Category: Giving

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 10-2-15

    Mark 12:41-44 (NKJV) 41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. 42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. 43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”

    Giving is not optional, based on our level of income.

    Many, many years ago we were going through a severe financial struggle. Part of it was due to over-obligating ourselves. The other part was due to the fact that the factory where I worked for 13 years had closed its doors and left me jobless.

    Needless to say, the bills piled up pretty quickly!

    We were not tithing at the time. We “couldn’t afford to” tithe. That was our logic. Until God got ahold of us and showed us the truth.

    We heard a message about covenant and God heavily impressed upon us that we needed to enter into a covenant with Him regarding our finances. That afternoon, we piled our bills on our bed, repented and prayed over our bills. We asked God for His help and entered into a covenant with Him, vowing that we would tithe first, from everything that came into our home.

    God heard us. He immediately went to work on our behalf. Long past-due medical bills suddenly had zero balances. Other bills were suddenly paid off for no reason. And our faith increased!

    It took us 5 long years to get completely out of our mess, but God was with us every, single step of the way. We never went without.

    And today we have learned even more about living in His provision for our lives. He amazes us every day, every week and every month. Our needs are met at every turn in the path of life.

    Why? Because we put God first in everything, including our finances. Whether we have much or we have little, we give to God first. And He stands by His promise to us.

    The widow in the verses above didn’t withhold giving because she had little, she gave in spite of her situation and her circumstances, and so should we.

    Luke 6:38 (NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 9-29-15

    Luke 6:38 (NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

    Giving is the answer to a lot of our problems today.

    There are so many problems with finances in this world. People struggle every day.

    We know from firsthand experience that as we give it comes back, just as God promises us it will.

    We teach on giving, not so we can become rich, but so that you may receive all that God has for you.

    So many people struggle with giving; there’s no doubt about this. We hear about the struggles and we see it all around us.

    Why? Because it’s a normal instinct to want to keep what we work hard for. It’s normal to want to get ahead and put some away. But what we lack in knowing is that God’s word promises us that if we give to Him first, all these things will be taken care of.

    What destroys people is a lack of knowing the important things that God wants to help us with; a lack of knowing God’s way of doing things, following them and then receiving His promises.

    Hosea 4:6 (NKJV) 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

    Let us not be destroyed by rejecting the simple truths of God’s word. Let us take action and do what is right.

    Give today and watch it come back, pressed down, shaken together and running over! Amen.

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 7-11-15

    Luke 6:38 (NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

    As followers of Christ, He has told us that we need to give. It’s part of who we are as believers.

    The importance of this has somehow been minimalized over the centuries, and in today’s world of high pressure and keeping up with the Joneses, giving has been pushed to the back burner and deemed something that we do only if “we can afford to”.

    We want to remind everyone that giving is something that we can’t afford not to do.

    Giving unlocks the doors to receiving. It’s a spiritual law set in place by God himself.

    And no, we aren’t claiming that giving will result in overflowing bank accounts. God says to give and we will receive. It doesn’t always mean that we will get money.

    Sometimes we receive time and care from others. Sometimes we receive help when we need it. Sometimes we receive comfort when we’re troubled. And sometimes we will receive finances.

    God knows what we need and when we need it.

    So we all need to remember, and make a conscious decision to give. We need to fight off the natural tendency to want to hold tightly to what we have, and learn to give some of it away.

    After all, it all belongs to God anyway.

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

    Please Consider Making a Donation.

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 5-25-15

    Matthew 19:21-22 (NKJV) 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

    A very wealthy young ruler had come to Jesus and asked Him what he needed to do to have eternal life.

    Jesus gave him a short list of important things that he should do. The young man replied that he was already doing those things and asked if there was anything else he needed to do.

    As the young man waited for Jesus to answer, he was very likely thinking that he was in pretty good shape due to the life he led and the fact that he was already following all of the things Jesus had told him to do.

    But then Jesus told him that he would need to sell all of his possessions and give to the poor. Upon hearing this, the young man went away sad.

    Why did he go away sad? It wasn’t because he was rich. It was because he held so tightly to his wealth that he wasn’t willing to give it away, even at the expense of his eternal destiny.

    What about us? How well would we handle this same scenario? Would we also walk away sad?

    We don’t have to have great wealth to be greedy or to hold too tightly to what we have. But what we do have, we need to be willing to let go of, if God requires of us to do so.

    When we are blessed with material possessions, we need to hold them loosely, so that if, or when, God asks us to give them away, we won’t have a hard time doing so.

    And if we don’t have great wealth, it doesn’t excuse us from giving, either. Whether we have little or we have much, God requires of us to give!

    Luke 21:1-4 (NKJV) 21 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

    So let’s ask God to search our hearts in this and ask Him to show us if we’re holding too tightly to what we have been blessed with.

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

    Please Consider Making a Donation.

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 4-7-15

    Luke 6:38 (NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

    Giving is so rewarding, whether it’s giving of our time, giving of our money, or giving of material things, etc. This past week and a half has been a crucial time of giving for me.

    My Dad was having trouble with chest pains and went to see a heart specialist. He just barely made it in, only to have them take him out by ambulance to bring him to the Emergency room, and then finding out he needed three way bypass heart surgery. My dad is 80 years old.

    I was so thankful that I could be there and walk through it with him and be there for my Mom. Everything that I had to get done on my schedule came to a screeching halt. It was my time to give to them.

    At times I was exhausted. I’d hold back my emotions and tears just to be strong for them. Even though I was scared and my legs were ready to crumple beneath me from the different reports the doctor would give us.

    It was not about me. It was about putting myself and my feelings aside to help someone else get through a tough time in their life.

    Giving of our time means so much to people, and through it they see how much we care.

