Giving and Sowing Into Good Ground
Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return. - Luke 6:38 AMP
Give, and you will receive. A large quantity, pressed together, shaken down, and running over will be put into your pocket. The standards you use for others will be applied to you. - Luke 6:38 God’s Word Translation
A friend of mine recently shared 3 things the Lord gave him. They were: Trust God. Have Faith. Do Hard Things. Today I am doing something very hard. I am messaging you about giving. And I am messaging you to ask you to give to what I have faith to believe is MINISTRY!😮💨😮💨
During this month’s December prayer challenge, I uttered the word “ministry” for the first time, and while I still felt a bit uncomfortable after it left out of my mouth, I knew the Lord was with me.
In this season (no not Christmas season or holiday season), God is doing a new thing. It’s a forward moving thing. It’s a thing where you’re entering into the new, the next, and the now. So much is happening in this new level where you’re able to look around and know…THIS CAN ONLY BE GOD!
Today, as I was in conversation with the Lord, He gave me revelation about giving. In full transparency, I have been having a hard time identifying what I do as ministry. I have also had a hard time giving you the opportunity to sow and give into what God has me doing because I NEVER EVER EVER wanted to seem sleazy in asking. Or ast least that’s how I thought it would feel.
In keeping with transparency, for several months while we did the 7 Days to 1 Hour Prayer Challenge, my friend would say something about giving. It felt better when someone else did it. I didn’t want to do it. But here’s the thing, when Holy Spirit prompts me to give, I do it out of obedience. But that person or ministry or organization MUST HAVE A PLACE FOR ME TO GIVE SO THEY CAN RECEIVE IT.
Notice in Luke 6:38, it says GIVE and you will RECEIVE. But what it doesn’t say is that you actually have to ACTION that. What does that mean Fon? It means you have to ACCEPT it. But how can you accept what’s being given if you don’t put your hand out? How can can accept it if there is no receptacle. The word receptacle means: an object or space used to contain something. Synonyms for receptacle means: canister, vessel, bin, bag, purse, container, basket, crate, holder, box, pan, etc.
Here’s the revelation: If I am giving, I am assured by the word of God that I will receive. Right? Yes! But if I don’t ACCEPT IT or have a RECEPTACLE for you to put it in (including my hands), then I can’t actually GET WHAT GOD SAID I WOULD GET. And GOD IS NOT MAN THAT HE SHOULD LIE! So it’s there: pressed down, shaken together, and running over….but you don’t have anywhere to PUT IT! No one knows how to GET IT TO YOU!
Now you may be praying for a financial blessing, but you may not have given. Luke 6:38 says GIVE and then you will RECEIVE. So we must have a heart to GIVE and not only give, but give cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7). Not give for attention or give so we can get, but the Bible does say we WILL RECEIVE when we give. It only says when we ask for something it will be GIVEN to us. And the amplified translation of Matthew 7:7 says ASK AND KEEP ON ASKING! This is for those who ask one time and give up after you don’t get anything.
Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7 AMP
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:8
Going back to Luke 6:38 if you keep reading, it says the standards you use for others will be applied to you. Uh oh. You mean how I give is going to be returned back to me the same way? YUP! So if you stingy, you will receive stingy. If you’re generous, you will receive generous. If you give reluctantly, you will receive reluctantly.
So let’s go with the fact that you’ve given, but you haven’t received a harvest yet from the seeds you’ve sown. Why? Could it be because you didn’t grab your RECEPTACLE (your basket, your bin, your container) in expectation to receive? Could it be that you didn’t want to appear “needy?” Could it be that you didn’t want it to look like you needed a hand out? Investors and non believers use the principle of sowing and reaping all the time and it works for them because they know that the more they give, the more will be given to them. They know this! But many of us BELIEVERS don’t believe that’s for us. Let’s renew our minds today and trust God!
Be encouraged today to ACCEPT THE GIVING!
Be encouraged today to GIVE as the Lord has told you to give. Don’t give to get. Give out of a cheerful heart of obedience.
I want to ensure that I obey by doing something hard. And that is asking you to give to this ministry. Today, whatever Holy Spirit lays upon your heart to GIVE or SOW into what He is doing through this ministry assignment, see the receptacles below for your opportunity to sow and give. 🥰
Please reply and share your testimonies of how the prayer challenge, blog, podcast, or any written communication over these last years have impacted your life.
Thank you for your give. I know that the Lord will bless you because His Word says as you give, you will RECEIVE. I pray that it be an overflow that you won’t have room to contain it all. But please still put your receptacles/contains out so that you can GET ALL THAT FITS INTO IT. You can’t see overflow if you don’t have a vessel to be filled from the get-go. OHHH WEEE!!!! That’ll preach right there! 😅
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GIVE! ❤️
WAYS TO GIVE:
Cash App: $EncouragementInk