How to Honor God with Your Money

We are looking at how to get a grip on your giving. You know, the unique thing about Christmas is that Christmas is all about giving. It's about 2 Corinthians 8 verse number 9 which says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. In other words, Christmas is about the richest of all, Christ himself, becoming poor so we who are incredibly poor might become incredibly rich. Not materially, but spiritually.

It's all about the giving of his life away. I'm afraid that we celebrate Christmas without really understanding the whole importance of giving and yet Christ sets the tone for all that giving entails. So if we're going to get a grip on our giving patterns, we must understand some of the principles that God has outlined, how to really truly honor God with our money. We told you last week that we would give you some principles. I want to begin by taking you back to the Old Testament to a prophet by the name of Haggai.

So if you've got your Bible, turn with me to the book of Haggai for no other reason than to find out where it is in the Old Testament.

The prophet Haggai is an older gentleman. No doubt he lived during the time of Solomon's temple. He would know about the beauty of that temple and the prophet Haggai would be used in a mighty way to help Israel understand how they could get rid of their lethargy and their materialism when it came to that which was so ingrained in them. After 70 years of Babylonian captivity, a unique thing was going to happen as prophesied by Isaiah the prophet that Cyrus, a Persian pagan king, would allow Israel to return and rebuild the temple.

Having known that, that should in and of itself motivate the people to do so. We know that Isaiah 45 tells us verse, I'm sorry, Isaiah 44 verse number 24 begins this way. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, I the Lord and the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by myself and spreading out the earth all alone. Causing the omens of boasters to fail, making fools out of diviners, causing wise men to draw back and turning their knowledge into foolishness.

In other words, God's saying, I do everything. I'm in charge of everything. Confirming the word of his servant and performing the purpose of his messengers, it is I who says of Jerusalem, she shall be inhabited and of the cities of Judah, they shall be built and I will raise up her ruins again. It is I who says to the depth of the sea, be dried up and I will make your rivers dry. It is I who says to Cyrus, he is my shepherd. This pagan Persian king is my shepherd and he will perform all my desire.

Isn't it good to know that even the pagan presidents and kings perform the desire of God because God's in charge. Cyrus is going to perform all my desire and he declares of Jerusalem, she shall be built and of the temple, your foundation will be laid. So they know from the prophet Isaiah that while living in captivity, after it's said and done, the temple will be rebuilt. So sure enough, Cyrus gives the pathway for 42,360 Jews to go back. We know that from Ezra chapter one, to go back and rebuild the temple.

So they do. And 16 years after returning to the promised land, after returning to the place the temple once stood, coming back to a place filled with wreckage, weeds and just a mess. 16 years later, the temple had not been rebuilt. So God uses Haggai, the prophet to speak to the nation of Israel. The question is, what were they doing? Isn't it good to know that when God makes a prophecy and you can hear it, see it, read it, that you just, you want to fulfill what God said, but somehow Israel didn't.

Question comes, why? Why? Well, Haggai chapter one tells us. In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel, the son of Sheol governor of Judah and to Joshua, the son of Jehoshadak, the high priest saying, thus says the Lord of hosts.

This people says the time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt. Really? Why is that? It's not time to build the house. Wait a minute. You know about the prophecy. Why is it you say it's not time to rebuild the house of God? What excuse can you possibly give? It's not time. It's because they had other things on their mind. So it says in verse three, then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying, is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?

Oh, what have they been doing? They had been building their own houses and not just their own houses, but they had built paneled houses. They were building houses fit for Kings. They had just come from captivity and they had seen the Babylonian empire and they had seen the wealth and the beauty of all that was there. And they wanted to have nice houses. The houses that parents lived in, they weren't good enough. They had to be better houses than their parents had. See, it'd be big houses, nice houses, paneled houses.

So they began to build their own houses. They said, it's not time for us to build the house of the Lord. Why? Because we're too busy building our house. You ever been there? You ever said to the Lord, yeah, I love, I love to give the Lord. I got to put another wing on my house. I have a bigger shutters in my house. I got to put newer windows in my house. I don't have time to give the Lord. I've got to refurbish the inside of my house. And when that's all said and done, then we can rebuild the house of the Lord.

