By Shirley Mitchell
“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’ "
2. We give money to things that we want to empower.
Americans have been blessed with so much that it is hard for us to fathom giving all that we have to live on like this widow did. It is one thing to give to God out of abundance; it is another thing to give out of sacrifice. Surplus giving will result in mediocre living. When you and I give out of sacrifice, we are saying that the kingdom of God is more important to us than our own well-being on earth. Money represents the fuel which provides earthly energy to something. What do you want to empower?
God does not need us to empower Him. He is all powerful. We love money because it represents our physical livelihood or our pleasure. When we give to God, our hearts are saying we desire for God’s kingdom to be advanced over our own desires and sometimes needs. The power does not come in the money. The power comes from the hearts of the people belonging to their God. God responds to His people’s devotion and releases His supernatural power that catapults them into a spiritual explosion.
Jesus called His disciples to Him so He could praise her to others. The Holy Spirit inspired them to record her story for people from every generation to hear. Jesus esteemed this woman. He was delighted with her choice to choose God. Her affections were set on Him. Can you imagine impressing Jesus enough that He recognizes your actions in front of others? What an honor! Oh, sweet sister, how I want my life to please Him, too. Don’t you?
Pray with me: Oh, Father in Heaven. It is the desire of my heart for my giving of my resources to be because I truly want Your Kingdom to be empowered. Help me to overcome any unbelief in my life. Create in me a heart that desires to give sacrificially and not out of my excess. Couple the earthly energy of my money with the greater power of my Faith so that Your Name is Glorified throughout the entire earth, and heaven is impacted for eternity! It’s in the Name above of names and the Name that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, I pray. Amen.
Excerpt from the Jesus Lives Bible study
“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’ "
Mark 12:41-44
One of Jesus’ final acts in the temple was to examine the offerings of the people. Jesus sat down in a place with the perfect view of people putting money into the treasury. This was more than normal people-watching. This inspection went deep into the hearts of each person who placed his money in the temple treasury.
Jesus either recognized the widow’s poverty by her attire or by His divine knowledge. I suspect it was both. This widow gave the smallest offering one could give, one-eighth of a penny or 1/100 of an average daily wage. Yet, her gift touched her entire being. God honored it by doing great things with her small contribution.
God doesn’t exempt the poor from giving. The widow’s offering surpassed all other offerings because she gave sacrificially. The wealthy people’s gifts did not touch their lives at all. There gifts may have been large and a great benefit to the temple, but it didn’t require sacrifice. It didn’t require for them to evaluate how much did they really believe in supporting the temple and obeying God.
Half of Jesus’ parables concerned money. 15% of all that Jesus said pertained to our attitudes about money. His final act in the temple was to oversee the gifts to the temple treasury. Was it because as many people today claim, “Preachers are always begging for money”? Why do you think Jesus was so concerned with people’s gifts to the temple and with money?
Our God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills never needs to beg. I wouldn’t respect a god who had to beg his followers for money in order to thrive. Strangely, our giving to godly purposes is for our sake and not His. God has entrusted us to manage His affairs. We are to be stewards of His resources. God owns it all, and we administer it on His behalf. We are to be loyal and accountable to our Master’s business. His affairs are the priority over our ease, safety, and pleasure. God owns everything, but He decided to give some of it to us to teach us how to manage it. Why? Our faith is revealed by our giving. Our faith is strengthened by our giving. 1 Peter 1:7 says that our faith is worth more than gold.
I will never forget what a manager said one time at work while we were doing a market analysis of users of our machines, “Income doesn’t really matter. People find a way to spend money on what they really think they must have.” Do you really think that you “must have” God’s Name glorified?
I want you to remember two things about the places we decide to spend our money or give our money:
1. We give money to things in which we truly believe.
2. We give money to things that we want to empower.
Americans have been blessed with so much that it is hard for us to fathom giving all that we have to live on like this widow did. It is one thing to give to God out of abundance; it is another thing to give out of sacrifice. Surplus giving will result in mediocre living. When you and I give out of sacrifice, we are saying that the kingdom of God is more important to us than our own well-being on earth. Money represents the fuel which provides earthly energy to something. What do you want to empower?
God does not need us to empower Him. He is all powerful. We love money because it represents our physical livelihood or our pleasure. When we give to God, our hearts are saying we desire for God’s kingdom to be advanced over our own desires and sometimes needs. The power does not come in the money. The power comes from the hearts of the people belonging to their God. God responds to His people’s devotion and releases His supernatural power that catapults them into a spiritual explosion.
Jesus called His disciples to Him so He could praise her to others. The Holy Spirit inspired them to record her story for people from every generation to hear. Jesus esteemed this woman. He was delighted with her choice to choose God. Her affections were set on Him. Can you imagine impressing Jesus enough that He recognizes your actions in front of others? What an honor! Oh, sweet sister, how I want my life to please Him, too. Don’t you?
Pray with me: Oh, Father in Heaven. It is the desire of my heart for my giving of my resources to be because I truly want Your Kingdom to be empowered. Help me to overcome any unbelief in my life. Create in me a heart that desires to give sacrificially and not out of my excess. Couple the earthly energy of my money with the greater power of my Faith so that Your Name is Glorified throughout the entire earth, and heaven is impacted for eternity! It’s in the Name above of names and the Name that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, I pray. Amen.
Excerpt from the Jesus Lives Bible study
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