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66 Bible Verses about Offering That Pleases God
You know, God sees right into our hearts. He knows when we're giving our best. He's not looking for perfection, but He loves it when we give cheerfully and not grudgingly. Think about it: when you give a gift with a happy heart, it just feels different, right?
Your offering should come from a willing heart, given justly, according to what you have. As the Bible says, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart" (2 Corinthians 9:7). It's not about how much, but about the heart behind it.
The Bible teaches us that God wants us to give joyfully and generously, just like He does. He gives abundantly, "without finding fault" (James 1:5). Think about the sunshine and the rain – He gives those to everyone, right? Just like in Matthew 5:45, He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. That's true generosity.
So, when you give to God, think of it as a thank you for all He's given you. And don't forget about giving to others, too, following God's example. It's a way of acknowledging that everything we have ultimately belongs to Him.
When you give, trust in God's faithfulness and His promise to provide for all your needs. He's got you covered. More than the actual gift, He cares about the attitude behind it. He wants your offering to be obedient and freely given, according to His commandments, and accompanied by a merciful heart, full of the desire to glorify Him. God makes it clear that He's not pleased with offerings that are just going through the motions, you know, those traditional or ritualistic ones that lack a truly obedient and merciful heart, lacking the desire to glorify Him.
But Abel brought to God some of the first lambs that his sheep had given birth to. He brought pieces of fat from the best of his lambs to offer them to God. Abel and his gift pleased the Lord.
Agree that the Lord's name is great. Bring a gift to offer to him in his temple. Worship the Lord, who is beautiful and holy.
Many people were giving their gifts for the temple. There was a box for money there. People threw their coins into it. Jesus sat near the box and he watched them. Many rich people put a lot of money into the box.But then a woman came there. She was a widow and she was very poor. She put two small coins that had only a little value into the box.Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said to them, ‘I tell you this. This poor woman has put a better gift into the box than all the other people have put in there.All those rich people have plenty of money. They only put a small part of that into the box. But this woman has almost nothing. She put in all the money that she had. That was the money that she needed to live.’
Maybe you go to the temple to give your gift to God. You take it to the altar. But then you remember that your brother is angry with you.You must leave your gift there in front of God's altar. First you must go and find your brother. Tell him that you are sorry. Then you can both become friends with each other again. After that, you can return to the altar and give your gift to God.
They think only about more things that they want for themselves. But righteous people are happy to give their things to other people.
When you give something to a poor person, do not tell anyone about it. The hypocrites do this in their meeting places. They also do it in the busy streets of the town. They do this so that other people will praise them. I tell you this. They have already received their gift. God will not give them anything more.
Each of you should think carefully and then decide how much you can give. Then you will not be sad to give that money. Nobody has made you give it. God loves someone who is happy to give help to other people.
Give to other people and God will give to you. He will give to you even more than you gave. He will fill your pockets until no more will go in. They will be so full that it will come out over the top. Think about how you give to other people. God will give in the same way to you.’
Show that you respect the Lord in the way that you use your money. Offer the first part of the harvest from your farm to him.
May the Lord answer you when you are in trouble and you call to him for help. May Israel's great God keep you safe.He will send help to you from his holy place, from his temple in Zion.He will remember the gifts that you have offered to him. He will accept your burnt offerings.
Do not want to have many valuable things here in the world. Insects or water can destroy those kinds of things. Or people may come into your house and they can rob you of those things.When you give something to a poor person, do not tell anyone about it. The hypocrites do this in their meeting places. They also do it in the busy streets of the town. They do this so that other people will praise them. I tell you this. They have already received their gift. God will not give them anything more.Instead, you should want to have valuable things in heaven. Insects and water cannot destroy anything there. Men cannot rob you of your things there.Then you will be thinking a lot about heaven, because that is where you keep your valuable things.
If you help other people with your money, you will do well. If you give water to thirsty people, you will not be thirsty yourself.
Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be completely good, then you must do this. You must sell everything that you have. Then give the money to poor people. If you do that, you will have many valuable things in heaven. Then come back and be my disciple.’
I may give all my things to poor people. I may let other people take my body to burn it. But that would not help me if I do not love others.
