Good morning.
In our previous message we spoke about giving of ourselves for the sake of the Kingdom. Please first read it if you haven’t yet.
Giving from what we have, i.e. not just money, but gifts like encouragement, hope, peace, teaching, exhortation, leadership, service, mercy will result in us receiving what we need, having a treasure in heaven and the Lord keeping the devourer from stealing from us.
This can be well understood from the passage in 2 Corinthians 9:6-10: “6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: ‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’[Psalm 112:9] 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
Even though Paul wrote to the Corinthians about a physical gift they gave, we see a few keys in this passage that apply to any form of giving.
1. What we sow, we shall reap and how we sow, so shall we reap (verse 6). Whether we give money, mercy, forgiveness, help, knowledge, encouragement, etc. we actually put it in the heavenly bank. There it generates interest and whenever we need provision (in any form) on earth, the Lord passes what we need to us. One day in heaven such things will be our treasure.
2. Giving in the New Testament is different from tithing as verse seven states. We are not required to give ten percent, but such as we have decided in our heart to give. This should also be led by the Holy Spirit, if we walk by the Spirit. However, ten percent is a good guideline. We have different gifts (Romans 12:6-8 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2012:6-8&version=NIV1984) and this is generally the source from which we give. Those who have the ability to make much money would be able to give more, and those who are financially poor should give what they can financially, but would have something else to give generously such as encouragement, service, mercy, etc.
3. Giving is not a business deal as some prosperity preachers would like us to believe. In verse eight we clearly see that giving would not result in earthly material prosperity, but that the giver will always have what they need in order to abound in good works. In verse 10 we see that our giving will result in having more of what we have sown in order to sow again, so that our harvest of righteousness may increase. This shows clearly that we are only living for heaven – to be righteous in God’s sight so He can reward us. Can you see the deception of focusing on material rewards and lifestyle? It robs us of eternal prosperity.
4. Verse eleven confirms that wealth will be more than financial.
Malachi 3:8-12 states that if we give, the Lord will stop the devourer from robbing us. How does this happen in a New Testament spiritual sense? The devil steals from us through giving us material- and carnal opportunities to focus on, because he knows that once we are entangled with maintaining a materialistic lifestyle, we will not sow into the Kingdom as we should, since we are serving Mammon. We are then robbed of our heavenly treasures.
A story: A rich Christian and a poor godly servant of this rich man died simultaneously. As the angel took them for a tour of heaven they saw a massive house and a shack. The rich man, being used to wealth, was very disappointed when the big house was assigned to the poor man. On enquiry why He only got a shack, the angel replied: ‘We could only build with what you sent us.’ Contrary to popular believe I don’t think our heavenly rewards will be material, but this story states a point.
Lord, please teach me to give what I have?
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.
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