take on our punishment for us.  But even though the reward was great, the cost was great as well.  Matthew picks up the story in chapter 26 beginning in verse 36 saying … “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. [verse 37] And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. [verse 38] Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.”  Jesus knows what is coming.  But He is not happy happy joy joy, skipping down the merry road – instead He is as sad as He has ever gotten.  It is not so much the death that bothers Him.  It is the absolute dread of being separated from His Father.  He has never known that.  He is not sure He will be able to come back from that.  He may forever be marred by the stain of our sins, and unable to ever again enter in the Father’s love.  That eternal separation would be beyond words of sadness to describe.  And Jesus fears that fate more than any other, for separation from the love of God, is the literal definition of “hell”.

So to help Him in His greatest time of need He takes a few of His disciples further into the garden, and asks for prayer.  Matthew continues in verse 39 saying … “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”  Nevertheless “Not” as “I will”.  The will of Jesus was to avoid the risk of eternal separation from the Love of His Father.  That love was all He had ever known.  And Jesus did NOT want to risk ever losing it.  Even our salvation did not change the mind of Christ on this matter.  But Jesus did what we all fail to do, when our needs would turn us to a different path – He submitted His own will, to the will of the Father, trusting in God to know better than Himself.  It is here where the story of Abraham is undone.  It is here where the countless other stories in the Bible find a different ending.  Jesus does, what mankind has steadfastly refused to do – to submit Himself, and His will, to the will of the Father.  And it is in this example, how our salvation is truly born.  And in no other.  Jesus does not want to do this thing, but He trusts God to know how to proceed, according to the will of the Father.

And now shift your focus from a Jesus unwilling to proceed if left up to Him, to the heart of His Father instead.  Here Jesus presents the Father with an opportunity to call the whole thing off.  The Father must also risk eternal separation with His only Son for this plan of man’s salvation to work.  And let’s face it, we have given the Father no particular reason to “want” to save us, outside of His own inherent love for us, a mystery none of us truly understand.  If anything, we have been very bad children.  We constantly deny Him.  Spit in His face.  Tell Him He is to blame for every bad thing that ever happens to us, never taking any responsibility ourselves, or putting Satan on trial.  Nope, it is all an “act of God”.  We must be filled with poo and its stench to the top of our skies.  Jesus on the other hand is perfect, and is built of perfect love.  Jesus is His only Son, who has never done a single thing wrong ever.  It is Jesus in whom He is well pleased and very proud.  And it is this perfect Son, that God the Father must risk eternal separation from in order that we poo-poo people can be reconciled.  Those odds are a no-brainer, at least for any of us.  But God the Father must, in spite of the desires of His own Son to perhaps call this whole thing off, must continue on course – not for Jesus – but for us.  What kind of love is that?  That God the Father must push forward, when even His own Son does not have that will to move on.  How hard must this have been on God the Father, and yet He does what must be done, to see us redeemed from our poo.

Jesus needs strength and encouragement, just knowing His disciples (an example of who would be saved) would be praying for Him, might comfort Him.  But Matthew continues in verse 40 saying … “And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? [verse 41] Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Instead of mankind actually helping God when He needed it the most, we went to sleep.  Then and now.  Jesus asked for just an hour of prayer from Peter if no one else, but that hour had already passed in sleep.  Notice Jesus asks that we pray to “enter not into temptation”.  It was a temptation to avoid the risk of losing the Love of God the Father forever.  The plan for man’s redemption could not be seen past these moments.  Jesus could call it quits right here and no one would blame Him.  He might have retured to heaven, and allow us to take on our own punishments.  He could have wiped out Satan, his angels, and mankind forever – and declared evil had met its just fate.  This was the temptation Jesus wanted to avoid even thinking about.  But when we might have helped offer Jesus comfort, we preferred to sleep instead.

