“If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD–and he will repay you!”
Proverbs 19:17 NLT
I loved High School and College. Let me rephrase that, I loved the social aspect of High School and College! I’m an extrovert and love being with people. It energizes me. Kids at High School and College age are all about being social. Someone is always planning a party, go-karting, movie-night or just hanging out together. My group of friends loved the movies and go-karting. The bad part of kids at that age is that they hardly ever have money so someone in the group would always say, ”I wanna go, but I’m outta funds. Can You Lend Me Some Cash?…I’ll pay you back.” Which translated usually meant, “We’ll have fun, but say good-bye to your money!”
I think these teenage experiences are God’s way of preparing us for our relationship with Him, money and others, I really do! I believe that God puts people in our life who don’t have the same cashflow as us so we can keep a right perspective on money.
You see half the time when a teenager lends money they aren’t really lending their money, they’re imparting their parents’ cash.
James reminds us that “every good and perfect gift” comes from God.1
[tweetthis]All that we have is from God so therefore, it’s all His. James 1:17 [/tweetthis]
ALL WE HAVE IS HIS
It’s hard to break the mentality that it’s not ours but it’s true, all we have is His. Even crazier to comprehend is that God says when we lend His money, He will reimburse us…just like the parent of a teen who gives them more cash the next weekend! He gives for us to give!
Other times God seems like our teenage ‘borrower’ friends. We think He’s forgotten what we’ve done to help others and start to doubt He’s ever going to pay us back. It can seem like forever in our finite minds, but God doesn’t break promises and even if it takes Him till eternity, He will repay…with interest!2
So, the next time you see or hear of someone in need and feel that nudge in your spirit…when you know it’s the Lord asking: Can You Lend Me Some Cash?…I hope you answer yes.
Prayer
Father…Thank You for all you give. Help me to have the right perspective with my money. Change my heart so I can accept that it’s all yours. Help me not to have closed pockets, but an open heart ready and willing to help the poor in finances and in spirit. Open up my heart so I say yes and that I’m able to see the people you’re calling me to help. May I give like you give and repay like you repay…abundantly! In Jesus Name…Amen
1 James 1:17
2 Joel 2:26
#Dare2Share
I’m not encouraging you to give so that you get repaid. Our heart has to be pure when we give, but let us know how God has repaid you to help build up our faith to believe for God to do the same for us.
Post in the Comment Section below and bolster the faith of someone else!
Always we have to bring our idol factory hearts back to the truth that we give because we HAVE received, not so that we WILL receive. You’ve done it for me again, Sherry. Thanks.
Michele,
I’m truly thankful for your comments and your blog posts. I feel we’re growing an ‘iron that sharpens iron’ kind of relationship. Another woman of the Word I greatly respect. Have a blessed day!
~Sherry
xoxo
I have many times over the years given things ranging g=from money to food to people God told me to give to. I am on social assistance and my income is very limited yet for the past few months my pantry and freezer are stocked full at about the same cost as before. At the beginning of the month I found some smaller size roast beef (roasts) for under $5 each. I picked 2 up thinking I would be all set for a few months. When I got home God told me to give one a lady in need that I just met about a year ago. She is just learning about trusting God to provide for her. It was a couple weeks before I could give it to her. As I was taking it out of my freezer God told me to give her some of my canned goods, potatoes and carrots. When I handed the bags to her she was in tears. My food seems to multiply….my freezer is still well stocked as well as my pantry. One thing I learned when I was I was single mom with 2 young children is that you cannot out give God. My daughter to this day brings up different times when God provided for us when we were in need and how He multiplied our food. As you step out and do what God tells you to do and bless someone else know that you are blessing Him as well. I do not do what I do to get something back….I do it because my Father tells me to do it and I choose to obey Him and He in turn rewards me in so many different ways.
Betty, I can’t thank you enough for sharing. Too often we wait to give thinking we’ll do it when we get a little more money. God is asking us to give when He leads, not when we find it convenient. Your testimony encouraged my heart today and I’m sure it will encourage many more! Thanks for sharing. Thanks for being faithful and obedient opening up the door for HIS miraculous repayment plan.
Much love,
~Sherry
xoxo
We think He has forgotten….Oh yes, this is so true! We don’t always want to admit this, but it is there in the back of our minds.
