November 28th

The Miracle of Giving Up

For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God...Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:12,15

What's the best gift you've ever received? Yes, this is a trick question.

Because, obviously, if you've received Jesus as your Lord and Savior then He is by far the biggest and best gift you've ever received, right? Paul says this about God's gift to us-it's indescribable!

But Paul brings up the subject of God's great gift to us in the context of another subject-the gifts we give to God. And he says something very interesting about the gifts we give unto the Lord. He says that the result of our giving is thanksgiving. When we give and our gift meets someone's need, they thank God for sending our gift to them. God gets the credit, they get their need met, and we get the blessing of having sowed our seed money in a way that is worthy of God blessing.

In the midst of all this, however, there is a war going on. First, you have a Trinity of blessing that surrounds your life right now-the blessing of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This Trinity of blessing is waiting right now with bated breath, poised in Heaven, on the edge of their throne, waiting for you to make a move they can honor. Make a move I can honor. Make a gift I can multiply. Step out in faith, so that I can bless your life!

But on the other side of this war, you have a trinity of false blessing that opposes what you would generously do for God, wanting to convince you that it's fine to hold on and hoard. This is like a three-headed dragon, and each head has a name. First, Me; second, Mine; third, More.

One trinity exists to provide you with the ability to honor God with the resources, life, treasures, and talents that you've been entrusted with. The other trinity exists to the contrary, for you to spend it all on yourself. The only way to slay this dragon is to give, to let go.

It's the miracle of giving up, of giving over your life to a greater cause than living for yourself. But let's bring this full circle now, because we need to understand that God isn't just demanding our money like a mugger on the street. What's going on is that God is a giver, ultimately demonstrated in the most generous of all gifts-His very own Son dying so that we could live.

All He wants now that we are His children is for us to follow His example.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You are a giving God! Because You gave, I am now Your child. And as Your child, please help me to be as generous of a giver as You are.

Amen