We need to Set aside a Portion of what we Earn for the Lord: He Richly Provides for us

As believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ, we not only treasure and enjoy Christ as our everything, but we also are faithful to give to the Lord; we need to set aside a portion for the Lord a certain amount in a regular way – this is for Him, not for us, and this is in secret, between us and Him.

The Bible is not unclear concerning this matter of money; rather, the Lord Jesus told His followers that they had to give up everything to follow Him, and the disciples practiced selling all they have to follow the Lord and live the church life.

This matter of giving to the Lord as part of our experience of Christ has been lost, misunderstood, and spoiled throughout the ages.

Even worse, today in Christianity the matter of giving has been very much spoiled, for many “preachers” preach the matter of prosperity, encouraging and even charging those in their churches to give their money “to the church”, thus the preachers becoming richer and richer, while the members of the church remain poor. Oh, Lord!

We need to return to the divine revelation in the Word of God and realize that God’s word is our basis, the truth.

The Lord told us in Luke 6:38 that we should give, and it will be given to us; when we give a good measure when we are not stingy when we give, the Lord will be our reward, and there will be a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over that will be given into our bosom.

It is a divine principle that we can never outgive God; when we give – and this is between us and the Lord, not for others to see or know – the Lord will always give us more, and He Himself will be our great reward.

Actually, God doesn’t need our money; the God who created all things is rich beyond our capacity to apprehend, but He wants to gain our heart.

Our heart is entangled by money and usurped by mammon, so the Lord wants to become the very treasure of our heart, so that He would be more precious to us than gold or silver, and we would love Him with our best love.

As we spend time with the Lord to enjoy Him, as we take time to behold Him in fellowship and prayer, we will be infused with what He is, and we will taste His sweetness and preciousness.

The issue of such a time with the Lord in which we touch Him is that we treasure Him above all things, and our heart is His.

Money, riches, and earthly possessions will not entice us but rather, we will be willing to be one with the Lord to give, even “hilariously give”, give with rejoicing, for we love the Lord and His interest, and money has no hold on us.

Seeing that God Richly Provides for us and Being Faithful to Set Aside a Portion of what we Earn for the Lord

We thank and praise the Lord that He has saved us and has brought us into the church life, where we can enjoy the Lord with the saints and in His word.

How wonderful it is to be here, eating, drinking, and breathing Jesus! He is becoming more and more real to us, for our true enjoyment is not in earthly pleasures or entertainment but in Him; only He can satisfy us. Amen!

As we enjoy the Lord and partake of Him both personally and with all the saints, He is slowly and surely saving us from anything that usurps us.

He is especially saving us from our love of money, for we realize that, though we work hard and do our best to earn an income to take care of our needs, it is the Lord who provides.

It is the Lord who provides for our need; we may work hard or we may not work that hard, we may have a demanding job or more than one job, but the Lord is the One who richly provides for our needs.

However, if we do not give, if we do not set aside a portion of what we earn for the Lord, we are not being righteous.

For example, the meeting hall has utility bills, there are saints who are in need, and there are saints who need our financial support in the Lord; if we do not give, we are not righteous.

We may think that no one knows whether we give or not, but God does know; He knows everything, and He is faithful to provide for our needs.

We may love the meetings and may be familiar with the meeting in Acts 20:7 where Paul was with the believers until late at night, but we may not be familiar with the giving in 1 Cor. 16:1-2.

Paul exhorted the believers in Corinth, even as he directed the churches of Galatea, that on the first day of the week each one would set aside in store for themselves whatever they may have prospered to give for the needs of the church and of the saints.

This is a principle that we all must keep; though in the church life we don’t have a money collection plate being passed around during the meeting, we need to be before the Lord concerning our income, what the Lord has prospered us with, and be faithful to set aside a portion of what we earn for the Lord and His interest.

We need to realize that all fallen mankind is under the domination of mammon and material possessions (Matt. 6:19-21, 24-25, 30; 19:21-22; Luke 12:13-19), but we are being organically saved from this usurpation and domination.

We need the grace to overcome the power of mammon and material things and to be released from Satan’s domination for an offering to the Lord to fulfill His purpose.

The resurrection life in us is the supply that we need, and as we enjoy the Lord and experience Him day by day, we live a life of trusting in God, for it is He who richly provides for us.

Without God’s mercy, we cannot pass through our days on earth.

Our trust is not in the treasures of material possessions, and our aim is not to make a living or accumulate wealth for ourselves or for the future; rather, our trust is in the Lord, our treasure is in the heavens, and we are learning to set aside a certain amount every time we are prospered for the Lord.

Of all the money we receive, we need to set aside a portion before all things; even before we pay our bills, we need to set aside a portion for the Lord, a portion that we cannot touch but it is His.

