September 1, 2017 HAVING AN ABUNDANCE
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is also able to make all grace abound having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”
This is another scripture that defies logic and reason. The “logical” man would say that the more you give, the less you will have; or the more you get and keep, the more you will have. However, when we read scriptures that do not sound logical, we must remember what is said in Isaiah 55:8: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways.” Those who belong to God are no longer limited by mere human nature, but have been given a new nature and new minds by which they can know the ways of God and can be blessed by living in His truth. Because we live in truth that comes from God, others may not understand why we do what we do. The truth is that if we give a little, we will receive a little; and if we give a lot, we will receive a lot; however, our motive in giving should not be simply that we will get more. The heart of these verses is that God Himself is a giver and the new nature that He has given us is also a giving nature. When one breaks what I will call the “the giving bearer”, he is set free from the “get all you can” mindset of the world (and sad but true, sometime the mindset of believers.) When we understand, or when we apply the truth of the above scriptures, the motive for what we do changes and we see life as an opportunity to give and we find fulfilment as we give. Giving is not limited to giving money, but it can include the giving of time, information, material goods, prayer and thanksgiving. Giving is an attitude and at the heart of giving is a desire to bless others. We are to give, not because we are “suppose” to give, but because giving expresses our new nature-who we are- and let it be noted that God loves a cheerful giver. We give out of unlimited resources when we give as the Lord directs because God “underwrites”, or supplies what we are to give as we see in 2 Corinthians 9:10: “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.” In the verses above, God makes an awesome promise to us when He says that we “will have an abundance for every good deed” and that we will have “all sufficiency in everything. In Philippians 4:19 we read: “And My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” God Himself defies logic; God is super-natural; God works miracles; God creates; God gives; God rules the universe, God loves AND He loves a cheerful giver. Yes! God has made His unending supply of resources available to us, and He has invited us to work with Him in dispersing His blessings! Let us not spend our days, not being focused on getting, but rather on sowing the seeds that God has given to us. God has given particular seeds to each of us, so let us be about sowing the seeds that we have been given and reap a bountiful harvest. It is right for us to see ourselves as being good and faithful stewards over everything that God has given us. We may think that we have acquired this or that, but the fact is that we have nothing that has not been given to us. Some may say “by the sweat of my brow, I have what I have,” but is not the ability to work and achieve a gift from God? Is not our mind and intellect a gift? Is not the air we breathe we breathe a gift? In 1 Corinthians 4:7 we read: “…And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” As our understanding of the Lord increases, as we grow in Him, we will find that being a good steward and being a giver is natural because that is what our new nature is like.
John 3:27: “John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven.”
Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Blessings,
Buddy
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is also able to make all grace abound having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”
This is another scripture that defies logic and reason. The “logical” man would say that the more you give, the less you will have; or the more you get and keep, the more you will have. However, when we read scriptures that do not sound logical, we must remember what is said in Isaiah 55:8: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways.” Those who belong to God are no longer limited by mere human nature, but have been given a new nature and new minds by which they can know the ways of God and can be blessed by living in His truth. Because we live in truth that comes from God, others may not understand why we do what we do. The truth is that if we give a little, we will receive a little; and if we give a lot, we will receive a lot; however, our motive in giving should not be simply that we will get more. The heart of these verses is that God Himself is a giver and the new nature that He has given us is also a giving nature. When one breaks what I will call the “the giving bearer”, he is set free from the “get all you can” mindset of the world (and sad but true, sometime the mindset of believers.) When we understand, or when we apply the truth of the above scriptures, the motive for what we do changes and we see life as an opportunity to give and we find fulfilment as we give. Giving is not limited to giving money, but it can include the giving of time, information, material goods, prayer and thanksgiving. Giving is an attitude and at the heart of giving is a desire to bless others. We are to give, not because we are “suppose” to give, but because giving expresses our new nature-who we are- and let it be noted that God loves a cheerful giver. We give out of unlimited resources when we give as the Lord directs because God “underwrites”, or supplies what we are to give as we see in 2 Corinthians 9:10: “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.” In the verses above, God makes an awesome promise to us when He says that we “will have an abundance for every good deed” and that we will have “all sufficiency in everything. In Philippians 4:19 we read: “And My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” God Himself defies logic; God is super-natural; God works miracles; God creates; God gives; God rules the universe, God loves AND He loves a cheerful giver. Yes! God has made His unending supply of resources available to us, and He has invited us to work with Him in dispersing His blessings! Let us not spend our days, not being focused on getting, but rather on sowing the seeds that God has given to us. God has given particular seeds to each of us, so let us be about sowing the seeds that we have been given and reap a bountiful harvest. It is right for us to see ourselves as being good and faithful stewards over everything that God has given us. We may think that we have acquired this or that, but the fact is that we have nothing that has not been given to us. Some may say “by the sweat of my brow, I have what I have,” but is not the ability to work and achieve a gift from God? Is not our mind and intellect a gift? Is not the air we breathe we breathe a gift? In 1 Corinthians 4:7 we read: “…And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” As our understanding of the Lord increases, as we grow in Him, we will find that being a good steward and being a giver is natural because that is what our new nature is like.
John 3:27: “John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven.”
Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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