A Giving Mindset

There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself (Proverbs 11:24-25).

  

The principles of the kingdom of God are often contrary to natural principles and human thinking. In the kingdom of God to live you must die; to lead you must serve; to be first, you must be last; and to receive you must give!

  

The mind is trained to think logically. It’s not logical to receive by giving, but that’s the way the kingdom operates. We must train ourselves to value kingdom principles and we must renew our minds to what the Father values. Faith in the kingdom principles of the Word of God will bring increase to your life!

  

God’s method of increase in our lives is through our giving. Giving opens us up to the wisdom of God, the windows of heaven, and begins the principle of blessing in our lives. Notice the scriptures:

    

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6). 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 (2 Corinthians 9:10).

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 (Luke 6:38). Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7). Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10).

Jesus said that our giving would lay up treasures in heaven for us, and that our giving reveals where our heart is (Matthew 6: 19-21).

 

Make a decision today to be a giver, a scatterer, a sower, a blesser! Don’t wait for excess. Give now! Give with expectation. He gives seed to the sower.   He who observes the wind [and waits for all conditions to be favorable] will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap (Ecclesiastes 11:4 – Amplified).

 

Put your faith to work in God’s principles. Expect the wisdom of God, the favor of God, and the blessings of God to be upon you. Expect the works of your hands to be blessed! Expect to receive. When you do, don’t eat all of your seed! Sow some more. It’s a never ending process. It’s a foundational principle in the kingdom of God. The principle of giving will revolutionize your life!

Dealing With Disappointment

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12).

Anyone who has ambition will face disappointments. Ambition is not a bad thing. Ambition is a desire to achieve something. God takes the self-centeredness out of our ambition and turns ambition into useful kingdom purposes.

So out of godly ambition, when we set goals and they are not fulfilled, we get disappointed. It’s a normal human reaction to be disappointed when a desire isn't fulfilled. But we must guard against disappointment turning into discouragement. The slippery slope is disappointment, discouragement, then depression.

Big dreams often bring larger challenges! Those who succeed in life are not the ones who never fail. In fact, to succeed, you may fail more often than others who sit back inactive. Those who succeed in their endeavors are the ones who refuse to quit. They may face disappointments, but they get up and try again. Abraham Lincoln was a failure for years as a politician, but through faithful plodding left a legacy. Thomas Edison failed thousands of times looking for the right filament for the light bulb, but his one success changed the world.

Get accustomed to disappointment if you’re going to succeed. Remember, a righteous man falls seven times and rises up again (Proverbs 24:16). Turn disappointment into prayer, praise and thanksgiving. Never allow disappointment to stop you!
 
Elijah became disappointed right after the victory over the prophets of Baal when God by fire sovereignly consumed his water soaked sacrifice. After this great feat, Elijah outran Ahab’s chariot when he heard that Jezebel wanted him killed. Elijah allowed himself to become disappointed, discouraged, and depressed, as he thought on the idolatry of Israel and how few godly prophets there were to lead the nation back to God. And Elijah’s discouragement and depression cost him his ministry.
 
When God spoke to him after he found him hiding in a cave, he gave Elijah instructions to anoint Elisha to take his place in ministry! God cannot use discouraged people! And God will find someone else to perform a task if the person he has chosen to do it sinks into discouragement! (You can read about all of this in 1 Kings 17 through 19).
 
Refuse to allow present disappointments to discourage you! When you face a setback, take a step back, and reassess your plans. Take disappointment and turn it into an appointment with the Father in prayer! Tell Him what bothers you, cast the care of the disappointment on Him, and get up and go again!

The Word Produces Life Stability!

We live in unstable times in an ever changing world. The only thing I know of that never changes is the Word! It’s forever settled, fixed and established! Basing my life on the Word produces stability and confidence.

I want to share with you today the scriptures that I meditate on regularly to keep faith in the Word built up strongly within me. I’ve been meditating on these scriptures for many years now, and they have given me strength and confidence in my Father. Take time to meditate on them regularly. Believe them, and you’ll gain life stability. Act on them, and you’ll overcome obstacles.
 
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good (Numbers 23:19). For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11). My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips (Psalm 89:34). Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89). I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name (Psalm 138:2). The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11). The Lord said to me, You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled (Jeremiah 1:12 - NIV). Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away (Matthew 24:35).

These scriptures have kept me during some really difficult times. I often meditate them while driving, or when I wake up in the night. Many times I mention them to the Lord when praying. They have become my constant companion. Make them yours!

Seed-Time and Harvest

While the earth remains, seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease (Genesis 8:22).
 
Seed-time and harvest is a universal law of God on earth and in the kingdom of God. Everyday, with every act, we are planting seeds that will produce a harvest!
The harvest is determined by the seeds that are planted.
 
What kind of harvest are you expecting in the various areas of your life? Look at the seeds currently being planted by your words, thoughts, attitudes, and actions! Tomorrow’s health, material well being, relational stability, spiritual stamina, etc., are determined by what you sow today. You just don’t get something for nothing!

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 (Luke 6:38). This law is as stable as the rising and setting of the sun. Cooperate with it, and you’ll have a life of blessing. Work against it, and misery will keep you company!

Paul said it this way: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Let’s sow seeds today that will benefit the kingdom of God, and that will bring blessing to others and to our own lives. Sow time in the Word and in prayer today. Sow words that bless, heal, inspire, quicken, and mend. Sow attitudes that will glorify God and exalt Jesus. Sow actions that will produce health and plenty. You’re casting seed today with every action. Make it count!

