Dear Partner,

I cannot stop thinking about the most recent instruction I received from the Lord. The Lord said to me,

"My people have been trained to work on their giving. I have called you to train them how to work on their heart."

As I continue to think about this instruction, my mind goes back to a lesson that the Holy Spirit taught me from Matthew Chapter Six. We are all familiar with this famous verse;

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

This is what all of us desire. We want to be right in the center of God's will for our lives, putting the Kingdom of God first place, living in His righteousness, and Him providing all of our needs. But we seem to often fall short of HOW to arrive at this blessed place.

The first law of meditation is "never take a verse out of its setting. Be sure to leave the verse in its context." Backing up, then, and reading the whole chapter over and over again, I noticed that there were three things that Jesus said we are to do in secret ... that is, just between us and the Father. They are: Giving to the poor, praying, and fasting. For years I thought that the only reason that Jesus said to do these things in secret was to keep us from seeking glory from men. That is one reason, but Jesus has much more in mind.

Jesus wants us to have deep fellowship with the Father, "heart to Heart," not just a superficial relationship born out of religious duty. Christianity is a family, not a religion. We have been born again, adopted into the family of God. God is our Father and he desires intimate, personal fellowship with each of us. Jesus desires that we do these things in secret ... just between us and the Father, in order to nurture and develop our fellowship with the Father. Said another way, so we will get to know our Father better.

So, if this is just between you and the Father, your internal conversation with Him might go something like this; "Father, I have an extra ten dollars right now. Jesus said that I was to give to the poor in secret, just between You and me. Do you have someone in mind that You would like for me to give it to? Would you prefer that I simply find someone myself who needs it?" The point is this, there will begin a dialogue, a line of communication between you and the Father that you may not have even thought of before. The amazing thing is this; at first it may seem to you that He is not doing much of the talking ... but He is! You will begin to discern that still, small voice more and more clearly as you, on purpose, begin treating the Father like He is real! He is, you know, and one way to demonstrate faith in that truth is to begin talking to Him as though He is listening.

Notice that Jesus said that if we will do these things in secret, just between us and the Father, the Father will reward us "openly:"

Mat 6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

What is it that the Father rewards us with? He rewards us with HIMSELF! His character traits, His way of thinking, His motivations of heart become ours as we do these things in secret with Him. For example, why is it that the Father wants us to share some of our abundance with the poor in the first place? Two reasons. 1) He doesn't like poverty and He wants the poor to be blessed. 2) He wants us to learn what He already knows ... PEOPLE ARE MORE VALUABLE THAN MONEY!

He rewards us with the understanding that the Kingdom of God is about PEOPLE! In order to flow with the Father's heart and mind we have to have the same motivations that He has. Here is a great revelation that remains a mystery to most people ... even born again, Spirit filled people: What Jesus was actually teaching in the entire chapter of Matthew Six is that the Kingdom of God is about serving PEOPLE ... not MAMMON!

As we get to know our Father better, we increasingly love people more than money. It is only as we do that we truly enter into the blessed state that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 6:33, "and all these things shall be added unto you." What things? The very same things that Jesus said the Gentiles [unbelievers] spend their whole lives, from birth to the grave, trying to obtain. Such things as what will they eat, what will they drink, how shall they be clothed? Because they serve Mammon their whole lives trying to obtain these things, they never develop a heart that puts other people first. Without such a heart in them, they will never be of much use to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is about PEOPLE!

The promise of the Father is, "If you will work with Me in secret to develop My love for people in your heart, I will make sure that all of these things shall be added unto you." What a promise! If we will train our heart by doing these things in secret with Him, the Father will reward us with His own character so we can cooperate with Him in the rescue of people while we live on this planet. THAT is putting first the kingdom of God! Once He has our heart, THEN His promise to us is that He takes personal responsibility for "all of these things being added unto us."

It all starts with the training of the heart. Fellowship between you and your Father, in secret, developing within you the same love and motivations that are already in Him.

Thank you for your gift to GCM. Sue and I love you and appreciate you. We thank God for your generous and giving heart. God bless you!

Your friend and co-laborer,

Gary Carpenter

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