Showing posts with label Sowing Bountifully. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sowing Bountifully. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Open Wide Your Hand


Since God is gracious and giving and opens His hand wide toward us (and invites us to set all our expectation on Him) we should be gracious and giving and open our hands to give generously to others, because God wants to show them His grace, too. That is why, in addition to always giving us all sufficiency in all things, God wants to have us plenty more besides, so we may do a lot of good for others. Let us then be generous, open-handed, bountiful in our giving.

Paul said, “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). To sow “sparingly” means to hold back, to be stingy with your seed. How you sow is how you will reap. If you hold back your seed, you are also holding back your harvest. In the Greek text, to sow “bountifully” means to sow “with blessing,” and when you sow “with blessing,” that is also how you reap — with blessing! When you sow with your hand wide open, you will one day have a harvest that is larger than you can contain. You will never end up behind because you have been generous toward others, and what you sow will cause praise and thanksgiving to abound toward God. Watch how this works:
Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. (2 Corinthians 9:10-14)
God gives us “bread,” every provision to meet our needs fully and completely. He also gives us “seed,” the more than enough, which is for sowing. When we sow it toward the needs of others, God multiplies it, increasing its fruitfulness, that is, the benefit it brings to others. That, in turn, brings forth praise and thanks to God — and we get to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of others. In this way, not only do all of our own needs get met, but also the needs of others, because we are allowing the grace of God to be abundant through us as well as to us. As we keep sowing generously for the sake of others, we will continue to reap bountifully because we are trusting in the open hand of God.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Will You Scatter or Hold Back?

There is one who scatters, yet increases more;
And there is one who withholds more than is right,
But it leads to poverty.
(Proverbs 11:24)

It might seem counter-intuitive, but the one who “scatters,” who disperses and gives freely out of his resources, is the one who sees increase in his resources and has all he needs. But the one who holds on to what he’s got and is tightfisted with his resources, giving only sparingly, will end up in lack. The Message says it this way: “The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.”

Surely the apostle Paul had this in mind when he said, “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). He was taking up a collection for the beleaguered believers in Jerusalem and seeking generous support for them. But the principle is universal: How you sow is how you will reap.

The psalm writer speaks of the righteous man and the blessing that comes upon him because, “He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor” (Psalm 112:9). The Hebrew word for “disperse” is the same one for “scatter” in Proverbs 11. This is a man who does not withhold his resources but gives freely and generously. Part of the blessing on him is that “wealth and riches will be in his house” (v. 3). Why? Because God can trust him to use it properly and give with an open hand, just as God does. As Paul said, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). Generosity begets generosity, abundance begets abundance, and prosperity begets prosperity. But those who hoard and refrain from helping others — that is a poverty mindset, and it begets poverty. Wisdom goes on to say,

The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself.

The people will curse him who withholds grain,
But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.
(Proverbs 11:25-26)
The “generous” soul is, literally, the one who blesses (berakah). That is, he freely blesses others by his generosity. The result is that he will himself be abundantly blessed and will prosper. Because he has helped meet the needs of others, satisfying their thirst, his own needs will also be met. It is easy to become so focused on meeting our own needs that we forget about the needs of others. But if we will give attention to helping others, we will find that it comes back to us in unexpected ways and there will always be more than enough.

Even in our business dealings, it is the generous man who will prosper. The example here is of a vital commodity in a time of need. The man who withholds it from the market, in order to drive up the price, will be cursed by the people who need it most — he is trading on their misery. But the one who sells his produce at a reasonable profit will have the blessing (berakah) of the people. He benefits them and they benefit him. The Message renders verse 26 this way: “Curses on those who drive a hard bargain! Blessings on all who play fair and square!”

The first man is trying to squeeze all he can out of the situation, to bleed the market dry. He is playing a zero-sum strategy and thinks that he can prosper only at the expense of others. The second man is not afraid to about leave some money on the table. He understands that when he helps his customers prosper, he will prosper as well.

