WHAT SHALL I GIVE? (This is a two part series.) Why not invest and read it?
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
TEXT. 2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully
7. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart; so let him GIVE; not grudgingly, or of necessity: FOR GOD LOVETH A CHEERFUL GIVER.
Romans 2:1 Therefore thou art excusable, O man, ----
DEFINE:
GIVE: to make a present, to yield to another, to bestow, to put in the possession of another, sacrifice, donate, ----
EXCUSE: To make apology, to try to remove the blame, to grant exemption, to justify, to release from duty or responsibility or guilt, exempt, to give explanation for a situation that appears dubious,
1. REMEMBER SOME OF THE GIFTS FROM THE PAST?
I am pondering giving. I will preface what I am going to write, by saying this very true statement. YOU CAN GIVE without LOVING BUT YOU CAN NEVER LOVE WITHOUT GIVING.
I recall some of the Christmas’ from the past. One year my older brother and I received red Western Flyer bicycles was Western Auto. They were so cool. They even had little headlights mounted in the front. We could never afford the batteries to use the headlights, but they were there.
One year I received a speedometer to go on my Western Flyer Bike, I was really up town then. My cousin and I rode it down a mountain in east Tennessee once and we buried the needle on that speedometer. I was on the handbars and he was riding, wow, what an exciting time we had when we met a bread truck coming around the curve. The bread truck ran off the road, and the driver jumped out and was hollering how nice we were at us. We couldn’t stop.
One year my Dad was interested in bows and arrows for deer hunting. So my brother and I got a bow and arrow set. Mine was a fiberglass double reverse bow and my brother got a wood "Bear" bow.
Mom taught us that if we shook a wrapped package for us under the tree, what even was in the package would turn to potato peels or coal dust. We had to be very careful.
I am pondering the to give a gift that has lasting effects, a gift that keeps on giving?
I am again pondering, giving and the gifts that are most often given?
I ponder: what is the most often gift given to God?
2. GOD WAS THE BEST EXAMPLE OF A GIVER OF GOOD GIFTS!
God gave us the church, God gave His Best ... His only son ... ,
the Son gave the Holy Spirit, and God’s gifts keep giving!
Now, that set for us a good example of love and love’s gift.
3. WHAT SHALL I GIVE HIM?
I don’t want to give the Son of God a cheap trinket that does not express my love and appreciation for Him. I love Jesus, I want to give Him a meaningful gift of my love.
4. I PONDER WHAT DO OTHERS GIVE?
I do not mean to look at others giving as a comparison, but as a spur, the birth a love gift from me.
As I ponder giving to Jesus, I think not at what our words say we give, for often men say one thing with their lips, and say another thing with their priorities and their billfold. Talk can be so cheap.
God loves a faithful, planned giving process. Most give accidental, haphazard, unplanned and unpurposed gifts. If I don’t establish a system of evaluation I might give an empty box. I don’t want to be a LAST MINUTE IN HASTE GIVER.
5. I KNOW SEVERAL ENDLESS GIFT THAT ARE PERPETUATING!
I think I know what we often lay at Jesus’ feet?
It is a gift that keeps on going? SEEMS THIS GIFT IS ENDLESS, SELF FEEDING, SELF PERPETUATING GIFT THAT MANY GIVE.
Let me share a thought about the frequent gifts we give to God.
A. UNFAITHFULNESS...
Several years ago, I was visiting door to door. I asked the man of the house, "Do you attend church faithfully?"
He replied, " Well I used to go all the time, but to be honest with you, I haven’t been to church in many years. See, years ago the preacher..."
(Does it matter what the preacher did years ago ... ?)
I replied to that with " Well, that Preacher has been gone many years. If it were your last Sunday would you go?"
He then offered an excuse ... " I am out of peanut butter, I can’t go?"
I said, "Out of peanut butter, what that’s to do with church attendance?"
He answered, " That is as good as any other excuse I could give you!"
B. WE JUSTIFY OUR UNFAITHFULNESS, else we would correct the problem.
One of these days I am going to write a book on EXCUSES GIVEN in calls right before church. For I have heard some whoppers, how about you?
