Giving God Our First

“Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce” (Proverbs 3:9 NLT).

I’ve never met anyone who is intentionally planning to fail in life, yet we all know many who are dissatisfied with the status quo that they face year after year. One thing is clear, influential people live an intentional life.

God’s Word is life’s compass. It gives us the instructions to achieve all God has planned for us. One such success recipe is the first-fruit principle.

Most preachers, churches, and ministers like to use this time of the year to remind their constituents about following the first-fruit principle in their financial giving. That is good but this success-principle is much more than giving financially. Today, let me share three different categories of giving God your first.

1. Give God your time. How we spend our first five minutes, first hour of the day, or the first week sets the precedence for the rest of the hour, day, and month. Often, we do not have a long spiritual conversation with God, especially if you have a family or a job.

So what does it mean to give God our first time? Like everything else, Jesus is our model. The Bible makes references of Jesus getting up early in the morning or staying up late at night to connect with God. Personally, I like to connect with God throughout the day – when I’m driving, taking a walk, or having a dedicated time in the morning to worship and acknowledge God’s goodness in my life. Whatever your preference is, the key is to connect with God on a regular basis — throughout the day if you can. Here’s the key. Whatever part of your life you involve God with will prosper.

2. Share your talent. Not everything of value has to be monetary. In fact, serving God with your gift can be a huge boost to others. Often we’re encouraged to use our spare time to serve God. Today I’m challenging you to use your talent to serve God first and watch how He’ll bless the rest of our time.

We can certainly serve God in our churches but don’t be limited to an organization or a church building. I have a friend who facilitates young families coming out of debt and staying fiscally fit. Another friend who is an industrialist meets with me regularly on the top of his business hours to give me advice and counsel on developing our international ministry. You can certainly serve as a volunteer in the business chamber, church, or with your favorite charity. One word of caution! Don’t get burnt out. If you’re always made to feel that you’re not doing enough, or unappreciated for sharing your talent, it’s probably healthy for you to find another place to serve.

3. Give God your treasure. God doesn’t need our money. However, what we do with our money reveals a lot about our heart. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Matthew 6:21). We live in such a material society that money often becomes the driving force in our lives. Even churches and mission organizations spend a bulk of their time and efforts trying to get people to give more. I believe that if we focus on ministering to people, the money we need will take care of itself.

Most Christians are coerced into giving 10% of their income to church. It will benefit us all if we teach people to be generous rather than to nag them. How radical it will be to give away 20, 30, or even 80% of your income! Oh the miracles you’ll see if only you commit yourself to be generous! Give where there are fruits. Share your treasure with the poor and widows for that is the pure religion. Give joyfully and not out of obligation. Give where there is accountability.

By the way, you don’t need to give God anything to be blessed. God has already blessed you. You don’t need another person to stand in for you. Jesus did that! You are blessed because you belong to His family. This year, give God the best of your time, talent, and treasure and watch your life going to another level you’ve never dreamed before.

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Love God and Love People

"'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Luke 10:27 NLT).

Christianity is at a crossroad. Some people are repelled by it while others are willing to give up their lives to follow Christ. In many instances, it may look like we’re on our back foot but the Bible assures us that His government and peace will have unlimited growth.

For centuries, Christians, leaders, and churches have tried to invent and reinvent the message of Christ. There’s nothing wrong discovering and growing in the knowledge of our infinite God; however, Jesus, the founder of our faith, gave us two basic commands.

The essence of Christianity is to love God and love people. 

Recently, I was visiting my brother’s family. They were returning from a worship concert when they stopped at a red light, a homeless man approached them. When they gave him a leather bag filled with medicine, toothbrush, cash, food, tracts, stationary, T-shirt, flashlight, and other basic necessities; the homeless man was dumbfounded. The first words that came out of his mouth were, “What the hell is that?” He couldn’t believe the kindness of total strangers!

I believe this is where Christianity is losing its flavor. We’ve become too private, intellectual, cynical, and judgmental of each other. People have taken advantage of us, so now we’re filtering our responses through our past experiences. This is not the best reflection of our faith.

