Reverend Michael Mwangi
Senior Pastor, Fedha Church, Kenya Assemblies of God
Exodus 25
2. “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.
3. These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze;
4. blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair;
5. ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather ; acacia wood;
6. olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;
7. and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.
8. “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.
9. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.
10. “Have them make an ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.
11. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it.
Exodus 35
4. Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded:
5. From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze;
20. Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence,
21. and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments.
22. All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds: brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments. They all presented their gold as a wave offering to the Lord.
23. Everyone who had blue, purple or scarlet yarn or fine linen, or goat hair, ram skins dyed red or the other durable leather brought them.
24. Those presenting an offering of silver or bronze brought it as an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood for any part of the work brought it.
25. Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun—blue, purple or scarlet yarn or fine linen.
26. And all the women who were willing and had the skill spun the goat hair.
27. The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.
28. They also brought spices and olive oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense.
29. All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the Lord freewill offerings for all the work the Lord through Moses had commanded them to do.
Does God need our gifts?
We see God requesting the Israelites to give for the building of the ark and tabernacle
Exodus 25
2. “Tell the Israelites to BRING ME AN OFFERING. You are to RECEIVE the OFFERING FOR me FROM EVERYONE whose heart prompts them to give.
Exodus 35
4. Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded:
5. From what you have, TAKE an OFFERING for the Lord. EVERYONE who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze;
God asked the Israelites to give him yet He owns everything and is not in need of anything.
All Gold and silver belong to God
Haggai 2:8
‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
The whole earth and everything in it belongs the Lord
Psalms 24:1
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
Even today's God is still asking His people to give towards His kingdom, yet He can do everything without our giving. We know He has the power to command stones to praise Him or turn the very stones into bread, or multiply anything.
The question is, why does He commands or require us to give?
There are two types of giving
1. Compulsory giving
Tithes. It is set and defined, you don't decide or negotiate.10%. You simply obey. We don't give Tithe, we pay Tithe. It belongs to God, and you just have to comply; failure to which you are a robber ready for consequences.
Malachi 3
8. “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.
9. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.
You are not at liberty to pay it at your convenience but must be paid on time without delay. Late remittance attracts a penalty of 20% of the tithe.
Leviticus 27
31. Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it.
Tithing tests our obedience
Tithe is a seed for the next harvest and guards against the devourer.
Tithe tests our obedience
2 . Voluntary giving
These are free will giving that we do out of our own accord from the 90% that is left after Tithing.
Why would God ask us to give him yet He owns everything and He is not needy? What is the importance of this free will giving?
a) It is a test and proof of our love.
Giving indicates who or what we value or love. It tells you where your heart is
Matthew 6
21. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
You can tell what a man loves most by looking at where or in whom he invests most.
God wanted to test the hearts of the people, and that's why He asked them to give.
We give or put our treasures on what or whom we love most Giving shows affection. Giving is simply love in demonstration.
The reality is, you can never love without giving, though you can give without loving.
Love is not passive, it is active, it is always in action and finds its expression through the act of giving.
When you truly love, you can’t help but give because love is a motivation for giving.
John 3
16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
By giving his only begotten, God proved how much He loves us. He gave us His very best to us because he loves us and we are in His heart. Similarly, our giving also shows our love for God. When we give and invest our treasures in Him we are simply telling God, WE love you and you deserve our treasures.
Nature of free will giving
- This free will Giving proceeds from a willing heart
- When we love, we are willing to Give the very best
- True giving is an act of love from a willing heart
Therefore, this giving does not come from the pocket but from the heart.
When we love, we give not because we have but because we are willing.
A willing person will give even when he has nothing in his pocket.
A willing person will never give an excuse as to why he can’t give but will grab every opportunity to give so as to exercise his will.
Anyone who loves will always give,e no matter how little they may have.
It is a willing heart not a weighty hand that that gives. Kutoa ni moyo sio utajiri (giving is based on heart not the wealth you have).
When we love we give from the heart, not from the wallet. Everyone who loves God will always find that giving to God is a real joy. Kama unampenda huwezi kosa kutoa kingdom building hata kama ni kukopa utakopa (If you love Him, you can't go wrong in giving to the kingdom building, even if it's a loan, you will lend).
When you are willing, what you have is never an issue.
This is why God wanted gift from only those who were willing,
Exodus 25.
2. ......You are to receive the offering for me from everyone WHOSE HEART PROMPTS THEM to give...
Exodus 35:5b
Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold.
A willing person gives out of love and therefore gives the very best,[quality].
The spirit of willingness is the spirit of quality.
It is not the gift but the Spirit behind the gift that defines it's value or quality.
Any gift from the one who loves you is sweet and acceptable, no matter how small it might be; it is the love behind it that makes it great.
Willingness makes the gift acceptable
2 Corinthians 8:12
If the willingness is there the gift is acceptable.