He will work like a man who uses a hot fire to make gold and silver pure. He will make the Levites clean and pure. He will remove their dirt. Then they can offer proper sacrifices to the Lord.
The Christians in Macedonia and Achaia want to help the poor people among the believers in Jerusalem. So they have some money ready to send to those people.
Since God loves you, he is able to give you more than you need. You will always have every good thing that you need for yourselves. And you will have enough to do many good things to help other people.
If you lend money to a wicked person, he will not give it back to you. But righteous people are kind to others and they give things freely.
It is God who supplies seeds for the farmer to plant. It is God who supplies bread for food. God will help you in the same way. He will give you plenty of things so that you can help other people. You will be like a farmer who plants many seeds. And God will cause those seeds to grow. There will be many good results from the help that you give to other people. That will be like a great harvest.
Remember this: If a farmer plants only a few seeds, he will not get much as a result. But if he plants plenty of seeds, he will get a big harvest.
You asked me about the money that you want to give to God's people at Jerusalem. You should do it in the same way that I told the churches in Galatia.If Timothy comes to you, please take care of him. Make sure that you welcome him. He is doing the Lord's work, as I am also doing.So you should all respect him. When he is ready to leave, help him with the things that he needs. Then he can continue his journey and come to me here. I am waiting for him to come with the other believers.As for our Christian friend Apollos, I wanted him to visit you. I have often told him to come to you together with the other believers. But he does not think that this is the right time. He will come to you when he has the chance.Watch carefully for danger. Never stop trusting God. Continue to be brave and strong.Whatever you do, do it with love.My Christian friends, you know about Stephanas and his family. They were the first people in Achaia to become Christians. They have worked hard as God's servants to help his people.So you must respect people like them. Do what they say. And also respect everyone who works hard to serve God together with them.I was very happy when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived here. You could not be here yourselves, but they have come on your behalf.They have helped me to feel stronger in my spirit, as they also did for you. You should recognize the authority of people like them.The churches here in the region of Asia say ‘hello’ to you. Aquila and Priscilla, and the group of believers that meets in their house also say ‘hello’ to you. They love you because you belong to the Lord, as they do.On the first day of every week, each of you should put some of your money in a safe place. Think about how much God has given you. Then decide how much you can give to other people. If you do that, the gift will be ready when I come to you. We will not need to start doing it after I come.
Now you must bring the whole tithe that belongs to me. Store it in my temple, so that there will be food in my house. Obey me and then see what I will do.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says. ‘You will see how much I will bless you! You will not have enough room to store all the good things that I will give to you. I will pour blessings out of the sky like rain.
Remember to be kind to other people. Share with them the things that you have. God is happy with sacrifices like that.
Somebody may share his things with other people, but he still becomes richer. Somebody else may keep the things that he should give to others, but he still becomes poor.
When you offer a friendship offering as a sacrifice to me, do it in the right way. Then I will accept your gift.
God will make you rich with many good things. As a result, you will always be able to give plenty to other people. Many people will thank God because of your gifts that we take to them.
When anyone asks you for something, give it to him. Someone may take something that belongs to you. If he does, let him keep it. Do not ask to have it back again.
Epaphroditus has brought the gifts that you sent to me. I have received those gifts, so that I no longer need anything. You have sent me more than enough. Your gifts are like a sacrifice with a nice smell that you have offered to God. God accepts that kind of sacrifice. It makes him very happy.
