“And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying: Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD”… and they spoke to Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do. So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. And the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done-indeed too much”.During Israel’s desert journey to the Promised Land, there came a time when God wanted the people to have a meeting place with Him. He spoke to Moses that He needed the people to build a Tabernacle and that they should sponsor the project by giving all that was needed for the project. So Moses announced to the people to bring offering for the project from a willing heart whoever wanted to bring offering for God, “For God loves a cheerful giver”. Moses in turn announced to the people what God told him to do. The people’s response to the project’s announcement was very encouraging. The people brought much more than what was needed for the service of the project. And because the people gave more than the needed, the craftsmen who were saddled with the work of the tabernacle reported to Moses that he (Moses) needed to stop them (the people) from bringing more, for they already had more than enough. Moses therefore had to stop the people from bringing more offering for the job. This is a good example of people who really appreciate the goodness and grace of God upon their lives. The people’s positive response to this need; I can see came from their heart of gratitude to God who brought them out from their Egyptian bondage; and by the time they were leaving Egypt, Moses told them to ask from the Egyptians everything they needed. The Egyptians were willing to give as much as the children of Israel desired because God has given them favour at that event. So the children of Israel plundered the Egyptians (Exd. 12:35,36). The people of God in every generation need to learn from this attitude of the children of Israel. We should be grateful as they were, and be generous as they were considering the fact that all we possess came from God and we should not hesitate to give to Him whatever He needs from us. A legitimate child of God is a generous giver like his/her heavenly Father. For the past few years now, GOFAMINT started what we call GOFAMINT DEVELOPMENT FUND (G.D.F.) that is in the first three months of the year, each member needs to give ten percent of his/her gross income besides the normal tithe for the church’s (National) project. It is for the projects which the church should do for growth and progress. The church cannot go out begging outsiders for this; it is the responsibility of responsible members to do this willingly and cheerfully. It is the practical demonstration of our Membership Covenant of Commitment which says: “I will be a partaker of and share in the burden and responsibility of my Church”. When we partake in the burden of the church, God who owns the church will in return bless us with what money can buy and with what money cannot buy. I stand to testify that since we started, I have never defaulted and I have had no regret that I did, because I see the returns more than my expectation. For those who have been faithful in the past, please continue, for those who are yet to participate, join us now and you will not regret you did. This is the year of ‘PROGRESS’. May the Lord, the Possessor of heaven and earth reward every partaker this year more than ever before. Remain blessed, and progressive in Jesus name.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 21:07:50 +0000
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