GOD’S WAY OF MEETING MY NEEDS
50 Days of Faith Part 5 – 2nd Cor. 9:6-15
Acknowledgement - Rick Warren
For the past four weeks we’ve been in our series “50 Days of Faith.” I’m real excited about what God is doing here at Calvary (ie series, youth, studies). Throughout this series we’ve been talking about the importance of the promises of God. That if were going to be a man/woman of faith, a church of faith, we have to learn and claim the promises of God.
Our theme verse is Hebrews 11:6. We need to remember that without faith it is _______________ to please God.
Sharing time.
Amedeo Obici was born in 1876 near Venice, Italy. His widowed mother read him letters from his uncle in America. Amedeo told everyone he was going to America. He was an exceptionally bright child. By age 11, his family helped him save enough money for an immigrant’s ticket to America. He set sail by himself.
Amedeo had no money for food, so his mother gave him a bag of peanuts. That is all he had to eat for the 10 day ocean trip. In America, Amedeo at 11 years old, worked as a bellhop and a helper at a fruit stand. He worked hard and saved his money.
Amedeo learned that Americans liked the peanuts he shared with them; but few, if any, were growing them. So, he found a place to plant the handful of peanuts he had left. While his peanuts were growing, he saved enough money to buy a horse and wagon. When his peanut crop came in, he drove around calling himself "The Peanut Specialist" selling roasted peanuts. By 1906 he developed his method of blanching and roasting peanuts and founded Planters Peanuts. He became wealthy enough to send money to his family in Italy; and, years later, he gave to the city of Suffolk the Louise Obici Hospital named after his wife.
Now, Amedeo had only a handful of peanuts; but he had the choice of what he could do with them. He could have eaten them or sold them, but he wisely chose to plant what he had so that, in time, he would have enough to eat, give away, and sell to send money to his family. I don’t know if Amedeo knew about the Law of the Harvest in the Bible, but he certainly practiced it!
Today’s promise on your outline is Philippians 4:19 “My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” That’s a pretty broad statement. God says, I will meet all your needs according to my riches in Christ Jesus. There was a time in my life where I never really believed that verse. Some of you don’t understand that verse. You say, “I have needs in my life that are not being met. I have physical needs, spiritual needs, social needs, and financial needs. I have marital and family needs; I have a lot of needs in my life that are not being met. So why doesn’t this verse work for me? Why isn’t this promise working in my life?”
It’s not God’s fault. We need to understand that behind every promise is a premise or a condition. God says, “If you will do ‘this’ then I will do ‘this.’” And today we’re going to look at those conditions. And if you follow those conditions – the premises behind the promise – you can count on the fact that God says I will meet all your needs.” He doesn’t say, I’ll meet all your greeds. He does not say to me ‘Randy I will meet all of your wishes.’ He says I’ll meet all your needs in your life.
In 2 Corinthians 9, God spells out first the principle – what God wants us to do – then He spells out the procedure – how to do it. Then finally He gives us the promise – the guarantee. This can save you money, increase your joy, and increase your faith. It changed my life when I understood how God will meet my deepest needs.
Here’s the principle.
I. WHEN YOU HAVE A NEED PLANT A SEED.
2 Corinthians 9:6 “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
Let me tell you about some godly people I met, Frank and Tilly in Southern Manitoba. One day while I was working at Southland Community Church in southern Manitoba I ended up with a two hour time slot because two people phoned and cancelled their appointments.
I thought great I can get caught up on some paper work. But everyday I ask the Holy Spirit to direct my time and life – because my life and time are not my own. This day was no different. While leaving the hospital I noticed a woman who was sitting in a wheelchair. A friend of ours named Cindy; a Christian lady was sitting next to her. Now the lady in the wheelchair was obviously very ill. She looked at me and said come back tomorrow. To make a long story short Evelyn Tooth’s body was riddled with cancer. The Holy Spirit impressed upon my heart to visit Evelyn every day. I did my best. Evelyn soon gave her heart to Jesus. One day I went to the hospital and her husband Dave was there. Dave said to me ‘Evelyn passed away an hour ago. Her dying words were ‘I want Randy to give a message at my funeral.’ There were over 300 people at the church; they were sitting in the aisles. A gospel salvation message was given at the request of Evelyn.
