Tag: Luke

Posted in GIVING

Store Up Your Treasures in Heaven

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

 

Give to everyone who ask you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Luke 6:30

Give, Give, Give. Did you read it well? Give to everyone who ask you. Notice He didn’t say give to your friends, or give to your brother, sister, family, or give to your neighbours. He said Give to everyone who ask you. It could be a friend, family, stranger, the person who did you wrong, that boy or girl who broke your heart, or the person who betrayed you. Give to your enemy. We are followers of Jesus Christ and we represent LOVE. When Jesus was hurt, beaten, slapped, etc He said Father forgive them.

In verses 32 and 33 He said “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.

The second part says “And if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” If anyone takes your money, phone, food, cloth, etc, do not demand it back. Serving God is becoming more complex than you thought. Right? 

Why would Jesus make such statement?

We are here for someone else. That is you are blessed to be a blessing to others. God told Abraham that “I will bless you and make you a blessing”. Without those you could help, you have no value. Yeah! That is true. Without us, the death of Jesus would have been meaningless. God created you, and He blessed you so that you would stretch your hands to help those in need. I know this sound difficult but let us examine what Jesus told the rich young man when the man told Jesus he had kept the law from youth. Mark 10:21  “21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven;”  Giving is an opportunity for to open an account in Heaven where we would depositing as and when we give to those in need. When you give generously, God will set the right people on your way to help you when you encounter any difficulties.

You may say “De Preacher …but I can’t let it go. This person took my money and I can’t let him have all. He spoilt my phone; He has to pay for it. He destroyed my property. This, or that; it is all I have”.  Wouldn’t you rather believe in God and be blessed?

The scripture tells us in Proverbs 11:23 that “one man gives freely, yet grains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Some of us are selfish. They only think about themselves; what they would eat, drink, put on, drive, etc. They are so selfish that they wouldn’t mind killing their fellow brother or sister for Job position. As Proverbs put it, one man stores for the future, He keeps others away from enjoying his wealth, yet he comes to poverty. It is only a matter of time. Hey! Stingy person does not make any friends and hurt himself in the long run. But generosity is the path to blessing and further prosperity.

I want to encourage you today not to take back what you have given out to a friend, family member, stranger, enemy, etc, and to make a decision from today that if anyone takes what is yours, you are not going to demand it back. You want to know why, when God gives, He never takes back.

I will close with Luke 6:38 “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you”

As you give, you would be storing up treasures in Heaven.

Someone is in need today, Show some LOVE.

 

Posted in GOD'S KINGDOM, JESUS

WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR GOSPEL?

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins soul is wise. Proverbs 11:30. What if a Christian doesn’t win souls? What becomes of him?

Before Jesus left, he told us to GO into the entire world and preach the good news to all creature. He gave us Power to heal the sick, cast out demons, etc. While Jesus was on earth, He told His disciples the reason God sent Him. He said in Luke 4:43 that “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other town also, because that is why I was sent.” When He called His disciples, He sent them to go and preach the good news on different occasions; in Luke 9 and 10. In the gospel of John, Jesus said “as the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

The world is facing a lot of crises because we are silent. We prefer to stay in our churches every Sunday or possibly throughout the week, waiting on the Lord. Jesus wants us to go and win more souls. If I go out, and You also go out to preach, and win more souls, the world will be full of Light, and darkness will have no power. Why are people committing suicide bombing? Why are some women killing innocent babies? Why would some people burn their fellow human beings alive when they were having service? Why is darkness dominating our world today? Why are people depressed? Why are people worrying about what to do with their lives? Why are people starting to believe there is no God?

