Freddy Kruger, Jason, Cujo.  They scared me to death. As a teenager, I did all I could to stay away from any kind of horror movie.  I still do. Today, I do it for spiritual reasons. I don’t want to expose myself to that stuff, but back then, I was just scared out of my mind.  The thing about evil movie characters is that they are always portrayed as if they have great power. It seems they can never be stopped. Of course, it would help if the victims in the movie didn’t make such stupid decisions, but that is for another day 🙂

The devil exists.  Jesus speaks about him.  Satan is the epitome of evil, but he operates only under the permission of our Lord.  Satan is allowed this time to bring temptations before us to give us an opportunity to choose God exercising our faith.  But temptations is all he has power for. He cannot actually destroy my faith. He can’t force me to forfeit my peace. He cannot stop my love.  The license issued to him only allows him to place before me temptations that might influence me to move away from the Lord, to give up my faith.  The worst of these temptations according to Scripture is something that you probably have on your person right now. If not, you may wish you did. The most wicked and utterly difficult temptation for us to resist is money. 

And that brings us to our Verse of the Day:

2 Corinthians 9:6

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

(NIV)

If you are not familiar with the term, sowing means to plant.  It is to take what you have, give it up to the ground for the prospect of something greater.  Sowing also becomes symbolic of giving and generosity. We offer our money as a sacrifice to the Lord investing it into something or someone else trusting the Lord will more than take care of our needs despite less income in the pocketbook.

The greatest thing is that giving at any amount is a good thing.  Even when we sow sparingly, there is a return. This alone should convince us to be generous with our money, giving it to support God’s ministry, helping God’s people, and ministering to the world in need.  But giving is so important that God commanded the people in the Old Testament to never come before Him at the Temple empty-handed. They always had to give something.  

God doesn’t need the money so God did not tell them to give so He could pay Heaven’s water bill.  Giving is the antidote to the god of Mammon (Matthew 6:24). Jesus says we can not serve both God and Mammon.  Some translations use the word ‘money’ instead of Mammon, but there is a difference. Mammon is dependence upon our own abilities to supply our needs and fulfill our desires.  When we give our money away, it is a symbolic gesture that reminds us that all we have came from God. He is our Provider. This perspective reframes our thinking. If God is our Provider and supplies all of our needs, then we don’t have to be workaholics.  We don’t have to worry and stress. We are relieved of the pressure. Consistent giving to the Lord protects us from depending upon ourselves to take care of ourselves. Consistent, generous giving helps us to make us our own god, but we continue to exalt Him, trust Him, and release the pressure of our financial burdens to Him.  And to help us give, He promises to give us a greater return than our sacrifice.

Do you give to the Lord?  Do you give sacrificially to help you put your faith in God as Your Provider and not your own ability at work?  Let me tell you. Being God is above our paygrade. Let Him be God and don’t fall into the devil’s trap for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).  Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Live Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Pastor Lee is a pastor and Biblical life coach.  He has been helping people through counseling, pastoring, teaching, and preaching for 20+ years.  His ministry focuses on helping people overcome the strongholds of the past and press on into God’s plan for an abundant life.  He has been married to his wife, Amy for 28 years.  He has three sons and one daughter-in-love.  For more about Pastor Lee or to get some Biblical advice, go to the About page.