Now you will recall that I mentioned I had met Frank and Tilly. They were Evelyn’s parents. They were 93 and 89 and still in great health. Frank was still farming at 93. He had moved to Canada. As a young man he gave his heart to Jesus. As a young couple they had no money, no jobs, no land, and uncertainty.
God led them to start farming. They gave the first fruits of their income and produce back to God. They still do. They tithe to the local church. Above that they have always supported the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a partnership of Canadian church-based agencies working to end hunger in developing countries.
They were an amazing couple who in faith had always given to God and his work.
Frank and Tilly lived the principle of sowing and reaping.
I have another farmer friend named Bob. He is a fine Christian man. He loves this church and supports it financially. When Bob looks at his barren field and he wants to have a crop what does he do to get a crop? Does he pray about it? No. Prayer is worthless at that point. Does he complain about it? No. Complaining is worthless at that point. What he does is goes out and sows some seed. Until he sows some seed nothing is going to happen on that piece of barren property. He has to start by giving.
Now Bob had a second business and it was having difficulty. He had been selling ATV’S and snowmobiles. He had this entire inventory and it was not selling. He had nine employees. When I went to see him at the business one day I was led to pray over it and lay oil at the door posts. Bob stood there and prayed with me. God answered that prayer and the machines sold. He told me that all his employees, who were not Christians, well that is all they could talk about.
I want to tell you something else about Bob. When his business was in difficulty he never stopped tithing. He supported this church, another church in Southern Manitoba and a ministry in Ethiopia.
Now when Bob farms he plants corn, sacks of seed. He does not say “This is all I’ve got. I’m not going to give it away. I’m not going to spread it because it’s all I’ve got and once it’s gone, it’s gone.” I saw what he did. He took the seed and spread it out. Now supposing he would have said I have to hang onto this seed. That is all I got. If he did that he would have never gotten a harvest.
That is the principle. What is God saying here? God is saying His financial plan for your life starts with giving in faith. It’s a test of faith. That may seem illogical. You say, “I don’t have enough. Why would I give away what I’ve got?” Because God’s ways are not your ways. And God wants to teach us faith.
God says, “My ways are not your ways.” What’s man’s way when you get in a financial bind? Typically, the first thing they do is go borrow something. Charge it. If I can’t afford it, put it on a credit card. I don’t have enough so I’ll just put it on credit. So man’s way is to borrow. Let’s maximize our credit cards.
Man’s second way is to work harder, take on a second job, work overtime, get a little additional income any way I can. Some people will beg. They’ll bum of their relatives. Some people will steal. But most people will either borrow or work harder when they’re in debt.
God says, “Time out! That’s not My plan.” God’s way is G-I-V-E. He says when you have a need, be like my farmer friend and sow some seed. That is a statement of faith. The more seed you sow the bigger the harvest. If Bob wanted a little crop, he could have sown a little bit of seed. But he wanted a big crop and he sowed a lot of seed. You should have seen the corn that year. When you have a need, plant a seed.
I’ve talked to a lot of people who say, “When I get out of debt, then I’ll start giving.” Then I will start tithing. My experience is they never get there. God says, “You don’t understand. Start giving and I’ll help you get out of debt.” It’s a statement of faith.
We don’t have to trust God’s promises in our lives. If you just want to go through life on your own, He’ll let you do that. But the best time to plant seed is when you have a need. The best time to be generous is when you’re under financial tension.
If you have never trusted God in your finances by making a giving commitment in faith let me encourage you to do so. And you’ll be amazed at the ways that God provides for your needs when you put His kingdom first in your giving. We tried it. It has changed our lives and our marriage. He is truly an awesome, awesome God.
This principle of sowing and reaping applies to every area of our lives. Whatever you give out in life you’re going to get back. If you give out:
Criticism -------------------------get back criticism
Kindness -------------------------get back kindness
Anger------------------------------get back anger
Love ------------------------------- get back love
Whatever you get back, you not only get back but you get more of it back. If you get angry at somebody notice they get angrier at you. It just happens that way. If you are a really critical person others will be really critical of you. The truth is whatever you give; you’re going to get back.