Matthew continues in verse 42 saying … “He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. [verse 43] And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.”  Jesus again submits Himself, and His own will to the greater will of His Father.  If it is possible to tempt God the Father, it is being done right here.  And yet no answer of comfort comes from God the Father to His only Son.  His Son must choose to submit His own will in darkness, in solitude, without assurance – the risk is real, and the outcome can only be had if both God the Father and His only Son are willing to risk it.  Mankind sleeps on, unable to comfort when comfort was needed most.  This is now the second time Jesus has asked for a way out, but ONLY if that is the will of His Father.  His Father provides no verbal response, but I am certain tears must be flowing from the throne in heaven, where no creation has ever witnessed the Father weep as He must be doing now.  The universe is witnessing the heart of God the Father break as it has never done, and in spite of His own pain, He pushes forward for the sake of us – we will never be worth the pain we caused on this day, except in the eyes of our God.  The universe sees now what love means, and how far it would go to redeem that which is lost.  It would break the heart of God, yet He would push on.  Satans arguments fall into dust, never to arise again in all of the rest of the universe, except earth.

Matthew continues in verse 44 saying … “And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. [verse 45] Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”  In the pinnacle of agony, Jesus asks one final time, if there is another way out of this.  And the silence in response gives Him His answer.  It is not the answer He wants.  But it is the will of His Father.  The tears begin to secede as determination must now harden in its stead.  This time, Jesus needs no further comfort from mankind.  Instead He will let them sleep, for He is certain now in what must come, no matter the risk – love is greater than the risk.  His love, and the love of His father.  They will both risk it all for us.

It is interesting that Jesus proscribes prayer to avoid temptation, and we pray so little, so lightly, and so focused on ourselves.  We pray for things.  We pray for health.  We pray (worst of all) for money.  We trust God so little, that what we truly “need” is already in our lives, or coming when and how it should.  What we miss in our prayers for ourselves, is a prayer to avoid even “temptation”.  A prayer to avoid even being presented with the possibility to sin, or the desire to sin; rather to avoid both as ONLY our God can take from us.  I wonder if our God, can still take comfort when we finally do what He asks of us in this regard.  Or if like in that night in the garden, He still finds His entire church fast asleep.  When Jesus asked His faithful for their help in the form of comfort found only in prayer – we failed Him.  Do we fail Him still?

We could have been part of a positive story of helping God, even if only once, but instead we would demonstrate what the human ideas of helping God truly look like …

 

A Son of Abraham ...

The Messiah must be a Jew.  This was the promise given to Abraham 2000 years before it would be fulfilled.  Abram (the Canaanite) not many years after the flood (Noah was still living), would search for the true God, and would find Him.  He would have his name changed to Abraham.  He would become the father of a nation, in point of fact, of several.  But through the nation of Israel would come the hope of this world, the Messiah.  So the Messiah must be a Jew.  He must trace His bloodline back through David all the way to Abraham.  His lineage must be preserved (or the records of it anyway) through the captivity in Babylon, and the days of slavery in Egypt.  This would require meticulous record keeping.  It would take a forensic accountant to uncover it, to reveal it, to prove it to those who might bring up a question about it.  This is where the skills of a former tax collector for Rome might now come in useful for something far more important.  And so Matthew enters the scene, and he offers a proof to those he will minister to.

In chapter one, verse 1 states … “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”  Matthew begins with what Jews will want to know most; is He one of us?  Is His bloodline pure?  For upstanding Jews to accept Jesus they must insure He was not part of the Samaritan ilk.  Jesus must share no gentile blood, no mix of Egypt, or Babylon.  He must be of pure blood, like themselves.  This was important to Jews.  But why?  The location of the land given to the Jewish people was central to the largest population base after the flood.  Only small numbers of native peoples migrated to the far ends of the world.  The bulk of peoples migrated much nearer and grew up as neighbors with each other.  To reach the most of them, the location of the people of Israel would play a central role.  The entire pick was designed not to seal the gospel or good news of a God who loves mankind, behind the walls of a pure bloodline religion.  It was picked in order to make sure every traveler from every land could know it.  Purity of blood was not supposed to equate with hoarding the good news of God.

But it did.  And in our day, we erect similar walls of purity for our church to hide behind.  Some erect the walls of doctrinal differences, and claim all those on the outside of what we believe, are simply not right with God.  To maintain purity, we must hide behind our walls, never venturing out to touch our brother, lest the purity of our ideas be tarnished.  In our day, some elect the walls of socio-economic status.  We fellowship only with those of like income, like interests, and like health.  We do not wish to be seen with the sick, the imprisoned or guilty, and those who cannot afford the lifestyles we have been blessed to receive.  We like our Jewish forefathers believe that poverty is a sign of God’s displeasure.  So mankind erects barriers for the gospel to hide behind, to keep it pure.

