The
1% that will change the world!
A
mustard seed of faith changes our hearts
through our treasure.
God has a plan for each every man,
woman and child, but few even know where they are are going in life. Few ever
discover what God's plan for their life is. The majority of those who discover
it, do so late in life. Which is something to be thankful for and it is never to
late to be used by God. Yet, learning your calling late in life makes it many
times harder to live it out. There is a balance between God getting
us to the right place at the right time and His grace can move us in the right
direction. Yet, God also is a respecter of our will. He does not force us to
change. He works on our hearts and He never gives up on us. Yet, God uses
willing and surrendered hearts and those of which are mentored and discipled and
taught are given a great blessing. Many would like to find such, but finding it
is hard and opposed. And with good reason, the Kingdom of Darkness has much to
fear of young men and women and old learning their calling and walking in
it.
In the first
year of this ministry I asked men and women to a one percent challenge. I had no
idea what God was going to do through it. Rather than being a financial plan for
fund raising for the ministry it became a bridge to heart transformation. I
began to experience it first myself, as I didn't know how I was going to budget
a mere 1% of my income each month on top of my tithe. Looking back I see how God
was patient in my young faith and in many ways lack of it. It was the fear of
not having enough that was more of my focus than trusting God to provide. We see
through out the Bible the principle of giving to God when there did not seem to
be enough and that a scarcity would result. Yet, we see God miraculously
provide. To experience God's providence in that way was a bridge for my spiritual growth. And it continues to be just that today in my life. Unlike the popular message of
today's Christiandom in many circles instant financial blessing did not come the
next week, nor the next month as it was over a year later I began to see God
move in providing for my needs in some big ways. He began to provide for more
than my needs and has since then began to truly bless me financially.
Thanks to a very gifted teacher on giving though I
learned early on that the purpose of giving is not giving to get. In nearly
every instance of teaching on giving it is taught on unbiblically, as give to get.
Which totally misses the point and purpose of giving. Giving is a bridge to true
heart transformation. Jesus said with reason where our treasure is there our
heart is. We begin to give our treasure to God in tithing and then move past the
starting block to offerings and in time God will transform our heart to that of
extravagant giving because our heart has been changed.
When we move past giving what is rightfully God's,
to giving Him more than He asks...like any good and loving Father -- God takes
notice.
The one percent challenge is not part of or in
replace of your tithe or in place of what you have committed to other ministries…it
is above and beyond all you are
already committed to giving. Thus why its a challenge. An athlete keeps
pushing harder to improve...they don't get stronger if they don't push past what
they are already doing. Neither will we grow in our faith if we don't step out
to grow in faith past where we have the faith to stay.
Tithing is not a goal, but merely the starting point
to return to God what is rightfully His. We are not under the law, but under
grace. Grace always demands more than the law. The law said do not commit adultery,
Jesus in grace said do not even look with lust on another. Under the law the
Israelites gave out of requirement to keep the law, now out of sheer love and
thankfulness of what Christ has done for us we believers out of the right motive
of love give beyond what those bound by the law gave. We must ask ourselves and
God why our heart troubles us in giving less than the law required if it is in
fact doing just that. For in order to give with faith and trust to God in such a
way God must first do a work in our heart, if our heart is not there then we
know our heart is in need of God working in it. We are not born natural givers -
we all know the vocabulary children quickly learn at a young age, "mine,
mine, mine". God must change our hearts. There we have part of the miracle
of the one percent challenge as it is a step that we can take with little faith
and grow from there.
Giving out of
obligation, guilt or to get are wrong motives and miss the point. Imagine if you
as a parent knew your kids gave you a present because they felt obligated,
guilty or wanted a bigger present back. You'd not be moved by such a motive.
Yet, when they do out of love and appreciation to show you how much they care
about you and love you - it blesses you. What do you then want to do and do? You
give them more back, but not because they gave out of the wrong motive. You'd be
a bad parent to reinforce a motive of selfishness to do so.
In expanding on the one percent challenge and how
this bridge to a miracle of heart transformation works we can start with looking
at those who gave over and above the tithe through out the Bible. First in that
every single gift in this manner was given out of sheer desire and love. None
were given out of the wrong motive. Some tithes were given with the wrong motive
or not out of trust and love of God, God was not pleased nor did he bless those
who gave in that way as He did and does those who give out of the right motive.
Every example of a offering above what God asked in the tithe of ten percent was
given out of sheer desire and love. They were not only willing, but their heart
moved them and often sacrificially
I am saddened by the number of leaders and
ministries that go about raising support in ways not only much harder than this,
but using tactics and guilt and fear. It is not that they are not doing good
things in ministry or making a difference for the Kingdom of God, but their
support raising is done almost with a since of fear that there will not be
enough. I know as I was once one of them myself, and at times I still have to
repent of my own fears when I begin to focus on obstacles and problems and
shortages instead of God. In teaching the one percent challenge I ask for you to
commit 1% today of your income to the support of this ministry and know that
many will experience such a radical heart transformation from it God will move
many to extravagant giving. If your heart has a difficultly in doing this or
doubt, then make the commitment to another ministry of your choice. Who you make
the commitment to is irrelevant because God will bring about a transformation of
heart within you regardless of where you commit your support. If you choose this
ministry we benefit and if you choose another we benefit even more as our sowing
in your heart the truth of this message will reap a harvest in another ministry.
Imagine if you taught another person a principle that changed your life that you
learned from your Father who was a King. Now imagine that you willingly gave
away the benefit that resulted from it to another in need, how do you then think
your Father a good King would feel? He would be pleased as not only did you
learn what He taught you, but you then also began to act as a King in putting
others before yourself.
That is exactly the principle of the one percent
challenge. I know that if you choose this ministry to give to we are blessed,
and I know if you choose another, again we are blessed. It is all about the
motive of the heart. I didn't start out with the one percent challenge with my
heart in this place, even when I heard the teaching I tried to shift my heart on
my own and convince myself of my motives. Yet, I still had fears and my heart
wasn't in the place I wanted it to be in. God remained faithful though in
changing my heart through the principle of the one percent challenge. He is no respecter
of persons and will do the same thing in your life.
Now you have the one percent challenge principle
before you. You have been given some thing upon which you must now choose to act
upon. It's that simple. If you are ready act in faith and commit to this
ministry contact us today to
learn how to respond to the 1% challenge or use many of the options we have
available on-line by clicking here.
Or act on it with another ministry, but act. Don't
just think about it. Do something as nothing will change if you don't do
something new to change where you are at now.
House Groups