So whatever you need, you need to give away. If you need more time, give away your time. If you need more money you give away your money. Were a church with many young children. Do you have a desire to see your young children nurtured in solid Biblical truths at Calvary? Then give away your time serving your children. Give your time away and God will bless your children. Give your time away and God will bless it.
That’s the principle. When I have a need, whatever I need more of, I give it away.
The procedure is in the next verse.
II. GIVE WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to plant seed. There’s a right way and wrong way to give. It doesn’t work unless you do it with the right attitude. 2 Corinthians 9:7 “You must each make up your own mind (in other words, nobody can tell you what to give) as to how much you should give. Don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
I just want to clarify one point. I teach tithing, I believe in tithing, and I tithe to the local church. You say what is a tithe? A tithe is a tenth or ten percent. I have taught this in the past and will until the Lord takes me home. Tithing has nothing to do with rules – it has to do with grace.
For me God owns everything. Nothing is mine. He gives it all to me and asks me to give a minimum of ten percent back to him. Anything above that is a freewill offering. I want you know I am leading by example. I want you to know that I discussed this with the Board.
Let’s clarify this right up front. God doesn’t need our money. God owns all the money anyway. In fact our money isn’t really ours any way. It’s God’s. He just gave it to you. You get to use it while you’re alive and then when you’re dead He’s going to give it to somebody else. Everything you have is God’s and He gives you the privilege of managing it until your time is up. So God doesn’t need your money.
What does He need? He wants our hearts. He wants what our money represents. Most of us spend all our lives thinking about money, planning about money, saving money, spending money, worrying about money, investing money, worrying about retirement. God says it’s such a major part of your life I want to be in your life. God wants our hearts, not our money. He doesn’t need our money. He wants our hearts. That’s what it represents. Jesus said “Where your treasure is, your heart is.”
God is far more interested in our attitudes than anything else. He’s interested in why you give what you give? He wants our hearts.
If we want God to meet all our needs we need to have five good attitudes in our lives. They’re all in this verse.
1. I am to give thoughtfully. It says, “Make up your own mind.” You have to make up your own mind. Thoughtfully. You don’t give impulsively, you think about it. You pray about it. You make a deliberate decision based on prayer and conscious thought.
I didn’t learn this truth for many years as a Christian. For years I thought the most spiritual kind of giving was spontaneous giving. I’d hear an emotional message at a conference and be moved to give. I thought if it’s spontaneous then it’s spiritual.
God said, “No, you’re wrong. I want you to plan your giving. I want you to give serious consideration to it.” Prayerfully consider. Be thoughtful. Not impulsive.
2. Be enthusiastic. I’m to give enthusiastically. He says “... not reluctantly,” not out of guilt motivation. Never give out of guilt. “... not grudgingly.” Not grin and bear it (“I’ve got to give something now!”) Don’t give reluctantly.
3. I am to give voluntarily. It says “... not in response to pressure.” If you really knew me you would know I don’t believe in pressured giving. We do have counseling and we have the studies from Crown Canada. I’m not putting any pressure on you. In fact, let me tell you just the opposite. If you ever feel pressured to give – don’t. Because you don’t get any credit for it. God says it’s our attitude that counts. So if you ever feel pressured to give the Bible says don’t do it.
That means if somebody ever comes to your door or calls you on the telephone and they put serious pressure on you to give you can say, “Pastor Randy told me not to give!” Because I am. Never, never, never give under manipulative pressure. If you feel pressured it’s not going to count anyway in God’s book and God wants our hearts.
4. I am to give cheerfully. If I want God to meet my naeeds the Bible says, ”God loves the person who gives cheerfully.” The New Testament of the Bible was originally written in Greek and the word for cheerful there is hilaros. I’ll bet you can’t guess what word we get from that. Hilarious. God says I want you to have a party when you give. It should be a howling time of laughter, joyful giving.
The Bible doesn’t say, give till it hurts. The Bible says, give because it feels good. And the truth is it does. And don’t forget Jesus words ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive.’ It’s always more fun to give because you know its making a difference.