Matthew continues in verse 2 saying … “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;”  This was the holy beginnings of the Jewish people.  Isaac and Jacob are nearly always mentioned in the same breath as Abraham himself.  And Judah would be one of only two tribes who remained pure after the other ten separated past Solomon the son of David’s rule.  The other ten would become Samaritans.  Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; [verse 4] And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; [verse 5] And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;”  From Judah, the generations are tracked through the slavery of Egypt, the Exodus, and the time of the Judges down to David’s father Jesse.  But alas, the bloodline now includes a few women of significantly less pure blood.  The harlot Rachab from the wall of Jericho is listed.  The daughter Ruth a Moabite is also included in the list.  Proof that our God includes those who seek His face, not just those who were supposed to be born to it.  Proof that starting life as a prostitute does mean one must end their life in the same condition.

 Matthew continues in verse 6 saying … “And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; [verse 7] And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; [verse 8] And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; [verse 9] And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; [verse 10] And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; [verse 11] And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:”  Matthew calls out again for us that the wife of Urias is included in the bloodline of Jesus.  Great sin does not end our life, if great redemption is sought.  He carries through the names until the time of the captivity in Babylon is reached.

Matthew continues in verse 12 stating … “And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; [verse 13] And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; [verse 14] And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; [verse 15] And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; [verse 16] And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”  It is here where the fallacy in Jewish logic is revealed.  The bloodline of Joseph is traced and recorded, but Joseph will have no participation in the bloodline of Jesus, only Mary will do that.  Mary too, was from the house of David, and to be perfectly accurate it is her ancestry that should have been tracked.  But Jews will not accept the dominance of a female in the lineage.  So they accept Jesus based on the lineage of Joseph the husband of Mary, the adopted father.

Matthew then notices the symmetry of the numbers recounting the generations in verse 17 saying … “ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”  14 times 3 or 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus.  42 generations to span around 2000 years of our history.  The work of the forensic account was complete.  The purity of the bloodline of Jesus was enumerated, not just to apply a list of names of father to son; but to fulfill the promises made to Abraham, to Ruth, to David, to Solomon.  Many of the generations that precede the birth of Jesus have been promised to participate in it through their descendants.  This is not just a single generation affair, it spans the millennia.  Fulfillment has already begun.

The Messiah must be a Jew.  The Messiah is.  For any who had a question about His lineage, Matthew has singlehandedly put their fears or doubts to rest.  But why?  Does the fact that I descend from someone great make me great?  We would all like to think so.  But the deeds of David belong to David, not to his son, or to me.  The faith of Abraham belongs to Abraham not to me.  I did not offer my firstborn as a sacrifice to our Lord at His command.  I can barely get out of bed to honor the Lord I serve.  Hardly seems like the faith of Abraham in comparison.  But the comparisons hardly end there.  How many of us look back to our church fathers, the founders of our faith, at the great deeds they have done and take some sort of pride in them, as if we participated in those acts as well?  We didn’t. 

The church founders who accomplished so great deeds of faith and study belong to them not me.  Just because I subscribe to the same set of doctrines they discovered does not make me some sort of pioneer.  At best it makes me a plagiarist.  Because I hold similar beliefs does mean I have had to tread the road of faith and personal discovery with Jesus that they did.  My road is my own.  What I do, what I will be remembered for (if I am remembered at all) will be what I have offered to the world.  The purity of my heritage means nothing without an execution of greatness from me as well.  Our Jewish forefathers, who held to the right religion before we did, who held the right scriptures we still read and base our thinking upon; they had an advantage of birthright, but without action decay into history without so much as an afterthought.

We can call ourselves a son or daughter of God because of what Jesus Christ did for us.  But in so referring to ourselves, do we rightly represent the Father we claim lineage to?  Do we too, burn with a passion for loving others?  Not just the easy folks to love, like family, church members, and co-workers (and I understand easy is relative), but to love strangers, and enemies, and people with different political beliefs that horrifically conflict with our own.  Loving others gets tricky sometimes.  Am I willing to give up everything I have for someone I hardly know, or hardly like, or can’t stand?  Jesus did.  Jesus did not think twice about it.  It is not the bloodline that distinguishes the life of Christ, it is what He did with His own while He was here.  It is that He loved people who called themselves His enemies.  He loved the guy who spit in His face.  He loved the guy who put a nail through His hands and feet.  He loved the religious leader who had ALL the doctrine completely wrong and lived like a complete hypocrite.  And He loves me, even with all the crap that makes up my life.  His life is remembered, because when you think of Him, you cannot hardly stop talking about how much He loved.