Then we can do things for the Lord. But until then, I've got to take care of my dwelling place instead of taking care of God's dwelling place. Now I know that nobody in the first service has ever said that.

That's only second service people. See, because they're sleeping in this morning in their paneled houses. They're not here yet. See, so I know that you guys don't fall in that category. So Haggai is going to call them into account. And then he says this, because this is so important, because you will notice this.

He says, Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Take note of what you have done. You have so much, but you harvest little. You eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied. You drink, but there is not enough to become drunk. You put on clothing, but no one is warm enough. And he earns wages to put into a purse with holes. You are working so hard. You are working so hard at your dwelling place. You are working so hard at getting your things done that when you come home and you want to eat, there's not enough food.

When you want to be satisfied, you are not. When you want to be clothed, you're not warm enough. Why? Because you have purses with holes in them. Anybody here have a purse with a hole in it? Not the top, but the bottom. You put everything in, they say, no, boom, it's gone. It's just gone. What was happening? They were taking care of their own needs, supposedly, only to realize that those needs were never met. They couldn't be met because they had not honored the Lord. So we don't. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, consider your ways.

Go up to the mountains, bring wood, rebuild the temple that I may be pleased with it and be glorified, says the Lord. Now this is so important because you've got to read what's going on here. Go up to the mountains and bring wood. Now, if you read the book of Ezra, they've already bought wood 16 years ago. They bought wood from Tyre and Sidon because that's where Solomon got his wood from to build the temple. But notice God now says, go out, chop down trees, bring in some wood.

Why? Because the wood they were supposed to use for the temple, they used to build their paneled houses. What they wanted to do and give to God, they gave to themselves. Now, I know you've never done that, right? You promise something to God, but then you spend it on yourself. So God says to the prophet Haggai, go out, chop down some trees, get some wood, begin the project, rebuild the temple.

Then it says, you look for much, but behold, it comes too little. When you bring it home, I blow it away. Why declares the Lord of hosts? Because of my house, which lies desolate while each of you runs to his own house. Isn't that convicting? That is just so convicting. Why is it? Why is it you keep looking for more and nothing comes? Because you've decided to do what you want to do instead of doing what I have told you to do. And all you will be is in want constantly. Verse 10, therefore, because of you, the sky has withheld its due and the earth has withheld its produce.

God made it all go bad. Why? Because they did not honor the Lord and his word. This is almost like it was written in the 21st century to the people of the church to help us understand our materialism, our constant discontentment with the way things are, the places we live and the cars we drive and the clothes that we wear that somehow I've got to keep building on and keep getting bigger and keep getting better and keep getting prettier. And all the while God says, wait a minute, wait a minute, what are you doing?

Why are you so concerned about the external instead of the internal? Why are you more concerned about your house than my house? No, no, this is just a building. This is not the house of God. I understand that. This is not the temple of Solomon and it's not the place where God's glory dwells and God's glory departed. But, but, but this is a place where we gather together to meet, to worship and honor the true and living God. And we gather together to honor him week in and week out. It should always be our priority to honor God before we honor ourselves.

We tend to procrastinate. I'll do it when this is done. When my kids are finally through school and I'm done paying off all those student loans, then I can give more money to the Lord.

When I'm done putting on the extra wing or putting in the house and back for, for my future in-laws, then, then I can give to the Lord. But that never happens. Because if you're faithful in little, you'll be faithful in much. But if you're unfaithful in little, you'll be unfaithful in much as well. The good thing about this is that the spirit of God worked and they were convicted. The spirit of God worked in the spirit of the people and they got back to work. I would pray that the spirit of God is working in all of us as we begin to understand our priorities when it comes to giving.

So how do we honor God with our money? Proverbs 3, 9 tells us that we are to honor the Lord with the first fruits of our increase.

