Generosity…what makes it so easy?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 19: Giving My Resources”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
What makes generosity easy?
Perhaps “easy” is a relative term. Generosity will always be a challenge as long as we have a sinful nature with which to contend.
So perhaps the question is, “What makes generosity…easier?”
The first century Macedonian Christians can help us out:
2 Corinthians 8:1-2 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
What is so ironic about the situation in Macedonia (northern part of modern Greece) is that Paul lists two situations in life that one MIGHT excuse generosity: Severe trial and extreme poverty.
Wouldn’t your first inclination be to let the Macedonians off the hook? Even though there was a need in Jerusalem and this gift was being gathered to help fellow Christians, the Macedonian Christians had a lot going on in their lives that it would be easy to say, “Don’t worry about it. Others who have more financial resources and are in a better place in life will carry the load.” It would have been easy for the Macedonian Christians to agree with that.
It is easy for us to agree with this and curtail our generosity or stop our giving when we are “in a tough time.” It is quite natural to think, “I am barely paying the bills. I will give when I have more money.” Or, “It’s a really tough time right now and we have a lot going on. When things settle down, then I’ll give.”
In severe trial and extreme poverty, it is easy to carry a selfish, scarcity mindset…and feel justified.
So what made rich generosity flow from severe trial and extreme poverty?
Grace.
That’s the only answer.
“We want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.”
The message of Jesus had permeated the hearts of the Macedonian Christians. They understood that out of extreme poverty, Jesus lived. In severe trial, he died…for THEM!
This love was not something they earned or bought, it was freely given.
Therefore, it produced overflowing joy! Their trials faded in comparison to the suffering and death Jesus suffered for them. Their poverty was a non-issue when they realized the spiritual riches they had in Christ.
This overflowing joy produced by amazing grace resulted in rich generosity.
It can in you too.
It really does not matter your physical or financial circumstances, you can be generous at all times because the grace of God permeates and overshadows any physical or financial hardships.
In fact, when I focus on the Lord first, often the physical and financial hardships sort themselves out.
Jesus promised, “Seek his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33)
The Macedonians were real examples.
Let the overflowing joy and the rich generosity that flows from the Gospel make it easy in any circumstance to be generous.
Apply: Who in your life has been an inspiration for generosity in your life? Was their inspiration because they were generous even in severe trial and extreme poverty? Perhaps!
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving me grace which leads to generosity no matter what my physical or financial situation is. AMEN.
Generosity…What makes it so hard?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 19: Giving My Resources”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
What makes generosity so hard?
Luke 18:18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
So what this so hard for the ruler? What makes generosity is hard?
Here’s some of my reflections. Perhaps you have others…please share them!
- Being generous means I have to fear, love and trust in God above ALL things!
Generosity entails having a heart that holds on loosely to the things of this world and holds on tightly to the things of God. Generosity means trusting that “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” It means I trust that God is a God of abundance who is always willing to give. Generosity can only happen when my heart is engaged with the Lord and disengaged with stuff.
- Being generous is hard because it is always a battle with my selfish, sinful nature.
Children are naturally selfish. They want mom for themselves. They want food for themselves. They want toys for themselves. It’s the reality of our sinful nature that we inherit from our parents. Our natural inclination is to be selfish, not generous. With the Spirit’s help we can win this battle, but no one said it would be easy.
- Being generous is hard because money can become our security.
Ever stop and reflect why it is hard for you to be generous? Let me encourage you to do that. Perhaps it’s the reality that money and stuff are security and safety. If I give away too much I may not have enough for myself. It’s easy to give from our leftovers or things we don’t want. It’s these things that we give to the thrift store or junk for Jesus. It’s harder to be generous with things we are using or money we planned to use on our own needs and desires. It makes us nervous because money can easily become our security.
- Being generous is hard because we struggle with contentment.
The Apostle Paul said, Philippians 4:11 … I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Contentment is a learned expression of faith. In a country of plenty, we are bombarded with marketing to make us discontent with what we have and desire the new product that is being sold. Contentment is a status of stuff, it is a state of mind.
- Finally generosity is hard because we don’t manage our money well…or know how.
Perhaps one is so steeped in debt, living paycheck to paycheck with no margin, or just unaware of how to live on less than one earns. Practically we can spend much faster and easier than we earn. Often you can’t out earn your spending habits. Sometimes we just need help being better managers of what we do have. A great program is Dave Ramsey’s “Baby Steps” to financial freedom and the ability to give generously.
Generosity is a spiritual habit, but sometimes we just need to learn some practical skills as well.
The struggle is real to be generous. But remember what the Apostle Paul said just after remarking about learning to be content:
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.”
Apply: Do you need help planning the use of your money? Look up Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Enroll online or find an in person location to help free your heart and your finances to be more generous!
Prayer: Lord, you promised that I can do all things with your strength. Give me your strength to overcome my love of money, to learn true contentment and practice regular generosity. AMEN.
Generosity – Where does it start?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 18: Offer My Time”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Are you a generous person?
I’d like to think so, but honestly I struggle to be so.
In a profession that not only demands, but requires an “others’ focus” I have to admit, I can become selfish with my time and my resources. Perhaps you are the same.
Every follower of Christ knows that the call to follow is a large commitment. These past weeks we have realized that as Christ calls us to total surrender, giving of our time and talents, and offering ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord.
So giving of our resources falls in line with that. It is easy to commit to on paper, but hard to follow through.
