RULE #1
DON’T EVER GIVE TO GOD WHAT YOU DON’T NEED –
RULE #2
GIVE OUT OF WHAT YOU HAVE, AND NOT OUT OF WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE
Folks who give out of what they don’t have are people-motivated, not God-motivated. They’re out to show off because of human appraisers – they love the praise of people more than that of God.
When it comes to God’s rules of giving, He doesn’t expect a person to give out of what they don’t have. Any attempt to do so will be an assassination of this rule. You can’t give what you don’t have – anyone who asks you to give what you don’t have is asking you to do something unscriptural, and anytime you do scriptural things, you’ll be exposed to demonic forces, spirits, and controls or dominance.
To back up their deception, some persons will quote the case of the widow in 2 Kings who was asked by Eli to burrow vessels from her neighbours. Remember, the purpose wasn’t to give to God or the prophet
Acts 4 leaves us with a beautiful example of a people who gave out of what they had, and not what they didn’t have. The problem with Ananias and his wife wasn’t just that they lied – but they created an impression that they gave out of what they didn’t have –
2 Corinthians 8:11 TLB
Having started the ball rolling so enthusiastically, you should carry this project through to completion just as gladly, giving whatever you can out of whatever you have. Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equalled by your realistic action now.
When you understand that you don’t have to give out of what you don’t have, it’ll be easy to recognise the deception in compelling you to burrow and give. The whole idea of burrowing in the Bible is built on the fact that whatever a person burrowed was for personal use or purpose – see Israel just before they left Egypt – see the widow whose husband had died and left her and their two sons heavily indebted. She was asked to borrow vessels from her neighbours for a personal business. You shouldn’t burrow to give to God, because God will never ask you to give Him what He hasn’t given you.
Whenever God needs something from you, He’ll ask you to give Him out of what you have (what He has given you), and not out of what you don’t have.
Verse 12
12 If you are eager to give, then it isn’t important how much you have to give. God wants you to give what you have, not what you haven’t.
Stop trying to give God what you don’t have, it’s not faith, it’s ignorance – someone is lying to you.
See the case of the Zeraphite woman – Elijah asked her to feed him out of what she had, which she complained about because it wasn’t even enough for her and her son.
When Jacob wanted to make a vow to pay his tithes to God, he promised God it was going to be out of EVERYTHING God would give him.
See the instance when Jesus fed 4000 and 5000 people who had gathered to listen to Him. By the disciples’ observation, all the money they had couldn’t afford food that would be enough for everyone. The reason for their worry was that they couldn’t imagine the possibility of buying goods out of what they had. However, Jesus saw differently – He didn’t go for the option of buying food outside what they had. That was what prompted Him to ask them, ‘What do you have?’ God will always ask you to give Him what you have, and not what you don’t have.
Do you still remember what He asked Moses? ‘What’s that in your hand?’
RULE #3
GROW TO THE POINT OF BECOMING A LEADER IN THE SPIRIT OF CHEERFUL GIVING – Luke 6:38 (TLB)
This rule, like the first one, emphasises the need to cultivate the right spiritual attitude to make our giving acceptable to God.
Giving will never be acceptable in God’s sight, let alone rewarded unless it’s done in the spirit of cheerfulness. This speaks of a specific “giving” ATTITUDE that we must put on if God will ever accept our giving, and then turn it to a channel of blessing – see Acts it’s more blessed to give…the speaker is quoting the words of Jesus regarding the blessedness that goes with giving. So, you can’t separate blessings from giving and vice versa.
It’s important to state that GIVING can become a channel through which God decides to reach out to a person, but that doesn’t suppose that our primary reason for giving should be tied to our desire for a blessing in return. The life of Cornelius leaves us with a good example in this area – First, he was consistent in his giving. Second, he wasn’t driven by a craving or desire to be blessed through giving – he just practised it as a lifestyle. He kept at it until God reached out to him.
Primarily, we should give because we have been blessed and not because we want or need a blessing. There are times when our giving would be needed to trigger a particular blessing, but in such a scenario God will have to ask for a specific item from us. That was the case with Abraham – Since we don’t know what God’s up to when it comes to blessing His people, our best line of action is to simply teach people the basics of giving, and then allow God to guide them in its practice.
2 Corinthians 8:7 TLB
You people there are leaders in so many ways—you have so much faith, so many good preachers, so much learning, so much enthusiasm, so much love for us. Now I want you to be leaders also in the spirit of cheerful giving.
WHY?
Cheerful giving proves something: that your love is real; and by real love, it means your love goes beyond mere words.
Verse 8:
I am not giving you an order; I am not saying you must do it, but others are eager for it. This is one way to prove that your love is real, that it goes beyond mere words.
I trust the Holy Spirit has used this post to bless you. Please, take out time to share your testimony with me to God’s glory by sending me a direct email at pastorprosper866@gmail.com You can also reach out on WhatsApp at +2348054398861 for Spirit-inspired and filled thoughts for your personal spiritual growth and development into Christlikeness.
You’re graciously and exceptionally blessed – empowered for a lifetime of unusual EXPANSION…
Pastor Prosper Anang Blog 