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| GIVERS & TAKERS |
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11:24 A man may give freely, and still his wealth will be increased; and another may keep back more than is right, but only comes to be in need. 11:25He who gives blessing will be made fat, but the curser will himself be cursed.
Have you ever noticed that there are 2 kinds of people in this world?
There are the "GIVERS" & There are the "TAKERS"
Bill Purvis the Pastor of Cascade Hills Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia made this quote that a profound impact on me, and I would like to share it with you now.
"Givers always have enough and takers never have enough." ---Bill Purvis
Our Lord Jesus made this quote that too profoundly impacted my way of thinking.
"Freely you have received, freely give." ---Jesus Christ (Mt 10:8)
The Apostle Paul made this quote when writing the incredible Romans chapter 8.
"He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all--How will he also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" Romans 8:32
We have been given so much by our Heavenly Father. We could list all the wonderful gifts He has bestowed upon us for days and days, but as children of God we should reflect the nature of our Heavenly Father. He is gracious, and generous, giving unselfishly and with out condition.
This proverb above, is so true! The more we try to hold on to what we have the less we wind up having. The more we give away, the more we have. This is so contrary to the wisdom of this world! The world says to us, "Get all you can, can all you get, and sit on the lid!" But, we are not of this world and should not succumb to the philosophy it preaches. In the Epistle to the Galatians Paul writes, "For whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap." Of course, Paul was talking about our spiritual lives in this passage, but it is a universal law. If we plant something, we can expect it to return a harvest. If we are givers and we give to others out of heart of love it will come back to us! Not only will it come back to us, it will come back to us in greater measure than which we gave.
Many Christians, recoil at this truth, because many televangelists have beaten this concept into the ground. Send me a $100 and God will bless you with a 100 fold return! But, this is not exactly where I am coming from. I am saying, that if you always give, not just to church, but to people. Give of your time, give of your resources, share your talents and give of them unselfishly to people and you will find that you will always have enough when the times comes. I will give you an example from my personal life to which my pastor at the time made me aware of this. My wife was in a terrible car accident, and she was badly injured to the point, I had to stay home and nurse her and care for our children. This as you can imagine caused severe economic stress in our life. But, people rallied to our aid! It was tremendous! We had two cars given to us. People brought all kinds of food and meals to us, one lady went to the military base and bought $500 worth of groceries for us. Another man gave $1,000 two separate times. Our former church in Georgia took up a love offering and sent us two separate checks for over $1,500! We had a man from our church come and build a wheel chair ramp for us so I could take my wife in and out of the house. This was totally unsolicited generosity that came to us! My pastor at the time, told me, "Todd, this provision has happened to you, because you have been depositing in God's bank for all these years. You help, you teach, you love people, you care for them, pray for them, counsel them, encourage them and have been a faithful friend and minister. Now it is time to withdraw from that account and you have plenty because you have given plenty." He went on to say, that a lot of people would not have all those friends in their time of need because they have not sowed into the lives of others.
Being a "Giver" should be as natural for a Christian as is breathing. I encourage you this day, to be like your Father in Heaven and be known as a giver. Don't fear, giving and then doing with out yourself. It doesn't work that way, if you give, God will honor you and will take care of you. I promise and He does too!
I would love to hear some testimonies of where your giving, came back to you.
God Bless,
Todd
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| To add a comment to "GIVERS & TAKERS" |
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| May 26, 2008 |
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Greetings My Dear Brother Todd...Another powerful testimony and blog indeed. I too am a living witness that you can not beat GOD giving....When we give, He promised to give back to us in good measure...pressed down, shaken together, and running over. I'll never forget the time about 17 years ago when I lost my job. I have always worked since the age of 14 years old, and when I lost my job, I could not understand WHY God allowed that to happen to me...Well little did I know that God was taking me through a journey of learning about *His Provision*. Because prior to this I was a giver...and a sower....not only of money, but also of my time to God's House, and His People. He wanted to reveal Himself to me as Jehovah Jirah...My Provider. I'll never forget it...I was at church one day...while still unemployed...in the service just giving GOD praise like I had plenty of money in my pocket (smile)....Well during the service, a sister gave me an envelope. I put it in my pocket and didn't open it right away. After church, she asked me about it and wanted me to open it...When I did, inside there was a $1,000.00 check. Bless God's Holy Name. Another time during this period, I had 3 people to walk up to me at the same time and put money in my hand, and I ain't talking about a little bit of money...They all said THE LORD told me to give you this....Well these were just the beginning of my overflow....I've had sisters come to my house with wardrobes of brand new clothes....Somebody bought me a brand New Living Room Set, bags of food were brought to my house...and believe you my friend, I could go on and on and on. God Himself proved to me that He would supply my every need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. WHY because I was a *sower*.....Truly if we sow sparingly.....we shall reap sparingly....but if we sow bountifully, then our harvest shall be the same. I encourage everyone to become *givers*....I'm not talking about just money....but give of your time, your prayers, your knowledge, your resources....and I can assure you that with the same measure that you sow...it will most assuredly come back to you, and even greater....because you can't beat GOD giving!