Our key verse this week is 2 Corinthians 8:7, “Since you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in the grace of giving.”
Paul commends the Corinthians for many aspects of their life of faith. The Spirit of God had led them to trust Jesus as their Savior, molded their speech to praise and not curse, increased their knowledge of God and his plan for them, developed a earnest and deep love for one another…
Now it was time to add to this character of faith: the grace of giving.
This phrase in the original language has the ideas of “grace oriented activity.” It has the same root as the word “grace.” Which tells us something about generosity. True generosity can only happen as it originates from the reality of God’s grace.
Generosity isn’t an amount, it is an attitude of the heart.
Like so many other aspects of the Christian faith, the activity is secondary to the heart. God loves to mold our hearts into his likeness and way of being. When the heart of God becomes the heart of the believer, the godly activity naturally follows.
I will always struggle with generosity if the generosity of God’s grace doesn’t root deeply in my heart.
The Apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians and us:
2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Jesus let go of the riches of heaven for a while to live in poverty on this earth. Yet in his life of “giving up” he made all of us the richest people in the world. He gave us what money could never buy, but only his blood could purchase: Forgiveness, new life and salvation.
This gift of grace is at the heart of generosity. Always has…always will be.
Apply: What happens to your spirit of generosity when you start with the generosity of grace that God has given to you?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving us a treasure far more valuable than any we have on this earth. Let your gift of grace lead our hearts to a life of generosity! AMEN
Tomorrow…what makes generosity so hard…
Time…Your plans or God’s Purpose?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 18: Offer My Time”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
Do you have plans for today? How about for the weekend? For the month ahead? The year ahead? In five years? Ten years?
Often the plans we make happen. In fact, probably more often than not the plans that we make actually happen. But sometimes they change and it is hard to accept the change.
Think of the many plans that have changed in the last years:
- Did you have a trip cancelled because of CoVid?
- Did you miss a sporting event because of CoVid?
- Imagine the plans of Ukrainians and their families and how their plans have changed.
- We saw an accident scene last night. I’m sure that wasn’t in their plans for the evening.
- Mortgage applications and offers on houses fall through.
- Education and college plans don’t always turn out how you wanted them to.
And the list goes on.
Many are the plans in a person’s heart. Many.
But it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
- It wasn’t Joseph’s plan to be sold into slavery by his brothers…but the Lord needed him there to preserve the family of Jacob and the Savior’s line through famine.
- Moses didn’t have plans to lead Israel out of Egypt…but God did.
- David was just tending the sheep…but God was looking for the next king.
- Caesar wanted a count of his land…but God wanted his Son born in Bethlehem.
- The Jewish leaders wanted their rival Jesus dead…God wanted him to pay the price for sin.
- Saul was wanting to exterminate Christians…but God wanted to use him to extend Christianity.
The list goes on…even personally in your life.
What plan has God changed for you?
- I loved math and science…God needed a preacher.
- I thought Cross and Crown would take off in 2017…God wanted a journey of refinement and growth.
- I wanted to see clearly all my life…God allowed an eye injury to remind me his grace is sufficient.
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
We don’t always see it. We sometimes have a hard time believing it. But it doesn’t change the fact…the Lord’s purpose prevails.
It’s a rare day that your plans match the Lords, but when they do, or when he changes them, it’s a truly blessed day.
So have a blessed day!
Apply: Commit your plans to the Lord today. He will guide you in his ways. Note what plans he allowed to continue and which ones he changed.
Lord, thank you for having a purpose that always prevails. Lead me to always accept your plans when mine change. AMEN.
Time…Begin with the End in Mind!
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 18: Offer My Time”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Time…Begin with the end in mind.
Perhaps you have heard of the story of the jar and the big rocks. Laid out in front of a class was a quart glass jar some large stones, some medium size, some small size and some sand. The teacher asked the class to evaluate if all the stones/sand that was on the counter would fit in the jar. Most students were skeptical. The teacher invited them to try to get everything to fit. In different order students put the materials in the jar…most had some left on the outside of the jar.
The teacher then demonstrated how to get all the stones and the last grain of sand to fit in the jar. The big rocks had to go in first, then the medium, then the small, then the sand.
The lesson wasn’t just about special awareness, but it was a demonstration of importance awareness. If the big stones of importance don’t make it in the jar first, they just won’t fit.
So what are the big rocks of life that are worth spending your time on?
One way to discern this is to follow the second habit of Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of highly Effective People: “Begin with the end in mind.”
Time can get filled with the sands of life. Many tasks can fill our days, weeks and years, but one must ask, “Are these tasks the important tasks?”
There is no doubt that Jesus wants us to spend our time on the important tasks. So what are the “big rocks” to put into life first?
Perhaps this parable of Jesus helps discern what those big rocks are.
Luke 16:9 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
The richman had all the treasures of sand filling his jar and he had not time for the important rocks of a relationship with Jesus. Lazarus had physically little with which to fill his jar, but he had the big rocks of trust in Jesus to secure an eternity in heaven.
He lived with the end in mind and spent each day connecting to the Lord.
The lesson? Make sure the big rocks of faith and connection to Jesus fit in your daily jar of life!
Apply: Evaluate what activities in life are getting different priorities. Are they aligned to an eternity in heaven? What stays? What changes?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your helping us to remember to live each day with the end in mind. With the knowledge that you love us and desire to spend eternity in heaven with us, help us to arrange our time each day to make sure each day has “big rock” time with you! AMEN.