C - Contribute Time, Talent and Treasure to the Building of the Kingdom
Praise the Lord! In this third letter of this teaching I will be encouraging you to C - Contribute Time, Talent and Treasure to the Building of the Kingdom. IAAH!
Contribute simply means to give. This is not a difficult word or concept to understand when looked through the lens of "my life does not belong to me." As a born-again believer we are servants of the Lord. The word "servant" describes one who is bound to do what he is told to do regardless of what he thinks about it. This may seem like a harsh term, but just reflect on Jesus who is our perfect example. On the cross He gave His life in obedience to the Father. He was teaching us how to give regardless of how we think or feel.
God is calling us all to give three things which encompass every area of our lives. First He wants us to give our time to build His kingdom. He has given us time as a wonderful gift to live for Him. The enemy, the master of the flesh, daily works overtime to get us to be lazy and waste time. We don't have time to waste time! Remember the Kingdom! We are on divine assignment and will be held accountable for our time.
Second, He wants us to give our talents. Now this one can be a bit tricky because many times the world has put a high price tag on talents. If you are good at what you do, the world is more than willing to pay you top dollar for it. However, that high price tag will cause one to forget who gave the talent in the first place. I believe that if you are good at something you should be paid for it. However, the greater reward is using that gift in the kingdom which yields a much greater deposit in prospects of eternity.
Last, but not least, and certainly the hardest to give is our treasure. I'm telling you, (not that you don't already know this) when you start talking about giving the almighty dollar to the Lord, everybody, saint and sinner alike get bothered. Nevertheless, in numerous references in the Bible we are commanded to give our money.
Giving of our treasure (money) should be processed through the fact that none of it belongs to us anyway. 1 Chronicles 29:14 says that all things come from God. We should gladly give back what the Lord asks of us and use what He has given for His glory. We should gratefully give the tenth and be honored that He lets us choose how to spend the rest.
So today, think on how Jesus willingly gave all. Ask the Holy Spirit to breathe on your thoughts and give you a revelation of what it means to contribute your time, talent and treasure to the Lord. Once He pulls back the cover in your mind, giving your all to Him will be a piece of cake!
Understanding the Kingdom of Heaven in 2011,
Pastor Sheila
Contribute simply means to give. This is not a difficult word or concept to understand when looked through the lens of "my life does not belong to me." As a born-again believer we are servants of the Lord. The word "servant" describes one who is bound to do what he is told to do regardless of what he thinks about it. This may seem like a harsh term, but just reflect on Jesus who is our perfect example. On the cross He gave His life in obedience to the Father. He was teaching us how to give regardless of how we think or feel.
God is calling us all to give three things which encompass every area of our lives. First He wants us to give our time to build His kingdom. He has given us time as a wonderful gift to live for Him. The enemy, the master of the flesh, daily works overtime to get us to be lazy and waste time. We don't have time to waste time! Remember the Kingdom! We are on divine assignment and will be held accountable for our time.
Second, He wants us to give our talents. Now this one can be a bit tricky because many times the world has put a high price tag on talents. If you are good at what you do, the world is more than willing to pay you top dollar for it. However, that high price tag will cause one to forget who gave the talent in the first place. I believe that if you are good at something you should be paid for it. However, the greater reward is using that gift in the kingdom which yields a much greater deposit in prospects of eternity.
Last, but not least, and certainly the hardest to give is our treasure. I'm telling you, (not that you don't already know this) when you start talking about giving the almighty dollar to the Lord, everybody, saint and sinner alike get bothered. Nevertheless, in numerous references in the Bible we are commanded to give our money.
Giving of our treasure (money) should be processed through the fact that none of it belongs to us anyway. 1 Chronicles 29:14 says that all things come from God. We should gladly give back what the Lord asks of us and use what He has given for His glory. We should gratefully give the tenth and be honored that He lets us choose how to spend the rest.
So today, think on how Jesus willingly gave all. Ask the Holy Spirit to breathe on your thoughts and give you a revelation of what it means to contribute your time, talent and treasure to the Lord. Once He pulls back the cover in your mind, giving your all to Him will be a piece of cake!
Understanding the Kingdom of Heaven in 2011,
Pastor Sheila
This is an awesome Word Pastor Sheila. I believe it, receive it and will obey it.
ReplyDeleteThank you.