God is concerned with the quality rather than the quantity. God does not long for our gift, it is our love that He delights in.
God wanted only those who were willing. Those whose hearts were prompted to give because He was not in need of their gifts but their love. He was saying, let those who love me give me.
Giving is never about how much you have but about how much you love.
When you love you are willing to give no matter your situation, you give even out of your poverty and trials. In fact that becomes the very reason to give.
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 Macedonia church.
God wants us to love Him and the best way to demonstrate our love is through our giving.
Remember our treasures(gifts); show where our hearts are or what we love.
A WILLING HEART gives out love and not out of Duty. It gives because it loves and rejoices doing so not because it has to.
A willing heart gives cheerfully not grudgingly, it does so with great joy out of love, not compulsion.
2 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.
A willing heart touches God’s heart
A willing heart moves God’s heart to bless you abundantly. It enriches you
2 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.
2 Corinthians 9
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.
A willing heart is generous
God never mentioned the amount. He only asked for the gift from any willing Heart.
A willing heart is very generous because love is kind.
When willingness is there, generosity just flows ,and that takes care of quantity.
When we love, we are willing to give everything.
Willingness determines how we give
God looks at how we give, not what we give...
Mark 12:41
And Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and began watching how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts.
Jesus surprised the disciples when he said that the woman who gave 3 coins gave more than the rich men who gave large amounts.
You see Jesus being God knew kila mmoja alikuwa amebarikiwa kiasi gani (You see Jesus being God knew how blessed each one was). Note that he was watching how they were giving in reference to their blessing. It was not the amount but the percentage and the woman with her 3 coins gave 100%, scoring first class honors in God’s eyes as far as giving of that day. Even today. As we pledge and give, we are not equal, but God knows very well how much He has blessed you. He is just watching to see how much you love him by how you are going to give.
We should give according to how He has blessed us. So any willing person can give generously.
If we love God we will give generously regardless of our poverty or our plenty.
No one is too poor to give. Love always gives even if it is hope... pledge by faith.
Giving develops His nature in us
God is a father. Father means source. Everything we have or are is a gift from God.
Our father is therefore by nature a Giver.
The desire of every father is that his sons, will grow and develop into His nature and character.
Our father desires that we grow and mature to be like Him, holding on to nothing but being willing out of love to give everything like Him or like His son Jesus... God gave His only begotten son, and His son Jesus Christ gave His life for us.
Through giving, God gives us an opportunity to grow in love and mature to sons of the Kingdom Giving who are full of spiritual maturity. When we are spiritually mature we love God above with all of our love such that we can give God or trust Him with our everything. We are willing to give all for Him.
Genesis 22
12. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
When we mature to this level God that God knows we love Him more than anything to an extent we can give Him everything, He gives us access to His riches.
Genesis 22
15. The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time
16. and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17. I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
18. and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Giving therefore tests our spiritual maturity, hence our love for God.
Giving is the Highest grace in our faith. That is why even God expressed His love through giving John 3:16.
Spiritual maturity can never be measured by gifts but by the fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is love and love finds expression in giving.
You can tell how or who you love by how or who you give.
Paul challenged the church of Corinth to grow in this grace ili wakamilike (so that they can be perfected)
2 Corinthians 8
7. But 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 this grace of giving.
Giving matures us
Giving, therefore, is an opportunity to develop our love and nature. The more you give to God, the more you get to love God because where your treasure is, there your heart is.
As we grow in giving, we love God more and lose our affection for earthly possessions. On the other hand, we gain more because He blesses us more. We give God our gold, and we gain God and gold because as we love Him, He loves us back greatly.
Giving is a God-given investment plan for His sons in the kingdom
Luke 6
38. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”.
If you want to prosper in wealth, God’s way of giving is the way.
The returns are promotional to our faithfulness in giving.
2 Corinthians 9
6. Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
Give generously and expect the same.
God builds his kingdom through His sons.
God always build His kingdom through the giving of His sons. He gives them an opportunity to build His kingdom by investing in it so that they may enjoy the blessings of the kingdom.
We are the kingdom builders, and we have an opportunity to invest in the most rewarding investment. Let's do it all with a revelation, and we will experience 2025 Divine increase.
Summary
- Giving is a matter of the heart, not money
- Whatever you love, you give to be it yourself or your resources or your time
- Giving flows from a willing heart, not from wealth. Kutoa ni moyo sio utajiri (Giving is a matter of the heart, not wealth)
- Anyone who is willing can give, no matter how little one has
- Giving develops our father’s nature in us. God is the giver of everything
- Giving. Thus giving grows us from children of the kingdom to sons of the kingdom
- Giving is an opportunity and investment for the prosperity and the well-being [protection and prosperity] of those in the kingdom to build the kingdom.
Comments
Post a Comment