Matthew 25: 37 – 40
Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’
I hope you all took advantage of Giving Tuesday. If you haven’t yet, you still can. Regarding giving, I had someone say something very disturbing to me recently. I want to share it with you.
Because things are hard for so many people right now, this believer wanted to do something to help someone in real need. As we talked, she told me her ideas. She said she thought about taking money to the local church, “But,” she said, “I am not sure they will do with the money what I want.” She had doubts that the church would actually give the money to a person in need. How tragic! And yet, I fully appreciate her concern. She said, “I am supposed to give my gifts to the church and then the church is supposed to take care of the needy.” Yep! That is how it is supposed to work. Why do we doubt it actually does work out that way? So, I wanted to let you know some things about this ministry.
First of all, Ivey Ministries tithes. We give at least 10% of every dime that comes into the ministry and always have. Furthermore, we believe in giving and helping others. We give of our time and our resources. Part of the dynamic of ministry is that it is an organization of believers. Because we join together and join our resources, we are able to accomplish more and affect more people than any of us can individually. When five of you give twenty dollars to the ministry, we are able to do more than one person giving twenty dollars, say, to the food bank. Combined we can buy cases of food instead of cans. That is the idea of giving to the church, that collectively we can have a great impact. The church is supposed to be here to serve you and the community.
Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, for the rest of the story. This saint asked if she could send me the money and me use my resources to find someone to help. Absolutely! I will receive her donation within the week and the entire amount is going to help people in need.
If you ever feel like you want to do something tangible to help people with real needs but don’t know what to do, I will do my best to meet your need to be kind and generous and direct your gift to someone who needs God’s touch. Call me, email, put a note with your check. Tell me what you wish to accomplish. We can always find ways to bless people and meet real needs.