Jesus then said to them, ‘You should do good things to help people. But be careful! Do not do this so that other people see you. If you want other people to praise you, your Father in heaven will not praise you.We want the day when you rule everyone to come soon. We want everyone to obey you on earth, as everyone in heaven obeys you.Please give us the food that we need today.We have forgiven people who have done wrong things to us. In the same way, please forgive us for the wrong things that we have done.Do not let us agree to do wrong things. Keep us safe from Satan, the evil one.” ’Then Jesus said, ‘When other people do wrong things against you, you must forgive them. Then God, your Father in heaven, will also forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive you.’Jesus then said, ‘You may decide to fast for some time. But do not look sad so that people know you are doing a special thing. Hypocrites want people to see how good they are. They make their faces dirty. Then other people can see that they are fasting. I tell you this: people have praised them and that is the only gift that they will get.But when you fast for some time, you should wash your face. Make your hair look nice.Then other people will not know that you are doing a special thing. But God, your Father, will know. You do not see him but he sees what you do secretly. In return, he will give you good things.Do not want to have many valuable things here in the world. Insects or water can destroy those kinds of things. Or people may come into your house and they can rob you of those things.When you give something to a poor person, do not tell anyone about it. The hypocrites do this in their meeting places. They also do it in the busy streets of the town. They do this so that other people will praise them. I tell you this. They have already received their gift. God will not give them anything more.Instead, you should want to have valuable things in heaven. Insects and water cannot destroy anything there. Men cannot rob you of your things there.Then you will be thinking a lot about heaven, because that is where you keep your valuable things.Your eyes are like lamps and your body is like a room. Make sure that your eyes are like a clean lamp, then your whole body will have light.If your eyes are not good, then your whole body will be in the dark. If the light in you has become dark, you will be living in a very dark place.’Jesus said, ‘Nobody can work as a slave for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other master. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.So I tell you this. You should not worry about how to stay alive. Do not worry about the food and drink that you need. Do not worry about the clothes that you need to wear. Your life is more important than the food that you eat. Your body is more important than your clothes.Think about the wild birds. They do not plant seeds in the ground. They do not cut down plants to eat. They have no buildings to store food. But God, your Father in heaven, gives them food to eat. You are much more valuable than the birds.Even if you always worry about your life, you cannot make it as much as one hour longer!You should not worry about your clothes. Think about how the wild flowers grow. They do not work or make clothes for themselves.But I tell you this. Even one wild flower is more beautiful than King Solomon was. And King Solomon wore the most beautiful clothes.So when you give something to a poor person, keep it a secret from other people. Do not tell anyone. Your left hand will not even know what your right hand does!It is God that gives beautiful clothes even to the grass. One day the grass is growing in the field, but the next day people will cut it and burn it. God will certainly take care of you, much more than he takes care of the grass. You should trust him more than you do!So do not worry about these things. Do not always say, “What will we eat?”, or “What will we drink?”, or “What will we wear?”People who do not know God are always trying to get these things. But as for you, your Father in heaven knows that you need them.Instead, always think about the things that are important in the kingdom of heaven. Always do what God shows you is right. Then he will also give you the things that you need each day.So do not worry about what might happen tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own problems. It is enough for you to be thinking each day about the problems of that day.’Nobody else will know about the good thing that you have done. But God sees the things that you do secretly. In return, he will give you good things.’
One day, it was time for the harvest. Cain brought to the Lord some of his crops as an offering.But Abel brought to God some of the first lambs that his sheep had given birth to. He brought pieces of fat from the best of his lambs to offer them to God. Abel and his gift pleased the Lord.But God was not pleased with Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry. His face looked sad.
Take an offering to give to the Lord from the things that you have. Everyone who wants to give something may choose to give these things: gold, silver, bronze;
When you bring an animal as a sacrifice to thank the Lord for something, offer it in the proper way. Then I will accept it as your gift.
Give to the Lord as much as you are able to. Your gifts may be large or small, as much as the Lord has blessed you.
I choose to offer a sacrifice to thank you. Lord, you are always good, so I want to praise your name.
I would be happy to offer sacrifices to you, but that is not what you really want. You do not want a burnt offering from me.You want me to be humble and sorry. That is the sacrifice that you want. When people are humble and they turn away from their sins, you will not refuse them.
But I and my people are like nothing. How are we able to give all these gifts to help your work? Everything that we have comes from you. So we are giving back to you things that already belong to you.