We are the lights of the world. If we could go out there to places where darkness prevails, more people would be saved, and there would be light everywhere. As a child of God, you go to Church to renew your mind, strength and ask God for wisdom, knowledge and understanding, present your report for the past week; the number of people you have won for the Kingdom so that further arrangements can be made by the church to draw those people closer to God, then you out there again to tell people about God’s goodness and mercy through Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus wants us to do; to reach out to the lost souls, those depressed, those who are suffering from the works of Satan, those who are poor, broken-hearted, etc. Surprisingly, this is what most of us are not doing. We want people to identify us as Christians because we go to church daily, clean the temple, sing, usher, play instruments, etc. We prefer to live in big buildings while the lost sheep are in the world, heading towards eternal destruction.

Sometimes, I wonder if there is something wrong with our Gospel. Why are people not receiving our Gospel? Why are Christians rejected in place they are not supposed to be rejected? There is more Power in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. However, Most Christians today are not doing what Christ wants us to do. People, especially unbelievers, believe in evidence. They believe in what they see more than what they hear, that was why when Jesus sent out His disciples to preach, He gave them Power to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the death, etc.

How would an unbeliever know that Jesus loves him or her?

Most people ignore the Gospel because of our approach. We first condemn them instead of showing them or telling them about the Grace of our Lord Jesus. From the scriptures, Jesus showed Mary mercy before telling her not to repeat her life of sin. John 8:1-11.

When Jesus met Zacchaeus in Luke 19, He didn’t say Zacchaeus, if you don’t stop your evil deeds, you will not received Grace, you will go to hell, and you will die. The Bible says a soul that sinneth will die. However, do not tell a person you are a sinner, fornicator, adulterer, etc. And expect the person to take it lightly. When Jesus met the Samaritan woman in John 4, He knew the woman commits adultery yet He never called her adulterer or sinner. He used an approach that not only made the woman believed, but many Samaritans. You can read John 4:39.

An unbeliever is like a child. The way you treat him or her will determine the kind of respond you will get. Jesus told Zacchaeus “come down immediately. I must stay at your house today”. Jesus’ actions alone changed Zacchaeus’ life from bad to good. Let us first present Christ’s Love and that action will yield more results. When an unbeliever is hungry, feed him. That action alone will communicate more than what you would say. When you see an unbeliever who is sick, pray for him, and when he gets well, he will come with his whole household to follow Jesus. In Acts 3, Peter and John healed one man, and that action brought many to believe in Jesus. In Acts 4:4 the bible says “But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.” After healing the man, many came to listen to the message of our Lord Jesus, which drew about 2000 souls. Wasn’t that amazing?

How was Peter saved? Jesus said a Word, they obeyed, caught a large number of fish. When you read Luke 5:8, “when Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”. Jesus didn’t say anything about repentance to Peter. Peter was caught by what Jesus did. Peter and his colleagues had toiled all night without any result. Probably, they were stressed up. How would he have listened to Jesus if Jesus had told him to leave his sinful life? Jesus did something that showed Peter His love for Him. That is the way we should approach an unbeliever, or a sinner. We, first of all, must give or show an evidence of Christ’s Love for them. When Philip went to Samaria in Acts 8:6 “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid attention to what he said”

Don’t just go and tell a hungry man Jesus loves you. He won’t believe that. First, make something for him to eat, give him something for the pocket. Tell him the secret behind your riches, strength, happiness, and what motivated you to do what you did. That secret, I believe would be Jesus. Don’t just tell sick folk “John 3:16”. Pray for his deliverance, and he will get up believing the Power in the Name of Jesus. Try as much as you can to offer some help before you speak about the message of the Cross. That help could be mere words of encouragement, etc.

Christians today must revisit the original way of reaching lost souls. Jesus gave us Power to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, etc. Let your Faith do the work. Practise what you have learnt in the Bible. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. However, Faith without deeds is dead. When you don’t practice the Word of God that comes to you (Your Faith), the Word will be of no use. That is to say, your Faith has no worth.

