Get Your Shine On…As You Give

Hello and welcome to this Tuesday edition of Destin for Victory.

Thanks so much for stopping by. In just a few moments, Pastor Paul Shepherd will share his message, Get Your Shine On, as you give. But first, he and I have something else to tell you about. You know, here every day on Destin for Victory we ask people to stand with us financially. That's because we are a listener supportive ministry.

Let me underscore that for just a moment. This means the only way we exist is through prayers and financial support of people just like us. And in 2021, our prayers that you might consider, if you haven't done so already, becoming a Destin for Victory partner. Partners are a special group of people that give a monthly gift of at least $20.

If you can make that commitment today, we have some special gifts I'll tell you about in just a moment. But Pastor Paul joins me right now. Pastor, take a moment and tell us why partners are so important to this ministry.

Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up, Wayne. Partners are really the lifeline of this ministry. Without those people committed to giving regularly, we literally could not continue doing what we're doing.

I guess people hear that a lot, but it is really true. Without partners, we simply can't get the gospel out to the world. The gospel is free, but the plumbing costs an awful lot of money and we want to continue preaching. As I've said in times past, we've got generations to reach that have never heard the gospel and they misunderstand when they hear people talk about things like serving the Lord.

And we need to make it plain to them. The only way I can do it is with my partners helping us reach them through their generous gifts. I'm so grateful for every single partner. And I'm praying in 2021 that God will give us thousands more. There are many more outlets and many more opportunities we could take advantage of in our ministry, but the only thing that holds us back is lack of income. So I'm praying that God's going to touch the heart of many more people to realize that with just your gift of $20 or more, you can help us remain strong on the stations and outlets we're on and reach many more with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks, Pastor.

That's what it's all about. Reaching more people with the gospel. And if you make that commitment by pledging $20 or more per month to help us do that, we'll send you with our thanks a couple of great gifts, including one of Pastor Paul's most popular CDs, The Best of Let My People Smile. It's a compilation of some of pastors most humorous illustrations and stories, something that will be sure to make you laugh and learn at the same time. So call 855-339-5500 or mail your gift letting us know you wish to become a partner.

The address is Destined for Victory, post office box 1767 Fremont, California 94538. You can also sign up by clicking become a partner right at the top of the homepage at pastorpaul.net. And if you're already a partner, Pastor Paul and I want to say heartfelt thank you and challenge you to consider becoming a legacy partner.

These are special ministry friends that are able to support us with gifts of $2,500 or more each year. The details are available at the website pastorpaul.net or by calling 855-339-5500. Now if you can't become a partner today but would like to make a generous donation to Destined for Victory, we'd be glad to send you by request Pastor Paul's booklet, Your Purpose is Calling.

That's Your Purpose is Calling, a booklet from Pastor Paul and our gift to you by request for your gift to Destined for Victory. Part of walking with God is having a heart of love and compassion that results in you wanting to make the lives of other people better. And I want us to know that in all of our giving, we should give God's way.

That's the bottom line. The reason Jesus talked about it is because there is a right way to give. Well here's what 2 Corinthians 9-7 tells us about giving. Each of you should give what you've decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. On today's Destined for Victory, Pastor Paul Shepherd reminds us that why we give is just as important as what we give. Now to share his message, get your shine on as you give, here's Pastor Paul. If you have a Bible with you, go with me to Matthew's Gospel Chapter 6 and there I want you to look with me at the first four verses. Matthew Chapter 6 beginning with verse 4. Here's what our Lord said, What hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.

Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. That your charitable deed may be in secret and your heavenly Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

I want us to talk about the importance of letting our light shine as we give. The first thing Jesus talks about here in Matthew Chapter 6 is the matter of giving. Now in this context he's talking about them giving alms, helping other people who are in need, helping anyone who is struggling need some assistance. He said part of walking with God is having a heart of love and compassion that results in you wanting to make the lives of other people better. And I want us to know that in all of our giving, whether we're talking about giving to the kingdom through the giving of our tithes and offerings in the church, giving to other charities, whether they're Christian charities or whether they're individuals or families in need, we should give God's way.

That's the bottom line. The reason Jesus talked about it is because there is a right way to give. And I hope you feel like I do that I don't want to just give. I enjoy giving. I'm a giver by nature. Some folks would say I probably give too much. But if I'm going to err on one side or the other, personally, I'd rather give too much than too little. There aren't a whole lot of people who amend that because not all of us have learned the gift and the blessing of giving.

But I certainly have over the course of my lifetime thus far. I've learned that it is more blessed to give than to receive. It is wonderful to receive.

Don't get me wrong. I love receiving, but I love giving even more because I know that if I give the right way, it pleases the Lord. And if I'm going to let my light shine, I need to set an example for others as to how to give. So I'm using this time in the series to say let your light shine as you give. Get your shine on as you give. I want to make three points in this message.