Why does God love a cheerful giver? Because He’s one. God cheerfully gives to you every single second of your life. The breath you just took, God cheerfully gave it to you. The jobs that you have, God cheerfully gave it to you. You would have nothing if it weren’t for God’s cheerful giving. And God wants you to learn to be like Him.
When you are giving cheerfully, you are more like Jesus Christ because giving is the essence of God. A true follower of Christ learns to give cheerfully. Because that is the nature of God. God loves to give. And He loves to see you give cheerfully and He looks down and goes, “That’s my child! They are giving cheerfully. They are becoming like Me.” I’m to give cheerfully.
Now every week we know of people in this church who are hurting; physical and other illnesses. If we tell you about it and you grudgingly say ‘I will cook a supper for them that is not cheerful giving.’ But I am so proud of you; cheerfully taking meals to people who are ill.
5. I am to give weekly or consistently. 1 Corinthians 16:2 “On every Lord’s Day (when is the Lord’s Day? Sunday, the first day of the week. Why do we worship on Sunday? Because Jesus was resurrected on Sunday. So we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.) put aside some from what you have earned during the week and use it for the offering.” Giving is an act of worship and you’re to give it consistently; if possible at your place of worship.
Now the Board has met and talked about this. We got some help from our Bishop and the BGC head office. Now we realize that the day of carrying cheques and cash is over for many. Many young people do everything electronically – they are the digital generation. That is why were implementing electronic giving.
Now worship is not just come, sing some songs and hear a message. Worship is our number one purpose in our lives and church. Worship is prayer, commitment, serving and giving. God says, “I want you to give Me the first part of your money on the first day of the week because I want to be number one in your life.”
How can I learn to give cheerfully? Because by my nature I’m not naturally a cheerful giver. There are three things we need to remember. And if you’ll remember these three truths you’ll become a very cheerful giver.
1. Remember it all comes from God. You’ll never give anything away that God didn’t give to you. You would have nothing if it weren’t for God. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:10 “God gives seed to the farmer and food to those who need to eat and God will also give you seed and multiply it.” When my friend Bob goes out to sow seed where did he get the seed? He didn’t invent it. God even gave him the seed. He’s going to get a crop but even the seed came from God. It’s all God’s in the first place.
2. Remember God’s guarantee. God’s guarantee is whatever I give to God, God is going to give back to me. Luke 6:38 “Give to others and God will give to you. The measure you use for others is the one God will use for you.” God says you can choose how much I bless your life. You can choose by your giving. Whatever you give to me, I’ll give to you.
God gives a guarantee in 2 Corinthians 9:11. He says, “You will be enriched so that you can give even more generously.” You know how God grows your heart, gives you a bigger heart? You give to Him; He gives more back to you. Not necessarily in money; it may be in joy or some other area. When you tithe cheerfully, and then you see that nearly new garage sale item that saves you two hundred dollars that is not a coincidence. Make the connection between your obedience and God’s generosity. I can tell you from experience God has always blessed me.
When you give to God remember this: you cannot out give God. He just keeps giving back to me; over and over again.
One day I got a call from Lundees; congratulations you have won the Balmertown shopping spree. We have many people into our home; both within and outside the Province. God gave us meat to minister to others; things we would not buy.
When you make meals to give to people God will take care of you. He gives more back to you... It keeps growing your heart. If you had a little tiny shriveled heart it grows bigger and bigger. Remember God’s guarantee that He will bless you back in return.
3. Remember my eternal reward. Did you know God rewards you every time you give? You’re storing up treasure in heaven, the Bible says. Luke 16:9 “Use your worldly resources to benefit others. In this way your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven.” Anything I hold on to in this life, I’m losing the moment I die. Anything I refuse to let go of I’m losing at the end of this life. Some of you are finding out this right now. Your retirement stocks have dropped 20% in the last three months. You cannot count on it.
But anything I place in God’s hands I will enjoy forever in eternity. He says it’s being stored up in heaven. Just picture this – one day someone in heaven will say thanks to you. You say ‘thanks for what.’ He says thanks for giving. I am here because you gave. You made it possible for a preacher to preach, for a church plant to happen in Montreal or Russia or Indonesia; thanks for giving to me.
