GIVE
GIVE!
Learning to GIVE is #6 out of the 7 phases in spiritual growth
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(Lessons from the plague #22 ~LEARN TO GIVE~ For God so loved the World that HE GAVE! The best expressing of LOVE is giving, because that's how God expresses love. We are created in God's image, especially if we are saved. We have to GIVE if we are to reflect God's love. God saved us NOT so we can save money, but that we can save souls through Him. You do that by giving. Giving of yourself, you time, your resources and your money. A beautiful part of PureHeartChildren’sFund is that we have 9 full time employees. That means we (God, donators, Winnie and I) have the honor and responsibility of GIVING our employees full time wages and health insurance for 9 families, a total over 50 souls. That alone is a great life changing ministry impacting Nicaragua, not to mention the 200 or so kids we GIVE food and help to, and their extended families indirectly. Thank you donators for making it possible to GIVE by your giving. Thank you Lord Jesus for letting US help these beautiful people. We not only give food, education and medical supplies, but also build houses for those who are serving the Lord full time and are a good testimony in the barrio. The Bible says that we as believers should GIVE extravagantly first off to those who are in the household of faith. WhatistheloveofGod.com GIVING employement in this time of economic unsecurity, and providing for food, homes and insurance for the faithful is such a great testimony to the unbelievrs and an encouragement for those who love the Lord but are struggling. Giving is an individual thing, from the heart. Don't expect your church to give to the poor sacrificially, hardly ever happens. Don't expect your political party to give to the poor. They might teach you to hate the rich, but history teaches that they will never really help the poor. It is on us to help really help them, as individual Christians.
Pureheart Update - We are still planning on an orphanage. It's NOT easy, but nothing worthwhile is. Because of you, we are helping construct another home, making the Winner HOME more orphan friendly, and continuing with PUREHEART PREK, THE FEEDING CENTERS AND BIBLE STUDIES/ENGLISH CLASS AND DESCIPLESHIP CLASS. Please continue what you are doing to keep us going.. WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING, IT'S WORKING!!. pray, donate, and spread the word.) Share this newsletter and us on FB.
Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
So I was told the other day that if I am not teaching the Bible in some Bible school somewhere I am not obeying Christ's commandment of 'GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES'. The 'teacher' went on to say, that we were called to make disciples, not go and feed hungry children. Although I know better, I love this guy, and hold him in high regard, it would seem that he has never sufferred, was never was hungry, was never led to Christ by tender chords of love (Hosea 11:4), and worse of all, he obviously didn't keep on reading....
Matthew 28 19-20 Therefore go and make disciples .... 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
You TEACH by doing. The people GOD has called us to minister to can't read. We don't have a building that we can teach in, and even if we did, the owners of the building would run our kids out because they are unruly. We do have a discipleship class and a daily Bible study class, but that is not the essence of PUREHEARTCHILDREN'SFUND. God is clear. Feed the kids. Papa Perry *founder of Samaritan's International* clarified it for me. 'A hungry belly has no ears.'
The sixth ingredient for spiritual growth is to learn to GIVE. I've heard pastor's like to brag about how cheap they are. I've seen missionaries go to grocery stores and beg for rotten vegetables just to show visiters how much they suffer for Christ. How much money they save seems to be a theme for donators to hear. They go on and on about how they beat a guy down on a used car. How they think they have another year when the tread on their tires are showing before they have to replace them etc. etc. It's like they are poor kids of a poor father, making due with the the little they have. Our Father is rich. He loves us. He doesn't want us to be stingy and miserly. *NOTE! Miserly and misery seem like the same word*.
I think most Christians need a general overhaul on this subject of giving to avoid becoming unbalanced giving off a bad testimony. Steve Warn was one of the first missionaries I worked with down here. That guy tipped everyone, generously. Didn't speak much spanish, but everyone loved him, and he was the best witness for Christ I have ever seen. I asked him why he tipped like that. *I was still under the tottledge of a miserly pastor. I thought being stingy was a sign of holiness*. He said, 'when I tip, I don't have to worry about them taking advantage of me. Better yet, it's a good witness.' I instantly blushed and cringed, rememberring how many people I was a bad testimony to because I felt I was being overcharged. I guess I had a complex because I was a gringo. I saw the light right then and there. It's God's money anyway, He creates planets out of nothing, he owns all the cattle on a thousand hills, you think He is going to sweat because I paid 1 peso too much?