Here's the first. When it comes to giving of your financial and material resources, why you give matters to God. Let me say that again. When it comes to giving of your financial and material resources, why we give matters to God. Look again at verse 1 of Matthew 6. Jesus said, take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them. Okay, so if we want to get our shine on and we want to be an example for others in the matter of giving, Jesus said you want to begin by looking at your motive. Why do you give to others? Whether again it is to the kingdom of God, to the church, to ministries, whether it is to families in need, individuals in need. Jesus said the first key to you giving God's way is you got to examine your motive and pass the test of why you give.

He said make sure you are not giving to be seen by men. Now in his context, when he talks about the hypocrites, you know who he's talking about? He's talking about religious people, the Pharisees in particular who gave very demonstratively, very openly, very conspicuously.

Why? He said because they want to impress people and they want to be thought of and they want to be seen and they want to be honored as people who give. Jesus said if you want to do it God's way, you got to check your motive and make sure that being seen by people is not the reason you give. The Bible reminds us of a principle you actually see run all the way through scripture. Here's the principle, while man looks on the outward appearance, God looks on the heart. In everything where people tend to look outwardly, God starts by looking inwardly. God cares about how you and I do what we do from the place of our motive. He's not looking at the end result until he starts looking at the motivation. And so I need you to understand, if you want to get your shine on in the matter of being a giver, you want to remember that God is not like men.

He's not looking at the outward appearance, he's looking at your heart. So I want to ask you to examine your heart as you give. Again, however we're talking about, some of us have problems with the matter of giving because we don't understand. Giving comes, when you give right, comes from the very heart of God. God is a giver and when you and I are called to follow Christ, he immediately calls us here in the early part of his ministry to become givers. Now, some of you are like me, some of you are probably givers and have been for a very long time. And so giving has always been part of your life.

Jesus now wants to make sure the motive is correct. And I'm sure there are some of you in this service right now, come on, just be honest with me, who would say, I'm really not used to being a joyful giver. Don't front if that's true, just go on and admit it, I'm not used to that. That doesn't mean you're not saved, doesn't mean Jesus isn't in your life, it just means you need to learn how to follow him in the matter of giving. Some of us, just be honest, you've been stingy all your life. Come on, come on now, you've been stingy all your life, you've been tight with stuff all your life.

From the time you were a child, you were wrestling with siblings or wrestling with schoolmates, you wanted what you had and you didn't want to share it with anybody else and all of that. You got to be honest, no future in front and you can't get where God wants you to go till you admit where you are. I wish I could see, I got an audience of people on the Zoom screen in front of me, so I just want some of you all to represent the folk who are watching this service on Sunday on the computer. Some of you all on these screens, come on, be honest with me, by the show of your hands, how many of you would say I have typically been rather on the stingy side at least until I met the Lord and started learning how to do things? Thank you, I see a couple of honest hands on the screen and I want you all to pray for the other folk who are trying to figure out whether they want to be honest about their stinginess.

Glory to God. Fact of the matter is, we need to learn, no matter if you come to the kingdom stingy, that's fine, but now he wants you to learn, let your light shine, get your shine on, even in the matter of giving and that starts with looking at the heart of things. Well don't go away, we're only about halfway through today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor of Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. Be sure to subscribe to Pastor Paul on YouTube to watch some of his best video clips. For more details and links to all of his social media, visit pastorpaul.net.

That's pastorpaul.net, there you can also listen on demand to the recent messages or find a variety of resources in our online store. You may already be a generous giver, but God wants to make sure you're giving with the right heart and the right motive. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message. Get your shine on as you give. Some of us already are givers, but that doesn't mean you give from the right heart and motive. So I need everybody, those who need to learn how to give it all, and then those who already give. We all need to learn that motive is very important with God. Why we give is extremely important with the Lord.

And he says when you give, in this context we're talking about giving of alms, why? Because they really didn't have charitable organizations in Jesus' day to support. There weren't churches. People would give in the temple courts as it related to those matters. But beyond that, there wasn't the type of giving you and I are familiar with today where you have charitable organizations such as churches and ministries.

You have other nonprofit ministries. And then in our day you just have, as they had in Bible days, people just asking alms. In the Bible you would see, for instance, in Acts 3, Peter and John all that way into the temple. And here's what they run into, somebody asking alms. We don't see it often at the temple.

We see it when getting off of ramps and getting at red lights and all that same thing. Sometimes you wonder, okay, is this the person who if I give them something that's going to be used properly, you don't get to sort all that out, you don't get to know. So you just got to figure out, Lord, what would you have me do every time there's an opportunity. And if you pray, I think the Lord will help you and give you a sense of your alms giving even today.

