"For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to GIVE you a future and a hope." - JEREMIAH 29:11

     There is something so deeply beautiful about the gathering of the saints. And if it is this wonderful for me to look at, can you just imagine what it must look like for God in the spiritual! God says He is the light, and the light is in us. So, as all the saints come together, in the spiritual, all the lights convene and come together into a single, striking assembly, like a magnificent and beautiful sunrise appearing before the sight of God. May this sunrise gathering be so beautiful that it is long remembered in the mind of God.

     Many have heard of the expression "Dead Man Walking" before. For those who may be unfamiliar with it, It is a saying that applies to people in prison, who are on death row, who have been waiting for their date of execution. And they are walking from their cell to the execution chamber. So whilst they are physically still alive, they are technically ALREADY dead, as the death penalty has already been declared and proclaimed over them. And THAT is what all people who don’t give are effectively - Alive, but technically dead!! They are dead men walking. It is the same for those who don’t love. They are alive, but technically dead!! It's the same thing for those who do not believe upon Jesus Christ. They are alive, but are effectively dead men walking. 

     So let’s begin to unlock GIVING. The first OBVIOUS thing about “giving" that comes to mind, is WHY? WHY give? And, if you think about it, starting with “Why" is really not such an unusual or unnatural thing. With most things in life, we start with “Why?" And this doesn’t only apply as an adult. It starts right from the beginning, when we are kids. Take a look at most of our kids and the proverbial string of unending “Why’s" our children subject us to. Don’t do that! …. Why? DO this… WHY?

     So it is clear that God has given us inquiring minds, and this is a good thing too. Because without it, I don’t believe people would wrestle with creation, and the meaning of existence, or where we came from, or where we are going to, or what happens after death, or Who is behind creation. Think about it. We would just take things for what they are AS they are, and take everything for granted, and on face value. ASK no questions. Live, and then die. So clearly, then, in the perspective of eternity, questions are a good thing for God, and for us, because ALL these questions ultimate bring us all back to the same thing, to the one thing that matters. To God. So even the design of our psyche has the fingerprint of His grace all over it. Even in the DNA of our nature, God ensures that our very nature will always bring us to the very door of God through, our questions. So its not a case of all roads leading to Rome, but one of all roads lead to God. Whether believer or not, we all met our maker one day. And on an even deeper level, why is what God put in our DNA important? Because it speaks to what God GIVES us. Everything He does is to GIVE us something.

     If you take a look at the second most popular verse in the Bible, being Jeremiah 29:11, God says: "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to GIVE you a future and a hope." What are the two most valuable things God can give us? A future AND hope. Of all the things that matter, what matters most? A FUTURE. That there is something after this. And what gets us through the days? HOPE. There is no more valuable thing other than love. And what is the price of that future? And that hope? Jesus. And speaking of Jesus, that brings me to the most popular verse of the Bible. Which is? John 3:16. God says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." So what are we talking about here again? Again we are talking about GIVING. So the two most popular verses in the Bible, which I don’t think anyone has linked together before, I certainly haven’t, but the grace alone of the Lord showed it to me this evening, are about GIVING. And if you don’t believe me that they are intimately linked, what is John 3:16 talking about? its talking about a future and a hope. Our hope is that whoever believes in Him shall not perish. And if we don’t perish, what does that give us? A future. Jeremiah 29:11 talks about excatly the same thing. It says "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to GIVE you a future and a hope.” 

     One thing I know about God, is there are no coincidences. It is no coincidence that the two most popular verses in the Bible are about GIVING, and about what God GIVES US! So it is very safe to say that "giving" is important to God. And He shows us this by His own perfect example first.

     So as with all the other “WHY’s”, why IS giving important for God?

    Is it about HOW MUCH we give? No. If you go to the scripture of Mark 12:44 it says that "they all gave OUT of their wealth, but she gave out of her poverty, she gave everything." She had very little. But what she had, she gave. She didn’t give much, yet God acknowledged her for it across eternity. If it was about the "amount" for God, would God have showcased her example at all? No, He wouldn’t have. And yet He did. So WHY?