It is really all a matter of sowing and reaping. What you sow is what you will reap, and always in proportion to how you sow. Jesus taught this principle: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

That is a powerful promise for those who have learned to sow bountifully.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Deposits in the Bank of Heaven

Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:20)
How do we lay up treasure for ourselves in heaven? Or to put it in perhaps a more current mode, How do we open up an account with God and make deposits. The Bible gives us a few ways:

Giving to the Poor. As we saw in the last post, one way we lay up treasure for ourselves is by giving to the poor. “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given” (Proverbs 19:17). There is a divine accounting that goes on, even the creation of divine obligation. When we give to the poor, God commits Himself to pay it back, and He will always do so with interest. When we give to the poor, we are laying up for ourselves treasure in heaven. Jesus told the rich young man, “Sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21).

Honoring the Lord with Your Firstfruits. Another way we also lay up treasure for ourselves by honoring the Lord with our possessions. “Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10). A barn is a storehouse, a treasury. When we give God the firstfruits — the first and best, not the last and least — of our possessions and increase, He causes our storehouses to overflow.

The Hundredfold Return. We also lay up treasure for ourselves whenever we give for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel. Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30). Not only is there a hundredfold return, but notice that we receive it “now in this time.” If the rich young man had obeyed Jesus’ instruction, sold his possessions and given to the poor, he would have received it back a hundred times over.

We find this same principle at work in the Old Testament, when Isaac obeyed the Lord and dwell in the land God show him, instead of going down to Egypt because of famine. “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous” (Genesis 26:12-13). Because he stayed in the land for God’s sake!

Partnership in the Gospel. Many people know the promise in Philippians that God will supply all our needs, but they often miss the context in which this promise is made.
Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19-20)
Notice the words “giving and receiving.” The Greek words behind them are terms used for accounting. Note also, “fruit that abounds to you account.” The Philippians had often sent financial assistance to Paul and his gospel ministry. Though they may not have realized it at the time, they were actually laying up treasure for themselves with God, and God was greatly pleased with their deposits. It is out of this context that Paul assures them, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Notice that Paul did not simply say, “and God,” or “our God,” or “your God,” but “my God.” For through their assistance they had become partners with Paul in the gospel ministry; they shared in a joint account with Paul.

Peter experienced this principle while he was still a fisher of fish. He partnered with Jesus, lending his boat as a pulpit. Afterward, Jesus told him to “launch out into the deep and let down you nets for a catch.” Peter obeyed and caught an astonishing number of fish, even though he had already toiled all night with nothing to show for it (Luke 5:1-11).

Ministering to the Saints. In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul was receiving an offering to minister to the saints who were in financial need, and offered this encouragement to give generously:
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:6-9)
Notice that there is an accounting going on here: As one sows, that is how they will reap. Sow bountifully, reap bountifully. It is in the context of sowing — of making deposits — that Paul assures them of an abundant return: Always having all sufficiency in all things, plus plenty more for giving to every good work. It is impossible to give to God without receiving more in return.

Give to the Lord in every way. Honor Him with all you are and have. You will be making deposits into a divine account and He will take care of you in all things, and the abundance of heaven will be manifest on the earth.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

The Reciprocity of Sowing and Reaping

There is one who scatters, yet increases more;
And there is one who withholds more than is right,
But it leads to poverty.

The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself.
(Proverbs 11:24-25)
How can one scatter and yet increase? How can another hold on tight to what he has, and still end up broke? It is the reciprocity of sowing and reaping, of seedtime and harvest: Sow a seed, reap a harvest. The one who is scattering in this verse is actually broadcasting seed.

Paul talked about this in his letter to the Corinthians: “He who sows sparingly, will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). Seeds work only when you plant them. Hold them in your hand, or keep them in your pouch, and they will bring you no return. Sow a little, reap a little; sow a lot, reap a lot.