Peace & Blessings,
Margie |
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| May 26, 2008 |
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| Margie, that is soooooooo good! Thank you, for taking the time to share that and bless me with it! I think you, ought to copy and paste this and make it a blog posting too! God is so faithful! He is truly Jehovah-Jireh! All these blessings come from you just being faithful to be a giver! It's awesome!! Thank you, for sharing! |
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| May 26, 2008 |
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| Praise the Lord my dear brother...To God be the Glory! Truly we do overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimony. I'm grateful to Him, that you were blessed by a portion of my story (smile). |
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| May 26, 2008 |
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| thank you both for sharing your testimonies.......it is such an encouragement to those who are givers.....God is always faithful and he is a just God......what ever you do in seceret,God will reward you openely......if you do something now that you don't immediatly get recoginized, rest assure that God sees it and he will reward you.........so continue to be givers...because God sees if you are a giver or a taker...........and you will get your just reward.... |
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| May 26, 2008 |
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| Jetta you and Sam are some of the biggest givers I know! Thank you, for such a wonderful example! |
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| May 26, 2008 |
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| You are truly my brother in Christ! Reading this blog has put me in a spirit of expectation, because I am a giver and I recieve your words of wisdom as a prophecy of what will come. I will reap the harvest that is coming to me, because in my lack, in my economic distress; have given my all for the ministry time and time again. God is not a man that he should lie , nor the son of man that he can change his mind!!! |
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| May 27, 2008 |
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| Great blog, Brother Todd. I like what your pastor told you about depositing in God's bank. Wouldn't you say it's an open account? This time it was you that needed to make a withdrawal. I don't have any extraordinary testimonies in regards to being giving & receiving 100 fold. I do know this, however, God has seen to bless my wife and I and our children for almost 31 years (since I became a Christian). We have never gone without food on the table, a roof over our heads and clothes on our back. PTL for His grace and enduring faithfulness. |
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| May 27, 2008 |
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My husband lost his job three days after our eldest daughter was married. Needless to say, it was a very nice wedding. Greg was thankful to be out of the job, because he was not "at home" there anymore. Upper management had changed and most of the VP's were replaced...
He was of work for one year and one month. During this period, there was not one time that we did without. Now the oven went out, but we made the decision to replace it when he got a job. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, as well other health problems, so we paid COBRA. After a hard fall on concrete, Greg's dad encouraged me to file for disability. It was approved within 5 months, along with Medicare. I never went without medication, or a doctor's visit. We were still able to give the church more than we ever gave before.
Greg started his new job over two weeks ago. The first thing my husband did when he got his job was buy me an oven. He took me to Lowe's and bought me some perennials and helped me plant them.
We prayed for the right job the entire time Greg was off. God is so good to us. We praise Him. We never gave on God, and God certainly never gave up on us.
Amen! |
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| May 28, 2008 |
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| Ed: Your testimony is like that of the 2x4 blog you wrote about. You are to me, a man who understands what it means to be faithful and to be steady. You don't have the highs that some might have, but you don't experience the deep lows that others do either. You are a true "Steady Eddie" If we would just take God at His word, we will find, that He always provideds everything we need. Not necessarily everything we want, but everything we need. Paul said in I Tim that with food shelter and clothing we should be content for godliness with contentment is great gain! You are laying up treasures on earth, and I can't wait to see how God uses the Bridge to build His Kingdom! |
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| May 28, 2008 |
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Joey:
Isn't it wonderful to trust God? I had a friend say this one time while he was preaching. "God has never let me down!" He paused for a moment and got a big AMEN! from the congregation, then he smiled and said, "But He has sure scared me to death sometimes!" And everyone laughed a belly laugh because it is so true. I know you guys had to have been challenged each and every day, wondering how you were going to make ends meet. Wondering when that Job was going to open up, if ever. But, yet some how, through the lean times you always had enough. That is the way God works! It is not about, cars in the drive way, and designer clothes and a fancy house, but just like the Israelites in the wilderness, they had just enough for each day. Their daily bread. After 40 years in the wilderness you would think their shoes and their clothes would have worn out, but you never hear that complaint by the Israelites! It is those every day gifts, that so often times we miss because He takes care of everything we need every day. Thank you, for sharing that, I was so blessed by your encouragement. |
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| May 28, 2008 |
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It's funny that you mentioned "steady Eddie". That's what I was called for a long time a while back.