Then Jesus looked up and he saw something that was happening in the temple. There was a box for money there. Many rich people were putting their gifts of money into the box.Jesus then said to them, ‘People from one country will attack the people from another country. Kings and their armies will fight against other kings and their armies.The ground will shake with great earthquakes. In many different places, people will be hungry, with no food. People will suffer with bad diseases. Things that show God's power will happen in the sky so that people are afraid.But before all those things happen, people will take hold of you. They will cause you to suffer. They will take you to the leaders in their meeting places and they will put you in prisons. They will make you stand in front of kings and rulers. All this will happen because you are my disciples.This will be the time to tell people the good news about me.You will have to answer their questions. But decide not to think now about what you will say. Wait until that time comes.I will give you the right words to speak at that time. I will help you to be wise. Your enemies will not be able to argue against you. They will be quiet.Even your parents and other people in your family will turn against you. They will give you to your enemies. They will even kill some of you.Everybody will hate you because you are my disciples.But your life will be safe with me. You will not lose even one hair from your head.Yes, you will have true life, if you remain strong.Then he saw a woman who was coming there. She was a widow and she was very poor. She put two small coins into the box. They had only a little valueOne day you will see Jerusalem with armies all around it. Then you will know that enemies will soon destroy that city.People in Judea must then run away to the hills to hide. People that are inside the city must leave it. People that are outside in the fields must not go back into the city.This is when God will punish the people in the city. Then all the things will happen that are written in the Bible.That will be a bad time for women who are soon to have a baby! It will also be a bad time for those women who have little babies! Yes, very bad things will happen to all the people of this country. God will be very angry with the people who live here.At that time, enemies will fight God's people and kill many of them in war. They will take some of them away as prisoners to live in all the other countries. Foreign nations will destroy Jerusalem. They will rule here until their time comes to an end.’‘You will see strange things happen to the sun and to the moon and to the stars. Down on earth, people in many countries will become very afraid. The sea will make a lot of noise with great waves.These things will frighten people so that they become very weak. The powerful things in the sky will shake. People will be very afraid about what will soon happen in the world.Then they will see the Son of Man as he comes in a cloud. He will have great power and bright glory.When these things begin to happen, stand up! Be brave and look up, because God will save you very soon.’Then Jesus told them a story to explain this future time. He said, ‘Think about fig trees and other trees as well.Jesus said, ‘Let me tell you this. This poor woman has put a bigger gift into the box than all the other people have put in there.When you see new leaves on a tree, you know that summer will come soon. Nobody needs to tell you that.In the same way, you will see these strange things happening. Then you will know that the kingdom of God will soon be here.I tell you this. The people who are alive now will not all die until all these things happen.One day, the earth and the sky will have an end. But my words will be there for ever.But be careful how you live! Do not eat or drink too much. Do not fill your minds with thoughts about what you need to live. If you do, that day will come as a surprise. It will catch you suddenly like a trap!It will happen to everyone who lives anywhere on the earth.So be ready all the time! Continue to pray that you will be strong. Then you will remain safe through all these things that must happen! You will stand in front of the Son of Man and you will not be afraid.’Every day Jesus was teaching people in the yard of the temple. Each night he went out of the city and he stayed on the Mount of Olives.Each morning he returned to the temple. All the people were going there early in the morning to listen to him.All those rich people have plenty of money. They only gave a small part of that. But this woman has almost nothing. She put everything that she had into the box. That money was what she needed to live.’
My Christian friends, God has been very kind to us. Because of that, I really want you to serve God with your whole life. Offer your bodies to him like a sacrifice that continues to live. Serve him with everything that you have, and that will please him. That is the true way to worship God.
‘Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. Every person who wants to give can make a gift to me. You must receive their gifts.
You yourselves are also like stones that are alive. God is using you, like stones, to build a house where his Spirit lives. You will serve him like his special priests who offer sacrifices to him. God will be happy with the spiritual offerings that you give to him, because you belong to Jesus Christ.
As soon as the Israelite people received Hezekiah's message, they brought their gifts to the temple. They brought the first part of their grain, wine, olive oil, honey and all the crops that grew in their fields. They brought one tenth part of all the food that they grew, so there was a lot of it.
When people went to plant seeds in their fields, they were crying. But they will be happy when they bring in the harvest!People were weeping when they took their bags of seeds to plant. But when they carry their crops back home, they will shout because they are so happy!