    It is a time to let others see God’s love and strength work through us. Giving is a sacrifice, but a very rewarding one at that.

    Give and it will be given to you.

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

    Please Consider Making a Donation.

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 3-16-15

    Luke 6:38 (NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

    If we want to feel fulfilled and do something meaningful, then we need to let God show us how to give and to whom to give. It is the best feeling ever and brings such fulfillment when we are one with God!

    One day, long before we were pastors, God laid on our hearts to go visit a man and woman we know, and give to them a specific amount of money. So we drove over to their home and knocked on their door. They had us come in and sit down and we explained how God had sent us there and wanted us to give something to them. We handed them the envelope and planned on leaving.

    But instead, we stayed and visited a bit. After we had been there a while, the man got up and left the room. When he came back, he had a large basin filled with warm water, and he had some towels. He asked us to take off our shoes, and he began to wash our feet.

    As he washed our feet he began to tell us things that God was going to do in our lives. We cried like babies as he ministered to us. We had no idea it was going to turn out like that.

    As we did what God asked us to do and gave that sum of money, He had a special surprise waiting there for us.

    Some of us are waiting on God for Him to move on our behalf, but He is waiting on us to do what He has already told us to do.

    Give.

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

    Please Consider Making a Donation.

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 12-30-14

    Luke 6:38 (NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

    We may think that when we give, no one knows about it but us, whether it’s a helping hand to someone, or something personal that means a lot to us.

    It could even be our tithes and offerings. Maybe we were thinking that we could have used that money for our own personal use, but instead we obeyed God, made a sacrifice and gave it anyway.

    Or it could be something as simple as hugging someone that irritates us, but we went out of our way and did it because we knew they needed it.

    God noticed it. He saw what you did! He sees all that we do, and Jesus says in this verse that it will come back to you. He is faithful to give back to us with the same measure we use when we give.

    It may not come back the way that we thought or from the person or the organization that we gave it to, but it will come back to us in the way and form that God wants to bring it back.

    So keep on giving. We can’t get discouraged and start doubting what we did. Press in, keep giving and thank God because it’s coming back!! Amen.

    Have a wonderful day.

    Love in Christ,

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

    Please Consider Making a Donation.

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 10-30-14

    Acts 20:35 (NKJV) 35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

    Giving.

    It’s something that some of us do more readily and freely than others. But it’s something that God has told us all to do.

    It’s funny that you’ll find many times that those with the most give the least and those with the least give the most. This isn’t always the case, but it happens a lot.

    1 John 3:17 (NKJV) 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

    We’d like to encourage everyone today to give. If you’re not tithing, today is the day to start.

    If you’re already tithing, ask God where to sow an offering.

    And remember that giving is what opens the doors to receiving.

    Luke 6:38 (NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

    Please Consider Making a Donation.

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 11-28-13

    2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (NKJV) 6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

    God wants us all to give. He wants us to give generously, but He also wants us to give cheerfully!

    Have you ever seen someone doing something and the expression on their face tells you that they really don’t like to be doing that? You know by looking at them that they are just going through the motions.

    God doesn’t want us to live like this or give like this. He wants us to be passionate about what we do and passionate about what we give!

    Just as God doesn’t want us to be lukewarm in our walk with Him, He also doesn’t want us to be “cranky” when we give, whether we’re giving of our time, our labor or our finances.

    The key to this is letting God change our heart. If our heart is in the right place with Him, we will have very little trouble doing what we do with His joy showing on our faces.

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 8-15-13

    Malachi 3:8-9 (NKJV) 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse,

    For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.

    Have we cursed ourselves with a curse?

    When most people think of the above verses and they discuss tithing, they typically focus on the fact that if we aren’t tithing, we’re robbing God. But today, let’s look at this from a different angle.

    Did you notice that it says “you are cursed with a curse”, in verse 9? Yes, it does!

    And do you know why they are cursed with a curse? Because they have robbed God by not giving of their tithes and offerings.

    So let’s look at this from the opposite point of view. If withholding our tithes and offerings from God brings a curse, then giving our tithes and offerings offers protection from that very same curse.

    It’s true. As we give of our tithes and offerings, we are allowing God to place a layer of protection around us that prevents us from being “cursed with a curse”. If we withhold our tithes and offerings, we cause this protection to be removed and make ourselves vulnerable to this curse.

    Furthermore, our tithes and offerings are more than just a “lip service” that we pay to God. Giving to God strictly out of a feeling of obligation is an insult to Him.

    Tithing, giving of our finances, should be done as an act of worship to the God who supplies all our needs.

    Philippians 4:19 (NKJV) And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

    It should be our way of saying “God, everything I have is from you and because of you and because I understand this and I’m thankful, I want to give you honor and glory by giving back to you and your work”.

    This should be the true essence of tithing in the New testament church today.

    So let me ask; are we cursed with a curse or are we covered by God’s protection over our finances?

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

  • Bible Verse of The Day – 8-5-13

    (Proverbs 3:9-10 NKJV)  Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; {10} So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

    Giving God our first fruits is one way of showing Him honor. It also will cause us to prosper!

    Many think that they have to be prospering first before they start giving the first fruits to God. This is the wrong way of thinking and it will keep us always working so hard and never getting ahead, because this in not what prospers us.

    There is no trust or faith in thinking we have to wait until we become prosperous and get things in order before we can give God the first fruits.

    Today, surrender our ways on how to prosper and let God’s Word teach us and show us His way! He is a faithful God and He means what He says. He will show you, as you take a step of faith, how important it is to honor Him first!

    Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

    Seven Seas Ministries
    P.O. Box 272
    Bradford, RI 02808

    401-315-0902

    If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

    To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!