“There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.” (Proverbs 11:24-25)

Give generously  

“Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.” (Deut. 15:10)

Give according to the blessing

“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.” (Deut. 16:17)

 And you will be blessed

“He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor.” (Proverbs 22:9)

God loves a cheerful giver

“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.” (2 Cor. 9:6-8)

 Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over!

“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (Luke 6:38)

“Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6:9-11)

These people "won't inherit the Kingdom of God"

This verse lists a few kinds of people who won't inherit the kingdom of God: wrongdoers, sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who have sex with men, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, slanderers, and swindlers!

But, there is good news! 

There is hope for them! God has the power to change people, no matter how sinful they may be!

That's what some of you "were" 

This same passage says something else truly remarkable! “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

God has the power to change people!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

It’s done by declaring and believing Jesus

“If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Rom. 10:9-10)

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Rom. 6:14

We have obtained access by faith

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:1-2)

The forgiveness of sins

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:13)

It is a gift!

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)

“He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The LORD frees the prisoners.” (Psalm 146:7)

He knows what you need!

“Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ The people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them.” (Matt. 6:31-32)

He won’t let you starve!

“The LORD will not allow a righteous person to starve, but he intentionally ignores the desires of a wicked person.” (Proverbs 10:3)

“For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” (Psalm 107:9)

“The righteous eat to their hearts’ content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.” (Proverbs 13:25)

 Seek God first, it's the key!

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.” (Luke 12:31)

He supplies according to His riches

“And my God will fully supply your every need according to his glorious riches in the Messiah Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)

He does it so you can have abundance for every good deed!

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.” (2 Cor. 9:8)

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.” (Prov. 15:3)

His eyes move to and fro

“For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His." (2 Chron. 16:9)

He is always “there”

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,’ Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day Darkness and light are alike to You.” (Psalm 139:7-12)

“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.” (Heb. 6:1-2)

Grow up in all aspects of God

“But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.” (Eph. 4:15)

Worthy of the Lord in all aspects and bearing fruit

“So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col. 1:10)

Grow up in respect to salvation

“Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2)

Grow in both grace and knowledge of Jesus

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)

“‘Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain’ declares the Lord. ‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.’” (Jer. 23:28-29)

 It’s God breathed and useful

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NIV)

It’s sharper than a two-edged sword

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12)

It’s for our instruction 

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Rom. 15:4)

Therefore…

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22 NIV)

 “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Tim. 4:2 NIV)

“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20 NIV)

 Who’s is Jesus?

If you ask the average person on the street the question: “Who is Jesus Christ?” You will get many answers such as: “He was a good man”… “He was a religious leader.” … “He was a Bible character”…. “He was a prophet of God” … “He was a great human moral teacher.” And many more answers, too numerous to name. People have been asking the “who was Jesus?” question for a long time! Jesus’ own disciples even declared, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matt. 8:27). And Jesus asked them one day, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). And they answered, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” (Mark 8:28). Then Jesus said, “Who do you say I am?” And Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” And Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. (Matt. 16:17 NLT). Jesus clearly stated to His disciples that he was indeed the expected messiah that they had been waiting for. 

Other Bible passages about Jesus

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 5:6)

 Jesus said He was God. “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30)

“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father's side, has made Him known.” (John 1:18)

“Jesus replied, Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father.’” (John 14:9)

 Therefore… 

“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” (1. John 5:12 NLT)

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13 ESV)

Quote:

 “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else He would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”- C. S. Lewis

“There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people” (2 Tim. 3:1–5).

Jesus foretold perilous times

“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold...” (Matt. 24:19-12)

Even though dark and perilous times do happen and even intensify, God’s light continues to shine brightly! 

God’s light shines in our hearts

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6 ESV)

When you follow Jesus, you will not walk in darkness!

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV)

Therefore…

“For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” (Eph. 5:8 ESV)

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV)

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16 ESV)

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:14-16 ESV)

Quotes:

“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine.” - Dwight L. Moody

“The devil abhors light and truth because these remove the ground of his working.” - Watchman Nee