I'm thinking about what you said...I agree that I fit your observation. It does, however, seem that I have more lows than highs. Lately though, as I have recommitted myself to be more faithful, I have been truly blessed. That's a high for me...maybe I ought to celebrate more of those, huh? |
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| May 28, 2008 |
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Well, I would say that the crucible of the fire is never pleasant. These lows are for a purpose and that is to polish you and to cut away at the "flesh" so that His Spirit and life might be seen in you.
There are some deep valleys as we go through life, but that just means usually that there is a high peak coming your way. I would keep doing what you are doing, for in fulfilling your vision you will experience the greatest fulfillment that you will ever experience in this life. I would also say, that a lot of the Christian life is bitter-sweet. It is hard and difficult, but the presence of God and the joy of the Spirit is sweeter than anything we could ever find anywhere else. So, yes! celebrate those blessings and the fact that you are growing closer and more dependent upon the Lord. |
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| May 29, 2008 |
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| You're the man, Brother Todd! Thanks! |
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| September 23, 2008 |
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Joey; thank you so much for your testimony, now I see where you keep telling me that it's going to be alright :) Thanks so much for opening up and sharing....I needed that.
Kenny and I are givers, we're the type that anyone needs help, we try with the skills that God has given us. In our neighborhood, God has more than returned it.....fresh veggies from the neighbor's garden, a dessert or meal from another neighbor, meat from another neighbor's freezer (not just a couple of packages either!)
But, I have one that makes me cry. My oldest son and daughter n love are givers too. When he had to go to the Middle East......it was overwhelming the things that happened. He left a wife and three kids, one that was 2 months old. We're sitting in their living room and a truck drives up....a man comes to the door and says "i need to know a day that is good for you for me to do your yard work"....Shock! When asked who did this, he replied" They said to tell you that God did it and it will be weekly until your husband comes home!" Then my daughter n love went to pay for school lunches.....hmmmm, someone had already paid them. Then she finds an envelope on her desk (she works for the church) it had $600 and said it was to buy diapers.
Then someone hired a house cleaner for once a week so daughter in love could get out of the house! Then another envelope showed up on her desk at Christmas, with money inside. Her vacuum cleaner broke, and she called the janitor at the church to see if she could borrow the churches for one day.....he said he'd even bring it.......he brought her a brand new vacuum cleaner!
In this she was also given a big raise, she called me, not feeling good about the raise....because my son was making good money over there. Together, we brainstormed on how to do it without argument in giving it back....so she gave her raise to a single mother's ministry every week. I still tear up over all of this!
Special note to Bro Todd: That minister that you used to like sooooooo much. He told them personally that anything she needed done, she was to call him personally, if he didn't know someone (an expert in the field)who could do it, he would come and try to do it himself! |
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| September 23, 2008 |
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| What??? Where's my comment?? You mean I never saw this one? Dude, this is an AWESOME word! Love this!! Best blog I've read today! "Being a giver should be as natural to a Christian as breathing." I LOVE IT!! Everyone should read this! |
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| September 23, 2008 |
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| ps.... Deep down I think we all know this....that's why perceived "takers" are looked down on. Isn't it funny when a giver is mistaken for a taker? Well, no, not really.... |
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| September 23, 2008 |
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Cindy: God does provide. He is faithful! You guys are going to make it.
Mike: I am the best unread writer on mychurch LOL. It is not a problem. I have some faithful readers who really are learning and growing and it blesses me to touch their lives. Like I said somewhere else, it is funny to me how the lessons you put a lot of thought into are the least read, but it is all in His timing. My friend you are a big time giver I see how you give of yourself, your time, your energy, your thoughts your prayers for others and it is a blessing to see. As for me, I take seriously giving and I can testify that God never lets me go without. |
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