     Is it about God taking from us? Who believes that God wants to take from us? His word says He wants to freely give to us, not take from us. In Acts 8:13, the Word of God says, "you cannot sell the gifts of the spirit". What is a gift? it is something you GIVE. Of the gifts God gives, He says "after all, you received them freely, so give them freely." So it is not to take, but to continue giving.

     Is it about STEWARDSHIP? No. Stewardship of our finances is good and important. But why do you think God asks us to tithe? Because He needs the money? No. It’s again because of what our tithes and offerings actually GIVES us, not God. It’s all about what He can give us! Let me prove this to you. As pastor says, can I work it? Let me show you why. Who believes that the spiritual realm is all about authority? Let’s turn to Malachi 3:8-10. God speaks to Israel… He says “ Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me”. It says we are under a curse. What is that curse? It's about who has authority on earth. The devil. And His name is? "Lucifer." And what is the original word for money? "Lucre." They have the same three root letters in them. God says power and death are in the tongue. Words are powerful. Our names are words too, and they too are powerful. So don't under-estimate the power of Lucifer. Or the name.

     God says in Revelation 2:17 that He will give us a new name. So names are important. There is power in words. It is no coincidence that Lucre and Lucifer have the same first three letters. What else does? Luck. Luck is of the devil too. First three letters: Luc - Lucifer. Do we trust luck or fate, being a RANDOM happening of CHANCE, or do we trust the explicit DELIBERATE provision and sovereignty of God? So the devil has authority on earth. He has authority over all the earth, and with it, money or lucre. If you don’t believe me, in Luke 4:5,6 the devil offers his authority over all the earth to Jesus if Jesus will worship him. So in terms of spiritual authority, and GIVING, what does tithing and offering do? Our giving of tithes and offerings takes back the authority from the devil over our finances, and gives it back to God. And what does God want to do with that authority. God wants to GIVE it all back to us. See what He says next in Malachai - he says "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My storehouse, And try me now in this. Says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes…"

     Three things in there. Firstly He says bring ALL the tithes. ALL means all, not some, not part, but all. And this is so that there may be food in the house. Why does God need food in the house? He doesn’t. So what is the food for? For God to GIVE. To give to His people. Secondly, He says try me in this, and I will pour out such a blessing that there will not be enough room to receive it. So again, God in return GIVES it back, but this time, so abundantly that there will not be enough room to receive it. And thirdly, He gives again. He rebukes the devourer for our sakes. What does that mean? It means He takes the spiritual authority away from the devil over our finances. 

     So all of those who hoard their tithes and offerings, and don’t give, not only are you bringing a curse over yourself, but you are giving the devil authority over your finances. Why would you want to give the devil spiritual authority over you, and over your finances? Why would you want to give him anything? Do you think the devil receives so he can give back to you more abundantly than there is room to receive it? Firstly scripture says the devil is a THIEF. So a thief is someone who TAKES, not gives. The exact opposite of God. John 10:10 says that the THIEF comes ONLY - that’s the key word - ONLY - only for three things: to steal, kill and destroy. Would giving back so much that there would not be enough room to receive it be destroying you? No. It would be a blessing. So is the devil having authority over your finances something that will BLESS you or DESTROY you? So do you want the devil to have authority over your finances? Do you want the devil to destroy you? No. So how can you take his authority away? By GIVING. By giving ALL your tithes and offerings. 

     So again, tithes and offerings are not about what you LOSE, but about what you GAIN. And in the scales of mutual benefit, it is clear that what you gain supersedes what you give. So don’t give, and all you do is honour the devil, and his authority,and reinforce his authority over you. And do you really think that the devil would give part of his authority to anyone who worships him, let alone ALL of his authority to Jesus? So why would he give you authority over your finances if you gave him money?

