30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 21 1-4 THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL 02 Luke 21 1-4 Investing in God’s kingdom
📖 Luke 21:1-4
24Apr2021 - *Investing in God’s kingdom* - _Luke 21:1-4_ - THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL (2) – Bible reading: _Matthew 6:19-24_
Giving money for the work of His kingdom brings healing to our lives. We need to be healed continuously so that we can be a greater blessing to the people around us.
_Luke 21:1-4 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, (2) and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. (3) So He said, "Truly I say to you that *this poor widow has put in more than all*; (4) for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."_
Giving is the measurement of our commitment and our love for God. We can speak and preach about love for God but if it does not convert into the opening of our purse and giving of our money to the work of His kingdom, then all of our words are meaningless.
Though the amount of money that this widow put into the treasury was very small, of little worth, *it was still money*. Money has tremendous power to take the place of God in our lives.
_Matthew 6:19-24 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; (20) but *lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven*, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) *For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also*. (22) "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. (23) But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (24) "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon._
Mammon is an Aramaic word and the meaning of this word is that money is not just a neutral medium of exchange but money has the potential to bring in the powers of darkness riding on it, into our hearts.
This is why we need to handle money with great caution. It has the capacity to enthrone our hearts. The devil will ride in and soon, because of money, we will be worshipping the devil. This is the reason why we need to ask God to teach us how we can release money for the work of His kingdom and thereby ensure that the devil is not ruling our lives.
We must invest money into the building of His kingdom, very deliberately and intentionally because we are working into our own hearts and ensuring that we have not become slaves to mammon.
Investing money in the building of the kingdom of God is building for eternity. It is the way by which we build our treasures in heaven. (I have been saying that the time for us here on earth is a dress rehearsal. God’s eternal kingdom, for which He is preparing us, is the main event.)
Our life has to be all about preparing for our eternal kingdom and the way to invest and prepare for the eternal kingdom is by giving our money here on earth, for the work of His kingdom.
We, therefore, come back to the matter of prioritisation of our money to express our love for God. Valuing the matters of the kingdom of God as being far more important than our other pursuits and interests in our life, is a demonstration of our commitment and our love for God. This is the basis and the way in which we are building our treasures in heaven.
For where our treasure is there our heart will be also. *Giving money for the work of God’s kingdom is crucial to building our treasures in heaven*.
_I Timothy 6:17-19 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. (18) Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, *ready to give, willing to share, (19) storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come*, that they may lay hold on eternal life._
Our Giving has to be deliberate, intentional, planned, systematic and regular. It also needs to be monitored so that we can release more of our financial assets into the work of God’s kingdom. We need to think about how we can increase what we have in such a way so that we have more to give for the building of His kingdom.
People confuse this matter of giving with what Jesus taught in _Matthew 6_.
_Matthew 6:1-4 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. (2) Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. (3) But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, (4) that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly._
They have said that giving must be done in secret and it should only be a matter between us and God and not for public consumption. They are forgetting that this passage is about the motives of the heart.
Are we looking for praise from people because of our giving? Are we wanting our name to be engraved on some stone, for our giving? This is what the Lord is against.
Jesus is telling us not to seek for our own glory by our giving. God knows the motives of our heart and we will need to always seek the cleansing of our hearts by Holy Spirit that there should not be even a shred of desire for personal name and fame, by our giving. As soon as we sense a tug in our hearts for personal glory, we must repent, surrender and hand it over to Holy Spirit, for His healing.
Nevertheless, giving our money for the building of His kingdom has to be intentional and purposeful.
*Thought to ponder*
```Do you have a giving plan or is your giving sporadic and blown about by your feelings?```