Give And It Shall Be Given By AFC Devotional. Give, and it shall be given unto you. - Luke 6:38 Many years ago, a faithful old minister encouraged his congregation to pay offerings in addition to their tithes. He suggested that they could give the Lord an extra offering as a way of saying thank you to the Lord. This could not replace thanking the Lord in prayer or having a grateful heart, nor could it earn future answers to prayer, but the idea struck me as a good way to give something back to the Lord. I remember when my wife was recovering from an illness. We were rejoicing that God had been with us and answered prayer. About that time, our pastor encouraged us to support an effort to help a young family attend camp meeting. I told my wife we owed the Lord an offering of thanks, so we agreed to put a certain amount in the tithes box for that effort. As time passed, the funds were raised and we were able to see the young family at camp meeting. We rejoiced in how happy they were to be in the services. Several months passed, and then one day my pastor handed me a check and said, “Someone put this in the offering box for you and your wife.” It was a check for almost the same amount that we had given earlier to support the young family! I was not expecting or even hoping that the Lord would return my offering in that way, but the Lord is full of unexpected blessings. Once when we were remodeling our church, the pastor asked me to help out. I was operating a small service business then, so for three months I arranged my schedule to be able to help with the remodel every day. Looking back, it does not seem like a big deal; but at the time it was something God was watching. Although it took some effort to keep my business intact, God provided a way. God did not necessarily bless me financially for the work I did at the church. However, I still found our focus verse to be true because the Lord did give me something special: good health. During the years that I worked on the church, we never had any medical bills. In fact, still today, at over seventy years of age, God continues to provide me with good health. Over the years, I have found that God gives in many ways, including protection, peace of mind, daily provisions, and other blessings. I never give to God with the expectation of such blessings because I know that I am only giving back to Him what He has given to me. Nonetheless, I have always found the Lord to be much more generous than myself. Eventually, I also became a pastor and had an insight into people’s personal decisions regarding giving. Without exception, the happiest, most blessed, and most contented individuals were those who understood the meaning of the Scripture, “It is more blessed to give” (Acts 20:35). May we all experience the blessings God has for those who are simply willing to give.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 07:06:56 +0000
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