Sunday, September 19, 2010

I Give You What I Have - Maynard Force

“I Give You What I Have”

Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Acts 3:6.

Giving and Christianity belong together. Jesus said to His followers, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). When a Christian no longer gives, he no longer lives, for giving and living cannot be separated.

When the lame beggar stretched out his hand and requested a few coins from Peter and his companion, they were unable to meet his request and Peter had to say, “I have no silver or gold.” He was absolutely penniless at this time and could have politely passed by the needy one with a good excuse. Requests, however, are not to be handled lightly for each one is an open door to a blessing if dealt with rightly.

Peter was nevertheless willing to give what he had; therefore, he added, “I give you what I have.” After all, that is all God requires of His people, for the Bible says, “If the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a man has, not according to what he has not” (2 Cor. 8:12).

“I give you what I have” is easier said than done. The temptation is common to pretend we have less than we actually have. It is so easy to give the assessor one value of one’s property and the insurance adjuster another value. Some people seem to think that it is a virtue to pretend they have less than what they actually own. Ananias and Sapphira tried to do that in the early church and both were struck dead by God. Peter said, “Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit” (Acts 5:3). Had these people lived according to “I give you what I have,” they would not have invited God’s wrath upon them.

The words of Peter, “I give you what I have,” are good words by which to live. God always meets us where we are. Paul wrote, “Only let us hold true to what we have attained” (Phil. 3:16). That means to live on the level where we find ourselves today. We are not to pretend that we are better than we are or that we are worse than we are. To interpret this in the sense of giving, it means to give only what we have, nothing more and certainly nothing less.

A Christian life compares well with a funnel. The more the funnel gives out at the smaller end, the more it can receive at the larger end. The use of a funnel is limited in the amount received by the amount given out. God can give us only as we in turn pass our blessings on to others. We are told, “Give, and it will be given to you . . . for the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Luke 6:38). To be able to receive more from God means to be able to pass more on to others. It would be wise then to stop asking God for more and ask rather for grace to give what we already have. Our attention needs to be directed to the giving end and God will take care of the receiving end. “God loves a cheerful giver” because such a person offers God an opportunity to pour out His blessings freely. God works through His people. No one has yet lived that has been able to give out more than God replenishes. You just cannot get ahead of God. When the giving end is wide open, God is able to pour His blessings in faster at the receiving end. If you doubt this statement, why not put it to a test in your own life and see for yourself.

When Peter gave what he had, he gave more than the lame beggar expected. If the beggar’s heart sank when he heard Peter say, “I have no silver or gold,” he must have taken courage when he heard him say, “I give you what I have.” Then when Peter added, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk,” he received far more than he had even dared to ask. It is true that our Lord “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20). However, let us not forget that our Lord uses people like Peter to act as channels through which He imparts His superabundant blessings. There would be more people receiving far more than what they ask or even think if God had more open Christians through whom He could impart His blessings.

A Christian is a channel through which God wishes to work. To impress this truth upon His disciples, Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches: He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is who bears fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15 :5). Whatever is done must be done by God. As He uses the branches to bear the fruit, so He uses Christians through whom He imparts His blessings. God could have sent an angel and healed the lame beggar before Peter reached him had He wanted to do so, but He chose to use the regular channel through which He does His work—namely, His redeemed people. Therefore, it is important that everyone who confesses to be a Christian be an open channel through whom God can impart blessings.

“What I have, that give I thee” is a good motto. This statement by Peter is a key to successful, happy living. He who lives thereby will never regret it. All who have been used of God in the past have exemplified these words in their everyday life. Even people who are not Christians are captivated by such living.

To carry out this kind of living takes the grace of God. It is a grace given by God Himself to all those who want it. We have the promise, “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8).

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