The Role of the Church:

Most of us today spend huge sums decorating a church building when some members are suffering in the church. As the saying goes, charity begins at home. The change must start from the church. In Acts 7:48, we are told that God doesn’t live in houses made by men. We are His temple according to the scripture. A true shepherd wouldn’t spend money decorating the Pen when his sheep are starving. We must do what the believers did in Acts 4:32-36. Let us feed the hungry among us, Cloth the naked in our midst, Provide support for the needy.

Pastors, Evangelists, Preachers, and all ministers of the Gospel must focus on the human soul. Jesus said in Luke 15:7 that “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Fighting for Powers, popularity, huge congregation, etc was not God’s reason for calling you. He called you to demonstrate His goodness and mercy. In the end, God wouldn’t congrats you for having a huge congregation, nice cars, nice suites, being more powerful, popular, etc. What Paul did, I believe will be the basis for ministers of the Gospel, including you and me. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 “19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

There is nothing wrong with our Gospel. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This gives us Hope that Our Gospel will stay forever. We only need to go back and follow how Christ wanted us to reach out to lost souls.

Posted in GIVING

GIVING YOUR WIDOW’S MITE

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

GIVE EVERYTHING

Giving your widow’s mite unleash supernatural blessings. First of all, I will emphasize that God loves a cheerful giver. He expects us to give with joy, happiness, and be more positive with what we are giving. Most of us believe in Giving. We believe in “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38. When you give ordinary, you get something ordinary. However, when you give your widow’s mite, you receive supernatural blessings you can’t contain. Such blessings never cease.

What is the Widow’s mite?

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.[f] 43And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” mark 12:41-44. The widow’s mite is giving everything you have. From the scripture, the other people contributed out of their abundance. Giving all you have is giving your widow’s mite. I know it looks unreasonable, considering the fact that you have to plan for tomorrow. But God’s ways are above our ways, and His thoughts are above ours. He knows what He will do to bless you immeasurable that tomorrow.

What happens after giving your widow’s mite?

Giving you Widow’s mite means giving everything you have either to support God’s Kingdom, or to support your neighbor. Jesus said in John 12 “24I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain; it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest.” When you give bountifully, you put a seed into the earth. The seed dies before it grows up, which means in the short run, depending on your faith, you will experience some difficulties. Things will get a bit tough, your bills may pile up, etc. but when it starts growing, it will produce many others and yield a rich harvest. Anytime you plan to give all to Jesus, be ready to face short term hardship, probably for some minutes, hours, a day, a week, or a month. In the end, you will have good measure, pressed down, running over from God and Men.

What do have to give?

Our Father set the example for us to follow. He gave us His only begotten son. He knew that the only way He could draw all to Himself was to give what He treasured most – His son. Jesus gave His best for us all. He shed His blood for us. Abraham received the Promise after making the attempt to sacrifice all he had. The widow gave all she had for herself and her son to Elijah.

Let me ask you;

Are you ready to give all to Jesus?

Whatever (Car, building, business, wife, children, friends, etc) takes your time, energy, etc more than God is a god to you. Your Father is jealous God who wouldn’t allow anything to take you away from Him. I heard of a story a certain man in a certain city. He had a daughter and he planned to build a big mansion for her. At the same time, the church needed money to put up a place for worship. He said no to the church but used his resources to build the mansion for the daughter. He planned a day to transfer ownership to the daughter but the daughter died some days before the day fixed. I don’t mean to scare you but when the Lord needs something, don’t hesitate. The man later gave the building to the church.

Listen to your spirit now, what is it telling you to give? Just Obey!

The life of a Giver

  • Proverb 11:24. One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
  • 2 Corinthians 9:6.  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
  • Proverbs 11:23. The desire of the righteous ends only in good, but the hope of the wicked only in wrath.
  • Proverbs 11:25. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
  • Proverbs 13:7. One man pretends to be rich yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
  • Proverbs 28:27. He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.

There are more blessings in giving than receiving. Give cheerfully and God will reward you bountifully. Next time you are giving, either to support God’s Kingdom or your neighbor, give your widow’s mite and you will never regret you did.

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