Now, Let’s Explore The Ministry Of Giving

Hello everyone!
Welcome to our very own virtual space of dividing the word of truth!
You can tell that this is one of my favorite sections of the blog yeah?
Nothing beats feeding our souls 🙂

 
So, a re occurring lesson God has been teaching me since the beginning of the year has been on giving.
Aha, don’t run away now, this is going to be an eye openner.
Some of us just don’t understand what happens when we give(myself included).
The treasures that can be found in giving are immense.
So today we will explore the ministry of giving.(another thing that we may not know, yes, it’s a ministry!)

 

 

Now, I am going to talk about this from the way God personally dealt with me.
So here’s the first thing we should know about giving…
God doesn’t really want the stuff we give out, He has it all remember, what you give out He actually gave it to you.

 
1Corinthians 4:7
“…What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?”

 

What He cares about is your heart.

 
Last year, there was almost no service where I didn’t feel a tug in my heart to empty my purse.
Like just pour it all out.
A particular sunday, I had about 100 and something naira in my account(allowee hadn’t been paid yet) and I had planned to use the little money in my purse for the week, when I felt led to give it all.
I started to cry.
I said Lord, you know what I have, why should I give this out again?
I said I will obey but let me cry a little and argue first(things we do with God,lol)
As I was crying, He just started talking to me like the baby that I am, you think I need the cash? I own it all remember? What I am after is your heart.
Is your heart free enough to give out to me?
If I say drop it all will you?
That’s my main aim.

 
So before we continue let’s get that out of the way, the first thing about giving is that it shows that you have a heart that is yielded to God.
A stubborn person, one who argues and resists God’s leading cannot give.

 

Now, we can move unto other reasons why giving is important in the kingdom that we belong to.

 
On saturday, I woke up from a dream where I was explaining Proverbs 11:24 to someone.
After praying, I checked my mail and saw Eziaha’s post.
It was eerie and scary but almost a re-enaction of what God is showing me about giving.
She mentioned Proverbs 11:24 too in her post and I will bring it out here and explain.

 
Proverbs 11:24 – ” There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.”

 

 

Now, let’s look at that verse critically.
In the World, people get by withholding whatever they have and in that way they feel like their wealth increases, in the kingdom of God, the reverse is the case.
You don’t get by withholding, you get by giving out.

 
In my dream, I was explaining to the girl.(I have never seen that verse in this way before)
When you scatter according to that verse, you throw the seeds all around.
Now, when the seeds start germinating, they germinate and grow all around.
So, you throw your seeds to the left and they grow.
You throw to the right and they grow.
That’s what giving does.
As you give and sow into the kingdom, into the lives of others, into different places…you are scattering the seeds and the seeds germinate and grow.
The more you scatter the seeds, the more you grow.

 
We must know though, that the measure of how much you give out is how much you get.
Scatter a little and you get a little.
Scatter much and you get much.

 
As I re-read this, another lesson on giving just came to me.
You know that seeds take time to germinate.
Some of us give and expect God to just return it immediately.
But a bountiful harvest takes time doesn’t it?
So also does seeds given take time to grow.
So scatter the seeds and let God do what He will in His own time and way.
Don’t get discouraged and say I won’t give anymore.
Check your motives when you give.
Give out of love for God and let Him do what He will in His own time. (this is just an aside, I can’t go into it deeply, it just came to me now as I edited this post)

 

 

Other important things about giving can be found in the book of 2Corinthians 9(I did this study with the Amplified and NLT version)

 
Paul took his time to explain this really well and let’s look at it too.

 
He started by saying In 2Corinthians 9:1 – “I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem.”

 
Pause there…
So, giving is actually so important, it’s a ministry.
How?

 
Let’s see Romans 12:6-8
“In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.
So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you…. IF IT IS GIVING, GIVE GENEROUSLY…”

 

 

Now, some may say that their gift isn’t to give… Well, I will say that God loved and He gave… He gave Jesus for us.(John 3:16)
We are God’s representatives on earth and if you have God in you, your default mode is to love and give.
The same love from God is now shed abroad in our hearts.