“The generous soul will be made rich.” Or as Paul said, sow bountifully, reap bountifully. He was speaking in a financial context, but the principle is applicable in every aspect of life. Jesus said,
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. (Luke 6:38)
Now, the principle works both ways, both positively and negatively. Give out judgment and condemnation, and you will get a boatload of it back. That is actually what Jesus is talking about here. But sow kindness and mercy, and that is what you will reap. Help others to prosper, and you will end up prospering also. Or as the proverb says, “He who waters will also be watered himself.” When you refresh others, you will also be refreshed. Paul tells us that “whatever a man sows, the he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

Eugene Peterson translates these proverbs this way:
The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.
Whatever you sow, that is what you will reap. Sow sparingly, reap sparingly. Sow bountifully, reap bountifully. The choice is yours.

Friday, May 13, 2005

How to Reap Generously

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. (2 Corinthians 9:6 NKJV)

Remember this: he who sows sparingly and grudgingly will also reap sparingly and grudgingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to someone] will also reap generously and with blessings. (2 Corinthians 9:6, The Amplified Bible)
How do you want to reap? A. Sparingly and grudgingly? B. Generously and with blessings?


If you answered with A, hit yourself on the head with a rubber mallet, and when you come to, perhaps you will think differently about it.

Sane and sharp people will answer with B. They want to reap generously and with blessings. That’s what we call a “no-brainer.”

How do you reap generously and with blessings?

The answer is clear and simple: Sow generously and with blessings. For as you sow, that is exactly how you will reap.

And yet, strangely enough, there are people who sow sparingly and grudgingly but expect to reap generously and with blessings. They have not yet believed the truth — it has not yet been settled in their hearts.

Everything is about faith, even our giving. If you truly believe that we will reap bountifully, then that is exactly how you will sow, gladly and willingly — even expectantly.

Friday, February 11, 2005

Lending to the LORD

He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD,
And He will pay back what he has given. (Proverbs 19:17)
Did you know that you can actually lend to the LORD, and He will pay you back? That’s what this verse is saying. The word for “pity” means to be gracious, to show favor. Literally, it is to bend or to stoop down in kindness. Here again, the word for “poor” means “dangling,” and refers to someone who is very much in need.

The word for “lend” literally means to twine, or to unite. That is what borrowing and lending does, it creates a bond, even an obligation. The man who shows favor to the poor actually lends to the LORD, and that places the LORD in his debt. Oh, how that idea offends the religious spirit, but that is clearly what the Scripture implies. God allows Himself to be in our debt.

Now, the lender/debtor relationship that is implied here is not one of animosity. The lending and repaying are not done in a begrudging way. Rather, it is a delightful partnership that is being depicted. For why is showing favor to the poor understood as lending unto the LORD? Because God identifies His heart with the poor. They are of special concern to Him. The desire of His heart is to lift them up out of the ashes and bring them into His abundance. So, when we show favor to the poor, we are actually identifying with God’s heart, partnering with Him in His good pleasure. We have touched the heart of God, and there is great reward in that.

Our God is a God who repays. In Jeremiah 51:56, He is called Yahweh El Gemulah, the LORD God of Recompenses. Often in the Old Testament, the recompense is negative, i.e., God repaying the wicked for their wickedness. But His recompense also works very positively.

It’s a matter of sowing and reaping, and Yahweh is the Lord of the Harvest. We discover this principle in the New Testament:
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. (Galatians 6:7-9)
So it is with our lending to the LORD. It is a seed we sow. And when we sow, we reap. If we sow well, we reap well. If we sow bountifully, we reap bountifully. If we sow sparingly, we reap sparingly.

What we give to God is a seed, what God gives to us is a harvest, and the harvest is always greater than the seed. What we sow is what we reap. Sow favor, and reap favor. Sow thorns, and you will not like your harvest.

God will “pay back.” The word used here means to reciprocate, to make complete. It is a restoration, a fulfillment. The circle is complete. But don’t stop there. Let the circle keep going by reaching out more and more to those who are in need of God’s kindness shown through you. When we show grace, He shows grace back to us. When we prosper the poor, God prospers us. God always repays, and He always repays BIG!

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Ministering Out of the Overflow of God's Abundance

Our God is a God of abundance. More than enough. His paths drip abundance. David said, “My cup runs over” (Psalm 23:5). Running over. Overflow.

