~Is GIVING Spiritual? by J. S. Leaman

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IS GIVING SPIRITUAL?

J. S. Leaman

Faith Promise Representative

 The Church has been given the commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Notice what Jesus said in Luke 24:47 “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”. Since we are the people of the name, we are the ones that have been given the commission to fulfill His command.

A number of years ago I was invited to a weekend mission’s conference in Tennessee, and, as I walked into the church for the Saturday night service, the banner in front of the church impressed me.  The banner stated: “Some give by going – Some go by giving – without both – there are no missions”.  It is the going missionary and the giving church together that will get the job done.

When a missionary presents his burden to a church, many times the congregation feels the desire to become a part of the ministry of the missionary by supporting him through prayer and finance. Hearing creates desire.  Since Jesus said to go ye into all the world,  it is the responsibility of the church to become a part of sending this Gospel to a lost world that will bring salvation to lost souls through prayer and finance.  Consider this statement –

IF YOU CAN’T GO IN PERSON, THEN GO IN PURSE.

I was driving on one of the interstates in St. Louis with the radio tuned to a religious program and heard a man make this statement.  “Giving is a part of living because you can’t take your next breath until you give your last one”.  Subconsciously I knew that all along, but it just hadn’t quite registered until that moment.  This also applies in the spiritual.  Giving must be a part of our lives to be productive spiritually.  God has given us two hands – one with which to receive and one with which to give.  A closed hand cannot receive or give. 

There are many scriptures in the Bible about giving.  In fact there are probably many more than we ever dreamed.  Let me show you what I mean.  There are over 500 scriptures on prayer, another 500 on faith, but there are over 2000 on stewardship and giving.  So it does appear that the Lord wanted us to become aware of the subject of giving. We need to consider that giving is not a one-way street. 

Notice what Jesus had to say in Luke 6:38:  “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Jesus was simply saying that if I will give, He will move on men to give back to me. 

Acts 20:35 is also extremely important. “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  We all understand the joy of receiving but the scripture says that giving is even better.

II Corinthians 9:7 “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver”.  This scripture isn’t just saying that God loveth a giver but it says that He loves a cheerful giver.  In the original, the word cheerful means hilarious…God loveth a hilarious giver.  A number of years ago I was Christmas shopping with my wife for our children.  I was getting excited about the gifts we were buying, knowing they would like them, and the Lord flashed this scripture through my mind and asked me if I enjoyed giving to Him as much as I enjoyed giving to them? 

Some years ago the Foreign Missions Division introduced to the fellowship a plan of giving to support the missionaries that has revolutionized the division and has been an outstanding blessing to many of our churches.  It is called Faith Promise giving.  Faith Promise gives every member of a church the opportunity to challenge young and old to make a monthly commitment to the cause of sending our missionaries around the world to proclaim this life-changing Gospel.  Making a Faith Promise is an individual asking the Lord for direction as to how much He would like to channel through them each month to support the missionary cause around the world.  Faith Promise unites the sending church with the going missionary.  Faith Promise supplies the finance to support the Partners in Missions of the local church.

Some may feel that they can’t afford to support a foreign missionary, but it has been proven that when the church gives globally, God will bless locally.  The blessings that follow are phenomenal to the individual and church that will give the Lord an opportunity to bless them through giving.

A mother testified how that eight years earlier their family lived in Birmingham, Alabama and heard me preach about Faith Promise giving.  They made a commitment while living on food stamps.  In services following their commitment, they heard different ones testify about the financial blessings they were receiving, they never had anything happen to them.  However, at the end of the year while filling out their income tax return, they realized that they had been able to pay all of their bills including their Faith Promise.  They realized that God had made them better money manager after they became involved in Faith Promise giving. 

I would like to give you a few testimonies of individuals that have been blessed when they became involved in Faith Promise giving.

• One man testified that he gives more to Faith Promise now than what he was earning when he made his first Faith Promise commitment.  He had let the Lord be his financial advisor.

• A businessman asked the Lord for direction as to what he should give.  He turned in a Faith Promise commitment for $2,000.00 a month, but before leaving the service, he increased it by another $500.00 for a total of $2,500.00 per month.  Within the month the Lord showed him how he could reduce the operational costs of his business by $2,500.00 per month!

• A couple made their Faith Promise commitment on Sunday night, and the wife felt fine while they were at church.  However on the way home she started getting worried about the amount they had committed.  She asked her husband if he thought they had truly heard from the Lord or were they just being foolish?  As she tried to go to sleep that night, she started thinking about all of their bills.  She started to panic and finally told the Lord that they would trust that they had heard from Him.  She put the matter out of her mind.  Tuesday she was called into her manager’s office for a meeting with her manager and supervisor. They started off by saying that many people had been leaving the company for higher salaries elsewhere and that their employee survey results had also indicated that employees were very dissatisfied with their salaries.  She had just received her second raise in six months and was very satisfied.  However she did not get a chance to express her satisfaction.  They said that the company had evaluated everyone’s salaries and that she was to receive a 24% raise.  She was given a raise that was TWICE the amount of their year’s Faith Promise commitment.

Giving is a part of living, both in the natural and the spiritual.

Don’t let fear deny you of the blessings the Lord has in store for you.  Faith Promise is when you ask the Lord what he would have you to commit each month.

Proverbs 3:4,5 Tells us what to do and how to do it.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him and he will direct thine steps.

When the Lord impresses you with what He is directing you to commit the enemy will impress you that you can’t do that.  But the Lord never leads us astray.

When fear knocks at your door saying you can’t, send faith to the door to answer.

I read recently that Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real.

Where the Lord guides He provides.


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"The Lord does not BLESS us to increase our standard of LIVING but to increase our standard of GIVING!"

Note! Emphasis using text highlight, italics, bold, etc. and photo as well as the statement after the photo have been added by editor. My thanks to J. S. Leaman for sending this article for use in this blog.