Give Cheerfully

Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving].
- 2 Corinthians 9 : 7

Every good farmer selects the best seeds after harvest  for treatment and preservation towards the next  sowing season. The seeds are treated  to disinfect them from seed - borne, or soil - borne pathogenic organism and storage insects. Treated seeds therefore,  are harmful for human consumption, so the farmer no longer counts  them as  food. From that time on he's placed distinction between seeds for sowing and bread for food. Treated seed can't be eating,  neither is untreated seed good for sowing.  The same way  God gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
It takes a lot of self denials to preserve the best part of your harvest as seeds for sowing; that's what the Bible refers to as sowing in tears, no farmer sows in pains.  He's excited to sow his seeds.

In Our opening verse the scriptures point out that God loves- (takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without )  a cheerful ( joyous, “ prompt to do it ” ) giver [ whose heart is in his giving ]
In times of disaster God won't abandon a cheerful giver,  he'll rescue him, he'll shield him from troubles, and grace him for victory. 
He calls him a "prompt to do it" giver. He doesn't have to be bombarded with tormenting scriptures before responding to a need. He looks out to meet a  need even before the pastor talks about it. God can't do without such a fellow. He'll reveal his secret plans to him,  just as he couldn't hide his plans from Abraham.
God gives bread to the eater and seed to the sower.shalom

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morning Message of Motivation

The Blessings of Israel: The first two patriarchs Abraham and Isaac had blessed the next leaders of the family. Abraham had blessed Isaac and Isaac had blessed Jacob. They had also separated the blessed leader from his other siblings. Genesis 25:5-6a NKJV “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son,” Abraham separated his other sons from Isaac, to ensure that the ensuing family would be purely from Isaac. Sarah had earlier insisted on the departure of Ishmael and Hagar his mother. Genesis 21:9-10 NKJV “And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son;” Abraham was very sad about this but God sided with Sarah. Genesis 21:12 NIV “But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is
Read more

wisdom of Martin Luther

"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen" Martin Luther, at the Diet of Worms, 1521. It has been 500 years since the birth of Protestantism by Martin Luther in 1517. His 95 thesis against the buying of indulgences, proclaiming salvation by faith alone (Roman 1:17), destroyed the tyrannical hold of the Papacy on the Christian world, and ushered in an age of spiritual renaissance. This publication in October 1517 marked the birth of the reformation and Protestantism and we should continue to protest against any unscriptural doctrine in the Christian church, that is what Luther stood for.  
Read more

Choosing to Praise The Lord

Joshua‬ ‭24:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “ And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD .”” ‭‭ The world hassles us every day; I don’t have to tell you that. Our fears, anxieties, and hurts are very real. But if we focus only on these earthly problems, then very soon the spiritual realm becomes foggy and unreal. We lose sight of God and slide into pessimism and even depression. Life loses its joy and excitement. If we limit our thinking to this world alone, it will grind us down into the dust from which we were created. No matter how difficult or unjust our circumstances become, we can exercise our free will and choose to praise God rather than ignore Him. Praise has a strong emotional dimension—as we see in the Psalms—but it is not driven by emotions. Praise
Read more