Calling Those Things that Do Not Exist as Though They Did

As it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations) in the presence of Him whom he believed — God, Who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did (Romans 4:17).
 
God wants us to imitate Him in all things. One of the ways He desires that we imitate Him is in calling those things that do not exist as though they did. The above verse is rich in helping us understand the basic concepts of walking by faith.

First of all, notice that it says that God calls things that do not exist as though they did. Calls in this verse refers to speaking words. And that’s an important part of understanding faith. Faith must be released with words!  And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke, we also believe and therefore speak (2 Corinthians 4:13). But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach) (Romans 10:8).

Faith never floats out of our heart independent of our words. Word convey faith from the human spirit to God.
 
Then notice in this verse that God calls those things that do not exist as though they did. He changed Abram (exalted father) to Abraham (father of a multitude). Jesus is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
 
Everything exists in two realms; first the spiritual and then the natural. God spoke the world into existence from things unseen with words (Hebrews 11:3).
 
To put this together, I must speak what God says about me and my life even when it doesn’t seem that it is true. I must say I believe I’m healed according to the word while the symptoms get worse in my body. I must say my God is meeting all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus  while the bills are piling up. I must say in all these things I am more than a conqueror through Him who loved me while I feel defeated. I must say He promised to never leave me or forsake me even when I feel alone!
 
Faith receives before it sees the results. It believes before there is any manifestation of the answer to prayer. And it talks the way it wants things to be, not the way they are!
 
Start today to call those things that do not exist as though they did and watch the miracle working power of God work for you!

Two Necessary Ingredients in Marriage: Love and Respect

Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband (Ephesians 5:33).

The basic need of a wife is love.  The basic need of a husband is respect. The husband’s main responsibility before God is to show agape love to his wife. The wife’s main responsibility is to show respect to her husband.

In Ephesians 5, Paul compares the husband and wife relationship to the relationship we as the church has to Jesus. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25). The Greek word for love in this verse is agape.

The two main characteristics of agape love are that it is unconditional, and that it self-sacrificial. Agape loves another regardless of their actions, words, or choices. Agape love puts another’s needs above its own.
 
This agape love is a love of action, not feeling. Husbands are to show by their actions that they love their wives. Wives need to hear I love you frequently and then need to see I love you demonstrated in practical ways. Helping with the dishes, the laundry, house cleaning, and taking care of the kids so the wife can have some “free” time can be tangible expressions of love.

Agape love is unconditional and self-sacrificial. A husband walking in agape love will express love in tangible ways regardless of the response he receives from his wife.  A husband walking in agape love will put his needs last and his wife’s needs first because agape love moves him to be self-sacrificing.
 
Nowhere in the New Testament is the wife commanded to Agape her husband with the unconditional, self-sacrificing love. Once in Titus 2 the wives are commanded to love their husbands, but the word for love there is the Greek Word phileo (friendship) and not agape. But the wife is commanded in verse 33 above to respect her husband.
 
Husbands need to hear words of encouragement like: You did a great job with…or I think you’re the best at…or I like the way you…A man needs the affirmation that his wife values him and what he does for the family. And that’s the major responsibility of the wife. Don’t nag your husband for what he’s not doing, thank him for what he is doing right, and you’ll see a husband that is motivated even more to do acts of love for his wife and family.

Let’s believe God for our marriages to be strengthened by the Father. He instilled a strong desire in a woman to be loved and nurtured. The Father instill a strong yearning in a man to affirmed.  So husband, love you wife, and  wife, respect your husband!

Married to an Unbeliever

But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace (1 Corinthians 7:12-15).
 
Today, I want to discuss marriage between a believer and a person who isn’t, or a person who says they are, but never acts like it!
 
In the verses above notice that Paul strangely says but to the rest, I not the Lord, say. He said this because this is the first time in scripture that a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever is mentioned (In the Old Testament, and in the gospels, marriage is addressed in the context of two Jewish believers und the law). When the church age began, those who were converted and already married found themselves in this situation. No believer should marry an unbeliever!
 
Let me mention how I deal with a marriage relationship where one is a Christian and the others says he or she is, but honestly rarely acts like it. In all the years that I've been in ministry since 1981, I have dealt with this kind of marriage as a marriage between a Christian and a non-Christian, so it fits this section of scripture I'm dealing with today.

Paul basically says that if a believer has an unbelieving spouse, they should remain together as long as they get along and treat each other with kindness and respect. As long as the believer is in the home with the unbeliever, there is an influence of righteousness that speaks into the life of the unbeliever and sets an example for the children. And the unbeliever may come to the Lord!
 
Those who do not get along have to weigh their options. If the unbeliever is abusive or hurtful to the spouse or children, then the believer has to make the choice of what should be done. Are the actions so bad that they warrant leaving? These matters should be discussed with church leaders, and be treated with much prayer and caution. Rash decisions and hurtful actions by a parent can leave a child scarred for life!

God’s ultimate will is for the unbeliever to come to the Lord in this relationship. And if the believer will pray and live a godly lifestyle, then that may just happen!
 
This is a day to carefully guard our marriages and families with much prayer. Our nation needs strong families. Our children need the example of those who do it right! Let’s pray for families today. Let’s believe God for His best in life where we find ourselves right now. Don’t waste time brooding over the past. Look ahead from today, and let’s give God our best!