BLESSINGS FROM CHARITABLE GIVING

My Dear Precious Child, The poor, poverty stricken people in the churches of Macedonia became overjoyed when the church at Corinth conferred an abundance of charity upon them. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that the deep poverty in the people of Macedonia had produced overflowing joy and abundant generosity in the believers in Corinth. He said that he could attest to the fact that the believers in Corinth had insisted on having the favor of sharing in serving the Macedonians. He wrote that, beyond his hopes, the Corinthians first gave themselves to Me and then to the apostles to take their bounty to the people in need. He had asked Titus to complete the serving of charity to the people in Macedonia. Titus has already begun the work of charity and so the help of the church at Corinth brought it to full completion by their giving. He complimented the people in the church at Corinth for their being rich in every respect, in faith and in the works of their faith, in knowledge in concern for other people and in the love that Paul and his fellow ministers conferred upon them which led them to abound in charity. Paul used the occasion to teach about My Love and the Love of Jesus Christ, by which he tested them in their knowledge concerning giving. In his second letter to the Corinthians, besides his complimenting them for their immediate repentance after receiving his first letter of correction, he also complimented them on knowing about My Love. He acknowledged that they knew that the Lord Jesus Christ had made himself poor by coming to earth while He was rich in My kingdom, coming to earth to die for the sins of the world and make them rich by His own earthly poverty. Through his teaching, Paul gave them advice on both being rich and being poor. He wanted them to continue to again help supply for the needs of people willingly. He wanted them to carry it through to completion, according to their own means, not to go beyond them. He wrote that the relief of others should not impoverish them, that there should be equality in both. Paul gave them wisdom when he wrote that their giving of their having plenty at the present time should help supply the needs of others but only to the degree that their own surplus would some day also supply their own needs, always with equality. He also wrote that, "He who gathered much had no excess and he who gathered little had no lack," quoting My instructions to the Israelites when they were traveling to the promised land, making sure that no one had more than anyone else on their journey in order to lighten their loads. (Exodus 16:18; II Corinthians 8:8-15) He praised Me for giving an equal zeal to Titus, who had welcomed the appeal of the poor, and who had gone to the Corinthians with the appeal to help with the poor in Macedonia. Paul had sent along with Titus the brother that had such a good reputation for preaching the gospel, his having been appointed the traveling companion of Titus as Paul carried on the work of charity for the churches for My glory. One thing that Paul wanted to avoid was any blame for the way he handled the collection. He not only wanted My approval but the approval of other men also. He gave acclaim to Titus because of his being a loyal companion and fellow worker in the churches to the glory of Christ. (II Corinthians 7:16-21) One of Paul's closing remarks was for the people of the church at Corinth to show love to all his fellow workers in the church, proving why Paul boasted about them all the time for all the churches to see their virtues and charity. In this letter Paul wanted to affirm to the Christians at Corinth that because of the love of Jesus Christ in giving His life for all people by dying on the cross, that should be their motivation for their sharing their wealth with the poor and underprivileged. He wanted the charity of Jesus Christ in His ministry to continue through the people in the Church at Corinth in supplying the needs of the poor. That's the way it works, from Me through Jesus Christ and then through His believers directly to the poor in answer to their prayers. That's the way the chain of mercy works, as attested to by Paul in his writing in his second recorded letter to the church at Corinth. (II Corinthians 7:22-24) Your Loving Father or Mercy and Charity