     Likewise, John 10:10 is intimately tied to Jeremiah 29:11 and John 3:16 too. These two scriptures talk about God’s thoughts for you, His plans for you, to give you a future and a hope. And to give you life. Satan on the other hands thoughts are to rob you of your future, and your hope. And to kill you, rather than give you life. And those who do not give, by not giving you are saying you would rather give the devil permission and authority the authority to do that? Or would you want to give the authority back to the Person who only has thoughts to give you a future, and a hope, and life, through His only begotten Son? Don’t tell me what your answer is. Show me. Show God. This is between you and God.

     We haven't finished yet. So WHY giving? What does it all speak to? What else does God say about giving. He says be a CHEERFUL giver. If it was just about giving, and not actually about the attitude of heart when giving, He wouldn’t say be a CHEERFUL giver. He would just say, be a giver. That’s all. But He explicitly says, be a - CHEERFUL - giver. We see this in 2 Corinthians 9:6. It speaks to the attitude of the giver. It speaks to the heart. And this same scripture even TELLS us it is about the heart, because it says. “So GIVE (again "give") as each one purposes in his … HEART.” So it’s our hearts that ultimately matter to God. And its our attitude that reflects the condition of our hearts. The woman who gave everything gave little, but God valued little more than much because He values the attitude more than the amount. He considered the heart more precious than the money. God says He measures the heart. Why measure the heart if the heart is not important? In 1 Samuel 16:7 it says that "people look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart."

     So if the heart is so important, God proves it again in His GIVING AGAIN! One of my favourite scriptures of all time is Ezekial 36:26, because it speaks to my own hope for my wicked heart. It says: "I will give you a new heart and a new spirit". Why give a new heart if the heart is not important? So what does He mean by that? It means He will give us a new attitude. And what is the ultimate expression of this attitude? It is giving? and what is the ultimate accomplishment of GIVING? it is LOVE. So by a new heart He gives us the gift of loving!

     So - we have looked at three verses. And with these three verses, we see three dimensions and manifestations of God’s giving and, therefore, His love.

1. Jeremiah 29:11 God the Father giving - giving us a future and a hope.
2. John 3:16, God the Son giving - giving himself.
3. Ezekiel 36:26 God the Holy Spirit giving - giving us a new heart and a new spirit.

     So what does this all mean? In one simple sentence - Love IS as love DOES. God’s love is all about what He gives or does. And if you don’t believe me, the Bible says it too. Be not hearers of the word only, but doers. (James 1:22). Love is as love DOES. Be doers. Also the Word says we are to worship God in spirit AND truth. (John 4:24). Truth is the DOING bit. So if we look at the scales of what God gives us, what conclusion can we draw. He REALLY loves us because His love is as His love does. He expresses and accomplishes His love through giving. In 1 John 4:19 it says “We love because He loved us first." So in return, for all this giving, for all this loving, for all this love in action, how do we express and accomplish our own love in return for God? We do this by first loving God, and then loving man second (the great commission - Mathew 22:37-40 - “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD God with all your heart (HEART COMES FIRST ALWAYS), with all your soul, and all your mind'. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang ALL the Law and the Prophets.” So if we love God we will obey Him (John 14:23). So if we love God according to His definition of loving, which is giving, we love too by GIVING.

     So love is as love does is all about GIVING. And it begins with paying our tithes. This is just the BEGINNING of giving. And for that FIRST STEP alone, we are given in return a MASSIVE blessing, that our giving takes the hand and authority of the devil OFF our finances. The next expressions of giving are in our offerings. And then in our TIME (which is ministering and teaching and praying) and our TALENTS (such as Pastor’s prophetic gift and the gift of healing). Of our gifts, God says freely you have received, s freely you are to give. God has given us all three. Our treasury, our time and our talents. So let’s start our demonstration of our love for God by giving tonight. And let us be cheerful about it, because in our giving, and our giving cheerfully, we prove not only are our hearts are renewed, but that our love is real. Because without giving, and without a new heart and a new spirit, we are all just dead men walking.

- To God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be all the glory. Forever and ever. Amen and amen.

- Blessings, Wayne Biehn