One lady told me, I would have been to church Wednesday night, but I didn’t know if we were going to have church?
I thought, We have church every Wednesday night?
I just didn’t feel like going tonight? Do you think Jesus felt like going to the cross? Did you feel like going to the Big Sale at Walmart?
6. SOME GENERAL STATEMENTS ABOUT EXCUSES.
***No man will ever do wrong, unless he has an excuse to justify his wrong.
***And often times excusing of a fault, doth make the fault the worse by the excuse.
***Ignorance of the law is no excuse, not that all men know the law, but because it is an excuse that every man would plea, and how can the law refute it, if it were an acceptable excuse?
***He who excuses himself.......accuses himself.
***Any excuse beats none, any excuse will serve us well.
***Pure love cannot be always excusing.
7 THE TREND GIFT, THE HOT GIFT, THE MOST POPULAR GIFT.
Seems like each year there is a very popular, high demand gift, Tickle Me Elmo, Cabbage Patch, Nintendo, Xbox, etc.
8. EXCUSES FOR SLIP SHOD CHRISTIAN WORK SEEMS THE HIGH DEMAND SPIRITUAL GIFT OFFERED YEAR ROUND.
LUKE 14:18 AND THEY (BY THE WAY, WHO ARE THEY?) ALL WITH ONE CONSENT (UNITY IN PURPOSE) BEGAN TO MAKE EXCUSE.
What are excuses? to justify, to make apology, to try to remove blame, disregard as trivial, to exempt or release from responsibility.
9. DEFINE PALLIATE?
Palliate, to cover by excuses and apologies, to moderate the intensity,
to hide or conceal, to cover up as a means of avoiding facing the problem, to sugar coat or to white wash.
I HAVE A SERMON ON PALLIATING, or how we make light of serious things to avoid dealing with our real problems. To palliate is to cover by excuses and apologies. We might call palliation the ability to white wash or gloss over and conceal, to avoid correcting.
We can grow little by palliating our faults.
10. THE LAW THAT ONE EXCUSE CALLS FOR ANOTHER.
There are laws of nature and laws of God, ... what goes up must come down, ... you reap what you sow, you will reap by the level of your planting, etc. There is a sure law that will not be reversed ...
One excuse calls for another ... I ponder ... WHY?
11. POOR ATTITUDES HABITUALLY GROW WORSE BY EXCUSE.
Sickly oaks from sickly acorns grow!
We can reinforce behavior by repetitive action, so that our prevailing disposition and character of our thought patterns, feelings, and behavior
settle certain tendency in our manner of words and actions.
We establish negative word launching and fault finding until it takes roots and establishes a behavior/attitude pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure and thus increase the prolonged effect of the spiritual trap in which we have fallen. We can so establish excuses that they BECOME THE NORM and we operate in a nearly involuntary process.
To practice something wrong, just reinforces the wrongful behaviors.
12. TO CUT DOWN THE VISIBLE IS NOT ALWAYS THE SOLUTION.
As I ponder, the attitude goes before the action/deed, the action establishes a habit, and the habit will grow into a spirit, or a way of life. Thus roots will keep returning growth, no matter how often you cut down the visible life form, you must deal with the root structure. (see Heb. 12:12-15) There is a root system embedded into the very heart of man ... WE KNOW HOW TO MAKE EXCUSES WITH ONE CONSENT.
You can cut down dandelions all day, but next week they will suddenly reappear. Many people have so long practice the "gift of making an offering" of excuses, that they are offended if corrected.
As Barney Fife would say, "NIP IT IN THE BUD!"
13. WE DON’T LIKE THE MESSAGE, WE DON’T LIKE THE MESSAGER!
Often times when the pulpit addresses SLIP SHOD MINISTRY (careless, slovenly), disinclined to work, not energetic, not excite, no zeal, unfaithfulness, tardiness, couch potatoes that lay in vomit, they offered back a sickening repulsion instead of being corrected.
Well, if that is the way you feel towards my lack of excellence in commitment, I WILL SHOW YOU, I QUIT!
