“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Cor. 9:7-8 NIV)

Susan and I love to give and have done so from the first day of our marriage. We saw in this promise Biblical principles to help us understand and receive blessings from putting God first in our financial matters.

I’m happy to report that God has always blessed us dramatically according to this promise in His Word!

What this promise says and what it has taught us about giving

• “God loves a cheerful giver.” We saw early on from this promise that God loves those who give cheerfully, and we wanted to do and be what He clearly said he “loved”!

• “Give what you have decided in your heart to give.” We always made sure we gave to things we truly believed in and cared about; something we could support wholeheartedly without reservation. We made sure that what we were giving to was producing good results and good fruit.

• “Not reluctantly.” We fully trusted in the Biblical principle of tithing and understood from God’s Word that the first part of our income (10%) belonged to God and not to us. Therefore, we never considered it to be our money but always considered it to be His money. Therefore, as soon as our paycheck arrived, we happily wrote our tithe check first, to put His money to work for Him.

• “And God is able to bless you abundantly.” And we believed the promise in Malachi 3 that He would bless us for being faithful in this respect. We were convinced that God was able to bless us abundantly, we expected Him to, and He always has! Above and beyond, in fact!

• “In all things at all times, having all that you need.” We believed God would always meet every need (Phil. 4:19), and it has always been so!

• “You will abound in every good work.” We expected God to give us good work to do, to provide employment, and that He would bless us and prosper us in whatever we put our hands to. That, too, has consistently been the case!

According to Malachi 3:10, God says to test Him on this promise: “Test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

And we HAVE tested Him by our consistent giving throughout the years, and He has always kept his promise! We are blessed!

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6 NIV)

One of the most famous speeches ever delivered was given by Sir Winston Churchill at a university commencement.

He walked up to the lectern, removed his ever-present cigar from his mouth, and said the following words:

“Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!”

He then, put his cigar back into his mouth, and sat down.

Even though his speech consisted of only three words, “Never give up” repeated three times, it had enormous impact on listeners because it addressed the number one reason for most human failure, they don’t continue, they give up, they quit.

God NEVER gives up on you!

This promise, Phil. 1:6, states that we can be “confident that God will continue to do what He has begun in you until the day of Jesus Christ!

That is a wonderful promise!

Someone said it this way, “Please be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet!” And He isn’t, He will never give up on you!

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matt. 10:29-31 NIV)

One day while listening to the news on the radio, the announcer suddenly gasped, and then there was complete silence.

I wondered what had happened to him and turned up the radio and listened carefully.

Soon, he came back on and apologized for the sudden dead air space. Then he explained what had happened.

He said, “Where I am sitting here in the news room, I face a large plate glass window looking outside the building. As I was reading the news just now, a sparrow suddenly hit the window and fell to the ground. When that happened, I remembered that it says somewhere in the Bible that God sees when a sparrow falls. What startled me, wasn’t the sparrow hitting the window, but it was the thought that I was sitting so close to where God was looking!”

The announcer obviously didn’t understand the simple truth of the verse, which is that God sees a sparrow fall because He sees everything all the time.

Points to ponder

This section of scripture, which mentions the sparrow falling, has several good points to ponder. Here is the passage again, with my comments in parenthesis added.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? (Sparrows are cheap) Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. (God takes care of cheap sparrows and notices when every single one of them falls). And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered (God is so aware of every tiny detail about you that He even knows the number of the hairs on your head). So don’t be afraid; (therefore, you don’t have to ever fear, because God is constantly aware of everything about you, and is aware of your needs) you are worth more than many sparrows (exactly what it says!).

No need to worry!

So, the promise here is that there is no need for you to ever be afraid, because God sees you all the time, cares for you, knows what you need, and will take care of you, because you are very valuable to Him!

“For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. (Heb. 4:2 KJV)

This promise is talking about two groups (types) of people hearing the same Word of God that was preached to both of them. One group heard it and profited from it and one group heard it and did not profit from it!

Many Christians “don’t quite” believe the Word of God, and so they get no profit from it! It doesn’t work for them!

Oh, they say they believe. But, when push comes to shove, and the chips are down, so to speak, they don’t actually do. And, the proof is in the results. To follow them around and watch them, and to listen to their “talk” (what rolls out of their mouths), you would never think they were Christians. Out of their mouths come worry-words and doubt-words. And this makes the Word of God not work for them!

Why is this so?

The Bible puts it this way, “the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”

The promises of God are all faith activated!

The Word of God only works for those who mix faith with it! That explains why some Christians benefit from the promises of God while others do not!

This is a huge problem in the church!

Christians who should be walking and living victoriously by faith, and enjoying the “fruit” of God’s thousands of promises, which cover every conceivable need, act and behave like unbelievers.

