Life Works When You Work with the Law www.advancingthekingdomonline.org Part 5: The Law of Receiving I. Introduction. A. The power of law. 1. Law = the body of rules and principles which govern the natural universe and the affairs of man. A statement that describes invariable relationships among phenomena under a specified set of conditions. That which governs or has a tendency to rule; that which has the power of controlling. We must always bear in mind that the Law is set in motion by the Word. (The Law and the Word, Thomas Troward) 2. Man is a three part being: 1 Thessalonians 5:23... I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (KJV) 3. Man s soul is comprised of the mind, will and emotions. 4. The key to man s health and prosperity lies in his soul. 3 John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. (KJV) 5. The Law holds the power to restore the soul to its original condition! Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect ( = without blemish), converting ( = to move back to the point of departure... i.e., to that which existed in the Garden of Eden, before the Fall) the soul; (NKJV) 6. The New Testament says it this way: James 1:21... receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save ( = heal, deliver, protect, and preserve) your souls. (KJV) 7. In order to make Christianity practical, we must understand Christianity and obey the law on which it is founded. The teaching of Christ shows the way back from wrong 1
results of selfish living to the love, intelligence and power of God. By a man s words, deeds and actions, he reveals whether he has as yet found the way. (Working with the Law, Raymond Holliwell) I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. (Mahatma Gandhi) B. The power of thinking. The ancestor of every action is a thought. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) 1. Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. (NKJV) 2. Man's greatness lies in his power of thought. (Blaise Pascal) Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (NKJV) The universe... is filled with a form of universal power which ADAPTS itself to the nature of the thoughts we hold in our minds and INFLUENCES us, in natural ways, to transmute our thoughts into their physical equivalent... This power makes no attempt to discriminate between destructive thoughts and constructive thoughts. It will urge us to translate into physical reality thoughts of poverty just as quickly as it will influence us to act upon thoughts of riches. Our brains become magnetized with the dominating thoughts we hold in our minds and that by means which no one fully understands, these dominating thoughts, like magnets, attract to us the forces, the people, the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts. (Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill) 3. I don t see how you can change your life without changing your thinking first. (Joel Osteen) 4. One comes to believe whatever one repeats to oneself sufficiently often, whether the statement be true or false... If you see yourself as prosperous, you will be. If you see yourself as continually hard up, that is exactly what you will be... Our subconscious minds have no sense of humor, play no jokes and cannot tell the difference between reality and an imagined thought or image... Any thought that is passed on to the subconscious often enough and convincingly enough is finally accepted. (Robert Collier) 5. I ve read a lot of books on earning money, on earning a lot of money and hardly any of them even talk about money... It s not about the money. It s all about the mind. It s all about the spiritual side of our personality. We re spiritual beings having a physical experience. And when we start to understand that, I think it becomes easier to work with the Law. (Bob Proctor) 2
6. If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance. (Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill) 7. The mind in itself and in its own place can make a hell out of heaven or a heaven out of hell. (John Milton) 1 Peter 1:13 Be alert and think straight... (CEV) C. The power of habits. In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which preceedeth all others is I will form good habits and become their slave. As a child I was slave to my impulses; now I am slave to my habits, as are all grown men. I have surrendered my free will to the years of accumulated habits and the past deeds of my life have already marked out a path which threatens to imprison my future. My actions are ruled by appetite, passion, prejudice, greed, love, fear, environment, habit, and the worst of these tyrants is habit. Therefore, if I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed. I will form good habits and become their slave. (The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino) The key is to do good things over and over and over again until they become habits. Then our non-conscious thoughts, resident in the sub-conscious mind, will bring about the positive, beneficial results we are seeking in every area of our lives. II. The Law of Receiving. A. The Law of Receiving is activated by giving. 1. Luke 6:38 If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving large or small it will be used to measure what is given back to you. (NLT) 2. Most people just laugh when they hear that the secret to success is giving... Then again, most people are nowhere near as successful as they wish they were. (The Go-Giver, Bob Burg and John David Mann) The unexpected benefits of giving. (Video clip) 3
3. Giving primes the pump for receiving, and opens the door of abundance. Proverbs 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. (KJV) 4. Giving sends a powerful message. Giving is a powerful action to bring more money into your life, because when you are giving you are saying, I have plenty... If you are thinking, I don t have enough money to give, bingo! Now you know why you don t have enough money! When you think you don t have enough to give, start giving. As you demonstrate faith in giving, the law of attraction must give you more to give. (The Secret) 5. Hoard nothing... Do not be afraid of poverty. Let money flow freely. I will let it flow in, but you must let it flow out. I never send money to stagnate only to those who pass it on. (God Calling, January 5) Proverbs 11:24-25 There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself. (NKJV) 6. People are takers by nature, but God asks you to be a giver. One of the greatest principles in the Kingdom is learning to give. We give our lives to God, our service to others, our talents to His plans and purposes... and, our money to the work of the Kingdom. (Bishop T.D. Jakes) 7. Give abundantly. Feel that you are rich. Have no mean thought in your heart. Of Love, of thought, of all you have, give, give, give. You are followers of the World s Greatest Giver. Give of time, of personal ease and comfort, of rest, of fame, of healing, of power, of sympathy, of all these and many more. Learn this lesson, and you will become a great power to help others and to do mighty things. (God Calling, August 30) Story: Mr. Roth B. Giving always precedes receiving. Once we have expressed our needs through prayer or otherwise, some believe that is all we must do. On the contrary, we are working with a law that is definite and active, and this is only the beginning of our work. 4
