Breakthrough in Our Finances

Breakthrough in Our Finances

Session 3: Give and it will be Given to You

I.Taking Him at His Word:

The Bible describes a very powerful God who listens to the prayers of His people, who responds to their cry and who is caring and attentive as opposed to distant and unemotional. We really want to lean into the revelations that the scriptures tell us about who it is that we are serving so that we know how to interact with Him and know what to expect.

The Theology of Giving:

Theology is the study of the nature and character of God; to know who He is changes the way that we do things and the way we see life. Having biblical theology about how God views and responds to finances is powerful knowledge that requires faith to walk in. For those that will choose to believe what the Bible says about Him on this subject however there are great rewards.

A Real Person Watching:

There is a real person on the other end of these transactions, so we are not just giving and that’s the end of it, God is watching and He promises to reward us for our giving.

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Mt. 6:3-4).”

Counting on that Person:

Over financial journey is one of trusting that real person to hold up His side of the agreement; to be there for us and to be looking after us in ways that make a difference. Faith is leaning into that hope and then entrusting the outcome of the circumstances to the Lord who responds to our faith with perfect wisdom.

He Filled My Tank of Gas:

Once time I was running on empty and I only had a $4 dollars for gas so when I went to the gas station I was planning on only putting in $4. During that season of life I had to do things like that pretty often because while I had some really cool stories I most times did not have any extra money to play with. On this particular visit to the gas station I got distracted while I was filling up and since I wasn’t paying attention I forgot to turn the pump off at $4; it filled up the whole tank. I was freaked out for a moment because I knew that I couldn’t pay for the whole tank of gas. But when I looked up to see the total the whole tank only cost me $3.57. This was both a total shock and a bit concerning because I didn’t want to steal gas. When I went in to pay attendant I asked him the if anything was wrong with the pump because I thought it gave me more gas than I was paying for. He said everything looked fine and not to worry about it; I drove off with a whole tank of gas for $3.57. I was both relieved and shocked; but one thing was clear from the situation, God was watching and very involved in my affairs.

II.Give and it will be Given to You:

We want to begin to reprogram the way our minds think about giving and money to be in alignment with all that the Word of God has to say about the subject. It’s far too easy for us to allow our perspective to be formed by the world around us and our experience, or perhaps lack of experiencing God in our finances.

A.Promised Return:

Jesus promised us that we could count on there being a response from Heaven when we give. He said that we should expect that when we sow it will be richly rewarded according to the measure that we use.

“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 (Lk. 6:38).”

B.The Measure We Use:

Paul tells us that the Lord is paying attention not only to whether or not we are giving but He measures the degree of our generosity. He promised to measure back to us in proportion to just how lavishly we give.

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously…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…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 (2Co. 9:6-11).”

C.Generosity Rewarded:

The Lord told wrote in this same principle into the Old Testament Law so that the people of God would come to see this cause and affect relationship between generosity, not giving merely, and God’s abundant breakthrough on personal finances.

“Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to (Dt. 15:10).”

D.Goodness Promised to the Generous:

He promises to pour out His good and prosperous hand on those who enter into the spirit of generosity. This means making sacrifices to be able to sow, it means giving more than what would be expected, it means being very intentional to be generous with our money.

“Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice (Ps. 112:5).”

III.Posture Yourself to be Generous:

Position yourself to where you are continually sowing into His purposes. If you do then you can count on His continual provision. This isn’t about giving big into the offering that one time, it’s a philosophy of life that takes God up on His Word and makes intention to be generous at every turn. This is a healthy and fun way to live and it promises that you will always have supernatural money coming your way from Heaven. Below are some stories of ways that supernatural favor showed up in sustaining ways as apposed to many of the other stories I’ve shared so far which were points of provision just meet a specific need.

A.$500 from the Hills:

During the season that I was making $111 a month and was experimenting with this crazy notion of sowing 30% of that back into the Kingdom I had a number of marking moments. I was used to the pay as you go thing where I’d have a need and then God would meet just that amount. But one time I was visiting a couple that I hadn’t seen in maybe a year or so, they were some friends from the church I got saved in. While I was with them just catching up on what I was up to they wrote me a check for $500. I instantly knew that the Lord was doing something different this time, this check was enough to pay for all my bills for months. As a result those next several months didn’t have any need for the pay as you go immediate breakthroughs.

B.Supernatural Hyundai:

I had this dive of a car that I bought for $200. It had been in two car accidents and it had so many problems that I couldn’t keep track of them all. The AC was broken and all four windows eventually broke in the up position, pieces of it were falling off of it and you literally had to pray every time to get it to start. But without me putting a dollar into it, because I didn’t have a dollar, it ran for over a year without so much as an oil change.

C.$1000 After Journaling:

One time during that season where I was without a job I was journaling about how it would be nice to have a little extra and it would be nice to not have to wait until the last minute everytime. I prayed and asked the Lord to give me $1000 that day to pay for next months rent and to take car of my bills and supply me with a little breathing room. Later that same day I was given a check for exactly $1000.

