Today, I want to educate you about the life of offering. What is offering? It is to offer what is yours to heaven. It is to give a thanksgiving offering because you are thankful.
It is to offer a tithe because you earn an income. Now, however, there is one thing that we need to check on before we move on to the next step. Whose money do you think you have? Some people say this, ‘It is mine.’ Such people cannot give offerings because they think their money is theirs. They cannot understand why they have to give offerings.
There are even some people who don’t go to church because they don’t want to give offerings. You wouldn’t say that, but (you would) say, ‘It is God’s.’ But let me ask you seriously. Do you truly think that your money is God’s? I urge you to know the essence first. I created you because I love you; I raised you until now and have let you live an amazing life like this. How can you live such a safe and healthy life without My protection? Of course, I know that you earn money as you diligently use your body. Of course, I know that you earn the income because you take action. However, if you see the essence, it is from God.
People in the world say, ‘I worked so hard and earned this money. I hope you become people who confess that everything is God’s and are thankful and grateful. When you confess that the money is God’s, God doesn’t say, ‘Since the money is Mine, give Me everything you have.’ Rather, He is more delighted by your confession and repays you two fold.
As for offering, you can offer it when you know the essence. You cannot help but feel that it is too precious to offer if you think the money is only from the results of your efforts.
Of course it is from your effort. However, if you confess that everything is the result of God’s protection and blessing, and that everything belongs to God, if your perception changes in this way, you don’t feel that it is too precious to give as an offering. In the past, during the agriculture time, people gave offerings so diligently before the gods of nature. Do you know why? Since it was an agricultural society, people clearly knew that they could never harvest anything without help from nature. They couldn’t gain anything without God’s help.
That is why they couldn’t help but be thankful. They knew that everything could be destroyed by nature’s power. They also knew that they could not just attain everything from their own efforts. However, when industrialization got underway, since people, like all of you, have come to produce and gain things that are not directly related to nature, people have forgotten to give thanks to God. You must recognize deep in your heart that everything you gain is from God. Of course, there is your responsibility of taking action.
Some people say that they give offerings because they know how many blessings they have received from giving offerings. Here, I want to ask something. Do you give offerings just because you want to receive blessings? Almost everyone gives offerings because they know the secret of receiving blessings is from giving offerings. There is almost none who gives an offering out of true happiness and thankfulness.
The secret of blessing is that God repays, in body and spirit, everything that you have offered to heaven. This is why those who know give offerings. However, this must not be the core of your offering. This must not be the center of your offering. Firstly, you must have this in your center, ‘God has given me everything. I am so thankful.’ This is the core of the education that I gave you. Upon this, give an offering. Then, God will give you everything back without being stingy. The difference between those who receive blessings upon that center and those who give offerings just to receive more is like the difference between heaven and the earth.
[Mark 12: 41~44] Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything–all she had to live on.”
In the bible, the widow offered everything she owned. It was a small amount of money compared to others, but that was everything she had. How did God repay her? She offered everything to God so He paid her back by as much as it is worth. Then, how many more times greater did He repay her? Like this, I am not talking about how much or how little, but I hope that you will be people who are able to give offerings before heaven.
To those who say that they cannot give offerings because they don’t have money, I really want to ask you this. God cares about the ratio of the offering you give from the money you receive, even though the amount of money you put in the offering is small. That is, He looks at your heart.
What I have wanted to convey to you is not the definition of thanksgiving offering and tithes. Rather, I have wanted to convey the essence of giving offerings. I have delivered this Word to you because I want you to put the essence of offering clearly into your brain, realize clearly and acknowledge it. The center of offering, to be more precise, the center of your life is that God gives everything. I hope you, brides, acknowledge this thoroughly, become thankful and live in this way. Also, upon that center, I hope that you will offer to heaven and receive blessings in spirit, soul and body.
I love you. I am the Holy Son who has talked and talked today because I love you.