1 Samuel 2, 30 says, he who honors me, I will honor. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs that the generous man will be blessed.

How do I honor God? With all that he's given me. I want to give you some principles this morning. I told you I'd do it last week. I'm going to do it today. And those principles will give you a guideline. I'm not going to give you a percentage. I'm going to give you a number. People always want to say, well, how much should I give? That's not my job to tell you that. My job is just to give you the biblical principles and let the spirit of God work in your heart. So we're going to take you to the book of 2 Corinthians, 8th chapter, the first seven verses, first eight verses to show you about the Macedonian churches.

Churches in Philippi, Berea, and Thessalonica. They were not too far from the church of Corinth. And Paul was writing to the church of Corinth using the Macedonian churches as an example of generosity, as an example of those who gave in a way that honors the Lord. For the Corinthians didn't know how to do that. So Paul would use the Macedonian churches to help them understand exactly how all this is to come about. Now, the unique thing about that is that they were in a Roman province, been there for over 200 years.

It had been impoverished by war. It had been plundered by the Romans. These people were not wealthy people. So nobody in Philippi, Berea, or Thessalonica were wealthy people. All of them were impoverished. All of them were at rock bottom when it came to economic success. And yet they became the example. It wasn't like Paul was using those who lived in Laguna Beach as an example for giving patterns, or those who had their house on Hollywood and Vine. No, no. These are people that are in turmoil, persecution, affliction.

They are in poverty-stricken housing and places. But yet they were willing to give. Let me read to you the narrative, then we'll give you the principles.

2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse number 1, Now brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God, which had been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging of with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints. In this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. But just as you abound in everything, in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in the gracious work also. I'm not speaking this as a command, but it's proving through the earnestness of others, the sincerity of your love also. Okay? There are at least eight principles in this text that if you apply, you will never ask, how much do I give?

You will automatically know what you are to give. That makes sense. Okay, here's principle number one.

Whatever you give, you always give gracefully, gracefully. Verse one, now brethren who wish to make known to you the grace of God, which has been given in the churches of Macedonia. That is, these churches had experienced the grace of God. Out of the abundance of that grace, they now would give. So we're going to call this principle giving gracefully. That is, God's grace is what motivated them. God's grace. That's why verse nine is so important. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.

Listen, the grace of God is a transforming agent, unlike anything else. The grace of God saves. The grace of God sanctifies. The grace of God secures. The grace of God stabilizes. The grace of God stimulates. It moves. It moves you to give. Why? Because Titus 2, 11 and 12 says, the grace of God has appeared, teaching us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live righteously, soberly in this present age. The grace of God is the ultimate teacher, the ultimate motivator. If you have experienced God's grace, you are a new creation.

If you've experienced God's grace, everything about your inner man has changed. If you have experienced the grace of Almighty God, you are a new person. And that grace now becomes the teacher, the motivator, the stimulator of your life that moves you to do what God asks and commands his children to do without reservation. That's what God's grace does. God's grace is a powerful tool. If it can save you from eternal hell, then it can stimulate you to give generously. Because if you've experienced God's transforming grace, listen, you can't help but give.

Because everything about God's grace is about a God who is the ultimate grace giver. So therefore, when you look at a converted life, is it not true that the priorities of a converted person's life changes?

His pursuits change. His passions change. His purpose changes. Everything about a converted person changes. So why would that not affect the way he gives his life away? It does. So Paul begins at the beginning. He begins with the churches in Macedonia and what was going on in their lives. And he says, because the grace of God is prominent in their lives, this is why they gave. This is why they gave. Is it not true, and it is, that the reason a lot of people that attend church don't give is because they've never experienced the saving grace of Almighty God?

And that's true. If you're one of those people who doesn't give, you must ask yourself, have I experienced the grace of God when it comes to salvation? Am I truly born again? Because God is the great giver. Not only that, not only did they give gracefully, they gave unconditionally. Unconditionally. Look what it says, verse 2. That in a great ordeal of affliction, stop right there, they gave unconditionally. That is, their giving wasn't conditioned on their physical well-being. Their giving was not conditioned on their financial well-being.

