Our goal at Servias Ministries is to promote the maturing of the saints of the Most High to the point where they are drawn to serve mankind. Only mature saints want to serve and give. Everyone else in varying degrees wants to be served. An infant wants and demands your full attention in order to meet his needs. Life is all about him. The mother is sleep-deprived for the first two or three years and then finally the child starts growing out of the phase of needing constant attention.
What is the ultimate goal of maturity as a saint? Jesus provides the answer for He is the pattern Son. We are to be bread to the world and minister life, we are to be HIS Disciples. Paul wrote to Titus about walking in sound doctrine, or mature teaching without error. It is my deepest desire to convey sound teaching in each blog I write. I am given topics to write on which can easily be misinterpreted by the “ego” of the reader. I must rely on the spirit man to receive the teaching. Paul explains a fundamental truth to Titus:
Titus 1:15 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.
My calling in part deals in the financial aspects of the Kingdom. At the age of 21, Our Heavenly Father directed me to the largest bank in Oklahoma when I was looking for a part=time job while finishing my degree. The banking industry was not in my Top 100 places to work. HE spoke to me and told me to go into that building on Friday afternoon. At the time, I had no idea what was in the building. In looking over my professional career, HE directed each change, without exception. I therefore must be true to where HE has prepared and placed me. To do otherwise would deny my gifts and calling.
One of the biggest challenges a maturing saint is to hear Our Heavenly Father in the area of money. People have used, abused, manipulated, stolen, defrauded, and exploited others for the purpose of getting more money. I purpose to distance myself from those whose intent is to extract money. However, that creates a dilemma. One of the most critical areas to mature in is the proper intent of distributing and receiving money. Though Judas performed his calling by selling out Our Lord, that did not negate the need to have a treasury for funding the Gospel.
Money is simply a store of value that represents your past fruitfulness. You worked for an hour and you received ten dollars. The money isn’t inherently evil, it simply represents a store of your fruitfulness. You cannot separate your past labor from that payment. It is my responsibility as a brother in Christ to share “sound doctrine” to those with ears to hear. The topic of money can easily alienate those who want to protect their “self-preserving” old man. Those who Love me will receive and assess any words I speak to see if those words are for them this day. Otherwise, they simply place the teaching on the shelf until they get a witness to act or respond on the teaching.
Titus 2:1 But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: 2 that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience;
Do people see you and me with those qualities? In pursuing a sound doctrine of giving to the ministry of spreading the Gospel, we must first learn to give. People have no problem in giving away unneeded clothing or goods. They have no problem in giving to their children, even to an excess. However, the moment you make them aware of a need for the Gospel’s sake, they stiffen up and erect a wall. Remember, to the pure all things are pure. To the impure…
It is my responsibility to you to address the deeper issues that would prevent us from attaining the high calling. Lack of cheerful giving is high on the list. You can rationalize all day long why you shouldn’t be a giver, but in the end you simply don’t believe that Our Heavenly Father will supply your need according to HIS riches in glory. That is the old man hanging on inside.
How do I deal with the old man in this regard? When in doubt, give. Practice giving, make it a custom to give, be known as a giver. You don’t wring your hands in extended prayer when your child asks you for money. You don’t “wait on the LORD” when your son or daughter needs a little extra assistance. I’ve seen this double standard in people’s lives throughout my life. There are those who would claim that Our Heavenly Father’s sovereignty has dictated their current financial state. Could it be that until you have a change of heart concerning money that you will continue in lack? Our Heavenly Father managed to move upon men to fund the building of the Temple.
Until the saints overcome the old man in the area of finances, full and complete unity will not be attained. That is the one area 95% of you struggle with. How did I come up with the number? That is roughly how many participated but did not help fund the Passover Conference. Listen closely! My wife and I would have funded the cost on our own without issue. Why? Because Our Heavenly Father told us to participate and HE has a history of supplying our need and reimbursing us for whatever HE required when no one else chose to participate. I understand how the storehouse in Heaven operates thus it is my responsibility to you to share the revelation. Had each person simply given $10 to the effort, our expenses would have been more than offset. It is ironic, people have a PC and have Internet connection but don’t contribute at all. It is a heart issue.
Many are waiting on the Iraqi Dinar RV to give. If you are not a giver now, I doubt that you will become much of one if and when a financial windfall occurs. In the meantime, people will live in scarcity. In times past, I simply took the position that I would prefer Our Heavenly Father to simply provide me with the finances to fund the Kingdom since I had a willing heart. I had no problem giving as HE directed. However, HE wants all the saints to get the revelation of giving. If you won’t give your money, you won’t die to the flesh either.
Don’t give money that you don’t possess. If you have a rent or house payment, you don’t direct that money to other destinations. That is being lawless. You alone can determine what money is lawfully available to give.
Another question arises: How do I know that they will do the right thing with the money I send? Your accountability and responsibility ends when you are obedient to give. The recipient now has the sole responsibility to properly handle the funds. I would suggest that there is a greater ramification to the recipient for failure to proper handle the funds than the giver. Our Heavenly Father rewards intent, or judges it as the case may be. By the way, misuse of money does not limit HIS ability to bless you. HE will use just weights and measure to bless you in your cheerful giving, independent of the recipient’s actions.
I encourage you to revisit the Scriptures dealing in provision. Do not give because you think Servias needs your money. We knew when we agreed to financially backstop the conference that there may be insufficient giving. How did we know this? It is my understanding that past conferences were not fully funded by the attendees. It is time that we stepped up to the reality that spreading the Gospel isn’t free. We seem to acknowledge that reality in almost every other aspect of our daily lives. Today’s blog is a hard word to some. If it offended you, you might want to study the Scriptures on Love again. If it convicted you, you might want to start practicing giving until you can hear HIS Voice in that area. Is it possible that you could not hear what you were not ready to receive?
Read 1 Chronicles 29.
By the way, is Our Heavenly Father a cheerful Giver?