Life Giving

A. Proof on the Power of Giving from the Bible.

Acts 20:32-35 NKJV

32 “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 

33 I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 

34 Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. 

35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Blessing means the supernatural favor and assistance of God.  

Truth #1: It is blessed to receive.

Truth #2: The person who gives is more blessed than the person who receives.

B. Why Giving Is More Blessed than Receiving.

1. It breaks a spirit of selfishness and self-consciousness off of us.

2. It breaks a mind-set of entitlement and poverty.

You are invoking a blessing on yourself when you give. The key to being blessed is how much you give. 

Thinking about others who have less than you cheers you up. Thinking only about yourself brings discouragement, and is a bondage.

Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV

1 Now the Lord had said to Abram:“Get out of your country,From your family And from your father’s house,To a land that I will show you. 

2 I will make you a great nation;I will bless you And make your name great;And you shall be a blessing. 

3 I will bless those who bless you,And I will curse him who curses you;And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

It's hard to bless anyone if you are cursed.

3. Giving is dynamic, and receiving is static.

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.”

God does not determine how much we are blessed.  We do.

4. Giving is in my control and releases the power of a universal law of God. 

Receiving puts me at the mercy of someone else giving to me and isn’t a universally promised experience—unless we are givers.  Me giving is my  problem. 

5. Giving is eternal, and receiving is temporal.

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.

6. Giving keeps my heart turned toward the object of my affection.  Givers don't backslide.

Matthew 6:21 NKJV

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

7. Giving reveals to me the reality of God’s presence, love, and faithfulness in my life.

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

Jimmy Evans, Gateway Church

http://gatewaypeople.com/ministries/life/events/life-giving-a-gateway-series/session/2019/02/16/the-proof-of-life