Give Generously

 

Hello, this is Multiply, a podcast to encourage village church planters and leaders. I am Brad Snowden, and I would like us to first look at  2 Corinthians 9:6-7    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 loves a CHEERFUL giver. 

When we give, it is a trust thing that says, Lord, I don’t know how you can use this or how many lives will be changed, but I trust you to multiply the fruits of this in which I give, with anticipation of your work to be done through it.

 God is pleased when we give with a generous heart. We should always want to bring pleasure to God, and we are fulfilling His word in and through our giving to His kingdom. Philippians 4:19: And my God will liberally supply your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

There are times in my life when I would give to something and then, in the moments to come, would say something like, “Lord, you know I gave to that, but now I am the one in need.”

Simply, God was wanting me to expand my heart to trust Him and rejoice in the fact that the moment I gave, I could give. I learned that I could trust Him for the future needs that He could supply when my heart was giving and receiving with the right heart. God’s ways are not our ways, and He may choose to give back to us in ways that far exceed the funds that were given.

God desires cheerful givers, and this can be a challenge at times, and yet God’s heart is blessed because it’s not really a human’s response when giving, but it is a spiritual action that God delights in. If we long to please the Lord, it will be easier to have a generous heart of giving.

Malachi 3:10: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there may be food in My House… 

Leviticus 23:9-14: God spoke to Moses about a first fruits offering to be given before the harvest was collected; thus, His blessing would be upon the harvest.

So if we dedicate our first tithe and offering, God has the opportunity to use what is left to multiply His faithfulness to His word. He can prove to us that He is our supply, and we are the vessels to allow Him to work.  

I love the story of when Jesus fed the multitudes, and they only had so little to do so much, and yet as He blessed the fish and the bread, it miraculously multiplied with excess. We can see this happen when we are so in love with Christ that we allow him to work in us and through us for His kingdom work. This has been a word of encouragement for village church planters. Who will you share this podcast with today? Lord bless you!