 
Romans 5:5 – “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

 

And love includes giving…So there, the giving ministry is for all believers.
Don’t let the stinginess spirit make us give excuses.
So let’s move on…

 

 

Paul says in 2Corinthians 9:7
“Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving].”

 

 

Now, God wants us to give but He wants us to give freely, not to give under compulsion.
If you want to give, give with smiles from your heart and wipe off the frowns from your face.

 

 

Now, we will go back to the issue of giving a few seeds.

 
Paul said it again in 2Corinthians 9:6
“Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.”

 

So based on that, decide what you want to give in your mind.(verse 7)
It’s like saying, you can give anything you want but remember that you sow little, you reap little, you sow much and you reap much(a caveat on giving.)
What you get is directly proportional to what you give out.

 

Now, some of us keep praying to God to bless us but God is still taking His time with that.
Why?
The first reason why God blesses us is for us to give out.
I learnt this lesson when I won diamond bank 100k last year (see post here)

 
God won’t bless you with something that you can’t give to Him, so as you pray for the millions, ask yourself first, if God asks me to drop it all into His kingdom, can I do it?
If your answer is no, then that 1million from God may keep hanging.
Or God may still bless you with it to see if you can indeed release it to Him if need be.

 
Now let’s examine that statement in the light of verses 9&10(pls whip out your Bibles ohhh)
Nowhere does it mention that God will bless them without including providing a harvest of generosity in you.

 
2Corinthians 9:11
“Thus you will be enriched in all things and in every way, so that you can be generous, and [your generosity as it is] administered by us will bring forth thanksgiving to God.”

 

 

So when you can’t be generous, will you be enriched?
We have to understand this.
Some of us keep crying to God to take us to the next level, the level where we are now, do we give out what we have?
Tithes and offerings?
Gifts to friends? To the poor?

 
As I was going to church on sunday, this kept ringing in my head
“Every time some one says I don’t have enough, it is an opportunity for you to show God’s love to them through giving.”

 
Even if the person wants to borrow from us, you are still giving out to them while they are in need.
Don’t charge them on interest, give freely.

 

 

Let’s recap on all we’ve done a bit.
(1) Giving changes us/our hearts.
(2) The key to abundance is to give.
The key to getting more bread is generosity in us which is exactly God’s will and intention and meets the needs of others.

 

 

Finally, here’s a most important part of this ministry.
The Bible says that everything on earth has been created to bring glory to God.

 
Now here’s what 2cor 9:12&13 says
“So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ.”

 

So can you imagine that?
Your sowing a seed, giving to someone who is in need, glorifies God immensely.
The person will thank God for your obedience to Christ and will pray for you with deep affection and such prayers work..oh they work.
2cor 9:14 is proof that they work.

 
Paul says, “Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!”(2Corinthians 9:15)

 

 

The effects of giving are too wonderful to describe.
It’s a kingdom IQ, the world cannot understand it.
The world thinks that we get by hoarding and hoarding… but if God hoarded Jesus, where would we be today?

 
He gave Jesus, and because of that, we have all been grafted into God’s tree and we are all recipients of Abraham’s blessings…seen by God as holy, righteous, washed and cleansed.
It’s the same way that our giving brings gifts that words can’t explain.

 
This is a lesson that is being ingrained in me this year.(Started from last year but I never saw 2corinthians 9 in this way till this year)
If God says give, give.
Don’t struggle with it.
Don’t ask to make sure, satan doesn’t have enough sense to tell you to give, it’s a kingdom IQ.
We may sulk, we may cry, we may argue but please give.
The results and rewards are too numerous for words to describe.
It’s an unquantifiable gift/ministry!

 

Prayer- Lord thank you for the gift of giving that is too wonderful for words to describe.

Please produce a harvest of generosity in our hearts and enrich us in every way so that we may always have to share with others in all generosity of mind and soul.

Thank you Lord for prayers answered, in Jesus name we have prayed. Amen.

 

As usual, it’s a Bible study.
I know I missed a point/lesson from the Bible passages we have talked about. I truly still feel like I have more to learn from this study.
So let me learn from you. What struck you as you studied along?
This is an area I believe God is teaching us(me) about so please talk to us in the comment section below, let us learn from you too.

 

 

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Love,
Frances.