13. IT IS HIGH TIME WE AWAKE AND PUT ASIDE THE GIFT OF EXCUSING THE PULPIT AND THE PEW!
We need men of God to arise, and not find satisfaction in rubbing the belly of a sleeping giant, we must make the uncomfortable comfortable, but we need to hear the trumpet blow in Zion, we might need to make the comfortable feel uncomfortable. We need leaders with a soft heart, but the backbone to say ALL EXCUSES CEASE!
Until the church will lift it’s head out of the sand, and see excuses for what they really are, the plot of the enemy will grow. We must evaluate what excusing bad behavior will do!
14. THE GIANT WILL GROW.
The army of God listened to Goliath the giant, they listened to 80 negative messages, and would return to their tents to cry and be depressed. Finally one little boy said, Enough is enough. It is time to move in God.
We are headed for heartache and heartbreak, the more we listen and offer excuses. Hear the Spirit, arise men and women of God, run toward the problem, when the enemy is down cut off his head so he can’t resurrect!
Can excuses lead to sin? Excuses are not necessarily a sin, but excuses can grow and become sin. Many will pay the high price for offering excuses. We are limiting the Mighty God we serve, because we have learned excuses will be accepted by men.
15. HOW MANY NOTES HAVE YOU COSIGNED?
We all cosign on each excuse offered, when we condone and accept excuses. Someone will pay, somewhere, sometime.
Young people playing games and running in and out of the sanctuary?
People have no guilty consciences for playing hooky, not paying their tithes, not studying, not praying, God loves me, He understands?
16. JUST BECAUSE "THEY ALL" ARE DOING IT, DOES NOT EXCUSE YOU!
Looking at Luke 14:18 .....we find some hidden things about excuses.
THEY ALL ... Man finds safety in groups, we call this peer pressure, if everybody else is doing it, offering excuses habitually ... we must be OK to offer them?
THEY ALL, ... When a dog gets with a pack, the dog will take on a new nature, the mob mentality, and the taste for blood can grow, because we hide behind excuses.
Where do we apply the rule of individual responsibility and duty?
A dog will bite the hand that fed it, when he joins the pack.
"THEY SAID" has killed many! Can I ask you who they are ... when "THEY SAID?" One thing, I have learned as a pastor of 22+ years, is I refuse to hear any report based on what "THEY SAID ... tell me who they are......or don’t tell me what THEY SAID!
"THEY SAID," is an excuse of itself. See how long "THEY SAID" will hold up before a judge and lawyers! Hearsay is never permissible in a court of law. We must never fall in to this rut of excuse. Identify the source or be quiet.
17. THE POWER OF A CROWD, THE POWER OF AGREEMENT?
"WITH ONE CONSENT," do we not know and teach where there is agreement, there is power? Agreement establishes approval, thus by accepting excuses we condone and enable. Silence can give consent.
No man can make you feel inferior without your consent, so is the inverse possible?
We find safety and validity in commonness and likeness. When you get with a pack or mob and your agreement accepts and processes excuses as the norm, the cry will soon sound like ... "crucify." COME OUT OF THIS GROUP, QUIT ACCEPTING OR GIVING EXCUSES.
18. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PRECEDENCE.
Ask any lawyer how a judge can establish a precedence and change the power of a law. When the barn door is left open, the animals might find new freedom?
TO MAKE..... a precedence has been established, we begin ... we start a physical and mental process that grows into the spiritual domain, thus allowing our norm to play games with excuses.
Remember when lady’s sowed with needles and thread? They would have a paper pattern to cut the material. We have models or tendencies toward many things, offering excuses is an easy pattern to follow. Once you allow a child the right of excuses the growth toward good and good learning will be limited?
19. GOD WE NEED A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE TO THE MESSAGE ON EXCUSES.
We need a paradigm shift in how we look at excuses. When words become verbalized, a process is set in order. We must have a change of heart that every excuse offered hinders us from a better way.
Look closely at the gifts men give God and fellowman.
Don’t offer excuses.
We are never better because of excuses.
May I add, every excuse offered looks or sounds acceptable to he that offers it? We must find some valid measuring stick to go by.
