Giving The Lord What Is Already His - 1 Chron. 29:1-14

To give somewhat of a backstory. King David is speaking to Israel (the people of God)… as they prepare to follow the command of the Lord which was to build the Temple.

In verses 1-5 of the Book of 1 Chronicles 29…David as King not only promises resources such as gold, silver and bronze from the Kingdom of Israel…

But He states in verse 3 that because of His [personal] devotion to the Lord…that He also promises to provide treasure from his own resource and goes even further than that as He calls for the Israelite leaders to do the same.

As we see Him say in verse 5 - “Who then will offer willingly, consecrating [dedicating] himself today to the Lord?”

In verses 6-8…the people of God respond! And out of their freewill they give Tens of Billions of dollars worth of resources for the building of the Lord’s Temple as they followed the command of their God!! [Did you hear good? There’s a Difference between the [M] & the [B]]

Verse 9 says - “Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.”

10 Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.

The word blessed in the Hebrew means literally “to kneel… and/or to yield to the King!”

So verse 10 sets up for us this vivid picture of the People of God…Blessing God…as they kneel before the Lord in adoration [in all love and respect]… and yield to his sovereign authority over their lives!

I would ask you this morning? Have you yielded every aspect of your life to the Lord?

Specifically related to the context of 1 Chronicles 29… have you yielded your money. resources and finance to the Lord?

Do you give out of the firstfruits of your life? Do you give to the Lord first? Do you give joyfully? Do you give to the Lord at all?

Have you yielded to…relinquished the possession of…chosen to give up…the rights to make decisions concerning your money without first consulting with and giving to…the God to whom you affirm gave it to you?

This is what we see from the people of God in 1 Chronicles 29….Folks…you don’t give Billions of Dollars of Resource to the Lord by accident…You’re not going to make those kind of payments without a plan in place…and You’re not going to give obediently to the Lord without being intentional to do so!

The people of God… heard the command of God …and resolved in their heart to be obedient… to God!

God had given the command…He had given the resource…and His people responded in obedience - to bless, Love and prioritize the Lord concerning all that they had!

You might say… now Ben…I know that God has blessed me…And I know He is sovereign and providential in all of his ways… That He is the supreme ruler of everything and because of his divine foresight and intervention…he works our lives out in his favorable time related to his perfect will…and that includes my life and my money!

You might say…I know that…I know that…I pray to God all the time…And in those prayers I affirm that God…You are the orchestrator of everything that I have…You are the God of my life and I desire to follow you in every part of my world….because you are the deliverer of everything that …comes …into…. my …. hand…. [catch the apple]

And God in my finances… and with my resource…I want to bless, love, praise and prioritize you…With my money I want to offer up a sacrifice of praise to you Lord!!

But God…[Take A Bite]

In your all-knowingness… you know that I got Bills! And its August! Its 857 degrees outside and that electric bill ain’t free….I’ve got two …mildly used to brand new vehicles outside in ga-rage….that for some reason the bank wants money for every single month…

The only thing that I own in the house is that cuisinart toaster on the kitchen counter…I mean…I even had to finance my living room furniture… because people can’t come over and sit on just anything…

God …I love you… and I want to bless you with my money…but God surely you understand… that I’ve got Bills….

And God…[Take A Bite]

Do you remember I was telling you its August? And do you know what happens in August? That’s when the kids go back to school…And Lord I really been thinking about this and I know that we need to cut back on some things so we can make you first in our lives concerning our finances…but Lord…I can’t let my kids go to school in just anything…. I mean… its got to be nike or lululemon… jordan or converse…

I mean, Lord…I can’t send my kids to school in something from Walmart…with some Ross - Dress for less - shoes…what would people think?

But God in spite of all of that …Know that I love you… and I want to bless you with my money…

And God…[Take A Bite]

I know I shouldn’t have but…I had to get pedicure yesterday…I mean…Have you ever seen the movie Beauty and the Beast?

Well God know….that my toes nails looked like the toes nails of one of those two characters …and just know that the character that I’m talking about is not Bell!

My toes looked liked sun chips on the end of my feet!

And God I know… that you knew that~

And God…[Take A Bite]

we’ve been waiting a long time to have that boat, or golf cart, or side by side…and I know we spend more money than we should eating out…and we just wanted to go on that trip or vacation…in fact God….we deserve that!

But God…once again…Know that I love you… and I want to bless you with my money…

And so Lord…take this offering….[put apple in offering plate] its the best I have! Its all I can give! A true testament of my love for you!

And use it for your glory…because I love you!

I believe there’s many of you in the building today…that like the idea of giving to the Lord … a whole lot more than actually giving to Him!

And so how do you re-prioritize? How do you fix it? How do you go from thinking about glorifying the Lord with your money…to actually glorifying Him with your money?

Well… the answer lies within the following verses!!

David says in verse 11:

11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.

12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

14 “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

David’s point beginning with his prayer in verse 11 is that without God we are nothing…we have nothing…we make nothing … have earned nothing…

And so because of this…David blesses and praises God for supplying the funds needed to accomplish what he had commanded the Israelites to do. [building of the temple]…Understanding and affirming that all the money and resources used were the Lords.

God drew up the plan - He supplied the funds - It was up to the Israelites to return to God … his funds … for his plans!

And in the same way the Lord has given us as believer’s instruction so that we may accomplish his purpose through the church…

1 Corinthians 16:2 - On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

2 Corinthians 9:7 - Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Matthew 6:21

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

2 Corinthians 9:6

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Folks….in the same way that David and the people of God found fulfilment in being obedient to the Lord’s command and purposes…specifically related to the way they managed the money God had given them…

You today… can find the same…I know you look at your money and you think there is no way I can give money to Lord…but try it…I bet you can…

You have to Start somewhere…God often needs us to do our little thing…so he can do his big thing…even if its not as much as you would like to give to God…watch and see if the Lord doesn’t give you a heart to give Him more!!

Watch and see that as you pursue Christ with not only your money…but your time…and resource…if you don’t begin to make decisions that will allow you to give more to Jesus… who gave it all for you!

And what’s funny…is that you will see that you are more content and fulfilled by giving the Lord back what’s already his…than you were when you were holding it all to yourself…

———-

Before service began today…I walked by Jerry Morgan and asked if I could have a $100.

I’ve been holding this $100 for the entirety of our service this morning…

But Jerry I would like you to come up here because I want to give you your 100 dollars back…

You know what…that was painless for me to give Jerry that money back…in fact I found joy in giving it to Him…

You know why? Because I understood that the money was always Jerry’s in the first place…

I simply returned to Him…what was already His!

Gary to dismiss

Blessing of the Backpacks

New Members Class Next Sunday Right after service - Lunch will be provided

Feeding teachers Breakfast Tuesday Morning