Every time the Lord prospers us, every time we receive something, we need to set aside a portion for giving to the Lord.

And we do this not in a legalistic way, because “we have to”; we do this as a divine principle as those who are saved from the domination of mammon and live the church life to bring the Lord back.

Lord Jesus, we love You! How we treasure our time with You and our fellowship with the saints! Keep us open to Your organic saving day by day; save us from all things that usurp us, anything that takes Your place in our being. Amen, Lord, save us from the domination and power of mammon. We want to be those who live by trusting in You, for it is You who richly provides for all our needs. Thank You, Lord, for Your rich care for us. Thank You for richly providing for all that we need. We want to set aside a portion from what we earn for You and for Your interest. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to just love You! All we have is from You and all we have and are belongs to You!

God’s Principle of Managing our Money is, Give and it will be Given to you

When the Lord Jesus was on the earth and touched the matter of money and taking care of our needs, He directed our eyes to the birds of the heaven and the flowers of the field, how God richly supplied everything they need.

Why would we worry and be anxious, when it is God who cares for us?

Everything belongs to God, and He richly supplies everyone and everything.

We may try to take care of our garden, and we labor day and night to have some produce, but God takes care of all the fields and forests and plants, and He provides for all the animals in the wild. How about that?

He truly can provide; He has enough riches to keep the birds of the air and the lilies of the field alive, and He has enough riches to keep His children alive.

He doesn’t want our living to be deprived in any way; He wants to richly supply us and give us what we need.

However, God’s principle of managing money and wealth is: give, and it will be given to you (Luke 6:38).

We may think that we should be grateful that God gave us things, and we should accumulate more and more, for God will richly give us things, but God’s principle is that we should give.

The reason many of God’s people experience lack is that they don’t fulfil God’s requirement for receiving more: they don’t give.

It is good to have the principle of setting aside a certain amount before the Lord whenever we receive something, so that we may give to Him and before Him.

If we don’t give, we can’t enjoy God’s promise. Even our salvation has certain requirements: we need to repent and believe; we can’t just receive and receive and receive with no requirements.

God’s requirement for us to receive His supply is that we give. His principle in managing money is that we should give and it will be given to us.

Many times our experience is that we may consider to give a certain gift to someone to help with their needs, and the more we think about it, the less we want to give to this person.

Our willingness to give is very low; we rather want to keep everything instead of giving it away. If we give to others, we shall receive in return; what we measure to others will also be measured to us.

If we give freely with no measure, God will give us freely and without measure, but if we are stingy in our giving, if we don’t give one with the Lord and according to His leading, the Lord is limited in what He can give us.

Our giving needs to be in resurrection, in spirit; the money raised by the natural life is in the old creation and not under God’s blessing, but the amount we set aside for the Lord in oneness with Him is appreciated and blessed by Him.

In Christianity, there are many who give large sums of money and then are often publicly recognized, whereas those who give small amounts are ignored.

Our giving should be completely different from this; our offerings should be presented to the Lord in resurrection and by resurrection.

It should be in oneness with the Lord and according to the measure He has blessed us.

The Lord told us that, if anyone asks from us, we should give, and from him who takes away our things, we should not require them in return (Luke 6:30); this cannot be done in ourselves but only in the resurrection life.

May we be given to the Lord and to those in need, and may our heart not be displeased when we give (Deut. 15:10), for if we give, we will receive from the Lord, and when we give, He blesses us in all our work and in our undertakings.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your rich care and provision for us. Thank You for caring not only for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air but also for us, Your people. Thank You for Your rich provision and care. We give ourselves to You, dear Lord, with all we are and have. We want to be those who give and not only receive; save us from holding back in giving to You and to the poor. May we realize that, when we give, it will be given to us, and the measure with which we measure in giving, so it will be measured to us. Oh Lord. Save us from experiencing lack or deprivation because we don’t give. May we be released from the love of mammon and set aside a portion of what we earn for You and for Your interest on earth!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, and portions from, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 49, ch. 28, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Material offerings and the Lord’s Move Today, week 2, entitled, Principles of Material Offerings (2).
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Give up the world, Christ to obtain, / He is the One you require; / Once you receive this glorious Christ, / Never the rest you’ll desire. / He is so rich, He is so full, / He can fulfill all your needs! / He is so good, He is so sweet, / All your desire He exceeds! (Hymns #1025)
  – Give and it shall be given unto you, / Pressed down, running over. / Give and it shall be given unto you. / Luke, chapter 6:38. (Scripture song)
  – It can bring with it nothing, / But He will bear us through; / Who gives the lilies clothing, / Will clothe His people too: / Beneath the spreading heavens / No creature but is fed; / And He, who feeds the ravens, / Will give His children bread. (Hymns #706)