Confessions Of a changed Person - Failure Is Just An Option - Part 8

Our First Gift Was For Our Liberation From Possessions
In the book of Matthew Jesus said something that will forever be my motivation for giving. I believe that without the words of my master I would still be languishing in poverty like most people. Here Jesus speaks about three things and they are; the Heart, The treasure and some place. ‘where your treasure is there your heart will be also’ Matthew 6:21 this simply tells us how much power possessions can have over people, but this scripture read in reverse also reveals the power of the heart; ‘where your heart is there your treasure will be also’ now it depends on how you read the scripture.

In the original words as spoken by Jesus the scripture reveals how our hearts can be weakened by the possessions we have. It tells us that the power of treasurers can actually override our hearts. When I first read this passage I must say that I totally agreed with it because I was one of those people whose hearts were after the things they had. And as meagre as they were my earthly possessions had such great power over me. I learnt that you can be poor and still be very possessive as a rich man who has worked hard all his life for his things. It only makes sense with the latter I must say.
I slowly began to read the above scripture putting the heart before the treasure and it made a lot sense to me since at least it gave me some power of possessions. Remember when read in reverse the portion reads as follows; ‘where your heart is there your treasure will be also’ at least this time it gives the heart the power over treasure and that’s exactly how I wanted to conduct my life. To me it meant that my heart was not going to be controlled by things but things were going to be controlled by my heart. Do you get the point? This made sense to me because I simply looked at it from the point of a heart that is totally surrendered to God. And let’s just be honest with ourselves; if you give God total control of your heart what can possibly go wrong with all else around you? Will God struggle to use you for whatever and whenever he chooses to? The answer is no. Then I decided that my heart will follow God and my treasure will follow my heart. This simply meant that I will give whatever God wants me to, it does not matter what it is and to whom I must give it.


Therefore realize that prosperity begins in the heart where matters of life and death are decided. Never try to give until it is settled in your heart and when your mind begins to scream at you, you have the right to ignore it the boss is the heart when it comes to giving. Let your heart be settled. You can’t train the heart, you surrender it. That is why the Bible says; ‘guard your heart with all diligence because out of it comes the issues of life’ [paraphrased] Proverbs 4:20


When we started off with our first giving it was way back in 1984. I gave the only car that we had in the family. Looking back I believe that God spoke to me about that car even though He did not use an audible language. I loved the car so much for obvious reasons; it was my first car and added to that not many guys afforded cars back then so you can imagine how lucky I was to have one. My silent conversation with God started as if it was just a thought as I began to realize how offended I became every time someone would get into the car without first making sure that there was no dirt under their shoes especially during rainy days. Every time this happened I would literally feel bad and not be able to hide it and as soon as the person got out of the car I would immediately on the spot clean the carpet. Most people admired these acts and commended me for being a neat and tidy person except for one person; God was not happy at all I began to hear His silent language from deep within my spirit. Every time I was alone a still small voice would suggest that I give away the car but as a trained new convert I would quickly rebuke that voice ‘in Jesus name’ simply because I strongly believed that this was none other than the devil.


And sure enough every time the voice came I rebuked it and it left. I soon realized that after every encounter with this voice about me giving away my car I would be left with a very strong sense of regret as if I had done something wrong. This would normally last a few days until it goes and I soon got used to it. There are some things in our lives that we learn to overcome temporarily but we never win the battle over them and I believe this was one of them. Looking back I believe that my immaturity in the things of God also added to my resistance. One day I woke up and realized that this was God speaking to me all along and the feeling of giving away the car made more peace than sense. I hope you understand what I’m trying to say. There are situations or instances where the same decision you make leaves you with two totally contrasting feelings. You know deep down in your heart that you were right in taking the decision but somewhere in your head the battle goes on until you wish you never took the decision in the first place.


This is where the word of God comes through for us. You have to know what God’s word says and stick with the word and precisely the relevant word. You cant win a battle using the wrong weapons. It took me a few hours to agree to give away the car, I spoke to Joyce about it and she agreed even though this was the only car we had in the family. We were so excited about giving it away ignoring what the difference of not having a car was going to be like in the family. And we did not have money to buy another car but we went on anyway. On Sunday morning we drove to Church expecting God to show us who to give the car to, and even though there were more than enough people who would actually appreciate it and make good use of it none made it as the nominee for this assignment. It was for the first time in my life that I felt such an irresistible urge to part with something and I knew it could only be God and no one else. When it was time to go home I realized that most people had by that time left and only a few of us were left I went to a certain young man who was also a family friend and asked him if he could pay us a visit in the afternoon, he said yes and we agreed on the time. On our way home with Joyce we somehow felt that this was the person to give the car to but the problem was that we also knew that he did not have a driver’s license and did not even have a need for a car. Even so we settled our minds that he was the one and it felt good in our hearts. To be continued. MVK

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 . You can leave a response and follow any responses to this entry through the Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) .

1 comments

Anonymous  

Through your teachings, i have also learned to give even if it is not much. I think it the beginning. And somehow after I have given whatever amount of money for instance, I have never run short of money to an extent that I wished I never gave to somebody. I somehow always have enough even after giving. I have also learned to give to any person who is in need, even though I can see that the person is going to waste the money on drugs or cigarettes. I believe that it is not my place to judge the person and I feel good in my heart that I have given to somebody who is in need. Thank you pastor for opening my eyes. Regards Taki!!!