“Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are…Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”3 John 1:5,8
“Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only…Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.” Philippians 4:14-15,17
I don’t usually give money to support people I don’t know or causes that aren’t personal to me. Not that I don’t want to…it’s an easy way to feel good and to be generous.
Because to me it feels like a cheap way out, while living in a city where there is so much need all around me. If I can’t take the time to see the faces and hear the stories of those I’m helping, does the giving really take sacrifice or am I just taking the easy way out?
So we pray for the faces around us and ask God reveal the needs and force our busy ears to slow down long enough to hear the stories.
Then one morning, as my feet pounded the pavement truth blasted through my headphones and hit my heart hard.The preacher thanked those who gave and those who prayed along with those who sweated and worked and listened to the stories.
He said that the blessing is for everyone who participated in the work, no matter how they contributed. And He said, “By helping fund the building of the House of the Lord, as Jesus constructs it out of living stones, there is fruit that abounds in your account.”
And my breath held fast as I pondered that truth.
A few days later, as I was again pondering the mysterious…pondering heaven, I imagined standing before the face of God. As my mind began to run with this thought, I saw His holiness shine so intensely that my minds eye saw my body begin to melt away into nothing. And the painful thought seared my mind, “There will be nothing left…nothing worthy.”
And yet as I looked down where my feet had been there was a large and solid lump of gold, refined through the fire, left over to bring Him glory…a lump of gold left from my life. And tears sprung to my eyes, mentally and in reality. And I realized that somehow, He had worked good…He will work good…through my life and will credit it to my account so that I might have something with which to bring Him glory.
In that moment I knew, when we get to heaven we will be amazed and in awe of the good God has brought from our broken and messy lives. We will be in awe of the good credited to our account…because we will know it was not us. It was Jesus.
“…that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”
And I knew that pastor preaching blessing was right. We all share the blessing. Because it’s God who gets the glory.
And Paul said it right, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.”
Why wouldn’t we give others the chance to participate the blessing, in the good credited to their account by God? Why wouldn’t we try to hold in all the blessing for ourselves? Why would we be ashamed to offer partnership in all God is doing?
And repentance is never an easy thing and old habits die hard, they say. But action based on truth trumps all the habits in the world if only we’ll let it.
So for me, part of the humbling and life-altering truth is the offering…the offering the chance for others to be a part of all God is doing through and with us. The offered opportunity for you to share the blessing and the fruit from the work God is doing in Bachiniva, Mexico.
In just 3 short weeks, I’ll be getting on a plane before the sun is fully up. We’ll be heading to a little orphanage in Mexico that is just at the beginning. And we’re getting in on the ground floor of the blessings. We’re getting to pray and give and serve with our hands and the reward will be in heaven and the joy will be in watching the growth, the fruit, the lives changed. And the reward can be fruit to your account in heaven too.
Because we serve a God who is generous with His blessing.
A group of 5 adults and 2 children (including my husband and I) will be traveling to the orphanage for 6 days to help, to be, to encourage and to love. We are raising money to cover our travel expenses and to help fund supplies for the orphanage itself.
We’ll be doing construction, childcare, and music ministry. We’ll be seeking Jesus and loving like Jesus and encouraging those doing the work day-by-day. And we’re excited to see this work first hand. The work we’ve been hearing about and praying for and giving too.
Even more than financial provision, we ask for your prayers. Because no fruit can ever come without God Spirit working through us. Pray for His Spirit to fill us. Pray for health and strength and safe travels. Pray for us to be a source of encouragement to those in the work. Pray for salvation of the Mexican people in the surrounding areas.
And if you’re praying or giving, would you consider investing yourself further in this work by fasting and praying with us all day on Sunday, March 2nd? We will be praying specifically for the trip and the requests listed above.
Thank you for your prayers and support. I’m praying for the blessing and the joy to abound to you as you partner with us.
It was that first month of married bliss. That first month of living outside my parents home. That first month of real life with real responsiblities and real bills. And no matter how we planned and prepared, I worried that somehow there was a mistake. That somehow the numbers added up wrong and we’d be in over our heads before two months had passed.
I wanted to ask my new husband, “Should we maybe tithe less this month…five percent, maybe eight? God will understand. We just don’t know if our finances will all work out…if we’ll have enough to live.” But by God’s grace I held my tongue and with more faith than I had ever had, my husband wrote that check first of all.
And God provided.
Every month, no matter how tight, no matter how worried we were about a growing electric bill in the cold of winter or of the looming cost of moving cross country, he wrote that check first…and often for more.
And the numbers…they added up wrong. But not in the way I expected. Instead of not quite making it and never having enough there was always enough, even if just barely. And somehow, in spite of feeling tight and pinched at times, the dollars and cents that we were saving to move added and added and added together till we were blown away at how fast it was growing.
And I began to feel the glimmers of freedom. I began to feel the rest in obedience. The confidence that God does provide for His people when they trust in Him. Confidence that is not in our paychecks or our faithfulness, but in His faithfulness and His goodness.
