And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8
Recommended Reading: PHILIPPIANS 4:10-19 “10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.14 Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.18 But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
COMMENTS: I’ve ready a good number of research studies that all say the same thing. Poor or low-income people contribute both a greater % of their income and a large total of donations to non-profit ministries and charity work and organizations. Even middle-income people approach the % given by low-income. We notice donations by wealthy because their donations are much larger and seem to be of greater impact, but truth is their donations tend to be pocket change in comparison to their resources and of much less impact to their life style than donations of low or middle-income contributors. Those studies reveal an average donation to charity of 3% of their income to charity vs. 1% for wealthy or high-income contributors. The more we acquire, the more selfish and less willing to part with it. Other truth Is, as we accumulate more possessions, those possessions require more time and money to maintain and keep them usable. How many second homes are acquired as a haven for rest and restoration but end up being a source of added financial burden and drain of income. Result is often wealthy become less able to give than their poorer counterparts who live more modestly.
Jesus was aware of this and even revealed that God placed far greater value on the smallest gift of a poor widow “the widow’s mite”, who gave all she had as compared to the wealthy man who gave a very large amount out of his bounty with little or no sacrifice. See Luke 21:1-4 “And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.”
Jesus praised people who give sacrificially instead of giving out of their abundance (Mark 12:41-44). Paul praised the Macedonian churches who gave out of their poverty to help the church in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).
Scripture tells us God requires much from those He gives much and little from those He gives little. The parable of the talents Jesus taught (Matthew 25:14-30) tells us such. We tend to take it to mean talents or gifts like preaching or playing an instrument or other special abilities or talents. But parable refers all resources God gives us, including time and money and health and physical strength. It also included degree of faith and spiritual strength and insights.
But truth is great wealth can be a blessing and instrument by which God enables certain people the power to do great good. Some have, but majority end up using such for their own selfish purposes and giving to charity and ministry far below what God’s expectations and requires. Wealthy people are more tempted to rely on themselves instead of God. But when someone of wealth and power surrenders fully to God’s will, their lives and impact are felt greatly. Wealth can become a curse instead of the blessing God intends. Yet, many have received great wealth not in money but in family and children and health and ability to work and in friends and loved ones and …. List goes on. But since they don’t also have financial security, they fail to see and praise God for their blessings and fail to give or tithe the resource of wealth they do have.
The widow who gave all she had was rich in faith and fellowship with God, which motivated her to give. God desires that of His Church, you and me. He desires to provide for us physically but also to reward us in kind for what we do give so we will be empowered to give more.
The widow’s mite and similar examples have resulted in great good that transcends generations and still does. I forget the details but am reminded of an orphanage started with a small coin given by a child, which spurred many adults to contribute and even some wealthy businessman. Or the little boy dying of cancer who started a small lemonade stand to raise money for cancer research. He personally raised $200 but spurred other children and adults to join in and have raised many millions of dollars. That little boy lived to see that accomplished and died short of being able to receive a cure from that research. However, his death was not in vain. Many boys and girls have been cured by the money raised thus far but his legacy continues.
What we do and give to Christ is never in vane nor lost. Giving is an act of worship but also an act of faith and love. Scripture tells us “give and it will be given to us back in abundance” Give not to receive but give with hope God will entrust us with more so we can give more and not to consume more. Giving is God’s way of allowing us to invest in His Work and enjoy profit and growth from that investment. He doesn’t need our money, but we need that return on investment. We can’t get it without making the investment. AMEN? AMEN!
Giving sacrificially and generously is a way to grow faith. God can’t fill a hand that has a tight grasp on money. God moves money into and out of our open hands.
“The church treasurer counts what we give; God counts what we keep.” John Blanchard
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 229 blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present.
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/
My hope and prayer is, they will become a source of encouragement and tools in ministry for you.
Published by donsdevotions
Don McDaniel - Who am I?
Hello everyone and welcome to my devotional journal blog. In order to get acquainted and help you get to know me a bit better before considering following my blog, let me give you some background. I am a 74-year-old male and a retired engineer. I worked for a major supplier of underground mining equipment for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2012. Arlene and I have been happily married since April 1978 and have two grown – married children, one granddaughter and 2 step grandsons. I joined the local United Methodist church at age 12 after accepting Christ as my Savior at age 10 during revival services in that same church in 1961, so I have been a “Born Again” Christian all my teen years and adult life. Christ has helped and guided me all that time. He guided me in choosing my wife and life’s career. My life journey has included regrets and failures, but God has picked me up and protected and spared me from life threatening consequences and dangers more times than I can recall or count. But many I do recall and encourage and motivate me to trust and follow Christ with more passion than ever.
