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 Page 6  |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | |
Mike Slaughter  |
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2 Corinthians 9:6-8 6: The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7: Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8: And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work. |
 What do
the first five letters of miserable spell? Miser.
Miser-able. You see, joy is not found in wanting to get.
Joy is found in giving, my brothers and sisters. It is
the law of generosity. Now we're going to look at one
passage together. Turn to 2 Corinthians 9 and mark it. I
want you to everyday go to this passage. Second
Corinthians 9. I'm going to start at the sixth verse.
Important life principle. The point is this: "The
one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the
one who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully." Common sense. You get only what you
give. Right? If you invest a little, what are you going
to get? A little. If you give more, what are you going to
get? More.Hey,
I found this out one year when I was a student. I'd never
been into gardening, but three of my neighbors wanted to
have a garden together and we built a garden plot 90 ft
by 120 ft. You can't believe how much stuff came out of
that garden. Everyone else did like 10 ft x 20 ft. You
get what you give! Now look at verse 8. "And God is
able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so
that by always having enough of everything you may share
abundantly in every good work." God is unlimited in
what God has. God will give to you in abundance
accordingly as you share in abundance. Those who share
more will get more. It is the law of generosity. |
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| 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 10: He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your resources and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11: You will be enriched in every way for great generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God; |
 Look at
verse 10 with me: "He who supplies seed to the sower
and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for
sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
You will be enriched in every way for your great
generosity which will produce thanksgiving to God through
us."It
is real hard, in hard times, to let go once you've seen
what's in your hand. This is all I've got, things are
real hard now, what happens if I let go of this seed?
There is no time more important to let go than in tough
times. If you do not put your seed in the ground, what do
you have? Only what is in your hand. This is basic common
sense. There is no time more important, the only way
you're going to receive is to risk your seed to the
ground. Right? To give your seed to God's hand.It's the
law of generosity. Joy doesn't come from getting. Joy
comes from giving.Now
I do not go along with some of these TV preachers who say
to give so you get. You give because the Lord is God.
That is why you give. But in 1976, when Carolyn and I
finally resolved this issue, I'd been a Christian since
1969 and I still hadn't resolved this issue of tithing.
Tithing is to give. The Bible teaches that we need to
begin by giving 10% of our seed, right off the top to
God. Right off the top - he gets the first and best.
Because everything I have, God provides abundantly, and
God will trust me with more if I am willing to use God's
seed for the sake of other people.Carolyn
and I had kind of been saying, "Well, I'm a seminary
student, and times are hard, and I have to pay that
seminary bill this semester, and really, since I'm a
seminary student, isn't that tuition really giving to
God?" My, how we can rationalize. My, how we
rationalize. But, Jesus is Lord. Finally we said,
"No matter what we owe, right off the top, the
number one check is going to be 10% of our gross
income." You know, since May, 1976, Carolyn and I
have never had a financial problem. You cannot outgive
God. You see, it is a matter of trust.Well,
where does joy come from? Joy remembers. Whatever you're
going through, it doesn't focus on the pain. It remembers
what God has done. Remember how God has led you out? Can
you remember tonight? Can you remember where you were
when God found you? Some of you are still there, and I
want to tell you something. God is chasing you down, and
it's not to beat you with a stick, it's to bring you to a
better place. Quit running. Because joy remembers what
God has done. Joy dreams. It expects something to happen.
Because joy knows that it's God who gives all things, joy
gives. It lives out of the give not the get. |
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