Because I’ve seen Him come through. Because I’ve seen Him provide. Because I’ve seen Him bless. Because I’ve seen it written in His Word as a command and I’ve seen His faithfulness to bless obedience.
Because over and over I’ve breathed in fear and breathed out anxious instead of breathing in His Word and breathing out obedience. I’m thankful that my husband had the faith to obey, because I would have never seen the blessings.
But my heart, it’s still deceitful. When I least expect it, my heart will start dreaming of expensive clothes whenever I want and beautiful vacations every year and no worries about money with steak and seafood for dinner every week. Because the minute I stop giving thanks with my heart and my words the discontent creeps in.
And God provides more work for me and a raise for my husband and I sing with freedom one day and then next find myself in bondage to my own selfish desires for more. But more never satisfies the desire for more, and more never creates a contented heart.
I’m praying hard that God will continue to expose and change my selfish heart. And for the first time, I’m starting to see tithing as thanks. I’ve known it as trust and I’ve known it as obedience and it is both those things. But now that I’ve seen and am seeing His faithfulness, I’m starting to see it as thanksgiving. Because my act of trust and obedience should always come from a heart of thankfulness first for who He is and then for what He has done.
So sisters, pray for changed hearts and let’s breathe Him in and breathe out thanks and obedience. Because the heart always follows the actions. Because He is worthy of our trust and our thanks. He is.
“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”Malachi 3:10
Because if He has called us for a purpose then why do we think we have no need to be purposeful?
And tithing? That takes intention. And preparation. And discipline. All purposeful living takes intention and planning and hard work, but He never promised the journey would be easy. Instead, He commanded us to take up our cross and follow Him.
It’s so easy to get so caught up in bills and clothes and groceries and parties and gifts and cars and electronics and even blogs that we forget the purpose of it all. Today Tomorrow The next day
These have an eternal calling. A calling to bring Him glory. The mudane of teeth brushing and dishwashing and exercising and money making are only as important as the reason we do them…the purpose behind them.
Your job is only as important as what you are doing with the money you earn and the relationships you are building. Because He wants to use every part of your life for His glory…not just the obvious ones.
And we hold on tight to our money and our relationships and our lifestyle because we don’t really trust that His way is better. And we think that living in freedom means comfort and relaxation when really it means picking up our cross to follow Him. And we think that if He wants us to do something He will drop it into our lap, but maybe He wants us to step out in faith before He blesses us. And we think that there’s always an easier way than every-single-day obedience and minute-by-minute trust when that’s what He has called us to.
“Giving puts our trust in God, and displays our desire to have God be the most valued person in our lives…If you do not put God first in giving and time, you cannot claim to have Him be first in your life, because your choices show otherwise.” Travis Sinks
So breathe in His Word and let the glory of His purpose flood your heart, then step out in purposeful obedience. Because the blessing, the rest, the fulfillment always follows obedience.
The purpose of His glory and our godliness can never be reached without our intentional, purposeful working to obey Him. And the breathing in of Him is useless if we’re not breathing out from Him in obedience.
“The clock and the dollar are such substantial factors in so many parts of life that their role must be considered in any serious discussion of becoming godly.” Donald Whitney – ‘Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life’
“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”Malachi 3:10
Because if He has called us for a purpose then why do we think we have no need to be purposeful?
And tithing? That takes intention. And preparation. And discipline. All purposeful living takes intention and planning and hard work, but He never promised the journey would be easy. Instead, He commanded us to take up our cross and follow Him.
It’s so easy to get so caught up in bills and clothes and groceries and parties and gifts and cars and electronics and even blogs that we forget the purpose of it all. Today Tomorrow The next day
These have an eternal calling. A calling to bring Him glory. The mudane of teeth brushing and dishwashing and exercising and money making are only as important as the reason we do them…the purpose behind them.
Your job is only as important as what you are doing with the money you earn and the relationships you are building. Because He wants to use every part of your life for His glory…not just the obvious ones.
And we hold on tight to our money and our relationships and our lifestyle because we don’t really trust that His way is better. And we think that living in freedom means comfort and relaxation when really it means picking up our cross to follow Him. And we think that if He wants us to do something He will drop it into our lap, but maybe He wants us to step out in faith before He blesses us. And we think that there’s always an easier way than every-single-day obedience and minute-by-minute trust when that’s what He has called us to.
“Giving puts our trust in God, and displays our desire to have God be the most valued person in our lives…If you do not put God first in giving and time, you cannot claim to have Him be first in your life, because your choices show otherwise.” Travis Sinks
So breathe in His Word and let the glory of His purpose flood your heart, then step out in purposeful obedience. Because the blessing, the rest, the fulfillment always follows obedience.
The purpose of His glory and our godliness can never be reached without our intentional, purposeful working to obey Him. And the breathing in of Him is useless if we’re not breathing out from Him in obedience.
“The clock and the dollar are such substantial factors in so many parts of life that their role must be considered in any serious discussion of becoming godly.” Donald Whitney – ‘Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life’
