GIVING LIVING Text: Luke 6:38 Key Word: Giving Key Thought: There Are Principles for Giving and Receiving in the Word of God During this Christmas season we hear a lot about giving to others. But have we ever really understood the principle as given in Scripture about "Giving Living." Many during Christmas have their minds set on receiving. Giving is often just a stepping stone to get from someone else. Christmas offers the greatest story of giving that I know. Yet I feel that most of us have missed the understanding of its importance in our daily lives. There are many people who are genuinely saved, read their Bible, pray every day, regularly attend services; love to praise and worship, enjoy the preaching and fellowship; who are soul winners, but as they leave they feel the root solutions to their problems have not been met. That is because a church service is not intended to meet all of our needs. It is the wrong focus to have. Jesus gave and forgave in order that we can give and forgive (Mark 10:45). The bast place to start is in our mindset.. As Christians we are to have a heavenly advantage while on earth. How do we bring the miracle power of God to the children of God in a sensible, Biblical, non-theatrical, sensational way? I become concerned about the 3-Ring Circus approach to ministry or the social emphasis at the expense of solid Biblical Theology. "Paul is still appealing and appeal is still appalling." I've wanted to see the miraculous - something man could not do. I believe that I am preaching today in this church because of what God has taught me. One day I read a portion of Scripture that changed my life. It is not amazing that we read the Bible; it's amazing that we believe it as the Holy Spirit intended it to be understood. We say we believe all of the Bible but do we? " I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14. You may ask anything in my name, and I will do it." Page 1 of 8
John 14:12-14 "Give and it will be given unto you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38 If we really believed this verse, we would give more. Most of us really want this verse to say... ``Give and all kinds of gifts and money will be given back unto you." I don t believe God intended that verse to be understood in this way. In fact, the context of the verse is all about judgement, condemnation and unforgiveness. In whatever way we judge others, condemn others or choose not to forgive others, the same will be done to us. Perhaps it s time to rethink about our attitude toward others. If we want to not be condemned, judged and would like to be forgiven then it is our responsibility to begin that same action toward others. We need to learn to live God's Word. God's principles must be applied. What Are Some Valuable Principles on Giving and Receiving of God`s Word I. GOD IS OUR SOURCE I. GOD IS OUR SOURCE II. YOU MUST PLANT TO GROW/GIVE TO GET III. EXPECT A MIRACLE God made everything. He own's everything. He giveth and giveth and giveth again! We must come to grips with this truth in our daily life. It is not important how many industries find their way into Cornwall. What happens to our economy has nothing to do with God as our source. Heaven is not affected by hell - or the New World Order - or world leaders - or world poverty - or world overpopulation. We must get away from our horizontal mind set. God abides in the vertical plane. Don't focus on him, her or they to meet your needs. In fact the greatest needs we have are not financial - they are relational. And the greatest need we have will often not be met by others. In fact they may take from us. That is why we need to turn to One greater than ourselves to meet this ongoing need. GOD IS OUR SOURCE! Page 2 of 8
I. GOD IS OUR SOURCE (Contd.) *** I heard of a preacher who once bought a top of the line home stereo system. He brought it home and enjoyed the quality of sound. It was fantastic. One day it made a weird sound and dribbled out a little noise. It was brought to the repair shop. After working on it for a short time he felt he found the problem. It was brought back home and set up. After a short time it had another failure. It was taken back and forth and back and forth for a period of time. Finally, the preacher brought it back and demanded that his stereo be repaired properly. He was sick and tired of fighting a battle that he couldn't win. The warranty period passed. The preacher said I want every screw, knob and circuit checked out. He didn't want it repaired; he wanted it fixed. In a couple of weeks he received a call, "Rev, we've got the problem. You've got a lot of bad integrated circuits in this stereo." The average person doesn't realize how serious this integration problem is. The repairman was told to fix it. It was brought home and was fantastic. One night the preacher came home from ministering and put on the earphones allowing all the tension to disappear. The lights were turned down as he stretched out on the sofa. You Guessed it! Conk He got up from the sofa and turned off the stereo and began to leave the room when he almost tore his ears off. He took off the earphones and got into bed with authority. His wife asked what was wrong. He said, "That stereo is the most upsetting, unnerving, disappointing, vexing thing I've ever fooled with. I've put time and money into it and the thing just conked out worse than ever." She said, "Hold on! Its 2 Am. I can't fix it, you can't fix it, the children can't fix it, the dog can't fix it. What do you expect me to do?" He replied, "Among other things, I expect you to be quiet and let me finish this speech." He launched into an entire crusade on consumer products and then fell into a fitful sleep. The next morning he got up, turned the stereo around and found that it was made in Massachusetts. He called up and got a lady on the phone who asked if she could help. The preacher said, "Yes ma am. I like to speak to Mr. Scott." (Contd.) Page 3 of 8