But the fact of the matter is you've got to examine your motive. And I want you to know that why you give is extremely important to God because he wants to know that you in your giving are an extension of his heart. Look at what Jesus said. He said, don't do it like the Pharisees. Are you amazed like I am by the fact that the Pharisees considered themselves the most spiritual people on earth in Jesus' day? The Pharisees believed there was no one closer to God than they were because they held the letter of the law and they did everything just the way they thought they were supposed to do it. And so they believed that through their orthodoxy they were closest to God.

Well, Jesus comes along and just wrecks that idea. He looks at them. He says, when they are giving, they are making a big deal about their giving. They're making sure there's trumpets with their giving.

They're making sure that it's very conspicuous. Everybody sees, oh, look at the Pharisees. Look at them giving to others. And Jesus looked at these people who thought they were spiritual and he says, don't y'all act like them.

Don't do it like they do it. What does that tell you? That tells you that people who think they're spiritual aren't necessarily spiritual. The question is, do they have the heart of God? And these Pharisees did not have God's heart.

They wanted to be seen. They wanted a reputation of being givers. Jesus said, if you want to give God's way, you got to have the right motive for your giving.

Then there's a second point. He says, when it comes to giving of our financial and material resources, not only why we give is important, but number two, how we give matters to God. How we give matters to God. Look at verses two through four. When you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.

He said, assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. That your charitable deed may be in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will himself reward you openly.

Okay, now let's unpack that. Everybody look in your Bible. I want you to get this revelation. Jesus said, don't do it from the motive they had, which was to be seen. Then he says, don't do it in the method they have, which is to blow trumpets and to make sure that it is conspicuously known to everybody around, look at us, we are giving to other people.

And look at what Jesus says. He says, if that's the way you give, you got your reward when people looked at you. I don't know about you, but I don't want my reward to come from folk who think I'm doing something spiritual. I don't need a reward from y'all. I love y'all, but I don't need my reward from y'all. I need a reward from heaven.

I need the Lord to open the window of heaven and pour out a blessing that I won't have room enough to receive. And Jesus said, the only way that's going to happen is if you give not only from the right motive, but in the right method. He said, don't blow trumpets, don't make a big deal, just give it right from your heart. He said, otherwise you already have your reward. And he said, what you want to do is give in secret that your heavenly Father may reward you openly.

Okay, so now let's look at that. What does it look like to give in secret? First of all, make sure you understand Jesus isn't asking you to be very legalistic when he says don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

Don't take that literally. I've met a lot of people along the way, some of whom were very legalistic about that. They didn't want anybody to know that they were given to a ministry or something like that.

Just painfully secret. And okay, if that's the way you want to do it, but don't put that legalism on other people. Jesus didn't say other folk can't know that you give. He is saying make sure your motive isn't for them to know that you give and make sure that you're looking to be secret like the Pharisees were looking to be open.

You want to make sure that yours is very low key. So I want you to get this right. Don't be like the legalists who act like you can't give and let it be known.

That's not what Jesus is saying. It can be known. It just shouldn't be you blowing trumpets and you making a big deal and you letting everybody know about your giving. You've got to look at the method.

The method should be simple. You should give simply, not with a whole lot of fanfare. Now having said that, let me clear you up. I am the CEO of two ministry organizations, Destiny Christian Fellowship, the church I pastor, and Destined for Victory Ministries, which is the media ministry that helps us reach people with the gospel literally all around the world. And so as a leader in both of those organizations, I realize that we need people to be charitable and to be liberal in their giving, to be generous in their giving to us. And if you give from the right heart and you give from the right method, God himself will bless you. But I know the importance of receiving those gifts.

I have, over the years, run into people who want attention when they give. I want the pastor to see this gift and all that. That's fine with me. If you want me to see it, I promise you I will see it. Let me just clear this up right now.

You want to be seen, I want to put this on pastor's desk. That's fine. That's not a problem with me.

Why? Because you're given to a good cause. Both of those ministries, the church I pastor and Destined for Victory, the ministry, both of them are sowing good seed in the good soil. And so if you want me to know that you're given to one of those ministries, I will know it and I will thank you for it. But Jesus is saying if your only reason is for pastor Paul to know it, then he said you got your reward. You see what I mean?

That's what he's saying. He's saying if your only reason is so the pastor will know how generous you are, then you got your reward. He's saying but what you need to do is keep it on the down low so that God himself is the one who rewards you not only because of your motive but because of your method.

Thanks so much for joining us for today's message, Get Your Shine On As You Give. To find out more about the Destined for Victory ministry or to contact us for prayer, be sure to stop by our website, pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net. Listen, you need to understand the heart of God. So Jesus said that's because the heart of God is not just about having your motive right and having your method right. Jesus is saying it also matters how much you give, watch this, based on your ability to give. That's tomorrow in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, Get Your Shine On As You Give. Until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory. . .