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There are many preachers who say that if you send money to their ministry, God will give you ten times more money in return because He wants you to be rich. But is that really true? The Bible does say that we will be rewarded and blessed for giving joyfully to God, but what exactly are those rewards, and is there anything that will prevent us from receiving them?
Why should you take your hard-earned money and give part of it away? That is a valid question that needs to be asked, and today we will look into the Bible to see if we can find any valid answers. If there are no good reasons to give, then let’s not do it. But if there are good reasons, then let’s commit to becoming joyful, generous givers to the Lord!
The Bible clearly commands us to be generous, joyful givers of all that God has given to us, but exactly how much are we supposed to give? In the Old Testament, God demanded a 10% tithe, but is that still true for us as New Testament Christians? What really is the standard of giving for us as followers of Christ, and is it actually possible to become a joyful giver rather than a disgruntled one? Everyone has their opinion on this matter, but find out what the Bible really says!
It doesn’t matter how much knowledge we have about the Bible if we’re not living it out in daily obedience. The real test of what we believe comes in whether or not we are willing to step out and follow God wherever He leads us. Are we eager to respond when God calls us to follow Him into the unknown, and are we prepared to let go of anything that would hold us back from a life of total surrender to Him?
If a prisoner served his time and was set free, it would be unthinkable for him to go back and live in his prison cell. Yet many Christians who have been set free by Jesus continue to live as prisoners to their past. Jesus said if we know the truth, it would set us free, and we would be truly free. Are you saved, but still living under a cloud of guilt and fear because of your past sin? Jesus invites you to be set free today!
Jesus said the two most important commandments are to love God and love others. As the church, we typically spend most of our time together expressing our love for God, but how well are we doing at loving others, especially those who are not like us? Are we better at pointing fingers of criticism at the lost than we are at going out and actually loving them? What would happen if the church learned how to love like Jesus?
Throughout history, the great moves of God have always been preceded by earnest prayer. Immediately after the early church had spent ten days in prayer, they shook Jerusalem to its knees. D.L. Moody said that behind every move of God you will always find some kneeling form. Could it be that the reason we’re not seeing that kind of power in our churches in America today is because we’re not praying? What might God do through us if we understood the power of prayer?
For many Christians, prayer is something they only think about in a crisis. Churches have also filled their calendars with so many activities that prayer meetings have become a thing of the past. But what they fail to realize is, there is no effective substitute for prayer. None! When we neglect prayer, we are missing out on one of the greatest privileges in life. What might happen if we really understood the privilege of prayer?
Ask the average churchgoing Christian if they believe the Bible and they will quickly respond, “Of course I believe the Bible… I’m a Christian!” But the proof is not in what we say, it is in what we do. Are there commands in Scripture that we know, yet we are not actively obeying? Is there any visible evidence in our lives that our faith is real? Imagine what God could do through us if we really believed the Bible and put it into action!
Today the name of God has become a common curse word. Even Christians are guilty of treating God casually. The problem is, we have lost the fear of God because we have forgotten who it is we’re dealing with. God is not the old man in the sky. He is a consuming fire who dwells in unapproachable light. If we caught even the slightest glimpse His holiness, we would fall to the ground like dead men! How would our lives be different if we saw God for who He really is?
When Christ left heaven to come and save us, He didn’t stop halfway or just give His second-best. He gave up everything for us by willingly pouring out His blood on the cross. Knowing that Christ gave His all for us, we must ask ourselves the question, “Am I giving my all for Him?”
There has been a lot of misunderstanding and false teaching about baptism over the years; so who is baptism for, and what does baptism really do? Does baptism save us or add something to our salvation, and if not, then why do we need to be baptized at all? In today’s message we share scriptural insight on the real meaning and purpose of baptism and why it is such a beautiful act of our obedience to Christ.
