Quote from Forum Archives on February 15, 2011, 11:46 am

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 1752 new subscribers since January 1, 2011!!
There were 4010 new subscribers during 2010!!
Classic from 2002

02.15.11

The Benefits of Giving

Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I
departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and
receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again
for my necessities. - Philippians 4:15-16.

Some of the top givers this past year (2001) were John D. Hollingsworth who
when he died at 83 years of age left an estimated $400 million to several
institutions and charities. Lucille Stewart Beeson, who died at the age of
95, bequeathed $161 million to organizations in her hometown of Birmingham,
Alabama. Henry Melville Fuller dying at age 87, left a large portion of his
$89.68 million estate to several New Hampshire organizations. Herbert Block,
who was an editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post, died at the age of
91, and gave $53 million to the establishment of a foundation in Washington
D.C. Having a giving heart apparently helps many to live a long life.

If we would please God, we must give, because God's nature is to give. "For
God so loved the world that He gave.(John 3:16)." "For you know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became
poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9)."
By giving, we please God as we follow the example of our Lord.

The unconscious thought is that if we give we will have less, and how will
we then meet our own needs? As Jimmy Carter says, "When it comes to giving,
some people will stop at nothing." I like what Martin Luther said, "I have
tried to keep things in my hands and lost them all, but what I have given
into God's hands I still possess." Only through eyes of faith can we see
that by giving, we actually bless ourselves, and when we fail to give we are
hurting ourselves (Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; Proverbs 3:9-10; Malachi
3:8-10). As Augustine puts it, "Where your pleasure is, there is your
treasure; Where your treasure is, there is your heart; Where your heart is,
there is your happiness."

When we think of giving, we automatically think of money, but the example of
our Lord is that of giving His very life for us that we might have life.
Certainly we should give of our money, but we should not hold back ourselves
in the process. As Jesus says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21)."
Where is your treasure being stored up?

Copyright © 2002-2011. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the
devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush
website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email
version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began
writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of these first
devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison
facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

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