Giving Your Possession

Pastor (Mrs) C O Olowu Mount Zion InternationalParish December 1, 2013.

Introduction
Possession refers to something that we appear to physically control. Everybody has possession of the following and much more: Time Talent (and abilities) Ex. 35:10& 25 Treasure our heart

Introduction - 2
Everybody has the same amount of time available to them: 24 hours. But Talent and treasure vary from one person to the other as we see from the 2 parables of the talent in scripture Matt 25: 14-30; Luke 19: 12-28 Some do not give because they claim they do not have much. But consider the widows mite. She gave her all.

Who/What can we give to?

God Ministers of God Other men esp. the poor Worthy Causes e.g. Africa Missions The needy, victims of natural disaster etc Jesus said , the poor you will always have around you.

Why should we give?

He 1st gave. Jn.3: 16 He gave His only begotten son. He allowed His son to die for us, even when we dont deserve it not appreciated it Rom 5:8 I Chr. 29:6-14 _ everything we have came from Him. He commanded it Lk.6: 3-8; Ex. 35:4-5 We are commanded to give to men especially the needy ones, Deut.15: 7-11; Psalm 41:1-3 We are commanded likewise to give unto God; none shall appear before me empty handed. Exo.34: 20b God has shown us an example in giving His ALL, as good children, we should follow His examples. He has given us all good things to enjoy He has given us all that pertains unto life and godliness. We should give others, so that God will be glorified. II Cor. 9:10-11

What can we give? - 1

Ourselves Rom 12:1-2 Our lives the one who gives what He cannot keep is wise. Our time Our heart This is our greatest treasure.
My son, give me your heart Prov. 23:26

Our children, especially the 1st born EX.34: 19; 13:2 Our first fruits Ex.22: 29;Pr.3: 9

What can we give? - 2

Our treasures Our talents and abilities Ex. 35:10& 25 Thanksgiving offer unto God thanksgiving Our tithe Numb.18: 25-26;Mal 3:8-12 Our offering

How should we give?

Willingly: -Ex. 35:5, willingly heart. -Ex. 35:21, Willing spirit Cheerfully God loves a cheerful giver 2 Cor. 9:7 Generously Without necessarily expecting anything in return

Some example of people who gave

Abraham gave his only son to God and won himself an eternal award. God is now being named with Him God of Abraham Widow of Zarephath 1 Kings 17 gave to the man of God (Elijah) & got her life back Dorcas Acts 9:36-42 She gave to people & got her life back Shunemmite woman gave to the man of God (Elisha) and got what she would never have had a son 2 Kings 4:8-17 Several examples of Contemporary givers John Rockefeller, Simpson etc Check for example the list of Americas Top Donors

Some testimonies of generous givers 1

Tim Keller: Living is giving. We live life best when we give ourselves, our resources, our competences, and our time in service to others and in support of Gods mission. If you spend your money on yourself, you are just surviving. But if you want your life to count, if you really want to live give.

Some testimonies of generous givers 2

Ron and Jenny Anderson: We thought that financial freedom came from accumulating as much as we could and if we gave more away, we would have less to enjoy. In reality, the more we gave, the more we enjoyed and the more freedom we experienced.

Some testimonies of generous givers 3

Lynn Payne: I have discovered an excitement in giving thats unique and distinct from every other gift. Its ironic that in separating myself from something of value, I receive back something of greater value. Its a great way to do life.

Some testimonies of generous givers 4

Thomas Maclellan I consecrate all that I am and all that I have, the faculties of my mind, the members of my body, my worldly possessions, my time and my influence over others, all to be used entirely for Your (Thy) glory and resolutely employed in obedience to Your (Thy) commands as long as Thou continues me in life.

The Most Generous Giver of all

Our Lord Jesus Christ
It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35 You are not ready to live until you are ready to die

The benefits of giving

There is evidence to suggest that prosocial spending that is, spending money on others leads to a larger improvement in personal happiness than does personal spending. One study gave subjects a small sum of money, and told subjects how to spend it. Though the participants expected their happiness to improve more from personal spending rather than prosocial spending, the opposite was found to be the case. Further, a cross-sectional study of a representative sample of Americans also found greater prosocial spending was correlated with significantly greater happiness, while personal spending turned out to be unrelated to happiness1 2.

Giving and Happiness

A perfectly natural response to the idea that one ought to donate a percentage of ones income to fight poverty in the developing world is: how will this affect me? Wont it make my life much worse? Luckily, there is a body of psychological research that can help us to answer this question. This page summarizes this psychological research, in relation to how giving 10% will affect your happiness. The conclusions, in brief, are: We are likely to overestimate the negative consequences of donating a percentage of ones income. Income doesnt have as strong an effect on happiness as you think. There is evidence which suggests that giving might overall improve your happiness in life. You are not ready to live until you are ready to die