Their giving was not conditioned on their emotional well-being. Their giving was conditioned only on their spiritual well-being. They gave unconditionally. They were persecuted Jews. If you read 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, read Philippians, you realize that these people were suffering persecution because of their faith in Jesus Christ. So not only were they poor people, they were suffering persecution by their unsaved Jewish friends and from Gentiles. And yet, they continued to give. Oh, and it's been so easy for them to say, you know, we want to give, but boy I tell you, we need to save for a rainy day.

We got to save up because you never know how bad it's going to get. And so we're going to put money aside for that day when all hell breaks loose and we are going to lose our lives. So we have a stash. You ever said that? They didn't say that. They were in danger of losing their lives. They were in danger of losing their physical well-being. And yet they gave generously, liberally, abundantly. They could have used all kinds of excuses. You know, I don't know how long I'm going to be here. I might not make it.

I got to save what I have so that my kids, somehow they can make it. Really? They didn't say that. In the midst of all their persecution, in the midst of all their suffering, amidst all their affliction, amidst all their hardship and difficulty, they gave generously because the grace of God was in effect in their lives. They gave unconditionally. There was no condition that would change their giving patterns. There was nothing that would happen to them that would cause them to withhold back. They wouldn't be like the Jews in the book of Haggai.

It is not time for us to rebuild the temple. It's not time for us to do for God because we're too busy doing for ourselves. They didn't say that. That's why they become the supreme example in the New Testament of people who gave sacrificially. So they gave, number one, they gave gracefully.

Number two, they gave unconditionally. Number three, they gave joyfully. Joyfully. It wasn't that they were giving out of obligation. Yeah, Paul needs money. He's always asking for money. I guess we better give it to him because he needs more money. Titus. Yeah. So let's see. Timothy. Yeah. They need more money. Always asking for money. Better give him some money. Write him a check, dear. No. It says that in a great deal of affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.

Wow. They gave joyfully. They gave joyfully. This is before Paul would say over in 2 Corinthians chapter nine, verse number six. These words. Now I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful, joyful, hilarious giver. So where do we get our English word? Hilarious. People ever ask, hey, is your church funny? Oh, it is the funniest time you've ever seen.

We are absolutely hilarious during the offering time. We pass the basket and with great joy, hilariously, we just can't wait to get it in. Is that you? That's the way they were. They did with an abundance of joy. It wasn't like they were bitter or complaining or whatever the case may be. They just had great joy. You ever, ever been there where really it is a joy to write out your check or to reach into your pocket book and give to the things of the Lord. These people had experienced that in their hearts.

It was a joy to serve the living God. And the best way they could serve the living God was to serve those, that church in Jerusalem that was so needy that they would give to help another brother, another sister in that other church that they might be able to maintain that ministry and grow. That's a great principle. Do you give joyfully? You give hilariously? Do you just love to give? The churches of Macedonia, that's the way they were. They gave joyfully. Come here. Linsky says they made a joy of robbing themselves.

That good. They made a joy of robbing themselves. It was a joy to take from their selves, from themselves and give to the true and living God. Their joy rose above their pain because of persecution. Their joy rose above their sorrow and struggles because of their situation. It rose above all that simply because they had decided to live for the Lord. Principle number one, you give gracefully.

Two, you give unconditionally. Three, you give joyfully. And four, you give liberally. Liberally, he says in verse three, these words, for I testify, I'm sorry, verse two, that in the great ordeal of affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. This was a joyous, liberal giving. Now the word liberal is a unique word. It means single-minded with sincerity. Okay? In other words, when they gave, they did not give with duplicity. They did not give double-mindedly.

They gave single-mindedly. A double-minded person would give this way. He would give thinking, okay, I want to give here, but I had this need here because this need is so supreme. I want to give here, but I won't give this much because I got a need over here. So I'm going to give you this because I got a need over here. That's a double-minded giver. That's not what they did. They gave singularly with sincerity, which allowed them to give liberally. That is no holds barred. They were able to give in such a sincere manner that their own needs did not come into account when they gave to the Lord.