I pastorred for a denomination that didn't believe in tithing, healing, etc. I taught against it actually. I started tithing myself recently because I am receiving social security and VA disability, and guess what? Haven't had a financial worry since.. One year now,, I pray for the sick now, *actually believing that God WANTS to heal them*, guess what,, I personally haven't even had a sniffle in 2 years.... Montezuma's revenge once when I went to the states, but for only a couple hours, same thing with small injuries *weight lifting*, aches and pains. I have had NO financial nor health problems since I starting embracing things that I used to preach against. I also used to preach against being generous. I actually thought it was being unGodly. I have been more generous, and less edgy about over paying. Truth is, because of that, I have had much better service, from everyone, and have made much more economical purchases. Being generous has given us BETTER finances, I am positive of it. Best yet, a better witness for the only reason I am down here, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
That being said, there are two mistakes in giving.
1. Some people are giving ONLY because they feel it’s their duty or obligation. (I am starting to believe that too, but I can't find scripture for it, except for the whole context of the Bible). But because that’s the only reason they give into the Kingdom of God, they miss the blessing giving can be in their lives. You should give to the Lord because you love Him, worship Him, and adore Him. In fact, giving IS an act of Worship and Adoration. You need to add faith to your giving also. Tell the Lord you are mixing faith with your giving, and remind Him of the scripture:
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again”.
2. That leads us to the second part. You can go to the other extreme. You can give selfishly, just to get a return. If that's the case, you won’t get one. Some people hear a person say how he gave away an automobile and God gave him another one. Then they give theirs away and say to themselves 'Now God is going to give me a new car'. But He won’t. Ttheir motive is all wrong. It’s selfish. And it’s based on another person’s experience, not on the Word of God. Here's a classic example of how God blesses us when I give. Today, there were two incidents that I felt lead to give $100 dollars each for. I know it's of God because I get really edgy until I obey. I actually start sweating, because I resist, then I know it's God, and I know I would be sinning if I didn't obey Him. So I gave out $200 dollars that I hadn't budgeted for. A German guy, that I never met, contacted me within 5 minutes after I sent the last $100 and said that he felt the Lord showed him to wire me $200 dollars, but I had to go to a place that I didn't know in order to pick it up. It was kind of sketchy, never heard about it before and I *in my flesh, worried I was getting set up to get mugged, I hate getting mugged*. But I knew I had just given $200 dollars, so I went. It was a long walk. When I got home with the $200, my wife told me that I had to pay our accountant $200 dollars, * which I had completely forgotten about*. That is how God works. Never too much. Never too little. Never too late. Never too early. That is how my faith grows, when stuff like that happens. Once I gave our last 20 dollars away. Winnie HATES it when I do that, we didn't even have gas in the car, completely broke. I said, let's check the mail. We drove to the mailbox, on vapors *because we were out of gas*, and there was an envelope with a 20 dollar bill in it. No joke! Praise God! Winnie AND my faith grew, AGAIN! We ran out of gas when we pulled up to the gas station's pumps.
You’ve got to examine your motives for giving and keep your motives right. You can do the right thing with the wrong motive, and it won’t work. Certainly I expect God to keep His Word when I give. And He will, too, IF I fulfill my part of the obligation. But I’m not going to give away my Jeep just because someone else gave away theirs. I would only give it away if the Lord told me to. Then because I obeyed God, He would bless my obedience.
We need balance in this area of giving. If we’ll keep our motives pure and give according to the Word of God and His Holy Spirit’s leading, we’ll be blessed in our own lives as we grow spiritually.
There's a lot of verses telling us to GIVE money. There are no verses telling us to SAVE money. There's no rewards in heaven for frugality, thriftiness or a large bank account.
-Proverbs 28:27 He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack:
-Proverbs 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
..but the best one for 'going and making disciples is this'
-Matthew 10:24 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
Until Next Week PureHearts!
Dean AndWinnie Peters
https://www.facebook.com/winnie.pureheart
Facebook = Dean andWinnie Peters
Helping the Nicaraguan people thru our Children's Ministry. We've been working with kids in Nicaragua over the past 30 years.
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?DAR!
Aprender a DAR es la # 6 de las 7 fases del crecimiento espiritual.
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Mateo 25:35 porque tuve hambre y me disteis de comer, tuve sed y me disteis de beber,
Así que el otro día me dijeron que si no estoy ense?ando la Biblia en alguna escuela bíblica en algún lugar, no estoy obedeciendo el mandamiento de Cristo de 'VAYA Y HAGA DISCíPULOS'. El 'maestro' continuó diciendo que fuimos llamados a hacer discípulos, no a ir a alimentar a ni?os hambrientos. Aunque conozco a este hombre, y l tengo mucho carino para el, pareciera como nunca sufrió, nunca tuvo hambre, nunca fue llevado a Cristo por tiernos acordes de amor (Oseas 11: 4), y lo peor de todo, obviamente no siguió leyendo ...
