Planting a garden is an act of faith

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Stop kidding yourself - quit allowing yourself to vascillate on this issue - avoid going down the road that says .....no he doesn't......

8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

We get tired if we forget this.....

9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

So, don't give up

10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Hosea 10:13

Haman in the book of Esther

Matthew 7:1-2 says....“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.....

You will be held to the same standard

Scripture is dotted with illustrations of what goes around comes around.....

Rick Warren shares......

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

This can be good or bad......so keep that in mind.....

Each one of us should give....


What you have decided


not reluctantly


nor under compulsion

emphasis is no willingness of heart.....


But cheerfully - with great gladness or hilarity of heart


7. Purposeth (προαιρείται). Read προῄρηται, perfect tense, hath purposed.

Grudgingly (ἐκ λύπης). Lit., out of sorrow.

Cheerful (ἱλαρὸν). Only here in the New Testament. See on the kindred ἱλαρότης cheerfulness, note on Rom. 12:8.

God loveth, etc. From Prov. 22:9, where the Hebrew is, a kind man shall be blessed. Sept., God blesseth a man who is cheerful and a giver.

It is the word for hilarious, outrageous laughter

Because giving is not a mathematical formula, it is essentially a matter of the heart.......

The story is too common, but I hear such stories repeatedly. My most recent conversation was with a church leader where an affluent church member offered to make a large contribution to the renovation of the worship center. He had one stipulation: the worship center had to be named in memory of his late mother. The leader politely declined. The affluent member did not make the donation. To the contrary, he began withholding all of his gifts to the church.

Almost every pastor and church leader has some story about members withholding their financial gifts as an act of protest about the direction of the church and its leadership. I have never known such a situation that had any positive affect.


1. It assumes that we are the actual owners of our finances. That is unbiblical thinking. God gives to us everything we have. We are the stewards of these gifts. Such is the reason we use the word “stewardship.”
2. No church is perfect. If every member protested about an imperfection in a local congregation, no church would ever receive funds. This selfish act is not the way to resolve concerns.
3. This practice is divisive. One of the most precious resources of any congregation is unity. The withholding of financial gifts is an act of disunity and divisiveness.
4. It is controlling. The church member who withholds financial gifts seeks to get his or her way. Such is not the spirit of Paul’s words in Philippians 2:3: “Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.”
5. It is self-serving. When Paul penned 1 Corinthians 12, he emphasized how we are to function in the body of Christ. Our motive for serving is for Christ and others before ourselves.
6. It is demoralizing. Paul wrote in Romans 14:19, “So we must pursue what promotes peace and builds up one another.” This practice has the opposite effect.
7. It backs church leaders into a corner. Leaders have one of two options. They can yield to the church member and thus affirm a sinful practice. Or they can refuse to yield and continue the conflict that was started by the member. It is a lose-lose situation.
8. If the church member truly has serious disagreements with the direction of the church, he or she should pursue other paths. They can address their concerns with leaders in the church directly. If members still have serious concerns and no resolution seems possible, it may be best to go to another church. It is much healthier to give to another church than to withhold from your present church.
9. This practice never has a positive outcome. Even if the member gets his or her way, unity and trust are broken at many levels. The body of Christ is always wounded by this practice.

compounding interest .....an amazing concept

Read context......


Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

3
If clouds are full of water,
they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

5
As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed[a] in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.

6
Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.

Don't wait until conditions are ideal....or you will always have a reason not to......

26 He said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he does not know how. 28 For the earth bears fruit by itself: first the blade, then the head, then the full seed in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, immediately he applies the sickle because the harvest has come.”