Here’s the key: if you love God you will love people and vice versa!

In the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), Jesus spoke about a wounded man who was bypassed by a priest and a Levite. Their reasoning may have been along the lines of he’s not part of our church, culture or faith therefore; he doesn’t qualify for our help. What if God treated us according to His high standards? Jesus crossed every creed, color, social, racial, and cultural barriers to reach people and so should we as His disciples.

Jesus taught us to love people – ALL people. It’s easier said than done but when this is our intent, the love of God has the power to transform society.

Recently, a 22-year-old Egyptian Christian woman lived out her faith in deed. Her former husband (from another faith) divorced her. After several years, she got married to a young Christian man and they had two beautiful children together. She was pregnant with their third when they decided to visit their former church to fellowship with other believers. In the city, they’re spotted by her former family members. They kidnapped her and pressed her to renounce her faith. When she refused to deny Christ, her own sister beheaded her in order to “teach a lesson” to other women who chose to follow Christianity. What would be our response in such situation?

God forbid that we have to face such brutal fate. However, there are million little ways we can impact others with the love of Christ. The scripture says, “The goodness of God leads people to repentance” (Romans 2:4).

Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”

A couple of months ago, my friend was driving home in her pickup truck when she saw a bunch of men working under the scorching sun. She was moved with compassion but didn’t have any water in her truck. She went home and brought back ice-cold water for the men working on the street. She didn’t have to preach that day because she was the Gospel.

Our action towards our fellow men is a direct reflection of our love for God.

Friend, if we want to encounter God in supernatural ways, it’s not good enough to dress in our Sunday best, clap our hands, and sing, “I love you Lord.” We have to live intentionally and love the crying, sighing, and dying people God brings on our path. Loving God means to reflect the same love Jesus showed us. When we unite in loving people, we’ll see a new move of the Holy Spirit sweeping through our nation like never before. Let us love God and Love people!

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Remember Their Sacrifice

Our love for God should be reflected through the values our country stands for. Today, as we celebrate Memorial Day in America, it is good to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live the life we now have.

In his book “I’m No Hero,” U.S. Navy jet pilot Captain Charles Plumb tells the story of his flaming plane going down in the enemy territory of the Vietnam War zone. After seventy-five combat missions, he was shot down by a surface-to-air missile in the dense jungles of Vietnam. Plumb ejected and parachuted himself out of the flaming jet only to glide himself in the enemy’s camp. He was captured as a POW. He was tortured beyond what is humane, but somehow he survived the horrific six years in a communist Vietnamese prison.

One day, Plumb and his wife were enjoying a meal together in a restaurant. A young man from another table walked up to theirs and said, “You’re Plumb. You are a fighter jet pilot. You carried out missions in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. Your jet was shot down!”

Perplexed, Plum asked, “Who are you? How did you know all this?”

The young man replied, “I packed your parachute sir. I guess it worked!”

Filled with gratitude, Plumb replied, “Yes it did! If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.”

That night he could not sleep, thinking about the young sailor who saved his life. How many times Plumb walked past those sailors in navy uniform with a bib flipped backward and didn’t even bother to say, “Good morning, how are you?” or shake their hand? In his mind, he was a fighter jet pilot – a class apart from the lowly sailors. He began to imagine how the sailors who spent long hours delicately weaving the material and packing the silks of each chute; at the end of the tireless and monotonous completion, the sailor who was holding the life itself of someone whom he did not even know.

Today, Plumb lectures to thousands, crisscrossing the country asking this one question: “Who is packing your parachute?” Sometimes in the daily challenges of life, we miss what is really important. We fail to say hello, please or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, or just do something kind for no reason. Don’t let that be you.

You see, we all have people behind us who pack our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual parachutes. None of us made it here on our own. When you look back at the long line of people who have helped you, it is only fitting to think about how you can help someone else. Your life today is the aggregate of God’s goodness and the kindness, sacrifices, and investment in others.

It is not enough to be grateful to them in our hearts. Let us express to them what their sacrifice means to us. We cannot do anything to those who made the ultimate sacrifice but we can honor those who are left behind.

