Spirit Of Giving
By Tim Downs
Luke 6:38
Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Soul winning! Wow I truly want to be the greatest soul winner of all time! I have a big job ahead of me to reach this goal; there are so many awesome soul winners who have gone before me!
Some of the greatest soul winners I have ever studied had a common fruit in their walk with God and reaching the lost. This was the spirit of giving! Yes, giving is one of the most important parts of reaching souls!
There are several areas of giving that need to be addressed. If your going to reach souls it will cost money, there is no disputing this fact. Churches need finances to reach souls and bless the lost. The only way our churches will have the finances to pay for outreach programs and soul winning functions will be through our giving! I believe the number one reason for the lack of revival in our movement is due to the fact most of us are selfish in giving. We tend to care more about our own personal life than the lost world around us. Somehow we are going to really have to wake up and understand that the Lord is coming soon, and the only thing that will last is what we have done for God!
Will my new car last? Will my bigger home last? Will my fancy clothes and sporty watch last? No, I’m sorry to report the word of God says ONLY what you do for God will last! When we get an understanding of this, we will understand the blessing of giving! The Bible says “Give, and it shall be given unto you,.” Contrary to some Charismatic preaching there is no such thing as the prosperity blessing as they teach. No, I’m afraid God does not want us building bigger barns, driving extravagant automobiles and having thousands of dollars in the bank. The reason he gives is so you may GIVE! When he blesses you this blessing is so you may bless others! God will always give unto you so you may give unto others and the running over part is the extra blessing for you!
I must stop to tell you, I know of a church who spent over $30,000.00 on sound equipment, and couldn’t raise $300.00 for outreach, this my friends is an sin! This group of people will never be blessed, there church will never grow! We must put the work of God first!
Today I received a phone call from a man from a church we are going to be doing a revival at in a few weeks. He told me of how last night the Pastor asked the church to consider giving to supply the finances to purchase the door hanger we will be using on our outreach. The call went out to the congregation and within 30 seconds they people responded with over $1300.00! Tongues and interpretation went forth after this spirit of giving and the Lord promised to repay 100 fold to those who gave! One man who gave $800.00 was rewarded today with $8000.00! Yes we serve and awesome God who is waiting to bless those that give to the work of reaching the lost! I do not believe God is concerned about building bigger, more fancy buildings but I believe he is concerned about reaching the lost! Our biggest fund in the church should be in outreach! After I had given some thought to the testimony of the man who gave the $800.00 my mind wondered what if the man was able to give $10,000.00! Wow he would have received $100,000.00 today! Some times we limit God, trust me if God can supply $8000.00 he can supply $100,000.00! I challenge each of you to try and out give God!
In the next few weeks many of us will be blessed with tax refunds, it would be a shame to squander this blessing on our self! Yes, we have needs but we need to be mindful of the homeless, the single parents, the poor! Please pray and ask God what you can do to give!
Just like in all of the devils tricks he creates evil in money. You see if he allows people to use the money of God for fraudulent things then we become scared to give, the enemy knows the blessing in giving, so he will try and do anything he can to keep you from it! The only way we are going to be blessed is to give! Don’t be deceived, the enemy does not want you reaching souls!
I want you to pray about your giving over the next week, what would God have you do? Could you take a meal to the homeless? Could you take groceries to a single mom? Could you bless a soul winning church so they can reach the lost even more? The word of God is true, yes, Luke 6:38 is as true as Acts 2:38!
Let’s reach souls and pray for a spirit of giving!
Article “Spirit Of Giving� written by Tim Downs, an apostolic author, and is excerpted from his web site: www.letsgosoulwinning.com.