Someone has said that Egypt was a land of “not enough,” the wilderness was a land of “just enough,” but the Promised Land was a land of “more than enough.” It was a land flowing (overflowing) with milk and honey.

Another psalm writer gave this musical notation: “Both the singers and the players on instruments say, ‘All my springs are in you.’” (Psalm 87:7). The “you” refers either to the Lord Himself, of else to His holy city, Zion. Either way, it refers to abundance that comes from God. For what is a spring if not an overflow?

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Overflow.

Paul understood the overflow of God as the abundance of His grace. “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). This is the abundance of God so that we may also have abundance.

This is not just spiritual abundance, as if the spiritual could be separated from the natural. This is spiritual abundance that flows forth into the natural. In fact, in the context of 2 Corinthians 9, this verse moves from the general truth of God’s abundance in our lives to the particular abundance of God in our finances — a.k.a. money.

Yes, God’s abundance is as much about our money as about anything else in our lives. God wants to bless us with an abundance of it — more than enough — so that we can overflow with financial blessing into the lives of others. He wants to give us more than enough so we can have abundance for every good work.

This has always been God’s way. In the covenant document of Israel, the Book of Deuteronomy, God says, “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth that He may establish His covenant” (Deuteronomy 8:17). The power to get wealth comes from God so that He may establish His covenant on the earth. It is a covenant of blessing.

Psalm 112 talks about the blessing on the righteous, those who fear the LORD and delight greatly in His commandments. “Wealth and riches will be in his house” (v. 3). Why? Because he is “gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man deals graciously and lends” (vv. 4-5). God blesses the righteous with wealth so that they can overflow with blessing toward others.

Some Christians have a very stingy spirit. “I don’t need much, just enough to get by,” they say, imagining themselves to be very pious and humble. But in fact, they are grudging and miserly. They are withholding the blessing with which God wants them to bless others. They are stopping the abundance of God in their lives. They have no overflow, consequently they have no flow either. They become stagnant pools — a blessing to no one.

In the season of Thanksgiving, ought we not to give thanks for the bounty of the Lord by letting it flow through us to others? Ought we not to sow bountifully, so that we may reap bountifully, so that we may sow even more bountifully, and thus multiply blessing to many. We will not come up short if we do. Rather, we will experience the current of God’s compassion, the flow of His love into the lives of others. We will be ministering to others out of the overflow of His passion and power at work in us. Its all good.

Saturday, November 6, 2004

Developing a Bountiful Eye

God has always placed a premium on helping the poor. Let the following passages soak in a bit.

Blessed is he who considers the poor;
The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth;
You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will sustain him on his sickbed.
(Psalm 41:1-3)
The blessing of the Lord — deliverance, preservation, strength and healing — belongs to those who help the poor.
“He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD,
And He will pay back what he has given.” (Proverbs 19:17)
When we give to the poor, we are lending to the Lord. How we treat others bears a direct relationship to how our heart is toward the Lord. Remember the dividing of the sheep and goat nations in Matthew 25:31-46? How we treat Jesus’ brethren is exactly how we are treating Him.

The Apostle John said, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21).

Whenever we give to the poor, it is the Lord who will repay, and He always pays back with interest — good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over (Luke 6:38).
He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor. (Proverbs 22:9)
Develop a bountiful heart. If you sow bountifully, you will also reap bountifully. You see, there is a flow to blessing. The more you let it flow through you to others, the more you will experience its energizing current. It is the love of God in action.
He who gives to the poor will not lack,
But he who hides his eyes will have many curses.(Proverbs 28:27)
You do not come out a loser when you give to the poor, only when you turn away from them. Give to the poor and you will not lack, for God will take care of you.

Faith point: Faith works through love (Galatians 5:6). The NIV says, “faith expressing itself through love.” Or as the Amplified Bible has it: “faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love." Remember the poor by your faith expressing itself through love.



Healing Scriptures and Prayers

Healing Scriptures and Prayers
by Jeff Doles

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