In the country of Israel, the Jordan River flows from one end of the land to the other. On its journey from north to south it flows into two bodies of water. The Sea of Galilee and then the Dead Sea. It's the same River that flows into both yet there are different outcomes. One produces life the other death. The reason being that the Sea of Galilee has water flowing into it and then flowing out again, but the Dead Sea only has water flowing into it and nothing comes out the other end. Galilee is full of fish but the Dead Sea has no life in it at all. It's the same life giving water that flows into both yet one gives out and the other keeps its water to itself.
Christian's can be like this too, they have the same God in them and the same River of Life flowing into their lives, yet there can be different outcomes. Some Christians give out, while others just take it all and keep everything to themselves, and this produces death. Funny as it's the same God in them both. One can be a victim and the other can be a victor. One can be a taker and the other a giver.
You may say “I want to be a Giver and not just a Taker.” “How do I get there?” “I'm in a pit and I can't get out, how do I become a giver?” It's God's will for you and I to get out of poverty. It says in Psalm 35 that God takes pleasure in our prosperity.
“Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” Psalm 35:7
God wants you to be a giver and not just a taker. After all, you are a child of Abraham and he was called to be a blessing to the world. We are his children and are called to be a blessing as well. The bible says that we are all the Children of Abraham by faith.
“Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7
“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. Gen 12: 1-2
Deuteronomy 28 says that we are meant to be the head and not the tail, we are meant to be those who lend and not borrow if we are to follow God's ways. If we want a harvest, then we need to start now and give.
“The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.” Deuteronomy 28:12-13
Proverbs 11 says that the way to prosper is to give, and if you do then you will also be watered yourself. This is opposite to what the world teaches.
“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:25
Luke chapter 6 says that when we give God will make sure that it is given back to us again with extra. Giving will break the poverty cycle so we need to start giving right away. We need to start digging a channel out of the Dead Sea and let the water flow out again.
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38
The Sons of Abraham should always be looking for ways to give as it’s in their DNA as his children. I have often been amazed while watching a program called ‘lost and found’. Siblings who have not known who their father was most of their lives, have wondered why they loved being a mechanic only to find that their father was one too as it was in their DNA.
The first step in giving is to put God first. Jesus said to love God first and then your neighbours second. Malachi 3:10-11 says that we should give a tithe to the storehouse, (The spiritual house that feeds us). He promises to bless us abundantly if we do and after that we should also aim to give offerings too. God is no man’s debtor and will come through for you. It’s something that He has said we can prove Him in.
Jesus says that it's far more blessed to give than to receive.
“remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ Acts 20:35
My wife Bernice and I love to give. Once on a recent birthday I had the privilege of giving a gift to somebody. Usually you receive gifts on your birthday but my greatest joy was to give a gift instead. The bible says it is better to give than receive. It was an extravagant gift too and a great blessing to those we gave it too.
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Galatians 6:7
The bible tells us that we reap what we sow, so it stands to reason that if you don't sow, you won't reap. Your giving is like a seed and as you cast it away from you, it then has a chance to grow. The trouble is many of us keep the seed in the packet and its useless there. That’s like eating the seed you have in your hand instead of planting it in the ground.
Giving requires a sacrifice, and can be a risk, as it has to leave you and be left in the hands of God. You can’t keep your seed if you want a harvest. It’s like keeping your cake and eating it at the same time.
“One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.” Proverbs 11:24
There are lots of ways to sow when you don’t have much to give. I’ll give you an example: You may be treating yourself to a flat white and a muffin once a week. You may deserve it but it requires a sacrifice to get the cycle of poverty broken. You've got to start somewhere. In order to give you may need to stop having that coffee and give the money away instead, and then believe for a harvest. Start sowing for your harvest now. When the harvest comes in you will most likely be able to have your coffee again and then extra seeds to sow. God is not a killjoy. It says in the word that He gives us all things richly to enjoy. 1 Timothy 6:17. He can only multiply the seed that you sow.
“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” 2 Corinthians 9: 10-11
In time your harvest will come in. In Eccl 11:1 it tells us to cast our bread on the waters and it will eventually come back to us. I've heard in that in the early days the Israelites were a nomadic people and when they came to a river they would throw some seed into the water and it would be washed downstream and come ashore somewhere and take root on a bank. It would bring forth a harvest which the Israelites would come across at a later date. They would find it after many days.
“Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” Ecclesiastes 11:1
Do you remember Colonel Sanders who was famous for Kentucky Fried Chicken? He became a multi-millionaire, but it wasn't always that way for him. He was a Christian man and was once on the dole in his 60s. God gave him a bright idea – a recipe that made him famous. He gave a tithe of what he earned to God and things changed and he became a very generous philanthropist who gave away millions in his latter days.
My son had a bright idea once and during his lunch breaks he would go down to the charity shop and look for books you could buy for 50c. Because he used to read a lot he knew who the popular authors were and what books to buy. He would then sell them on Trade Me and used to make quite a bit of pocket money from it.
God can give you an bright idea too. Because we lived in Zimbabwe for a long time we were amazed at the charity shops here in New Zealand. It’s great how you can get bargains sometimes, and save yourself a lot of money. It's not that we are cheapskates, I look at it as being good stewards of God’s money. We are the children of Abraham and were born to be a blessing. My wife and I have managed to give away a lot of money over the years. We are called to be channels of blessing, but we need to deny ourselves in order for it to happen and a harvest is assured.
Another way we waste a lot of money is on doctors’ bills. Sometimes we rush off to the doctor too quickly. Instead of asking God for advice. I'm not saying it's wrong to go to the doctor, but God has given us many promises and many seeds that we should be sowing into our lives that will produce health. Start putting the word in your heart daily and you won’t have to go to the doctor so much.
“but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:18
Our tongue is the key. God has given you the answer for a healthier life and within time you can harvest the seeds sown. The life of God is ‘voice activated’ you can activate it every day.
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21
The bible shows us that we have the power to activate life or death with our tongues. One Saturday I woke up with a sore throat which was concerning as I wasn't feeling too good and I had to lead the singing the next day and also preach. I felt God tell me to keep saying that I have the life of God in me and speak healing with my tongue and tell no one about how I felt. I spoke the word all day and believed in the power that was in me. Praise God the symptoms left and I was able to sing and preach the next day.
One Christian family I knew had quite a few children and were always running to the doctor, and their money was running out. They decided to draw a line in the sand and really pray for their children and speak the word over them believing for their health. Praise God it worked and in the end they saved themselves so much money by trusting God more.
In this Western world so much money is being wasted that could be sown into the kingdom. There's enough food in the world to feed all the hungry but it’s being wasted or consumed by greedy people. We as the Children of Abraham should not give in to the world but influence the world for good. We are the answer, and are born to be a blessing. We are not meant to be the victims, we are meant to be the victors who are givers and not takers.
We are designed to be like the Sea of Galilee and not the Dead Sea. As a Dead Sea Christian the blessings stop with us and are not passed on.
If you don't have any money at all you need to realise that you do have some seed, so start sowing today, start by sowing the word. Start sowing it into your heart by changing the things you say. Start declaring that God takes pleasure in your prosperity in the face of poverty and you’ll begin to believe it. Your words are fore runners of a future event. Start digging a channel out of your Dead Sea so that the water can flow through you instead of stopping within you. Remember that those who water others are watered themselves.
