The Gift Of A Cheerful Heart

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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Pastor James May

THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL HEART

Galatians 6:7, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

In these scriptures we find the basic law of God concerning sowing and reaping. I felt that now was the right time to bring this message to the church as a reminder of what God expects of us in the area of our sowing, or giving, to His kingdom. Too often, we as Christians, become lax in our obedience to the commandment of God to give to him what is rightfully His in the first place. Then we forget that we have disobeyed God and wonder why we find ourselves in difficulties.

How many of you want a bountiful harvest in your health? …In Your Home?…on your Job?…in all of your business affairs?… in your marriage?….in your income?…in all that you do? I’m sure that all of us would say AMEN to those questions. Who would not want God richest blessings in every area of our lives?

If we are to receive God’s blessing then we must obey God’s law first of all. God has given us so many great promises concerning the sowing and reaping of our increase into His kingdom. One such passage in the Bible is found in 2 Corinthians 9:6-11, "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness) Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God."

Giving to God of our tithes and offerings is directly related to our attitude toward God and our trust in His faithfulness to fulfill the promises that He has given to us!

Most of the time when a sermon goes forth concerning what we should give to the Lord, you can just look around the congregation and see the lights going off inside the heads of many people. We don’t like to hear these types of messages because, for the vast majority of Christians who go to our churches, their attitude toward giving to God is that they will only give to Him what is extra or what we might consider “leftovers” after we have used up as much as we needed first.

How many of you like to eat “leftovers”? I have been to some of your homes and looked in as you opened the door to your refrigerator and I have seen some scary sights! Sometimes the leftovers stay in the refrigerator long enough to evolve into a higher life form – that is if we believed in evolution in the first place, which we don’t. But when you look into the refrigerator and see your leftovers growing long green tentacles that come out from under the lid and down the sides of the pot then wrap around the wire mesh of the shelf, it’s time to kill it and get rid of it so we can start the process over again. Why do things grow in the refrigerator? They grow there because none of us really care for leftovers?

If we don’t like leftovers, I don’t think we should expect God to like them either! God expects our best and only our best.

Proverbs 3:9-10, "Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine."