MYSTERIES TO KNOW ABOUT GIVING

Giving is the act of making something or solution available for a need. Your money, time, property or even energy could be a solution to a need. The person that gives is a giver and it is more blessed to give than to receive. Your Christianity is not complete is you cannot give out what you have. Giving has some deeper meaning that people aren’t aware of which is why people are too casual about giving. Below are some hidden mysteries you need to know about giving:

GIVING IS A TEST OF AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANITY

God does not believe your Christianity is genuine until he sees your heart of giving. Let me use our patriarch Abraham as an example. Something shocked me so much in this guy’s walk with God. Look at this scripture;

2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”

6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.

9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”

12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”

13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

GENESIS 22:2-13 (NLT)

Can you see the portion that has been highlighted, “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”

This is what shocks me so much, Abraham has been working with God for so many years and God never confirmed in detail that Abraham fears him. This means one thing, God only confirms your Christianity when he sees your heart of giving. Why? It is because a man spends where his heart is. If your heart is not focused on God, you can’t give to God, and if you can’t give to God, you are not of God. No matter how Holy you think you are, it is when God sees your giving that he truly believes you are for him.

This kind of Abraham’s incident also happened to a guy in the new testament. The rich man was holy but had not passed the test of genuine Christianity. Look at the scripture below;

17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’”

20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!

MARK 10:17-23 (NLT)

Look at the highlighted portion, verse 21. It is the same case as of Abraham, the thing they loved most. Abraham’s case was Isaac, the rich man’s case was his great possession. Your ability to give out that thing that means your whole world to God shows your Christianity is not by mouth but by heart.

Are you that type of believer that is in the Church, you have a land, and your Church is in need of land. The Church is suffering from the torments of the land Lords but you still refuse to help the Church. Instead, you join the prayer meeting and call forth land meanwhile you are the answer. If you can’t give God your money or your property, how can you then give your life for the gospel. Examine your self or you may be going to hell from church. 

GIVING IS A KEY TO PROSPERITY

If you are struggling with poverty, you have to be very attentive, your deliverance is here. Deliverance is 70% knowledge and 30% laying of hands. Anything you give to God will surely return to you hundred fold. When I say anything I don’t mean you should behave like Cain. Don’t carry inferior offerings to God and be expecting some kind of miracle, you may even pick up a curse. Check out this scripture;

29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.

MARK 10:29-30 (NLT)

See it from the scripture yourself, when you give to God, what you gave will surely return in a hundred fold. Let me tell you a secret, your key to overnight turn around is your pastor. Your prosperity is tied to your priest, give him venison and your door opens automatically. Let’s see some people that experienced over night turn around in the Bible;

 8Then the LORD said to Elijah, 9 “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”

10 So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”

12 But she said, “I swear by the LORD your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

13 But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the LORD sends rain and the crops grow again!”

15 So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. 16 There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah.

1 KINGS 17:8-15 (NLT)

Is that your last? There is a secret to multiply it. It is to sew that money or property as a seed to your Priest, the thing you thought was the last will so much multiply a hundred fold that you will go wow. The Zeraphath woman was about to die after eating her last, but something chipped in, sacrifice to bless Elijah and the hundred fold will come. There are many people that have faced such situations like Peter.

5 One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

LUKE 5:1-9 (NLT)

Peter also experienced this overnight breakthrough. He gave Jesus his boat to use and preach when Jesus was in deep need of it and the miracle of two boats of fishes happened instantly just like the Zeraphath woman experienced. There is something I want you to learn from here. It is not just giving anything to your prophet but solving that pressing need he has at that moment. Like the Zeraphath woman, Elijah was very hungry and in Jesus case, he needed a boat quickly to use and preach. If you solve the pressing needs of your pastor, your hundred fold comes instantly.

YOUR GIVING WILL BE JUDGED

We are all stewards of the resources in our hands. The problem with man kind is that we started to develop some sense of ownership. You came to this earth empty, anything you have was given to you for a purpose, the master will come down one day for you to give account. Every believer will be judged on how they gave while on earth. If you listen to some of the people that died and faced judgement and resurrected, they highlight that our giving will be judged and the scriptures backs it up.

The wealth you keep acquiring and keep calling your own, if you don’t use it for the kingdom, it will speak against you on judgement day. You have a land, your Church needs land and you hold your land back, look at this scripture;

5 Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. 2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. 3 Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment. 4 For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

5 You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.

JAMES 5:1 (NLT)

When God gives you money or a property, please make sure to have a willing heart to help other believers and also fund the gospel. If you don’t, well, you have yourself to blame. Look at this scripture;

17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. 19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.

1 TIMOTHY 6:17-19 (NLT)

Look at the last line of the scripture, verse 19:  19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.

As you give, you will reap the benefits here on earth and will also reap the benefits when you get to heaven. If you fund the gospel here on earth and it is affecting souls and people are changing, when you get to heaven, you will shocked with the kind of glory you will receive.

Please be very careful with the resources God has put in your hand. Be careful not to claim ownership or even trust in them. They are all untrue riches; fire can burn that house, car or certificate anytime but can’t burn your rewards in Heaven. May the Grace of our Lord Jesus be with you, may He widen your understanding of the scriptures in Jesus name. Amen.