THE
GROSSNESS OF GREED THE GLORY OF GIVING
BREAD
9 “‘When
you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field
or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up
the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God. 11 Do not steal. Do not lie. Do
not deceive one another. 12 Do not
swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.’”
Leviticus 19:9-12 (NIV)
7 For
who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not
receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? 1 Corinthians 4:6-7 (NIV)
28 Furthermore,
since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave
them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with
every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy,
murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters,
insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey
their parents; 31 they
are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God's
righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only
continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:28-32 (NIV)
15 Then
he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against
all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his
possessions.” Luke 12:15 (NIV)
3 But
among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of
impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Ephesians 5:3 (NIV)
5 Put to
death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality,
impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of
God is coming. Colossians 3:5-6 (NIV)
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 measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Sharing, caring and giving trumps self-centered,
narcissistic and selfish every time.”
Anonymous
“Giving is true having.” Charles H. Spurgeon
“To sacrifice something is to make it holy by giving it away
for love.”
Frederick Buechner
“God
has given us two hands: one for
receiving and the other for giving.”
Billy Graham
“Jesus is the great teacher of lowliness of heart. Witness
the Master taking a towel and washing His disciples' feet! Isn't it true to say
that on earth He was always stripping off first one robe of honor and then
another until, naked, He was fastened to the cross and emptied
Himself, pouring out His lifeblood, giving it up for all of us, until they laid
Him penniless in a borrowed grave?” C. H.
Spurgeon
“I can clearly and
distinctly conceive how the giving of Christ is the perfect expression of love,
as the greatest expense in a lover. For
the incarnation expresses the love of God in a way that is exceedingly noble
and excellent and agreeable to the glorious perfections of God.” Jonathan Edwards
“We ask God for the money and He doesn't give us cash; instead, so to
speak, He gives us the bank...He delights in giving us Himself....The resources
of heaven are ready and waiting for the people of God who desire to make much
of him in this world.” David
Platt
“God
is ever giving to His children, yet hath not the less. His riches are imparted, not impaired.” Thomas
Watson
“When we
have exhausted our store of endurance, When our strength has failed ere the day
is half done, When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, Our Father’s full
giving is only begun. His love has no limit;
His grace has no measure. His pow’r has
no boundary known unto men; For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth,
and giveth, and giveth again!” Annie
Johnson
HEART SAVOR
·
God loves
a cheerful giver.
·
Manna
horded turned to maggots. The same holds
true today.
·
God is a
Giver. Giving gives God glory. We are never more like God than when we give.
