Becoming an Excited and Extravagant Giver

II Corinthians 9:6-8 NKJV

6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

He's talking about money.   God uses us to advance His work.  Who else will do it?  Many Christians want to give, but they do not.  Don't let your head talk you out of with God wants you to do.  

What I Believe About Christians and the Issue of Giving:

A. Giving is the most difficult and tormenting issue in the Christian experience for most people.

B. The reason the issue is so difficult isn’t because people don’t want to give—it’s because they do want to, but there is a conflict between their heart’s desires and their head’s understanding.

Four Progressive Levels of Christian Response in Giving

1. Shock and Disgust

2. Grudging Obligation at a Minimum Level

3. Committed Giving at a Level of Obedience to God

4. Extravagant, Excited Giving

The Three Keys to Becoming an Excited, Extravagant Giver

1. By understanding the living nature of money.

2. By understanding the loving nature of God.

3. By understanding the lying nature of mammon.

Key #1 - Understanding the Living Nature of Money

II Corinthians 9:10-11 NKJV

10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

Proverbs 3:9-10 NKJV

9 Honor the Lord with your possessions,And with the first fruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty,And your vats will overflow with new wine.

Luke 6:38 NKJV

38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Malachi 3:10-12 NKJV

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,That there may be food in My house,And try Me now in this,”Says the Lord of hosts,“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”Says the Lord of hosts; 12 “And all nations will call you blessed,For you will be a delightful land,”Says the Lord of hosts.

Key #2 - Understanding the Loving Nature of God

Truth #1 - God is a loving Father to all of us beyond anything we could possibly understand.

Truth #2 - Giving and trusting God in financial issues is the #1 thing that allows God to express His fatherly love to us.

Hebrews 13:5-6 NKJV

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we may boldly say:“The Lord is my helper;I will not fear.What can man do to me?”

I John 2:15-16 NKJV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

Romans 8:15-17 NKJV

15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Key #3 – Understanding the Lying Nature of Mammon

Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

a) Giving disconnects us from the world and connects our hearts to God!

b) Giving reveals where our trust is—in God or in money.

c) Giving breaks a spirit of mammon off of us and the deception that is with it.

Matthew 6:24-26 NKJV

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

What is the Holy Spirit saying to me through this message?

Jimmy Evans, Gateway Church