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Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire.  You have heaped up treasure in the last days.  Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (James 5:3-4).

 

These are difficult topics to face, especially when it comes to financial support in these days of recession.  But God blesses those who continue to give to His ministry here on earth.  This word that I read this week really spoke to me, and I hope it does the same for you.  When we give to Him, He gives back to us…please read with an open heart…

These words are written to believers, to Christians who are hoarding up wealth rather than giving to support the spread of the gospel.

The reapers in verse 4 are those preaching and working out in the harvest fields of the world.  Notice it says that the Lord has heard their cry.  But if you read carefully, you will find that another cry has entered the Lord’s ears as well.

“The wages” of the laborers cry out to God as well!  The tithes and offerings that have been withheld cry out.  Monies that should have been sown into the cause of Christ are raising their voices in a mighty chorus to heaven!

Large amounts of undesignated and unused funds that sit in bank vaults cry out.  Funds God has graciously given to His people that have been withheld from their purpose—to bring a living Jesus to a dying world—cry out and cry out and cry out!

Are you sitting on a talking wallet today?  Is your purse crying out to God?  If you could hear their voice, what would they cry?  “China!  Europe!  Africa!  The Middle East!  How about that evangelist down the street?  How about that new church in my city?  How about the ministries of my own church?”??  Are we frightened of the financial problems that our country and world are facing today, so we are storing up our monies in any way that we can?  There can be a problem with that:

Are you generously supporting the evangelism work and missions of your own local church?  Do not let your money testify against you!  Give where, when, and how much God directs— consistently—into the work of His Kingdom.

If the precious fruit of the earth is going to be reaped, we have to support those who labor in the field. 

It’s Shari again…does this Word convict your heart as it does mine?  My husband and I are evangelists, and we’ve had people just walk up to us, knowing nothing of our ministry to the special needs population, and they give us an offering.  More often than not, they say, “God told me to give to you”, or “I don’t know who you are, but I know you need this”.  It is often times hard to ask for money for our ministries…it’s close to being terrifically embarrassing.  The embarrassment comes especially when no churches will schedule dates with us, and we go through months of nothing.  We literally pray for God to speak to His people for our income, and that’s the truth.  God has supplied every single time.

But God asks all of His believers to give, and to give happily.  Russ and I are close to choosing a home-base church for our family (we have a lot of choices).  We have decided that one of our decision-making qualifications are a missions-supporting church.  It simply must be an important part of that church’s ministry, or they will not be the church for us.

Check your wallets today.  Do you have something you need to give?  God knows, and if you are honest, so do you.

Talk to you all Monday!

Shari