I. GOD IS OUR SOURCE (Contd.) *** She answered that there isn't a Mr. Scott it was just a name they used. "I don't know who his name is but I can tell you who I want. I want the big shot of all the big shots. And then I want the big shot that works over the big shot. I want the man with the # one parking place; biggest office and the most secretaries. She asked, "Are you having trouble with your stereo?" "Yes ma am, You guessed it!" he replied She said, "What you want is the customer service engineering department." "Oh No" he responded. "I want the # one of the # one's, the big cheese of the big cheeses." "I'll put you through," she said This head cheese was told everything about what had happened. The boss replied, "SON, you just put that thing in a box and mail it to me." The preacher said, "I don't have a box" He sent the preacher a box. It was mailed and about 3 weeks later a brand new stereo arrived along with a letter from the president of the company apologizing for the problem. The new stereo was put through every test and it was the most perfect product that they could ever produce. There was no extra-added expense. "If you have trouble, you call me at this number" said the president. In 8 years there never was another problem. That preacher learned a very important lesson that day. Don't go to every expert repairman. Go to the factory and talk to the head huncho. Go to the one who can truly correct the problem. Go to the main source. *** This pastor s problem was not a defective stereo. He had an attitude problem. He should have been asking how he could change and come more into line with the purposes of God through this problem. He missed the mark by a country mile. He was judgmental, condemning, and unforgiving. He got his stereo problem solved by ended up having his main problem unsolved. He was about to get a lap full of judgment, condemnation and unforgiveness somewhere down the line because that is what he had sown. Page 4 of 8
II. YOU MUST PLANT TO GROW/GIVE TO GET "Give and it shall be given unto you." Luke 6:38 I am one who loves plants but I must say I am a little impatient with their growth. I want them to flower yesterday, and stay in bloom for the whole summer with dazzling colours. I want them to survive bad weather, curious cats and dogs, the blight, chlorinated water or anything else that could hinder them from growing. Without spiritual planting we will never learn how to reap the benefits of God's blessing. We need to be careful though about not expecting to get from those we give to. This would make THEM our Source. We don't want answers to prayer from high-level begging. We must learn to give and forgive and count on God to determine the results. People cannot reap if they don't sow. On the cob of corn there are a lot of little corn stalks ready to grow. It s not called kernel on the cobs but cob on the corn. If we just take one kernel off and plant it in the ground, we can grow up to 18 ears of corn. Take a cob of corn and count the number of kernels. You'll end up with at least 750 kernels of corn. That is an incredible multiplying factor. It comes about simply because it is planted in fertile soil and watered. That's corn - dumb corn. Corn can't think - can't sing - can't preach - can't get saved - can't do nothing. It s just corn. If God will do that for corn what do you think God will do for you. Jesus didn't die for corn. He didn't come that corn may grow. He came that we might have life and have that life more abundantly. He came that we may plant in order to grow. We've got to plant what we want. If we are lonesome, we need to plant friendship. If you re not popular, find someone who isn't popular and make them popular and you'll become more popular. Give to the need and break the cycle of relationship greed. Perhaps you need to change the level of friendship you ve had with someone. Get rid of the weeds that are choking the relationship. Respect will bring respect. Honour produces honour. Forgiveness producess forgiveness. Page 5 of 8
III. EXPECT A MIRACLE We must believe that God still performs miracles. It is very important that we do not tell others what we've planted. If we tell others, we've already got our reward. Don't give for credit. God has a wagon load for those who don't need credit. We must go passed the seed stage to the harvest stage. God is able to work in both the obvious and actual. "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap." Luke 6:38 This goes beyond spiritual blessings. Those in the Middle East still wear long flowing robes to carry things in. With God we've got to learn to wear our robes big and our belts low. Almost 2,000 years ago God the Father planted His Son into the hearts of those who would receive Him. He has gained a harvest of fellowship from it more than we could ever comprehend. He demonstrated the truth of GIVING LIVING. We need to give all we can of ourselves to Christ so He can give all He can of Himself to us. Since there is so much more of Him than there is of you - it is a fantastic deal. It is a wonderful feeling when you finally get what you've been looking for. When you die you live - when you give up you get in - when you surrender you win. "No man is a fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that he cannot loose." *** In the prairies the land is dotted with grain elevators. Many are the result of provincial pools. Farmers pool all their resources of grain into these elevators. When it s harvest time the train cars are constantly pulling up under these elevators to load the grain for shipping. Young children often try to collect some of the grain that blows on the ground nearby. They think they've hit a gold mine. But if they only understood that there is a cord that would release all the grain they could handle I'm sure they'd be surprised. *** God has a much greater resource than any grain elevator. Perhaps we need to apply the Word of God for our lives. Stop doubting what God can and is willing to do. Page 6 of 8
III. EXPECT A MIRACLE (Contd.) "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of a sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8. he is double-minded, unstable in all he does." James 5:6-8 "Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see 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." Malachi 3:10 The context of this verse is telling us that if we give God our best he will in turn pour out a blessing upon us that will be overwhelming. We often want the blessing without doing anything. Our place of greatest need is usually our place of greatest greed. Is it time to plant uproot judgement, condemnation and unforgiveness and start planting a good seed/ Is it time to give good things to those you have been angry toward? Perhaps you re not content in your life because of what you are pouring out on others. Give you best to God and you will be amazed at what comes back in return. C:\My Documents\WPWin (11.0)\Sermons.2008\\Luke6_38.wpd Date: Dec 14/08 Place: FCA Time: 10:30 Am Song: All of Me - G Page 7 of 8
GIVING LIVING Text: Luke 6:38 Key Word: Giving Key Thought: There Are Principles for Giving and Receiving in the Word of God INTRODUCTION: John 14:12-14; Luke 6:38 What Are Some Valuable Principles on Giving and Receiving of God`s Word I. GOD IS OUR SOURCE II. YOU MUST PLANT TO GROW/GIVE TO GET - Luke 6:38 III. EXPECT A MIRACLE - Luke 6:38; James 5:6-8; Malachi 3:10