That's a unique way of giving. Now, I'm not saying that you don't pay your bills. I'm not saying you don't do any of that stuff. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that you need to honor the Lord first with the first fruits of your increase, and you do so gracefully.

You do so unconditionally. You do so joyfully, and you do so liberally. There is no vacillating between what the Lord gets and what I get, because you want to give. And then, knowing that, they gave sacrificially. They gave sacrificially. It says, for I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord. So not only according to their ability, but beyond their ability, they gave. That is, they gave sacrificially. So there was an ability in which they could give, and then they went beyond that ability to give even more.

That's giving sacrificially. So when you get down, and you sit down, and you write your checks out, you think, okay, now I know I can give this. That's giving according to your ability. But now you want to give according to beyond your ability. That's giving sacrificially. Let me give you an example.

Let's say Marlene here, she makes $100,000 a year. She makes 100 grand. That's what she makes every year. And let's take Jonathan over there. He makes $10,000 a year. That's it. And you say, I'm going to give 10% of my income to the Lord. So you give 10% of $100,000. You're giving how much? $10,000. Good. Good mathematician. I need you around. And you're making $10,000 a year. You're going to give 10% of your income. You're going to give how much? $1,000. So you have $9,000 left to live on. You have $90,000 left to live on, right?

And let's just say the economy says that in my economy, it costs $40,000 a year to live. But he only makes $10,000, but she makes $100,000. But she's going to give 10%. He's going to give 10%. Okay? He has that $9,000 left. He's going to have trouble in a $40,000 economy. But she has $90,000 left. She has no problem living in an economy that requires $40,000 to live on. Right? So you can give according to your ability or you can give beyond your ability. People say, well, how much do we give? People are always looking for numbers.

Well, everyone wants to talk about the tithe. Well, tithe was an Old Testament precept and principle that God had given. Okay? But before the tithe, Melchizedek did give 10% to the King of Salem. I mean, Abraham gave 10% to the King of Salem, Melchizedek, right? Abraham did do that with all that he had taken from the spoils of the kings that he had defeated to rescue his nephew Lot. But he gave sacrificially the best of the spoils to the King of Salem. That was before the law was given. That was way back in Genesis chapter 14.

If you go to the New Testament, the number given is 50%. Zacchaeus, he gave half of what he had. So if you're looking for numbers in the New Testament, it's 50. Looking for numbers in the Old Testament, it's 10. If you live in the Old Testament or New Testament, see? Think about that. Okay? And the widow, she gave 100% all that she had in Luke's gospel. So when you start looking for numbers to give, that's always a dangerous thing to do because, well, I give 10%, you give 12%, I get 50%, you get 40%.

Okay, well, so what? But you give out of a heart sacrificially. 10% of $100,000 is not near as sacrifice as 10% of $10,000 when you put them side by side, right? It's the heart that matters. It's the sacrifice that matters. It's the desire and the willingness to give to the Lord and to give sacrificially. Most people do not give sacrificially. They just don't. And the reason they don't is because they give double-mindedly. They don't give liberally. They don't give with a single mind. They give with duplicity.

They give thinking there's a need here, there's a need here, which need outweighs one need, and therefore we hold on to some, hold back from the Lord, and don't give sacrificially. So you have to look at these principles when you're thinking about the giving patterns that we establish in our own families and our own personal lives.

Do I give gracefully out of the grace that God has bestowed upon me? Do I give unconditionally no matter what the situation, no matter what the hardship, no matter what the condition, I'm still going to give to the Lord. Do you give joyfully? Do you give liberally? Do you give sacrificially? And then do you give voluntarily? Voluntarily. They weren't manipulated. They weren't coerced. They gave voluntarily. It says they gave of their own accord. And not only did they give of their own accord, that's voluntarily, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in support of the saints.