Sometimes I just write what I really think 🙂 Thanks for the comment Sarah. Have a blessed day!
~Sherry
xoxo
Sherry, I love this fresh perspective … sharing our parents’ money. It’s all His! Praying I steward for His glory.
Thank you, sweet friend, for sharing. xoxo
Crystal, I spoke at a youth group last week and the analogy just came clear as a bell 🙂 Thanks for your #Linkup I’m grateful to be a part and truly overwhelmed with your post about my book. Praying God blesses you real good!
~Sherry
xoxo
Sherry, It changed my life and my families when I “got” that all I have is God’s. When we trust Him with what he’s asking of us to do with our money (and everything else), he always has a plan for us that is so much larger than our finite mindset. When I get “stuck” in this area I just have to remind myself of the miracles He’s already done because I trusted him and gave when it didn’t make sense. He blesses those who give according to His riches, not their own and by faith. I love how God loves us fully and completely even when it comes to finances. He is so good! Thank you for a great post!! Great to link up with you on #GraceAndTruth.
Joelle, it truly is freeing when you ‘get’ that everything is HIS. It’s a new belief system that is chock full of #GraceandTruth 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
~Sherry
xoxo
Such a great reminder for us to be generous, just as our Father is generous. Thanks for the nudge this morning… 😉 Your neighbour at #FreshMarketFridays
Glad you stopped by Laura. Praying you let that generosity flow~~~
Have a blessed weekend!
~Sherry
xoxo
Sherry, I like how you put it that its our Father’s money that we are sharing. Great perspective!
Thanks Debbie! The right perspective is everything isn’t it 🙂 Have a blessed weekend!
~Sherry
xoxo
Great reminder to keep a healthy perspective on money! It’s a constant struggle to not let money (either the desire for, or the lack of) run our lives!
Christie, it really is a struggle in North America to keep a proper perspective on money and not let it run our lives. Thanks for stopping by for a visit:)
~Sherry
xoxo
I appreciate the perspective in an area we all wrestle with at one time or another. When we give out of pure motives, we just never know how God may multiply that gift for the one in need.
Crystal,
Praying God multiplies your return on all you’ve done to help those in need! Have a blessed week.
~Sherry
xoxo
Sherry, what an interesting perspective. I wonder how we as parents and grandparents can use this kind of thing (giving money to our kids) to teach life lessons to our kids. I believe that’s what Moses meant when he said we’re to teach as we “sit in our houses, walk by the way, lie down and rise up.” Thanks for sharing this. Blessings!
Donna,
Great connection to teaching the next generation. I think we need to be so aware of how we can help show them the way. Have a blessed day!
~Sherry
xoxo
God loves a cheerful giver. The Lord brought a couple of people into my life a little over 3 years ago that were very hard up. I chose to walk in obedience in befriending them and helping them. I hoped that they would get on their feet quickly because that would make it easier for me. Selfish, I know. Besides, my husband was told his job was ending. That stretched my faith even more, because when you know your job is ending, the first thing you want to do is tighten the purse strings. At first, my obedience was a bit on the strained side, not cheerful. But God sent just the right people to hold a revival at our church, and one of the things they emphasized was giving sacrificially. God spoke to me about how if you sow generously you reap generously and if you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. I totally get that since I have been gardening and loving it for over a decade. So I started letting go of the purse strings more, and this last time that my husband’s contract was coming to an end, I just knew that God was going to provide and that I didn’t need to tighten the purse strings. Sure enough, when my husband’s job ended recently, he had numerous people actively trying to help him find a job, and he had more than one job offer. He was only off long enough for a short vacation, which was fine because he had vacation pay coming. God is true to His word. We will find joy in walking in surrender to His will and in obeying Him even in the difficult things.
Ruth,
Thanks so much for sharing your testimony of God’s goodness and faithfulness to His promises. I hope many people read your comment and are encouraged to trust God more with our money…I know I am 🙂 Have a blessed day!
~Sherry
xoxo
Oops, forgot to leave my website: https://plantedbylivingwater.wordpress.com
Thanks for sharing your website. Hopefully I can swing by later today. Heading out for an appointment.
~Sherry
xoxo