God Loves a Cheerful Giver

 
^{Corinthians 9:6-11 MSG
6-7} Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.
^8-11 God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out. This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

This morning as I was REFRESHED in the Word of God, I was reminded of the GIVING principle that brings forth blessings and favor into our lives. We can't EXPECT to get without GIVING! It's a spiritual and natural law. If we are desiring and expecting something in our lives that we have not been sowing towards, how can we even EXPECT to get a harvest in that area???  God does not need our giving...WE DO! He already owns it all anyway, and He is just TESTING our HEARTS to see if He can TRUST us with what He has GIVEN us, so that He can later get MORE to us for us to BLESS OTHERS!

The sowing and reaping principle applies to EVERY AREA of our lives! If we SOW mercy, we will receive mercy....if we SOW love, we will RECEIVE love...if we sow generously, we receive generously....just as if  we SOW SPARINGLY, we RECEIVE SPARINGLY... no matter what it is! Giving grudgely and with a poor attitude is just as important as our giving. We can sometimes believe that just because we don't think a person needs or deserves our giving that we are somehow excluded from giving. UNTRUE! God wants a WILLING and CHEERFUL GIVER who is OBEDIENT to His Leading!

Many of us are needing FINANCIAL HARVEST for our households, but we have been reluctant or have not GIVEN/SOWN to get a harvest. It may not actually be money that God is asking you GIVE. Are you giving to that family member who is going through hard times but because you think the person has been irresponsible you won't GIVE even though they are in need? Or you know you have tons of things that you no longer need or us but something in you can't part with them because of the money you have spent or whatever special sentiment you hold to them? Or maybe there is a cause that is dear to your HEART that you aren't ready to GIVE your full commitment to because of the TIME it would require?

God is no respecter of persons and He has MORE than enough to GIVE You everything you need along with anything that you GIVE away for His Glory. Remember we can NEVER OUT GIVE GOD! The only thing is it requires a WILLING and CHEERFUL HEART to GIVE/sow seed towards it to spring up a GOOD HARVEST from it!