Not only did they give voluntarily, they begged to give voluntarily. They were begging to give. They lived to give. Do you live to give? They lived to give. Christ came to give his life away. Christ lived to give. He gave his life. Most of us live in order to obtain, in order to get more. You live to give. And that's exactly what took place in the life of the Macedonian churches. They gave of their own accord. They gave voluntarily. And then they gave, listen to this, they gave submissively. Submissively.

Listen to what it says. It says, and this not as we expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

They were submissive to the Lord, listen carefully, and they were submissive to their leaders. How do you know you're submissive to the Lord? You are submissive to your leaders. If you're not submissive to your leaders, it's because you're not submissive to your Lord. They first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us.

They gave submissively. They submitted themselves to the work of God in their lives. They submitted themselves as living sacrifice. They gave themselves to God. Well, having given themselves to God, they now then would give themselves to guys like Paul and to Silas and to Timothy because these were their leaders. And they knew that their leaders had watched over their souls, had care for their souls. And so they would submit to their leaders' admonitions and directions because they knew they were from the Lord.

And they gave submissively. And then lastly, they gave lovingly, lovingly. It says this in verse number seven, but just as you abound in everything in faith and veterans and knowledge and all earnestness and in the love, what love? The love. What love is that? That's the love of God. They gave lovingly because the love of God was supreme in their hearts. That's why John says in first John three, let us not love just in word and tongue, but in deed and in truth, because we truly love the living God.

They gave out of heart that truly loved the Lord. They loved the Lord. And because they love the Lord, they love the Lord's people. And because they love the Lord, they love the Lord's work. And because they love the Lord, they wanted to see more people come to know the Lord. So they just kept giving in spite of their poverty, in spite of their persecution, in spite of their hardship and difficulty, in spite of all the negative circumstances they just kept giving and giving and giving and giving, because that's the kind of people they were.

And they become the new Testament pattern for how to give to the Lord. Remember Robert Murray McShane? Talked about him last week, before that. The Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray McShane, a book that all of you need to have in your library and to read at least once through before you go home to be with the Lord. It's a great book. He died at age 29. He turned Scotland upside down. He was a pastor of St. Peter's Church in Dundee, Scotland, and was a great man of God. Challenging the people of his church, he said these words.

Now, dear Christians, some of you pray night and day to be branches of the true vine. You pray to be made all over in the image of Christ. If so, you must be like him in your giving. A branch bears the same kind of fruit as the tree. And oh, the vine says, well, what would have become of us if Christ had been a saving of his blood as some men are of saving their money? Objection number one, my money is my own.

The answer, Christ might have said, my blood is my own. My life is my own. Then where would we have been? Objection number two, the poor, the church is undeserving.

Answer, Christ might have said the same thing. They are wicked rebels against my father's law. Shall I lay down my life for these? I will give to the good angels. But no, he left at 99 and came after the lost. He gave his blood for all those who were undeserving. Objection number three, the poor may abuse the money I give them.

Answer, Christ might have said the same thing, yea, with a far greater truth. Christ knew that thousands would trample his blood under their feet, that most would despise it. Yet he gave his own blood. Oh, my dear Christians, if you would be like Christ, give much, give often, give freely to the vile, to the poor, to the thankless, to the undeserving. Christ is glorious and happy and so will you be. It is not your money that I want, it's your happiness. And remember the words of our Lord, it is more blessed to give than it is to receive.

Do you believe that? I trust you do. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today. Lord, there is so much more to be said. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface on what the word of the Lord says about our money and getting a grip on that money and learning how to understand giving. But we do know this, you are the great gift giver. Nobody outgives God. And our prayer is that each and every one of us would understand that today and begin to look at our own lives, examine it under the microscope of your word and say, this is where I need to change.

This is where I need to trust the Lord. This is where I want to be like the Macedonians, that no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the situation, no matter what my hardship, I want to give unconditionally with a joyful heart, an abundantly joyful heart. I want to be a cheerful giver because the grace of God and the love of God has so touched my heart that I truly want to be involved in laying up treasures in heaven. That's our prayer in Jesus name. Amen.