God has given to us a gift, the Word of God, which is the Bible. The Bible is not simply words written down by men, the Bible is the very Word of God. The Bible is God’s revelation of who He is and how people can know God. God’s Word is God’s manual for living a blessed life, both now and in eternity. God wants you to take Him at His Word.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
So, God’s Word is meant to equip you to live the life God created you to live. If you don’t make use of God’s Word to guide your life, you’ll miss out on God’s blessings for your life. Our challenge is to take God at His Word. What that means is each of us must believe that what God’s Word says is really true and we can put our trust in it. When you believe that what God has said in His Word is true, then you can live your life trusting in that Word.
This series will not be about God’s Word in general, but about one part of God’s Word. However, the part of God’s Word that we’re going to be talking about is huge. Over 2350 verses in the Bible talk about this topic, which is the topic of money. If you handle your money God’s way, you’ll be blessed in your finances. If you handle your money your way, you will have untold problems in your finances.
God’s Word teaches us that our money really isn’t ours, it’s God’s. And God’s Word has some directions in it about handling His money. One of the most important aspects of handling your money God’s way is the aspect of giving. God wants giving to feel good for every believer. I just recently finished reading a book called “How To Be Happy Giving Your Money Away.” That title captures how God wants you to feel about giving.
For a lot of people giving their money away doesn’t seem to feel good, in fact they resist it and give as little as possible. But what does God’s Word, say about giving? What did Jesus say about giving?
Acts 20:35b (NIV) Remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Being blessed makes me feel good. So if I take God at his Word, I’m going to be a giver. I’m going to believe that as I give to God and His Word, I’m going to be blessed in every way.
My parents taught me to be a blessed giver. From around the age of 4, I have given at least 10% of all my income to the church, the Bible calls it a tithe. When my wife Carol was saved as child, she began tithing as well. Over the years, we’ve always had more than enough. Our needs have been met and we’ve had enough to continue being happy giving our money away. God’s promises work whether we’re in a recession or not. We want you and your family to be blessed as well.
Listen to my August 30, 2009 message “Giving That Feels Good” (message notes).