Christmas 2011 our daughter gave Arlene and I each a devotional journal. Journals were books with devotion for each day and space to give personal impressions and thoughts related to each devotion. Her desire was to have a lasting legacy she could refer back to and share with her children and grandchildren especially after we are gone. I was touched by that gesture. My parents and Arlene’s were devout Christians, so we would have greatly treasured having that from them, so we felt a sense of urgency to honor her request. I finished my journal first and returned it to our daughter the following Christmas. I’m glad I did it then because Parkinson’s has caused my hand writing to deteriorate since then. The exercise was such a blessing for me. Discipline of keeping journal helped me gain a deeper walk with Christ and greater discipline in honoring my time of prayer and devotion with Him each day. So, I decided to continue the practice but since I could not find a paper journal I liked, I decided to create my own. I had already been receiving electronic devotions by email every day from several sources, my favorite being “Turning Point” from Dr. David Jeremiah. What I decided to do was to include devotional scripture but add my own thoughts and comments only so there would be no issue of copyright infringement. Creating and maintaining journal by computer also addressed my deteriorating handwriting ability. I started an electronic devotion journal January 1, 2013 and have been faithful to that practice every day since. I prayed about method and level of distribution. My initial intent was to only share it with my two children by email, but quickly discovered others in my family, my church, and friends from work (both retired and still working) who knew me and wanted to be included in distribution when they learned what I was doing. I now distribute by email my daily journal at the beginning of each month to over 150 friends and relatives. God has richly blessed and encouraged me.
I am concerned with the state of our church and nation, and world for that matter, believing we are living in the end times the prophets of old and Christ have talked about in scripture, so time is short. I desire to be true to my Savior and a witness to help others come to a saving knowledge of Him and equipped to share His Good News too. If my journal can encourage and help others, I believe God wants me to share it. I struggled, for a time at first, because I know many others keep similar journals but only for their own edification and do not want to share them because they are private.
However, Christ has stirred my heart to share it as a witness tool.
Our son and daughter have a long-time friend who grew up with them who we also befriended nearly 25 years ago. He had a lot of family problems, so would gravitate to our family as a refuge and eventually thought of us as his adopted parents and he as our adopted son. We lost contact with him for some time when he grew up and left home. He traveled around the U.S. and eventually ended up in Ukraine where he resided for next 10 years. He had to return to the US to renew his visa and took opportunity to recommend I begin a blog of my devotions and helped me set it up. He is also an active blogger and has been an email subscriber to my journal for several months, so he has been suggesting I expand my distribution by starting a blog to get broader exposure. After reflection and prayer, I concluded God was in this, so he is helping me set up my blog site. This brief autobiography is my first entry.
He returned to Ukraine, then resided there until circumstanced made him decide to move back to US with his young son. This biography was my first post February 29, 2016 .
I have published 600 posts from 2016-2023 automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God. I decided to take a sebatical to prepare for a new chapter. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which affects patient ability to walk, drive, do physical work, and eventually talk. By mid 2023 it became evident our home for last 42 years (previously owned by my parents for previous 44 years and by my mother's grandparents for 39 years before that) would eventually not meet my needs so we decided to sell it and move into 1st floor of a duplex we also owned that was the town school from 1855-1913. Likewise, the property was requiring more maintenance that I was no longer able to keep up with. 2023 involved selling our home and moving into apartment next door and then in early 2025 an opportunity to move closer to our daughter and granddaughter in Kentucky which was completed in May 2025. For a number of months I have been seeking direction seeking God's direction and timing to return to blogging as my journey with Parkinson's continues to unfold with God's guiding hand in mine.
I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me since started this blog in 2016. I have spent time with Him studying scripture and praying and listening and writing this journal. I will continue seeking God’s help and will welcome your input to make this site as meaningful as I can and true to God, who is motivating me to create and maintain it. I will also welcome input in order to make format more meaningful going forward.
Don & Arlene McDaniel
In His Service,
Email: mcdanieldonald769@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 600+ blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present (https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/link-to-dons-devotional-journal-entries-2013/ )
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials. View all posts by donsdevotions
donsdevotions 