Mateo 28 19-20 Por tanto, vayan y hagan discípulos ... 20 y ensé?enles a obedecer todo lo que les he mandado.
Ensenas por hacerlo. La gente a la que DIOS nos ha llamado a ministrar no sabe leer. No tenemos un edificio en el que podamos ense?ar, e incluso si lo tuviéramos, los due?os del edificio echarían a nuestros estudiantes porque son rebeldes. Tenemos una clase de discipulado y una clase de estudio bíblico diaria, pero esa no es la esencia de PUREHEARTCHILDREN'SFUND. Dios es claro. Alimenta a los ni?os. Papa Perry * fundador de Samaritan's International * me lo aclaró. 'Un pancito hambriento no tiene oidos.'
El sexto ingrediente para el crecimiento espiritual es aprender a DAR. He oído que a los pastores les gusta alardear de que pinches son. He visto a misioneros ir a las tiendas de comestibles y pedir verduras podridas solo para mostrar a los visitantes cuánto sufren por Cristo. La cantidad de dinero que ahorran parece ser un tema que los donantes o congregantes deben escuchar. Siguen y hablan sobre cómo estuvieron duro en la compra un automóvil usado. Cómo piensan que tienen un a?o más cuando la banda de rodadura de sus neumáticos se está mostrando antes de tener que reemplazarlos, etc. Es como si fueran hijos pobres de un padre pobre, que se las arregla con lo poco que tienen. Nuestro Padre es rico. él nos ama. No quiere que seamos taca?os. *?NOTA! Avaros y la miseria parecen ser la misma palabra en ingles *.
Creo que la mayoría de los cristianos necesitan una revisión general en este tema de dar para evitar desequilibrarse dando un mal testimonio. Steve Warn fue uno de los primeros misioneros con los que trabajé aquí. Ese tipo les dio propinas a todos, generosamente. No hablaba mucho espa?ol, pero todos lo amaban y era el mejor testigo de Cristo que jamás haya visto. Le pregunté por qué daba una propina así. *Todavía estaba bajo la dirección de un pastor sumamente pinche. Pensé que ser taca?o era un signo de santidad*. él dijo, 'cuando doy propina, no tengo que preocuparme de que se aprovechen de mí. Ademas, este da un buen testimonio'. Instantáneamente me sonroje y estremecí, recordando a cuántas personas era un mal testimonio porque sentía que me estaban cobrando de más. Supongo que tuve un complejo porque soy gringo. Vi la luz instantaneamente. Este dinero es de Dios de todos modos, él crea planetas de la nada, es due?o de todo el ganado en mil colinas, ?crees que va a sudar porque pagué 1 peso de más?
Pastoreé para una denominación que no creía en el diezmo, la sanidad, etc. En realidad, ense?é en contra. Empecé a diezmar yo mismo recientemente porque estoy recibiendo seguro social y discapacidad de los veteranos del ejercityo, ?y adivinen qué? No he tenido una preocupación financiera desde empece! ... Un a?o, ningun minuto de estres financiera. Ttambien oro por los enfermos ahora, * realmente creyendo que Dios QUIERE curarlos *, adivinen qué? personalmente ni siquiera he tenido un resfriado en 2 a?os. ... La venganza de Montezuma una vez cuando fui a los Estados Unidos, pero solo por un par de horas, lo mismo con peque?as heridas *levantamiento de pesas *, dolores y molestias. No he tenido problemas económicos ni de salud desde que empecé a aceptar cosas contra las que solía predicar. También solía predicar contra la generosidad. De hecho, pensé que estaba siendo impío. He sido más generoso y menos nervioso por pagar de más. La verdad es que, por eso, he tenido un servicio mucho mejor, de parte de todos, y he realizado compras mucho más económicas. Ser generoso nos ha dado MEJORES finanzas, estoy seguro de ello. Mejor aún, un mejor testimonio por la única razón por la que estoy aquí, del Evangelio de Jesucristo.
Dicho esto, hay dos errores al dar.