When we think of ourselves as a son or daughter of God, is the first description of what that means, a passionate way of loving that takes over how we live.  If so, you are destined to be remembered.  It may be the only measurement of a life worth taking.  Matthew had a lot more to say about that …

 

God and Money ...

Organized religion is good at one thing – taking your donations. It does not matter which denomination, which belief system, or even which god is being advertised; open yourself a 501-C3 non-profit and you are off and running. Televangelists seem to be known first and foremost for the lavish presentations and pension for offering collection before any other characteristics. One such minister actually claimed God would kill him if he failed to raise one million dollars for his church. He lived. Since Christ has returned to heaven, why would He ask us to give our money to “His” work, could He not provide the funds Himself? Why does God seem to want our money, or does He?

The Bible states … “the cattle on a thousand hills are Mine” - loosely interpreted this passage shows that God considers Himself the rightful creator and owner of this world’s natural resources, beauty, and wealth. So why would He institute systemic giving of our wealth to His ministries or causes? The practice of tithing is first recorded by Abraham who gave ten percent of his increase to a priest of the Lord named Melchizedek. The minor prophet Malachi seems to reaffirm the practice much later in his days not long before the Messiah arrived. When Christ did arrive, it was common practice for the Pharisees and Sadducees to give even more than ten percent of their income towards tithing. They saw this as a business investment counting on God to return their monies with interest accrued, and they were not generally disappointed – despite their motives.

One could argue that since the tribe of Levi was faithful to God during the Mount Sinai incident, He sanctified this tribe as His priesthood. They would get no inheritance in the land of promise, but instead would receive 10 percent of the increase of all the other eleven tribes as their income. 110% if the math holds. But Levitical rights ceased at Calvary, and since then members of the Church have been the messengers of the gospel. Christ never really setup an organized church leadership, as He reserved this role for Himself. Christ said … “I am the shepherd, and you are my sheep.” Despite Catholic claims to the contrary Christ never set any one apostle above another, nor did the early Christian churches act as if He had. Differences and disputes were resolved in councils, sometimes agreeing to disagree. Religious hierarchies then are a creation of man, developed to organize great numbers of believers and increase the efficiency of our missions, but creations of man none the less.

When Israel left Egypt, they took with them the wealth of Egypt as payment for their slavery. Jewelry, golden statues, and other precious stones went with them into the desert and were maintained by the families there. When God gave directions to Moses on how to build a temporary sanctuary, Moses went to the people to ask for donations. The response was overwhelming. People brought so much gold, linen, and stones, that Moses had to ask the people to stop. When was the last time you saw a congregation give this much? And when was the last time you heard any preacher as you to stop giving, that it is more than enough - two things almost never seen in the modern Christian era. One might argue that this was easy for the Israelites to give up, since the items did not really belong to them anyway. They were ill-gotten profits for back pay. But this would not diminish the willingness of the Israelites who went most of their lives in poverty, to shed the little gold they had in service for the sanctuary of God.

And many generations later, David set about to do the same thing. His plans were more ambitious, and would require more of the people’s wealth. And true to form, the Israelites came through again. So much so, that David, like Moses, had to ask the people to cease giving. It was more than enough. Solomon who actually oversaw the construction of the Temple of God did such excellent work that this building became famous around the world. The Queen of Sheba came to visit it. The King Nebuchadnezzar came to raid it a bit, and then came back to destroy it after yet another unsanctioned rebellion by the Jews. But my question remains, why was Israel so willing to part with the golden wealth they had come by in service to God?

At the birth of Christ, Kings gave valuable treasure to His parents. It was this treasure that allowed Joseph and Mary to flee and live in Egypt while Herod sought to kill Jesus. Kings thought it a good idea to bring the best of what they had to offer, to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Later the early Christian church was organized around a communal philosophy that everyone gave everything into a central pot for distribution to those who had need. This was 100% giving of everything, not the 10% tithing we are familiar with today. And early Christians, like the Israelites who preceded them, willingly gave all they had.

