November 17, 2016

Greetings My Friend, In Malachi God is having a discourse stating "Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?'Bring the full tithes 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." God is challenging us to bring our offerings to Him. He wants to bless us and will not bless us unless we trust and obey His commandments. God instructed Israel to bring their first fruits to the Temple. When Israel did so the Priests were fed, the people received plenty of rain and their crops grew. When Israel slacked off their giving then their ground dried up and produce did not grow. Along with the physical blessing there a spiritual blessing when you give from your heart. I bought into the idea for years that all we did when we brought our money to God was to make the church grow fat, the poor and needy were neglected. As I settled into adulthood though I started to see a lot of good that the people's giving did do. I was the recipient of some of the offerings made to the church when I was a child. It has stayed with me the kindness of the heart of a church family helping a family in need. Junior received from organizations as well when he was growing up. People felt inclined to give to groups like Salvation Army and his family had clothes and food. We do give money to the church and often times we give of our excess to organizations that help others in the community. In my journey of giving I have learned to give of my money, my time and of my excess. God bless' us if we have a heart for giving. As a young woman our income was tight so I started giving of my time at church by being a Choir Mom who helped put robes on the young ones or sit with them during the service. I went from doing that to other things within the church and I grew in confidence and faith. When I married Junior I learned about giving to organizations the things we no longer use but are still in good order. We have a bin to throw things in and when it is full we donate the items inside the bin. The giving spirit is what God is teaching us to desire and the more we learn and grow in this the more blessed we feel. Giving of my time on mission trips usually finds me being blessed by those that I am giving to. It is the most wonderful moment on each trip. I am sad my health no longer allows me to go on mission trips although I have found ministry of giving right in my community today. My blog is a ministry of giving and sharing, so is my Facebook page. We live in an area where the economy is usually down which means we have the opportunity to encourage, drive or some other type of giving. Sometimes we need to be given to as well, this was hard for me to grasp. I was in the wheelchair at the grocery store the other day and I had picked out a package of frozen vegetables and went a little further only to discover a larger package so I was trying to turn myself around and put the first package away. A lady saw me struggling and offered to help me. I was grateful and accepted her help. She had an opportunity to minister to me. I struggle because I think I am supposed to always give and not receive until one day it came to me (more than likely the Holy Spirit convicted me) Sometimes we need to receive so another person can give from their heart. Receiving and giving needs to be fluid and we do not always need to be on one end or the other all the time. When I was young Dad had polio and our family was in a lot of need. We received gratefully and as our parents were able to get on their own feet they no longer needed all the gifts from the church and from many others. They taught me to take when in need and then to give back when our period of need is over with. One of the first things Mom and Dad did that I remember was they gave Dad's wheelchair to the church. They had a supply of medical equipment that was available to others in the church first and then the community at large. Mom and Dad also gave of their time and talent a whole lot since their income was tight for many years. Finally when their income grew after Mom finished college they gave of their income more fully. Giving from the heart is giving back to God what He has already given you. It is a wonderful journey growing in giving from the heart. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet