There were different kinds of offerings in Israel. Besides five main offerings (burnt, grain, fellowship, sin, and guilt), Israel was to give to God with specific offerings, including the trespass offering, peace offering, fellowship, freewill, wave, heave, thank, consecration, dedication, memorial offerings and offerings for the poor.  Similarly, we bring different offerings to the Lord, and each kind of giving is significant.

Today many feel the more they GIVE to the Lord, the more they can justify SPENDING; or when they give, if the conscience is satisfied they feel they do not need other spiritual disciplines. Neither is the case. Offerings are a way to communicate with God; all legitimate giving proceeds from the heart, either in response to God or to honor Him in a specific way—but not as a religious duty.

The carnal heart has a hard time getting into that place of communication. For example, the tithe is first—totally a heart issue; then, the first fruits offering, intended to demonstrate thanksgiving and trust—again, an issue of the heart.

Give, and it will be given to you—according to the heart attitude with which a man gives, in exactly the same measure of heart we communicate with Him, He directs other men and circumstances concerning us. It’s not legalistic, and certainly not religious. Giving is a spiritual measure of what we really believe (Romans 10:10)

Make this head-decision and heart-commitment: From this point, and from now on, concerning money and all that you PLAN to do with money… ask God, listen to what He tells you, then do what He tells you.

Amen.

Romans 10:10

The neighborhood bully terrorizes to gain power and control. Control eases fear for momentary comfort and offsets the fear and distinct possibility of never achieving anything legitimately. Like the bully, the abuser is desperate to recover what has been lost; they have in common a root of fear that drives the contests they crave.

All terrorism develops in a sickened heart condition and a mind that’s been tampered with. This attitude of heart and conditioning of mind create a “spiritual” force, affecting even the body’s chemistry and balance. The terrorist is myopic, values lawless structures, and because of deep-seated personal terror, operates in hiding to destroy suddenly.

For the bully, the abuser and the terrorist, the attack is refined through misguided discernment—basically the difference between right and wrong. The terrorist is not always distant, but often is near—one judges another on limited knowledge, according to what one doing the judging would truthfully do under the same circumstances. Such are low-minded, cannot grasp royalty or understand the generous man whose inner requirement seeks the good of all.

God calls His people to give of ourselves, to encourage and strengthen the whole world; it is fear that separates us from His call. The stingy-hearted are jealous to have something out of their reach, and the covetous suffer intellectually, starved mentally for purpose; by intimidation and control, terrorism on some level is born and someone who does not deserve to be mistreated, will be.

Terrors and fear yield to faith that defies, and that patiently gains the thing longed for. Having faced the terrorist unshaken, proven faith is passed—parent to child, family to family. Faith creates the generous man, whose fear has been cast out, whose heart knows freedom. In our day the LORD distinguishes us to walk fearlessly right down the middle of the challenge, our eye set on the prize: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. (Psalm 23:4)

Amen.

Micah 7:6, 7
1 Peter 4:8-11
Proverbs 11:25
Proverbs 22:9
Psalm 23, verse 4

Barzillai was a wealthy man inside the Lord’s camp who sees to it that David and his men had full supply at all times—receiving in return a blessing for himself and for his descendants. Barzillai, the Jew, possessed exemplary vision for use of personal wealth.

Barzillai, pronounced bar-zil’-la-i (Heb. bar-zil-lah-ee), means “iron hearted” and is the name of three Israelites; of the three, Barzillai the Gileadite is our subject. According to Scripture, this man saw to it that David’s army was supplied. The record does not indidcate that David asked for Barzillai’s help; only that Barzillai supplied. When read that way — that without being asked, Barzillai supplied David from the resources of his own personal wealth — the ministry of this man was consistent with biblical purpose for wealth’s creation; namely, to bankroll (underwrite the expense of) God’s purposes.

Like Barzillai, there is a modern Barzillai company out there. Many in that company are unaware concerning their true investment potential: Markets come and go but God’s Kingdom has an eternal continuum; Barzillai is the Kingdom’s in-house model of personal wealth created for power to affect change.

Amen.

2 Samuel 19:31-39
2 Samuel 17:27
1 Kings 2:7
Proverbs 10:22
Deuteronomy 8:18-20

That is where you are. So go ahead and start with what you have; you surely cannot start with what you do not have. Plant your feet, steady your thoughts, make the decision. It is time to begin.

You have actually come to a time of the Lord’s favor and He has called for your strength! The Lord has called for an end to the past season in which something other than His best for you has had its way, usurping the reality He intended. Obediently, you have pressed with your faith—praying and trusting His Word to be final authority in the situation.

Start with what you have and stand firmly in that which you know God has spoken to your heart. Write all that He has said, and is saying, then start with the outline you’ve written. The Lord has come onto the scene. The predicted end of the challenge, including the sting of it, is at hand. The Lord’s hand is stretched out on your behalf!

“The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!” (Psalm 118:15, 16 NKJV)

Amen.

Helping people to understand where they are, compared to the spiritual placement God has for them, is an exercise in humility and is therefore best accomplished where there is a teachable heart. Since the human makeup self-believes with greater faith than it submits in dependence upon the Source of all creation, without humility the human struggle for control maintains its claim.

Zechariah declared it is the LORD who forms the spirit of man within him. The creation of man is from the inside, out—spirit first, then soul and body. At conception, there instantly is spirit life; the soul and body follow its life line, connected to its Creator and connecting to the human life that carries it. And when life is born, we discern the spirit of a child so that we know and nurture who he is to become. (Zechariah 12:1)

In contrast, the perception of moderns is that life belongs to them, to be sprinkled with elements of God at their choosing. Their approach is exactly backwards, as is the logic that forms it; in fact, the opposite of self rule is true: It is He that has made us and not we ourselves. (Psalm 100:3)

The very thing that transforms us is the thing we could not see before: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2) The Word became flesh and the Son of God lived among men. Today, you and I have that Word speaking to us, teaching us, transforming pride into humility’s pattern:

“By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3 Amplified Bible)

Amen.

Zechariah 12:1
Psalm 100:3
John 1:1-2Hebrews 11:3
Psalm 139:14

Godly conversation is a vanishing art form.

Have you noticed the many that have much to say but listen much less by comparison? The idea should be for godly conversation to ebb and flow as ideas are shared;  the interaction is supposed to bring to everyone involved something good they did not have before.

Our interest in others—in their lives and needs, is a sensitivity we cultivate; for us, sensitivity is a discipline. To hear what is being said, to really hear, means we can utilize the information to build up others from our position in the conversation.

“Use your heads as you live and work among outsides. Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, and not cut them out.” Colossians 4:5-6, The Message

To talk endlessly, dominating other’s time and imposing upon them every imaginable opinion, is not what you want. Think, would you like to be on the other end of your conversations? And then there are those with mentally exhausting topics, pushed to the forefront of conversation with mindless chatter about selfish ordeals, exalting the past or vividly detailing personal problems. The person whose conversations are like this, likely does not realize it—they are as stuck in the mire of careless words as those they engage conversationally.

As Christians we are to practice edification—as Christians; non-Christians are not held to the same level of truth. We share the same “call” with our Lord; our words are to be seasoned with salt—a preservative, and our mission, like His, includes words that elevate the hearer.

“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” Colossians 4:6, NKJV

Amen.