20. HOW CAN WE SEE IF WE DON’T OPEN OUR EYES?
How can we determine if a stick be straight or crooked? We can debate, we can create a system of fair tolerances, but a wise man would simplify the system and lay a straight stick down and let the facts speak for themselves? We need a holy standard about excuses, to apply the proper well grounded method of evaluation.
21. JESUS HAS A LESSON ON EXCUSES!
Jesus’ lesson on excuses by classification including every area of excuse ever offered as an offering that keeps on giving.
A) The first area of excuse ... MATERIALISM.
I bought a piece of ground, I MUST GO AND SEE.....
Note: he wanted to go see, not to go plow to ready for a crop. He never wanted to go harvest something already sown, the excuse is to go see. He wanted to make eye contact one more time. Does this not express a heart problem? Could there be a priority problem?
He has already seen the material/land or he’s a big fool, it is my thought that he was taking others to see, thus giving them an excuse. This man has set a precedence or pattern for others to follow.
Where is the honor given? Do you have a system of establishing priorities? ... the priority of importance ... the rest of his life would be devoted to the habit of what pleased the eyes ... not what would Jesus do? Thus his example would at least lead to spiritual shallowness.
B.) The second class of excuses fall in the BUSINESS // PLEASURE DOMAIN. I have purchased me a new car//tractor. Well, Biblical terms would be, BOUGHT OXEN AND I GO TO PROVE THEM ... first observe this deal as a done deal, closed, why prove them?
He should have proved them before he bought them. Also again note, the excuse is not to work or plow. THE OXEN WAS A SOURCE OF WORK OR TRANSPORTATION, to Granny’s house we go ...
Once we had a young lady graduate from college, she was a talented piano player. She came to the altar and asked for prayer, she wanted a new car, her old car was junk, and starting to teach school, she wanted a new car.
On Monday, she drove a brand new car to the parsonage and we anointed it and had a prayer. On Wednesday, she was not at prayer meeting, I saw her the next day, I inquired about her, we missed her at the piano ... she relied, "Pastor, my new car was dirty, I had to wash it!"
Another time, a royal ranger leader, was given the opportunity to come back to work and get overtime? Or the call came for a make up game for his softball team? or come to church? Do you know which choice JIM made? Guess money? Game? Church?
You are right.....he played and won in softball. Did he win? Jim had much grief with all his kids as teens, church had never been a priority! For church there was always an excuse.
Another time, a spiritual LEADER in the church was offered 300 bucks for this optional overtime. This was just not on rare occasions? He would have never left his post of duty for the standard scale. The choice was based on offering more and more? The offering never increased? I saw a pattern of what was the superior place of honor and priority. The family had every toy possible. Soon the wife was not happy, she found another friend, the priority was established, things first and God, then offer good excuses.
The word says: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, no excuses!
C. THE THIRD CLASS OF EXCUSES WOULD BE RELATIONSHIPS.
Hey, I just got married? I have a date. I used to have a greater sympathy for this excuse? Then one day I realized, man you could have scheduled the dates and included God and your honeymoon? We must see things are interrelated.
I got married on Saturday night. I missed Sunday School and Church the next morning. My Pastor, was my Dad. He came and knocked on the door Sunday after church. We dodged him and hid from him.
At church that night, my Dad came up to me, I was playing the guitar. He warned me, "YOU MUST KEEP YOUR FAMILY IN CHURCH, TO BE SUCCESSFUL."
Well, this was a little strong. I don’t think one Sunday will kill you, but I could have established a habit and a pattern of excuses, that valued ball games more than God and His Church. Let’s dismiss church to watch a ballgame, we will reach more people?
I have seen many young beautiful girls let their fellows draw them away from the church and the price was high? Ballgames? TV? (Use the VCR and tape delay?)
22. MANY GREAT MEN LEARNED HOW TO OFFER EXCUSES!
Moses offered excuses? Gideon offered excuses?
Romans 2:1 warns us: Thou are inexcusable ... there is no excuse or justification for living on the edge.
Let us not give God any excuses for Christmas!
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com Help me? Pass
