Free Will Giving

Freewill Offerings Exodus 35.20-29 Giving to the LORD is not complicated. It is a privilege and a blessing. It brings joy to the soul and help to others. It is connected directly to Heaven To think that the Creator of the Universe would let me have part of His Eternal Work thrills me beyond measure. What an awesome invitation. To know that I can store up treasures in Heaven is amazing. I do not understand it but I do believe it. One of the cool surprises there will be is seeing what that is! Matthew 6. 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Here at this point in Exodus they were getting ready to build the Tabernacle. God could have rained down the materials like He did with the Manna and not involved His people to the extent of their giving. He could have sent it to them complete, like He will the New Jerusalem. However He chose to involve them. What is more it was free will giving. That is the way the work of God is done. God does not need our gifts. The Earth is His and everything in it! Psalm 24.1 He allows us to give so we can be blessed. This is not a message to get you to give more money to this church. We do not even take offerings here as you well know. You can give but that is totally between you and God. In fact I believe that is how God determines what work survives, what work thrives and what work closes. Man can try to prop up the work but unless the LORD builds the house it workers labor in vain. It is either sweet and inspiring or it is hard and perspiring. Friend, who was a pastor, looked so tired. I asked him if he was alright. He said, “We have been trying to raise money for the new building. You know how hard it is to get people to give…” He was beat up. Today, he is not the pastor there. They spent $25,000 just on each window! They are still millions in debt. There are properties that have been sold, whole so called Christian theme parks that are empty today. Sad how the Church in America lost its way. These disasters, unfortunately, were built on Free Will offerings of our day. There is a huge difference between feeding hungry children in Bangladesh and giant water slides for the saints. God help us! Back to the legitimate work of God… What are the lessons about free will offerings here, about giving to God. * They had to be willing. v.29a God will not force you to give. II Corinthians 9. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Not reluctantly Causing sorrow, pain, grief, Annoyance giving should not upset us. Oh I have to give so I do not feel guilty God does not want people giving to Him who are going to be thinking, “Oh I could have done this if I had not given to the LORD.” When Jesus said, “ 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6. I believe He was saying in part, “Keep your giving to the needy quiet. Even within yourself. Give and forget about it. Wait until you get to Heaven.” Mom’s Prudential Policy in the bottom of a drawer. My Nana took it out after she lost a child during the depression and did not have enough money for a casket. I believe it was a Nickel a week. Paid it off, gave it to my Mom. Ended up being three thousand dollars. My Mom cashed it in, tithed on it to Haiti and we used it to put a bathroom in the church. Similar to our giving to the LORD. Don’t mull it over in your mind. Give and let it go. This will result in two blessings. Here on Earth, from time to time, people will remember the kindness you did for them. It is a pleasant surprise because you forgot. Then in Heaven, you will live the rewards of your giving forever. Things done for Him are eternal. It will surprise you when you see it and stay with you always through Eternity. affliction it should not put us in a place where we cannot pay our bills… however… I have never fallen behind because of my giving to God. Not under compulsion Imposed by the law Saying God needs your money or we will go under is never right. Grief, Distress When we give to God we should not feel we are being forced to. When we help the needy it should because we see the need and God moves on our heart to help a poor soul. The way needs are advertised you think God needs our help, or is facing imminent bankruptcy! That will never happen. To those who make decisions do you think you are greater than God or that He is unable to move on human hearts?! Our giving is to be out of love. We give to God because He first loved us. He has been good to us. We see each meal and the clothes we wear as coming from Him. We see this earth and all that He has given to us to enjoy. Went to the Marina last week. Free. The air was fresh, the birds were singing. My favorite vacations have been in nature, climbing mountains, swimming in oceans, sitting in the sun, getting Vitamin D. It had to be from the heart. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give This is between you and the LORD. Do you pray about what you are going to give? One time I did. Faith Promise in Bible College $10 a month to missions. Wrote it down. That next week my landlord came by. We had a nice three bedroom ranch. Relatively new. The backyard faced the front range of the Rocky Mountains. Nice fenced in yard… sod in… rocks brought in for a cactus bed. Ted Raybol said, “I have been thinking about your rent.” I thought, “Here it comes…” He went on, “You guys have been taking such good care of the house and property that I am going to lower your rent beginning this month by $10.” That was the exact amount I had promised to give to Missions! That would be like $50 today. Giving to the LORD should lift us up, not drag us down. It should be looked at as a blessing not a burden. But if you claim, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ then this is what the LORD says: Because you have said, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ and I specifically told you not to make this claim, Jeremiah 23.38 Do not bad mouth the ministry. Do not talk about the burden of the LORD. His yoke is easy and His burden light. Those who complain about the work of God are doing God a disservice. I have seen some like this. They get people to feel bad for them. They like the attention. I have received so much more than I could give. There have been times when some might say, “He is sacrificing,” but I have never had to miss a meal or been without life’s necessities. God’s true servants, who are burdened with His word, right willingly and cheerfully carry that burden. Free will Offerings are * To the LORD Not to the church I think we miss the point if we think we are giving to the church. We may give through the church but it is to the LORD. To the LORD We see it spelled out for us here. They “brought to the LORD freewill offerings for all the work…” There is a difference, a big difference The church cannot do what God can do. One guy was complaining about all the work he was doing for a church in California. The pastor heard about it. He wrote a check for what he thought was appropriate and said to the man, “Now keep your mouth shut!” Freewill offerings are not announced with trumpets. They are given in secret. Giving to God does not see an end. We give to Heaven. We know God is able to bless us beyond measure. We know He keeps perfect records. II Corinthians 9. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever.” 10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for foodwill also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. There is such an adventure to be had when we give freely to the LORD! My Dad and Mom were audited by the IRS after they had moved to upstate NY. The agent looked at their returns and said, “There is no way that you gave this much to the Church! They had canceled checks and a giving statement from the church. It was not enough. He required a letter from their pastor. He wrote. The agent accepted it. * God commanded the work for the Israelites to do. I am convinced that some work that is supposed to be for the LORD has nothing to do with Him. I have watched so called works fail miserably. If He directs a work it will be supported by Him. If we “fund raise” we decide. If it is freewill He decides. It is His problem. We can see a work of God because He provides. You will not hear a lot about money. You will see miracles, unexplainable things happen. If you are not seeing that I seriously doubt if it is God’s work at all. It is interesting to note that these freewill offerings that went to build the Tabernacle were given by people who would see it used in the Wilderness but never in the Promised Land! This brings up two issues: * You can give to God and not live to see the complete result of your giving because of disobedience. That is a sobering thought. They saw the completed tabernacle but never in the Promised Land. * You can give to God and see the results of your giving here and throughout Eternity! Take the children we have been feeding in Bangladesh under Liton Roy. Under the Old Testament it was for the upkeep of a physical structure tent/ temple. Now it is for spiritual building, people. Giving to the needy people, many of whom we cannot see. Under the Old Testament you could look at the gold for instance and say, “Some of that came from me,” Under the New Covenant there is this mystery, you cannot see it now but one day you will! Let me go back to cheerful giving as we close… God loves a cheerful giver. Joyful. Prompted to do anything. Hilarious… laughing so hard you lose control of some of your faculties.