It is More Blessed to Give.....
For years I had seen a scripture in the bible that had caught my eye, and that was Acts 20:35 where it says "it is more blessed to give than to receive." Totally opposite of what most people say, because most people I had been around and heard talking had rather be on the receiving end, than on the giving end. "Get all you can, while you can," or either you would hear, "Well, you had better save this, or save that, because you never know when you might need it." Nothing but greed and a covetous heart, and we have all had our share of that, at least to some degree! It could also be a frugal heart that is full of poverty (as well as covetousness) - afraid it will lose whatever it has and never be able to get anything back. But when Jesus died, was buried and rose again the third day for each one of us, He took greed, covetousness, frugality and poverty on Himself and overcame it, that we might live a life full of all of His blessings that come through the Spirit! "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." (II Corinthians 8:9.)
You can have a heart that wants to give, but not be able to because of bondage's in your heart, and that is where I was. And one thing I will add right here is, when you walk in the Spirit and are led by the Spirit, you give whatever God tells you, whenever God tells you and wherever God tells you. Walking in the Spirit, you do not give something just because you want to, or because you feel sorry for someone or because it just seems the right thing to do - you give in obedience to what the Father directs. Because in I Corinthians 13:3 it says you can give all your goods to feed the poor, and if it is not according to the will of God (not in love), it will profit you nothing. Love does only what the Father says (I John 5:3 and John 14:23).
After JR and I were married, we lived from paycheck to paycheck and never really had much extra. We always had food, clothing, cars, a nice place to live, but there was never an abundance. You better know, I would not deprive myself of much, but I also would not go into debt to satisfy my desires, and at times it was frustrating. There were times when family members would help us out, and I was always appreciative, but quite frankly I wanted to be on the giving end and not the receiving end, (and there were times, not as many times as I wanted, when I helped people out that were far worse off than me). But I would think, "Someday I am going to be in a position where I can help people, instead of people helping me." But little did I know how I would get there, and that it would come by believing the gospel (I had never even heard what the gospel was) and that it would come by having my heart redeemed from the law, among many other things. (The very thing I wanted to be able to do, I could not, and this is described in Romans 7:15-25.)
After coming to Water of Life Church, whenever I would clean out closets and go through our clothes, I would give the kids clothes that they had outgrown, as well as mine, to people in the church. I did this for a few years, and then one day (in 1989) God spoke so clearly to me and told me he wanted me to stop giving these clothes to people in the church, and start giving them to the poor and needy - that came to our mission we had at the church. It was a real blessing when God spoke this to me, to say the least! One thing I will say, is that I do not own one thing that is 'too nice' for me to put in the mission. After God told me to do this, I heard more than one person say in my presence, that they had some things that were 'too nice' to put in there. But one thing I thought was, this just might be these people's only hope of receiving something that they otherwise might not be able to afford. Proverbs 28:27 says, "He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse." I have had enough curses in my life without having that one on me too. A virtuous woman (one with inward strength), stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy - Proverbs 31:20. (Jesus did say you would always have the poor with you, too.) And then in Psalm 41:1 it says you are blessed if you consider the poor and the Lord will deliver you in time of trouble. I did like that!
So even years back, God obviously put this in my heart to help the poor and needy, and it has been a tremendous blessing to be able to do so by the Spirit. Every third Tuesday I helped in the mission sorting through clothes that people donated, and then I helped in the clothes room where they were distributed. It was a real delight to see these people being blessed in receiving these items. The adults are the ones who picked out the articles of their choosing (there was a certain amount they would get each week, depending on how much we had in stock to give, so that everyone there was sure to get something). But this one particular time I was working in there, a little boy found something he wanted and he looked at his grandmother and asked her if he could have it. She told him he would have to ask me. I said, "You sure can." He was so excited. When his grandmother was leaving, she turned to me and said, "He will never forget this!" That did do something in my heart when she said that! It truly is more blessed to give than to receive!!!
