DAY 6: GIVING, Part II: Giving by Faith

  1. It Takes Faith to Give - Malachi 3:8-11
    1. God wants us to test him in our giving (v. 10). All we need is the faith.
    2. God is waiting to pour out blessing when we trust Him. It is easy to say 'I'll give when God blesses me." God says, "Give and I win bless you."
  2. God's Promises - Malachi 3:10-11, Mark 10:29-31, 2 Corinthians 9:10-11
    1. We will not have enough room for God's blessings.
    2. We can never outgive God.
    3. God always gives back 100 times as much to us.
    4. God will continue to give to us so we in turn can give to others and meet their needs.
    5. Ultimate blessing: treasure in heaven.
  3. Depend on God - Philippians 4:14-19
    1. Our giving is a sacrifice pleasing to God.
    2. When we give, God will meet all our needs.

QUESTIONS

  1. Do I hold back on my contribution because I am worried about the future?
  2. Does my giving cause me to rely on God?
  3. What amount of money should I be giving weekly that is both responsible and still requires faith?
  4. When have I relied on the promise of God in my giving? What did God do in response?

Mal 3:8-11 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. {9} You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. {10} Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. {11} I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty.

Mark 10:29-31 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel {30} will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. {31} But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

2 Cor 9:10-11 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. {11} You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Phil 4:14-19 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. {15} Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; {16} for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. {17} Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. {18} I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. {19} And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.