Anything I put in His hands will be restored and rewarded in eternity.
Do your givin’ while you’re livin’ so you’ll be knowin’ where it’s goin’. You’ve heard me say many times: “You can’t take it with you but you can send it on ahead.” Every time you give you’re storing up treasure in heaven. And that treasure is guaranteed a blessing by God himself.
So the principle is when you have a need, plant a seed. And the procedure is give with the right attitude. If you do those two things, then comes the promise.
III. I CAN EXPECT GOD TO MEET ALL MY NEEDS.
God promises this over and over in the Bible. We’ve talked about promises in this faith series. God has more promises in the Bible about giving and that’s why we have to deal with it in this 50 Days of Faith. Because God wants to teach us to expect Him to meet all our needs.
2 Corinthians 9:8 “God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things at all times having all that you need you will abound in every good work.” Circle all the “all”s.
“All grace.” God says I’ll give you all grace. Not some grace. All grace. “So that in all things.” Not in some things of life but in all things. “At all times.” Not some of the time but all of the time.
“You’ll have all that you need.” Not some of what you need but all of what you need.
“And abound in every good work.” Question: What does that verse not cover in your life? It covers everything. Does that include mortgage payments? Yes. Does that include school bills? Yes. Doctor bills? Yes. God says all.
Here’s the real issue. Is God a liar? That’s the issue. You see, when you talk about giving, it’s not really about giving. It’s about faith. Giving shows whether I have faith or not. Will God do what He says He will do? Will God keep His promises? Can I depend on God? Giving is not even about giving; it’s about faith. Our budget with this church is not about giving, it is about faith.
Honestly, I feel sorry for people who don’t tithe. It means they don’t trust God. I believe God will keep His word that if I give Him first place in my finances then He’ll take care of all my needs. I don’t know how some people can trust God with their eternal salvation but can’t trust God with their finances. That doesn’t make sense to me. Remember I am an accountant; pragmatic; God had to deal with me on this. The faith side of me says pray and give.
If I can trust God to save me, forgive me, and get me into heaven can’t I depend on Him to keep His word if I do what He tells me to do? Of course.
Giving is a test of faith. It’s not a test of feelings. Why is our giving so important to God?
It is proof of your faith. People will praise God because you obey the gospel you say you believe and because you freely share with them and others. “When I give it proves my faith, it is a testimony to other people that I really do believe what I say I believe that God will take care of me. And God uses it to bless other people. That’s why it’s so important. It’s an issue of faith.
I have been in prayer about our church. A friend of mine sent a gift of $700 to our church three times in the last three months. I was praying about our finances and the cheque was there.
We know very little of what God has in store for us. My wife is a giver. I told you I am an accountant. When she wanted to give to someone I used to say we don’t have funds for that.’ Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said let her give. Now if God puts it on her heart to give it is a done deal. I did not grow up in a giving family; rather the exact opposite. It is my wife’s family who is the givers. The Holy Spirit taught me this through his Word and God’s people. But now I know that I can’t afford to not tithe. I learned to give when I was a student with no income and a baby on the way.
Have you learned that lesson yet? I stand on the promise of this verse, a most famous verse in the Bible. Malachi 3:8-10. “Bring your whole tithe into the storehouse. Test Me in this,” says the Lord. “And see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.” Circle the phrase “test Me”. God issues a challenge here. Here’s the Pepsi challenge verse of the Bible. He says “I dare you.” This is the only verse in the Bible where you can prove that God exists. God says, “I’ll prove it to you. Test Me and I’ll prove it to you.” He says, “Let’s play a little giving game. You give to Me and we will see who will out give who.”
I always struggled with this verse a little; even until this year. Then I heard a message by James McDonald on giving. He said doesn’t it say ‘not to put God to the test in the psalms.’ So James says when do we put God to the test? The answer is when God invites you to.
It’s amazing to me that the God who created the entire universe puts Himself on trial. God did not have to make this promise. He could have just said, “I want you to tithe because I say so and I’m God and you’re not. And you owe Me everything anyway.” But He doesn’t do that. Because God is a loving, faithful, giving God. And giving by tithe is not giving under compulsion. God never required his people to give under compulsion.