On the first day of every week, each of you should put some of your money in a safe place. Think about how much God has given you. Then decide how much you can give to other people. If you do that, the gift will be ready when I come to you. We will not need to start doing it after I come.
If you really want to give, then God will accept your gift. God does not want you to give more than you are able to give. He will be happy about what you can give.
You may be bad, but even you know how to give good things to your children. Your Father in heaven knows much better than you do how to give good things to his children. He will give good things to everyone who asks him.
The Lord is truly God. He has caused his light to shine on us. Enjoy a happy festival! Take branches in your hands, and offer a sacrifice on the altar.
Whatever things you are doing, do them well. Remember that you are serving the Lord. You are not only serving people.You know that you will receive the good things that the Lord has promised to his people. He will give you what is right for you. The Lord Jesus Christ is the master that you serve.
Do not deceive yourselves. Nobody can make God seem foolish. Think about a farmer who plants seeds in his field. The same kind of crops will grow as the seeds which he plants. That will be his harvest.It is the same in our lives. A person may do the things that please his own human nature. The harvest from their human nature will be punishment and death. Or a person may do the things that please God's Spirit. The harvest from God's Spirit will be life with God for ever.We must not become tired as we do things that are good. We must not become so weak that we stop. Then we will receive a good harvest at the proper time.
Thank him as you go through the gates into his temple. Praise him as you stand in his temple yards. Thank him and praise him as he deserves!
This is the way that I want you to fast: You must remove the chains from prisoners who should not be in prison. You must stop being cruel to the people who work for you. You must let people who are in pain go free. You must break the yoke of work that is too hard for weak people. Instead, share your food with hungry people. Give a place in your home to poor people who have no home. Give clothes to people who have nothing to wear. If people in your own family need help, do not refuse to help them.
Abel believed God. So he offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain did. And because of Abel's faith, God accepted him as a righteous man. God said that he was pleased with Abel's gifts. Because Abel trusted God, we can still learn from his faith. Abel died long ago, but it is like he is still speaking to us.
But now, I am ready to go to Jerusalem to help God's people there.The Christians in Macedonia and Achaia want to help the poor people among the believers in Jerusalem. So they have some money ready to send to those people.
Tell those rich people to do many good things to help other people. They should be very kind to other people and share their things with them.In that way they will store valuable things for themselves in heaven. These things will be a strong help for them in the future. As a result, they will have true life with God.
The Lord has done many kind things to help me. What can I give back to him?I will offer a cup of wine to the Lord, to thank him because he saved me! I will worship him.I will give to the Lord everything that I have promised. I will do that when all his people meet together.
When another believer has trouble, we need to be kind to him. Maybe you have all the things that you need to live. If you see another believer who needs things like that, you should help him. If you refuse to be kind to him, it shows that you do not belong to God. You do not love people in the way that God loves them.My little children, we should not show love for each other only by what we say. We should also show true love by the things that we do.
So I am truly happy and I will sing to praise you. I cannot stay quiet! Lord, my God, I will continue to thank you for ever.
So we should always praise God, because of what Jesus has done for us. We should say clearly that we trust Jesus. That is like our sacrifice which we offer to God all the time.
When people are upset, the Lord is near to them. He saves those who feel very weak and upset.Righteous people may often have troubles, but the Lord saves them from every danger.
Our spiritual work among you is like a farmer who plants seeds. So you should give us the food and clothes that we need, as our harvest.
Watch over the group of believers that God has given to you. Be like a shepherd that takes care of his sheep. Lead them well because you want to do it. Do not do it only because you have to do it. Do it in the way that God wants for you. Do not be a leader because you want to receive money for yourself. Instead, do it because you want to help people.God has given you a group of believers to take care of them. Do not try to rule over them with power. Instead, show them how to live in a good way, so that they can copy you.
If you are cruel to poor people, you are insulting God who created them. But if you are kind to helpless people, it shows that you respect God.
Remember that every good gift comes to us from God. He only does what will help us. He is our Father in heaven. He made everything in the sky that gives us light. Those things do not give us the same light all the time. They change, but God does not change.
Whatever may happen to you, continue to thank God. God wants you to do that, because you belong to Christ Jesus.