1. Algunas personas dan solo porque sienten que es su deber u obligación. (Yo también estoy empezando a creer eso, pero no puedo encontrar escrituras para ello, excepto por todo el contexto de la Biblia). Pero debido a que esa es la única razón por la que se entregan plata al Reino de Dios, pierden la bendición que puede haber en sus vidas. Debe dar al Se?or porque lo ama y lo adora. De hecho, dar ES un acto de Adoración. Necesita agregar fe a su ofrenda, sin embargo. Dígale al Se?or que está mezclando la fe con su ofrenda y recuérdele las Escrituras:
Lucas 6:38 “Dad, y se os dará; medida buena, apretada, removida y rebosante, darán en tu seno. Porque con la misma medida con que mides, se te volverá a medir ”.
2. Eso nos lleva a la segunda parte. Puedes ir al otro extremo. Puedes dar egoístamente, solo para obtener una recompensa. Si ese es el caso, no obtendrá una. Algunas personas escuchan cuando una persona dice cómo regaló un automóvil y Dios le dio otro. Luego regalan el suyo y se dicen a sí mismos 'Ahora Dios me va a dar un auto nuevo'. Pero no lo hará. Su motivo está totalmente equivocado. Es egoísta. Y se basa en la experiencia de otra persona, no en la Palabra de Dios. Aquí hay un ejemplo clásico de cómo Dios nos bendice cuando doy. Hoy, hubo dos incidentes por los que sentí la direccion de Dios de dar $ 100 dólares cada uno. Sé que es de Dios porque me pongo muy nervioso hasta que lo obedezco. De hecho, empiezo a sudar, porque me resistio, entonces sé que es Dios y sé que estaría pecando si no le obedecía. Así que di $ 200 dólares que no había presupuestado. Un chico alemán, al que nunca conocí, se comunicó conmigo 5 minutos después de que le envié los últimos $ 100 y dijo que sentía que el Se?or le había mostrado que me enviara $ 200 dólares, pero que tenía que ir a un lugar que no conocía para recogerlo. Era un poco raro, nunca había oído hablar de eso antes y yo *en mi carne, preocupado de que me estuvieran preparando para ser asaltado, odio ser asaltado *. Pero sabía que acababa de dar $ 200 dólares, así que fui. Fue una caminata larga. Cuando llegué a casa con los $200, mi esposa me dijo que tenía que pagarle a nuestro contador $200 dólares, *que me había olvidado por completo*. Así es como obra Dios. Nunca demasiado. Nunca muy poco. Nunca demasiado tarde. Nunca es temprano. Así es como crece mi fe, cuando suceden cosas así. Una vez regalé nuestros últimos 20 dólares. A Winnie la ODIA cuando hago eso, ni siquiera teníamos gasolina en el auto, completamente planos. Dije, revisemos el correo. Condujimos hasta el buzón, con vapores *porque nos habíamos quedado sin gasolina *, y había un sobre con un billete de 20 dólares. ?No es broma! ?Alabado sea el Se?or! La Fe de Winnie Y mi crecieron, ?OTRA VEZ! Nos quedamos sin gasolina cuando llegamos a las bombas de la gasolinera. Aleluya!
Tienes que examinar tus motivos para dar y mantener tus motivos correctos. Puedes hacer lo correcto con el motivo equivocado y no funcionará. Ciertamente espero que Dios guarde Su Palabra cuando doy. Y él también lo hará, SI cumplo con mi parte de la obligación. Pero no voy a regalar mi Jeep solo porque alguien más regaló el suyo. Solo lo regalaría si el Se?or me lo dijera. Entonces, debido a que obedecí a Dios, él bendeciría mi obediencia.
Necesitamos equilibrio en esta área de dar. Si mantenemos nuestros motivos puros y damos de acuerdo con la Palabra de Dios y la dirección de Su Espíritu Santo, seremos bendecidos en nuestras propias vidas a medida que crecemos espiritualmente.
Hay muchos versículos que nos dicen que DAR dinero. No hay versículos que nos digan que AHORREMOS dinero. No hay recompensas en el cielo por la frugalidad, el ahorro o una gran cuenta bancaria.
-Proverbios 28:27 El que da al pobre no le faltará:
-Proverbios 19:17 El que se compadece de los pobres, presta al Se?or; y lo que ha dado, le volverá a pagar.
... pero el mejor para 'ir y hacer discípulos es este'
-Mateo 10:24 Y cualquiera que dé de beber a uno de estos peque?itos un vaso de agua fría sólo en nombre de un discípulo, de cierto os digo que no perderá su recompensa.
Hasta la semana que viene PureHearts!
Dean and Winnie Peters
Joyfully serving the 'least of these' in Nicaragua for the glory of God
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