A couple of years back, when we were living in our 'cozy little!!' apartment that God put us in, we had our furniture in storage at the church - thinking it would be for only a couple of weeks. Well, it turned into a much longer time than that! (Read my testimony on "God Sells Our House".) Anyway, about a year and a half after living there, a situation came up with a person who had moved here from another state, who literally had no belongings, at least not with them. After a period of time, it came up in the Spirit that God wanted us to help this person out. In Acts 4 it talks about laying possessions down at the apostle's feet, and distribution being made by the apostle's to those who have need. JR, Doyle and I had talked, and we all agreed that it was right in the Spirit to help this person, and did so, according to Acts 4. Almost everything that we owned was given (furniture, dishes, linens, etc). God had delivered my heart over so many things in the previous years, that when it came time to lay it all down, it absolutely did not bother me at all. I was delighted to be able to do it - and to do it according to God's Word and by the Spirit. You know, it is easy to give something you do not need, or even want, but to give something you like and think you need, is a whole different thing - unless God has dealt with your heart. I knew then that these possessions did not have a hold in my heart as they would have maybe even a few years prior, and that was definitely a work of the gospel in my heart.
There were still some things left that we had, and we told Doyle to do with them as he believed it was right. As he had been praying, a person came up in his spirit to give these things to, and he did. I will say here, that this last 'bit' that we gave had to do with Amy's bedroom that I had just redecorated about a year before we moved. I had spent a 'nice little' amount of money re-doing it and it was nice. But I had about a minute or two of something I had to overcome in my heart - and I did - right then and there. I also appreciated Amy's spirit in being willing to give it all up! I share this with you to show you what the gospel (the power of God) will do in a person's life who will even dare to believe it. When God takes a hold of a person's life, that person will ultimately be required to lay down everyone he knows, as well as everything he owns, including things he has even been given by the Spirit. I used to think that God would require you to lay down things you had in the flesh only, until He started requiring me to lay down things He had given me by the Spirit. It is a forsaking of all. "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple"- (Luke 14:33). Very humbling! You forsake it for His sake and the gospel's- not for your sake and because you can read it in the bible. This whole walk is being led by the Spirit, doing exactly what He tells you to do - no more - no less.
Another verse of scripture that the Lord has ministered to my spirit over the years, and that really is an incredible verse is Luke 12:15, where Jesus said, "Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." If you think your life consist in the abundance of your possessions, you are badly deceived and blind. Jesus said this - not me! Take heed and beware - these are strong warnings about covetousness. I have learned that about the time you think you have all of this out of your heart, God will check you out real good and say, "Okay, now let's give this away! Then you will know if it is 'out' or not...
I went through a period of time years back when the Lord would deliver my heart of covetousness, and even poverty spirits, before He would even let me buy a piece of furniture, or anything else for that matter. I would think, "This just isn't fair." But I came to see that it was the love of God in my life, setting my heart free from all these spirits, so that His blessings could come forth through the Spirit. One thing I have learned in walking in the Spirit, is that Jesus always deals with the heart of an individual in every situation - taking out the lusts of the flesh, the cares (desires) of the world, the pride of life, etc., because all of these things shut up the kingdom (power) of God. Jesus said in Matthew 6 to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these things would be added unto you. My heart (not my mouth just speaking it) finally came to a place where all I wanted was the kingdom (the power) of God in my life, because I could see that everything else would be taken care of.
Because of our obedience in these things, God has, by His Spirit, tremendously blessed us far above anything we could ask or think according to the power that worketh in us (Ephesians 3:20). There is only one requirement in receiving the things of the Spirit, and that is laying down your life and picking up the life of the resurrected Christ - walking in the Spirit, being led by His Spirit and serving Him with you spirit in the gospel.
When Jesus put us in the house we are in, He blessed us with everything new - and I mean everything - from the kitchen, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the living room, the dining room, the family room to the gameroom! (With everything being new, I almost forgot and will make a little correction here, He had us keep our washer, dryer and refrigerator, although we were more than willing to give them too, and He had Travis keep his bedroom furniture.) Even this day, though, if God told me to give everything I own away, I could do it again, because these 'things' are not in my heart. I know the One who was raised from the dead, and I know what He has done in my life and in my heart - and there is nothing in, or on, this earth to compare to it.
In closing, I will say that one of the most rewarding aspects of this walk in the Spirit, is being able to preach this gospel, which is the death, burial and resurrection power of the Lord Jesus, free of charge to the entire world. Jesus said freely we have received, freely give! What a blessing this is....
Until next time, God bless you!