Today, let us reach out to someone who lost a loved one. Go knock on their door and bring them something to lift their soul. Call someone who has lost a son, or a daughter, a father, or an uncle and let them know how grateful you are for their sacrifice. If you know or see a serviceman in uniform, buy them their lunch. Stop them in their tracks and take a moment to thank them for their daily service to protect our country. If you are part of a family who lost a loved one, we want you to know that we remember! Let us not take anything for granted. Let us value the freedom we have and honor those who paid the price for it.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 ESV).

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Push People Up

Most of us want to be helped. We appreciate when others help us get what we want. None of us can make it alone. It is not selfish to desire the goodwill of others. However, we’re created to help others. It is in our giving, not our receiving, that life becomes fulfilling.

Calvin Coolidge said, “No man was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.” We all know people who are constantly seeking their own. They are me-driven. Sometimes they just can’t help themselves. What they need is a mind-shift. As long as we stay focused on ourselves, we’ll never experience the joy of helping others.

In the early eighties, my two brothers and I were new to the country of Nepal. We had left our motherland to help people in the Himalayas. Nobody knew us and we were a struggling ministry. At this infancy stage, Charles Mendies, lovingly called "Chaldai" (big brother Charles) came to our assistance. He helped us call for a breakfast inviting all the Christian leaders of the country. We introduced ourselves and our purpose and, overwhelmingly, a majority of them accepted us as co-laborers in the ministry. Chaldai even paid for the breakfast in the newly built, three-star, Himalayan Hotel. 

I say this to the glory of God, and to honor Chaldai but what followed over the years is history! My brothers and I went on to minister in over 150 countries touching millions of lives. And we’re still at it. It all started with Chaldai believing in us when we weren’t credible. He had a high reputation but he put it on the line to endorse the Anderson brothers. Not only did he put us on the national stage but he was instrumental in helping to channel the millions of dollars coming into our hands to reach the world with the Gospel.  How grateful we are for Chaldai! We’ll be forever thankful to him and his family for pushing us up.

When you help someone up a mountain, you’ll find yourself close to the summit also. If you want others to improve, let them hear the good things that you think and say about them. People live up, or down, to or down to how we view them and what we say about them. Everybody needs to feel the wind beneath their wings to believe that they can fly. Anyone can find the dirt in people. It takes a genius like Chaldai to dig for the gold in others. What means the most in life is what you’ve done for others. Albert Pike said, “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.”

This is what happened to David in the Bible. He came from a humble background. When David was anointed to be the next King of Israel, nobody believed in him – not even his own family. Eventually David made it to the palace but King Saul was jealous of him. He spent a significant part of his life trying to exterminate David. Saul would have been successful had Jonathan not been keeping David informed about his father’s plans to kill him. Jonathan was King Saul’s son. He was next in line to become king but he sacrificed his own royalty so that David could become the next king of Israel. Eventually, David went on to become one of the greatest kings of Israel while Jonathan was killed on the battlefield. It may sound unfair but nobody can associate David’s rise to the throne without mentioning Jonathan’s role to put him there. Many of you mothers should take courage from this. You may think all you do is endless diaper changes, clean, cook, and repeat but never forget the big picture. You’re not just raising a child but a husband, wife, leader, preacher, businessman, politician, and a world changer! Your love, tears, and sacrifices are not in vain. Jonathan pushed David up and what history he made!

We all need a Chaldai or a Jonathan in our lives. At the end of his life, Alexander the Great said, “We all suffer. They all came to the end of their time and in the end, when it's over, all that matters is what you've done.” J. M. Barrie said, “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you. One may read the Bible but thousands read you and me. You may be the only Bible others will ever read. It is the duty and privilege of every Christian to help others get better. Multitudes followed Jesus everywhere He went because our Lord always left people better than He found them. We should do the same. The best exercise for the heart is to reach down and to lift someone up. Today, let’s find someone to help. I love you and I believe in you!

“Knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord” (Ephesians 6:8 ESV).

 

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