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Daily eMail Devotional
Monday, March 08, 2010
I Corinthians 9:7-14 “Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.”It always bothered me to see missionaries begging churches for money in order for them to go preach the gospel to the uttermost part of the world. Instead I think churches should be the ones begging men and women to go and then pledge their supports. Can you imagine what would happen if one day, most if not all, Bible believing churches across the world started begging born again believers to go preach the gospel of Christ to the areas where the gospel never preached or taught and giving them the supports they need? The world will turn upside down like it did during the apostles time. But I am not sure that would ever happen but it should, right? So often we allow money to limit what we can do for God.
The command has always been to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15). “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matt. 28:19). The churches’ part should be to support the command by sending men and women out along with the supports they need. Yes, they need us to give them the support they need. Coming from a place like Chuuk, I can honestly tell you that there is just no way a missionary can find a job to make $500.00 a month to support his family while serving the Lord. They need our support so they can just focus on preaching and teaching God’s word and still have time to spend with their family, study, and do their personal devotions daily.
In our text, the Bible asks us a question in verse number seven “Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges?” I think we all can agree with one simple answer “None”, right? I truly don’t believe that we can win the war in Iraq nor Afghanistan if the soldiers went to war and paid their own way. No way! And that is why the government spends billions if not trillions of dollars with both wars. The government’s job is to take good care of our military personnel and their families by providing them the supports they need. Like the government, Churches should do the same to our missionaries and their family. But in order for the churches to be able to support our missionaries we as individuals ought to give to support our missionaries. Just as we pay our taxes so the government can have enough money to support our soldiers, we as Christians also need to give our tithes and offerings so the church can have money to support our missionaries. Are you doing your part in supporting mission? How much do you give each month? Is it enough to help pay for the missionaries’ food for a month? If you never gave to mission before, why not start this year and see what God can do through your giving? If we truly want to experience the awesome power of God, then let us give what God would have us give to support our missionaries and then claim God’s promise in Philippians 4:19.
In Christ,
Pastor Anter
Don't Forget -