Perhaps the secret to the willingness to part with this world’s wealth is found in proximity to Jesus. The closer one grows to Christ, the less gold holds any value at all other than what it can accomplish as a gift. It would appear the opposite is also true, those who are reluctant to give of themselves, tend to be far less Christ oriented than those who do. But perhaps the greatest secret of all was the one God knew, the real treasure of this world is not in its resources but in its people. His children are His greatest treasure, He values them above all else. Not just above all else in this world, but above all else in the entire Universe. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son ...” Immortal words of promise that define the meaning of love to the Universe. God gave it all. More than enough. Everything of greatest value was given to save His erring, obstinate children. There could have been no higher price to pay for our redemption than the one God our Father gave on our behalf. Gold He uses as cement, but your life was worth the torture and death of His only son to redeem you from evil.

So if people are what God values, then why does He continue to ask for our money, which He is not so crazy about? It has to do with building faith and trust. It makes no sense to give money to God, it is not logical, it is financially irresponsible, it probably does not even get used in the way He would really want it to. There are many reasons NOT to give. There is only one TO give; because He asked us to. Despite the lack of logic, despite the unwise usage of our precious funds, despite the suffering our families put at risk in order to give – we are asked to do just that – give Him back 10% of our increase, and then free will offerings over and above that. No emissary from God has yet emerged with a message saying we have given enough. We have simply not been released from this request. So why you ask?

The first reason is that every time you give, God gives back to you so that your needs are met. You do not go hungry. You do not go without housing, clothing, and the things you need. You may believe that giving God His due will cause you to lose all these things, but His blessings prevent it from happening. Over time as you are continually tested with the facts of financial discipline, and then confronted with the miracles of God’s methods – you build faith. You begin to see that God is faithful to every promise He makes us. He does indeed take care of us. He is indeed, the one responsible for if we eat or not. We begin to learn that He is in control, despite what logic may say and despite what accountants may recommend. God cares for us, His children. Now He does not do this BECAUSE we give. But we are able to see it demonstrated BECAUSE we give. We appreciate a bit more the fact we are eating when we know that we should not be, because we should be out of money by now. We appreciate a bit more knowing that God intervenes with us, because we put it to the financial test of His intervention. Demonstration makes faith a reality, not just a concept.

The second reason we are asked to give, is the change that occurs within us when we do. We begin to share God’s secret that the only real wealth in this world, are its people. Giving a dollar to a homeless man despite how he may use it, teaches you charity without judgment. Before long, you begin to realize the pain of the homeless man more acutely and begin to want to do more for him. That is the awakening of Christ within you. It is not natural to sacrifice your own wants, needs, and security to meet the needs of others; especially when they do not seem “deserving” of your help. Yet this is precisely what our Savior does for each of us, and we are ALL undeserving. Giving to meet needs can become an all-consuming passion, and at the same time be the most rewarding fulfilling experience of your life. This change can ONLY occur when you actually follow through and participate in systemic giving.

All the rationalizations, all the excuses, all the valid reasons in the world NOT to give, do nothing but perpetuate your own selfishness. Giving breaks the hold. Giving resets the attitude. Giving is the beginning of a new consciousness the world will not understand. Sometimes, our self-motivation and instincts for self-preservation are so highly developed we are not now willing to give. If this is our lot, we must take our stubbornness to Calvary and ask God to melt our hearts so that we can give. He will answer this prayer. Sometimes our instincts are only to give as a business investment, sure in the knowledge that we cannot out give God. If this is our lot, we must take our greed to Calvary, and let Christ replace our thirst for gain, with a thirst for serving others. Christ is able to give us the proper mindset to see the wisdom of giving. Are we then willing to ask for it?

Remember the next time you write out a tithe check, or give a poor person something of yourself – it is the changes in you that are the first priority of God in what you do. Your benevolence then goes to a place where it is needed, and God watches over how your money is spent and used. This is of less concern to us, as we are not asked to watch how the money is spent, just to give freely. It is in this giving that we become a new person. It is in this giving that the world becomes changed as well. Giving is intended to free us from the bonds of our selfishness. It is the only reason why God still asks us to give him of our money. Giving; is His gift to change us for the better.