God wants us to learn to be like Him. He wants me to learn to not be stingy, and I was. He wanted me to learn to be generous. The most sensitive nerve in our body goes from our heart to our wallet? I have lots of friends in ministry and I have been in churches who have taught tithing for a long time. My friends in ministry tell me people give you a bad time about three things:
o When you ask for their time
o When you ask for their money
o The length of your sermons
Now God could have just said, “Give it!” but instead He makes a promise. And He puts His character on the line. And He says, “Test Me. Is God real? Is God loving? Will God keep His promise?” When I started tithing I found out that God’s promises are true.
Tithe means ten percent. It doesn’t mean an eighth or fifteenth. It means ten percent. God says if I make a hundred bucks the first ten bucks goes back to God. If I make five hundred bucks the first fifty bucks goes back to God. When I get a tax refund I give the first ten percent back to God.
I hope you’ll put this into practice. Right now our giving is suffering and personally I think we should give more to church planting in Canada and local missions, not less. If you’ve never started tithing I hope you’ll pray about doing that.
I have heard dozens of messages on giving over the years and it has never bothered me. I heard differing theologies on this and learned from all of them. I’ve been a Christian now for thirty-two years. Were committed to giving because we believe the church of Jesus is the hope of the world. We always grow in faith when we give.
Why do we do this? Why do I preach this? I make no apologies about it. Check it out. Almost 50% of the parables Jesus spoke on had something to do with money or giving. There are over 2,000 verses in the Bible about money and possessions.
I want to keep growing in faith. Personally. I don’t think God’s through stretching my heart, making me grow. I’m not going to rely on some previous commitment I made back in 2004. I want God to keep growing my faith so we just keep making bigger steps of faith.
Two, I want you to know that I’ll never ask you to make a sacrifice larger than I’m going to make. If it’s in my power I’ll keep giving. It is hypocritical to teach this and not tithe.
Three, I know from thirty two years of walking with the Lord I cannot out give God. And I just love to see what He does in my life. And I love His blessing on my life.
Some of you are financially strapped because you have borrowed too much. Your credit cards are at the limit. We want to help you get out of debt. We have Crown Financial lessons and I will help you. If you’re over stressed about money then don’t worry about today’s offering. You’re loved here. You’re wanted here. You’re far more important than any offering you might give.
I believe in equal sacrifice not equal gifts. We all can’t give the same amount. We’re all at different stages. But we can all sacrifice. If I only had forty dollars I could sacrifice twenty. And that will be as significant as somebody who gives twenty thousand dollars. God looks at the sacrifice. He doesn’t look at what you give. He looks at what you’ve got left over. Those of you who have never made a giving commitment, I am asking you to step up to the plate.
MOVE to the Brochure
MOVE to the challenge to tithe
Here is the challenge that we talked about as a Board.
You tithe to the church for ninety days. Go ahead and watch to see how God meets your needs for the next 90 days. I believe he will meet all your needs, because the Bible says he will. Then you will be able to keep on tithing.
Give God a chance to reveal to you how He keeps his promises. Watch for His provision in your life.
This church will be built on sacrifice. That is what this message is all about. But let’s put this in perspective. It’s nothing compared to the sacrifice that Jesus Christ gave for you and for me. Today we talked about giving back to God. And I make no apology for that. If you’re going to grow in faith, you’ve got to learn to give back to God. But what God really, really wants is you. Your love. Your life.
“Offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him.” When you think of what He’s done for you, is this too much to ask? The answer is no.
Communion
Prayer:
If I can trust Jesus Christ with my forgiveness and my freedom and my future, I can certainly trust Him with my finances. Do you need to ask God to forgive you for not trusting Him in your finances? If so, do so now. And ask Him to give you the faith to do the right thing.
Jesus, we will never be able to repay what You’ve given to us. In fact, everything we have is a gift from You. We can only give back what You’ve given to us. Help us to learn the miracle of generosity. Stretch our faith, increase our commitment. Deepen our love for You. Break the grip of materialism in our lives. There are some people here with severe financial difficulties and we pray for them as a church family right now. We ask You to help them. Do a miracle in their lives as they trust You. Do a miracle through us and in our hearts this next week. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Offering