The principle of life upon which this Law is based is clearly written. It reads, Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. Giving always precedes and predetermines the reception, whether you are giving your thought, your word, your service, or your deed. (Working with the Law, Raymond Holliwell) C. Give cheerfully! 2 Corinthians 9:7-8 You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. (NLT) Notice in this verse that God places more emphasis on how we give than on what we give. Giving with a cheerful heart provides evidence that we really do trust God and believe that by following His ways (a.k.a. laws ) we will indeed receive everything we need with such abundance that there will be plenty left over to share with others. Whatever you give, give it with a free and willing spirit. Give it out with no obligations or dictations attached, then it will come back to you unburdened with obligations or restrictions of any form. (Working with the Law, Raymond Holliwell). D. Give a lot! 2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. (NKJV) He who gives much receives much. To give your best is to receive the best in ratio to the degree of your giving. The reason why so many people receive little is because they give out so little. They are poverty-stricken because they refuse to give. Whatever the nature of your possessions, give and give abundantly. You are to give of your life, interest, energy thought, ability, love, appreciation, and helpfulness. In giving of your life, thought and love, in doing gladly and well whatever you may be called upon to do, you express your best, and the more you give the more you receive. (Working with the Law, Raymond Holliwell) A man there was, and they called him mad; the more he gave, the more he had. (John Bunyan) E. The hidden power of tithing. Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see 5
if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (NIV) 1. Many have found tithing a successful form of giving, but the questioning mind wonders. Why would tithing be more potent than any other form of giving? It is more potent because you touch the Law of Giving and Receiving in a definite, orderly, or systematic way of giving. You establish a methodical plan of giving which creates a steady flow of reciprocal good to be received. When one s method of giving is sporadic or occasional, one s reception of good is irregular and uncertain. (Working with the Law, Raymond Holliwell) 2. The real tither would say they re not taking a chance because they re living by law. (Bob Proctor) 3. A case could be made that everyone ultimately tithes. Some by choice, others by circumstance. Haggai 1:5-11 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes. Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the LORD. You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the LORD of hosts. Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands. (NKJV) F. John D. Rockefeller. When John D. Rockefeller was a poor boy he was able to apply the Law early in his life. When he earned his first money, he kept a record of his givings and his receivings, and he kept a ledger all through life. It is known that he gave away more than one-half billion dollars. Possibly we can judge why he received so much to give. (Working with the Law, Raymond Holliwell) I would never have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week. (John D. Rockefeller, Sr.) 6
G. The secret to the Law of Receiving.... the individual who makes full use of what he has shall be blessed with more and more, for In what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto thee again. That is the path of increase. That is the secret of the Law of Receiving... Whatever you desire in the way of health, success, happiness, riches, or power, start toward it, start it on its way by this procedure. The Law works. (Working with the Law, Raymond Holliwell) III. The Problem. A. Focusing on getting first. In a state of limited understanding, we reason that we must get before we can give... Giving, which is the first or fundamental law of life, is the first law of all creation. The attitude of getting is the law of life in a congested state, or in repressed action. As long as getting dominates a mind, that mind is in a paralyzed condition... The Law says, It is more blessed to give than to receive and as you freely give, you freely receive. Unless we are free to extend or give out our desire, our good, the Law will not have any pattern to work with. It cannot proceed to supply any need without a pattern. Many try to work the Law backwards, and for that reason get little or no results. They say to themselves, Well, after I get, then I will give. (Working with the Law, Raymond Holliwell) B. Placing your desires above God s Law. My desire for financial security discourages me from giving. Each dollar I give away is no longer available for my protection. But my sense of freedom always increases when I give because giving is a declaration that my security rests someplace other than the bank. Giving is an act of confidence in God. (When the Game is Over, It all Goes Back in the Box, John Ortberg) C. Hidden blockages. When supply seems to have failed you must know it has not done so. But you must, at the same time, look around to see what you can give away. Give away something. There is always a stagnation, a blockage, when supply seems short. Your giving clears that away, and lets the Spirit of My Supply flow clear. (God Calling, September 8) D. Holding on to your seed. You must be continually giving and getting. You cannot hold onto your seed. You must sow it and reap anew. You cannot hold onto riches. You must use them and get other riches in return. (Robert Collier) 7
IV. The Solution. A. Give! To get he had tried, yet his store was still meager. To a wise man he cried, in a voice keen and eager; Pray tell me how I may successfully live? And the wise man replied, To get you must give. B. Prepare to receive! As to giving he said, What have I to give? I ve scarce enough bread, and of course one must live; But I would partake of Life s bountiful store. Came the wise man s response, Then you must give more. The lesson he learned: to get was forgotten, Toward mankind he turned with a love new begotten. As he gave of himself in unselfish living, then joy crowned his days, for he grew rich in giving. (Arthur William Beer) 1. But after we give, that is not all we must do. Our next step is to prepare to receive the response or results of our giving and to receive, as the Law states, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over... Instead of rocking and waiting, we are preparing and working. This, in turn, enlarges our view. It stimulates our interest, it disperses our doubt and fear, and energizes our power of reception. (Working with the Law, Raymond Holliwell) 2. Just feel that you are two of My disciples, present at the feeding of the five thousand, and that to you I hand out the food, and you pass it on, and ever more and more. You can always say with so few loaves and fishes, We have only enough for our own needs. It was not only My Blessing, but the Passing-on of the disciples that worked the miracle. Get a feeling of bounteous giving into your beings. They were all filled. There was a supply over. I give with a large Hand and Heart. Note the draught of fishes. The net brake, the boat began to sink with the lavishness of My Gift. Lose sight of all limitations. Abundance is God s Supply. (God Calling, May 24) (Video clip) C. Believe in what you are doing, and never give up! (Video clip) V. Close. I don t know what you will do in life, but I know this: only those of you who find a way to give of yourselves will be truly happy. (Albert Schweitzer) Copyright 2008 by Bill Fries. All rights reserved. www.advancingthekingdomonline.org 8