The Third Bag

Still looking at our benevolence ministry and trying to see what it will look like as we enter the new year. It seems the Lord is giving me a crash course on what we will be facing.

I believe God puts provision into three bags for each of His children.

• One bag is to meet our personal needs as He has promised. "And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19


• One bag is to meet the needs of ministry. "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed Thee?' In tithes and offerings." Malachi 3:8


• One bag is to help those in need. "And let our people also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs , that they may not be unfruitful." Titus 3:14

We really understand the first bag. The second bag seems to be a challenge for most. They continue to rob God by not bringing into the storehouse the funds with which the Lord has entrusted them. The third bag is really hard. That explains why the church culture has about the same wealth discrepancy as the world.

God has all the riches to meet the needs of His children, His ministry and the needy. The problem lies in the fact that He is attempting to distribute it through human hands.

I guess it helps when we understand that the issue is not, "How much of my money do I give to the Lord and to the needs of others?" But rather, "How much of the Lord's money has He given me to be used in each of these three bags?"

What's your bag? (Really dating myself with that one!)

Just thinking.