Here is another example

God promises in James 1:5 that you can ask God for wisdom and He will generously supply it. But, you read a little further in the same passage and you will find this qualifier (James 1:6-8 KJV) “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let that man not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

A double minded man! Unstable in all his ways! That is the problem!

Here’s what to do!

Decide today to trust the Word of God completely, no matter how things may look! If the Word of God promises it, that must settle it for you! Mix your faith with His Word and it will work for you every time!

“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?” (Matt.6:31 ESV)

When I was a young child, we lived a half mile from the Van Duzen River in Northern California. One winter it rained so much that the river suddenly overflowed its banks and grew to an astounding five miles wide!

It happened very fast and we were caught totally by surprise!

We were in our home having dinner, not expecting any problem, when suddenly water started coming into the house from under the doors.

We didn’t have time to save anything from our house or farm!

When Daddy saw the water coming into the house he jumped up from his chair and grabbed my brother David and me and rushed us out the front door. Our car was already not drivable so we waded quickly through the fast-rising water towards the nearest hill, and then we climbed upward to safety.

From our vantage point on the hill we looked down to see our home, livestock, and everything we owned, quickly disappearing under water!

Even though it was obvious that we had just lost everything, Daddy told us repeatedly not to be afraid. He said it would be okay because he would be taking care of us. While assuring us with his gentle words, he held our small hands tightly in his strong ones. And we felt safe!

And Daddy kept his promise!

He was able to take care of us because he had plenty of money in the bank as well as good flood insurance! We in fact didn’t go without a thing! We went to the store and bought clothes and we stayed in a nice hotel until Daddy could make more permanent arrangements.

In the same way, God has our needs completely covered!

No matter what should suddenly happen to us, or how bad something may look, we never have to “be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?” He has it all covered!

“Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.” (1 Cor. 10:6 KJV)

Avoid the school of hard knocks

This is the promise of many “examples” readily available throughout the Bible to help us avoid evil things. By using them for instruction we don’t have to learn critical lessons first-hand at the “school of hard knocks”. They will provide insight to keep us from making the same mistakes others have made.

In some cases, the examples are positive ones (Esther and Joseph) and teach us about faith.

Here are two examples

The first one is about Joseph who remained faithful to God, and was blessed even during negative times. The second is about David, who fell into deep sin, but was eventually restored to God.

We can learn some important lessons by reading about their lives

· Joseph – A young man with visions from God, was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He was lied about and betrayed by his slave owner’s wife. He was put into prison and remained there for many years. But, he did not lose hope because he knew God was with him! He was always faithful to God and God blessed him and made him successful. He went from the pit to the palace in one day! (Gen. 41:46).

· David – Lusted after another man’s wife, had an affair with her, then committed murder to try and cover it up. He was shown his sin by Nathan, he then repented, and was restored to God. (Psalm 51). He is referred to as “a man after God’s own heart”.

“Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it.” (1 Thes. 5:24 KJV 2000)

This promise says two wonderful things!

· First, “God is faithful”! You can count on Him one hundred percent of the time!

· Secondly, if He has called you to do something (anything!) “He will do it!”

What this means is that you can count on God to make it happen (empower and help you do) anything that He has called you to do! For instance, When God gives me an opportunity to speak publicly somewhere, I am confident! I expect God to speak through me! And He does!

Don’t allow the devil to intimidate you!

The devil sometimes tries his best to scare me, but I know who has created me, gifted me, and produces in me positive results! Praise God for His Holy Spirit who does it!

Here is scripture to back this up:

“If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11 KJV)

“Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4 ESV)

It’s not what you think!

This promise is a trick one, sort of. It is not a recipe for getting just anything “you desire” because desires are sometimes wrong. God, for instance, won’t give anything that is inconsistent with his Word. He won’t give you someone else’s spouse or help you rob a bank.

What this promise does

But, what this promise actually does is this; as you delight yourself in God (get to know and enjoy him better), He CHANGES the desires of your heart to be in line with what your desires should be. And this is great news for you because you end up with Godly desires, the kind that God can and will bless.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14 KJV)

Notice that this promise does NOT say: “if the government leaders”, or “if the world’s royalty”, or “if any dictatorship”, or ANY kind of secular group or leadership of any kind! It says, “If my people which are called by my name” will humble themselves and pray!

Remember this!

This promise is especially important to remember during this political season when the media (including social media) is alive with so much angst from every possible direction regarding what will happen if the “wrong” person or “wrong” side of the aisle gets into office. And yes, it’s very important to vote. But, don’t lose site that the REAL answer about how to “heal the land” is not about politics but is about what God’s people do!

Here it is spelled out simply

Who and what:

1 – if my people, which are called by my name

2 – will humble themselves

3 – and pray

What God promises:

1 – I will hear from heaven

2 – I will forgive their sin

3 – and heal their land