Generosity

The past few weeks Pastor has been teaching about Generosity. We have been learning what it means to make an invisible God visible and our Church Vision is LOVE-LIVE-GIVE. So this has been a 10 week series with a few sermons on each part of the vision. I really enjoyed today's sermon. It was all about generosity. Luke 16:13 says, "No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, or anything in which you trust and on which you rely).(AMP)"
This verse pretty much sums up the sermon from today. We can not trust in the things of this world and trust in God at the same time. Like it says we will end up despising God. I know this is something we all struggle with. Can we trust God with every part of our lives. Usually it is the financial part of our lives that we struggle the most with. God wants to bless us financially but we just can't seem to turn it over to Him. I have been working on this lately and I have seen the blessings. I can't see not tithing anymore. I live more blessed off the 90% than I do off of 100%. I have been there and it seemed like I could never get ahead. This week He blessed me with a raise and I am so happy I learned about the different types of giving just a few weeks ago. I was so excited to give my first fruits I could hardly wait to get my paycheck so I could write the check. I now truly know what it is to be a cheerful giver.
This morning while Pastor was teaching about generosity and tithing I have this intense burning in my soul to share with our congregation the truths I know about the different types of giving. If they knew the reason behind each type of giving and what tithing actually accomplishes then what could our church do for the community? Just imagine what an entire congregation of tithers and givers could do!! It excites me! God can use each one of us in a mighty way. When we tithe the devil can't touch us! If the whole church knew this then we would be an unstoppable force against the devil. That should be enough to get anyone excited! If the Lord wants me to teach this then He will provide a way. I just want Christians to know that life doesn't stop at just being saved. We can have heaven on earth. God wants us to live long, healthy lives; blessed in our finances; blessed in our job; and He wants our families blessed. If every Christian got this truth this world would be a wonderful place!
I was still pondering school the last few weeks but I have decided that I don't need to learn more from books I need to learn from the Word of God! He will provide what I need and will help me say what needs to be said. I get so excited to learn new things from the Word. He has taught me so much over the past seven months and He is continuing to show me more. It has not always been easy and I have struggled with loving others and having patience. I have grown a lot though and I can not be more grateful to Him for helping me through and of course some great friends who are encouraging!