Productive Giving

Give and it shall be given unto you pressed down, shaken together and running over...

Jesus

Over my years of service, I have had the responsibility of raising money for the good of the Kingdom of God, and I discovered one VERY important truth that Jesus himself proclaims in Luke 6:38.  Give and it shall be given to you. Please see above.  The purpose of the giving in not to enrich myself.  The purpose of giving is to sow some seeds into what I believe God is doing so God can grow it.  From Old to New Testament, God calls it the law of sowing and reaping.

The Apostle Paul talks about this when he says something to this effect:  Don't be deceived.  God cannot be taken advantage of.  For you will reap what you sow.  If you sow to the spirit you will reap that which is spiritual.  If you sow to the flesh that is the kind of corrupted harvest you will have as well.

Nature demonstrates this principle:  Plant apple seeds, and you will get apples.  Plant orange seeds, and you will get oranges.  Plant tomato seeds, and you will get tomatoes. Plant no seeds, and you get weeds.   And the list goes on.  Whatever seed you commit to the ground, once the seed dies, a resurrection occurs of new life.  The small plant grows until the seed becomes the "fruit" it is intended to be.  Farmers know this, and once they have cultivated the ground, they simply put the right kind of seeds in the ground.  Then after covering them up, they describe sections of their field by the fruit that will be born even though no one can see a plant at the earliest stages.  And they can make the faith statements about their crops because they have sown the seed. They say "Over there are my peas, squash, okra, melons or cucumbers, etc." Yet no plants have grown yet. They make their faith statements because they have cooperated with God's law of sowing and reaping.

Now here is the important truth I mentioned earlier:  If I expect others to give to me for whatever I am seeking to accomplish, I have to be the first to invest in what God was guiding me to do or be. In my entire life, I cannot ever recall a time when I was not successful in these ventures.  I remember all projects or ministries being funded because I took Jesus, Paul and the Bible seriously that I must first sow if I expect to reap. I saw this work in other areas of life besides the financial area.

Can you imagine a farmer going to all the trouble of cultivating a field and getting it ready for the coming season by doing everything necessary? Can you also imagine  this same  farmer would not sow the appropriate seeds or any seeds at all? You would say that would be insane to do such a thing.  I submit to you that this principle of thinking "I can receive successfully without self investment in the project in which God leads me" is equally insane. In my years of ministry,  I followed Pastors whose churches were suffering economically; however, within weeks of our arrival, this same church was "in the black."  I wasn't wealthy.  I couldn't pay all the bills.  But I believe in setting the example for tithing and challenging the congregation to follow me. When congregational members tithed, the church reaped the harvest of full funding of ministry. Invariably the church became sound financially;.

Additionally, a Spiritual Leadeer who does not personally witness (yes using words) most likely will not be a person who will win people to a saving faith in Jesus.  The seed of witness is necessary for the fruit of salvation. In my personal denomination, hundreds of churches are not bringing one soul into the kingdom of God.  What is going on?  I think it has to do with the outreach of each of these churches. The seeds not sown in the Kingdom of God to reach people for Christ reap a harvest of no one coming to Christ.  Such churches may be transferring "sheep" from one church to the other, but the Kingdom of God is NOT growing just being remodeled.

Sure I know that doing good deeds reflects Christ love; however, I am also aware that few of us are so wonderfully spiritual that a whole lot of people will knock down the Church doors to come in to get what we have. The seed of witnessing for Jesus and offering people, intentionally, a way to make a decision for Christ (in cooperation with the Holy Spirit) is key to inviting people to know Jesus. Again, we reap "a harvest of souls" for God's Kingdom when we sow seeds of witnessing to the world about the gospel of Jesus.... by deeds yes!!!  But it must also involves our words.  

So I ask you all who read this blog what kind of harvest are you getting for your life?  What are you hoping to accomplish today or any day that God gives you life? What kind of "fruit" is your life bearing? This principle of first sowing a seed before expecting a harvest applies to every profession.  This law of sowing and reaping applies to every job... not just churches and farmers.  Whatever is being produced as a result of each of our lives is God's indicator of what kind of seeds we are sowing in God's Kingdom.

If we want to have something happen, we must first commit to give so that God can accomplish His miracle of harvest. My prayer is that we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. My prayer is we give up daily our lives to Jesus to lead us in the path of righteousness for his name sake.  My prayer is that we armor up, clothe ourselves in Jesus as we put on the "Armor of God" first thing everyday. My prayer is that we sow the ultimate seed of faith and daily offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God as a genuine act of surrender or spiritual worship.  My prayer is that, in so doing, we will not be conformed to the world but that we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds. My prayer is that we will then know God's will, follow God's will, apply God's will and see that what grows out of this is "good, pleasing and perfect."

Be fruitful in all you do.  Give so that it will be given to you press down shaken together and running over.

Then Be Blessed 2day

Especially Today

SoJourner