IV.Giving You the Power to Create Wealth:

The Lord actually wants us to give Him back our money. God is the one who gives us power to make wealth; that which we produce only comes from the power that the Lord gives. He loves this backwards economic system; it’s His invention and He delights in giving us the capacity to make money so that we can be provided for and that we can partner with Him in all the purposes of His heart.

“But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day (Dt. 8:18 NASB).”

A.Given Relative to Our Capacities:

The Lord gives you power to make wealth according to your unique capacities; things like your ability to manage money and your experience, as well as your individual life circumstances, influence and relationships. For some that means the ability to make thousands and for others it might be millions or even more. He apportions in perfect wisdom.

B.Responds to Our Character:

While it is the Lord who decides our life circumstances, birth lineage and our innate abilities we can still have a significant role over the course of our life regarding how much financial power He will entrust us with. He responds to the way that we respond to Him with our money, how we steward the money that we have and how we carry our hearts before Him.

C.Purpose of Wealth:

Wealth and giving are directly related in God’s Kingdom, the purpose of the wealth that God gives us is to build His Kingdom. Historically He gives to His people so that they in turn can finance His work, this is His system. God’s primary objective is not our personal prosperity, though He will prosper us along the way and He really delights in seeing our hearts respond to Him with thanksgiving for blessings that He gives this is not the main intention for the provisions He gives. He gives to us so that we may partner with Him to do His objectives.

D.An Example from the Exodus:

When the Jewish slaves left Egypt God orchestrated events so that all the Egyptians gave them their gold, jewels and costly stones. But of what value were these items to the Jews once they were out in the desert where not shops or people to barter with could be found? God looted Egypt and gave the provisions to His people but they were not in any immediate sense able to use it. The Lord had a very real agenda for that wealth that He gave them the power to make. He would later have Moses take up an offering to furnish the building of the Tabernacle. The people were asked to give as their heart prompted them; God gave them money so that they had something to give Him.

“The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering…from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece (Ex. 25:1-7).”

E.Fueling Your Faith:

As you gain some personal testimonies it will really fuel your faith not only for your own life but as a means to minister to others. Building a personal history in this will thrust you into believing for even bigger ministry testimonies.

V.The Power of Giving:

We want to recognize the power of money; power that God Himself ascribes to the arena of finance and desires that it be used in relationship to giving and sowing into His Kingdom purposes and His people. Giving accomplishes a number of supernatural things that we want to be sure not to overlook. If we can begin to understand the powerful ramifications that our partnership in finances can make then we will be far more willing to do it more often and we will operate in it more effectively. The more generous that you are the more money you’ll end up being able to give away over the years.

A.The Power to Change Others Lives:

Giving generously has the power to change people’s lives. Before we get into the stories we need to understand that the amount of what it means to be generous is relative to you and to the person and circumstances.

One time I got someone a really nice Bible and it was huge to them.
I bought a car for someone once and they were able to get a job.
I was able to pay off a guy’s debt as a result their kids had Christmas.

B.The Power to Unlock Our Own Hearts:

Giving has power to unlock our hearts toward people, towards places, and even things. When we give to something it ties our hearts to it and allows us to really look for His purposes with that person or thing. This is one reason the Lord wants us to tithe into the local storehouse (local church) we are apart of; to knit us to that ministry and the Lord’s purposes for that ministry. Giving makes it difficult to speak out against a leader or a ministry that you are sowing your finances into.

Once I gave to this lady who really irritated me, it freed me so much.
There are places I’ve sown into that today I still can’t speak against.
I gave to this ministry that bugged me and it changed my perspective.

C.The Power to Knit People’s Hearts to Us:

Finances have the power to help connect people together in friendship in powerful ways; it has the power to quickly do a deep work in the heart uniting people together in love (Pr. 11:25, 21:14; Lk. 16:9).

The stories I told a minute ago all created strong relational ties.
Pastor Adam gave Amy and I $200 when we had a miscarriage.
After we gave to a group that was speaking badly about us it stopped.

D.The Power to Move God:

The Lord sees every action and every movement of our heart. He knows the hidden things and He absolutely sees every dollar that we give. Jesus told us that the Father will reward us for the money we give in a right heart; this means far more than God is our piggy bank this promise tells us that we have the capacity to move God to action. Jesus, who knows the Father better than anyone says that when you give money God notices it and that He takes account and then does something in response.

E.The One Constant Every Time:

We cannot guarantee that we will change a life every time we give, there is no promise that our heart will immediately unlock in the moment of our giving and we can’t ensure that hearts are connected together as a result of every single gift. But we can be sure no matter what the circumstance looks like, no matter how men respond and with no regard to whether or not you feel it in the moment; God’s heart is moved and He is responding to your action.