Giving is a God Thing (How to Amass Great Eternal Wealth)

The uncertainty is certainly unsettling.  Everything about this fallen earth and our tenure here is unstable and in a constant state of flux. Things regularly break out of the norms.  This is seen in the natural world, in earthquakes, storms, draughts, and forest fires, and it is seen in the personal world as well, in health issues, marital concerns, and career trajectories.  It is even observable in everyday life, in theft, murder, rape, and bad governance.  The earth’s uncertainty is certain.  But, I have great news for the BORN AGAIN: Our promises, our power, and our blessings are out of this world.  Philippians 4:19:

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Our promises, our power, and our blessings are eternally certain. They are not of this world and cannot be changed or affected by men or devils. Jesus said in John 10:27-30:

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father''s hand.

30 I and my Father are one.

God’s Word is sure and settled in heaven. Malachi 3:6:

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Matthew 24:35:

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

The certainty of the saved is out of this world.

Dear visitor, have you yet to make your decision for Jesus Christ, God’s certainty?  Isn’t Hebrews 13:8 beautiful?

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Will today be the day you plant your feet on the solid Rock?  In just a moment, I will invite you to follow me in a simple prompt.  If you follow that prompt, everything will change for you.  You’ll even have a new name written down for you in Glory. Today, all your sin and shame will be expunged from your account.  Today, all of Satan’s bondages in your life will be broken, no matter how bleak it looks.  Today is your day!  Today is your day of salvation, and your eternal soul is, at this very moment, in your own hand. Move NOW!!! Here is the prompt I promised: Click onto “Further with Jesus,”  for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Matthew 25:35-40:

35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.  

GOD SAID, Acts 20:35:

I have showed 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.

GOD SAID, Psalm 41:1:

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

MAN SAID: Well… To be absolutely honest with you, I’ve really never actuallyread the Bible all the way through.  Ok…so, maybe I didn’t read any of it at all, but so what?! Everybody knows it’s not true.  Besides, I’ve got better things to do with my time than read fairy tales. 

Now THE RECORD: Welcome to GodSaidManSaid feature 1092 that will once again certify the supernatural bonafides of the Holy Word of God.  All of these features are available to you at no charge and are archived in text and streaming audio for your edification and to be used as fisherman’s bait.  Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one. 

Thank you for visiting. We are honored by your presence.  May God’s love fill you and all your house.

There are seven points to remember as you consider this feature:

1. Spirit dictates real physical outcomes.  It is always spirit first. 

2. God functions at the molecular level and forward into all aspects of man’s daily life.  If we look, it will become obvious. 

3. God hears and answers prayers.

4. Psalm 37:23: The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

5. Angels get directly involved, as we learn in Hebrews 1:14: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

6. God pays His debts in full.

7. I can bless, orI can curse.

II Corinthians 4:18:

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Don’t trust your lying eyes.  God’s secrets are discovered in the 180.  You regular visitors to GodSaidManSaid have been exposed to the 180 principle numerous times.  A circle has 360°.  At the 180° mark, one is at opposite positions…the same type of measure, but at opposite positions.  Examples of the 180 include:

◑ God is love; Satan is hate.
◑ God is light; Satan is darkness.
◑ God is faith; Satan is fear.
◑ God is certainty; Satan is uncertainty.
◑ God is life; Satan is death. 

These examples are all of the same type of measure, but at opposite positions. 

The life of Jesus Christ was firmly rooted in the 180.  The eyes of faith are blind to the obvious.  Four examples of our Lord’s life and death make the 180 principle ever so clear:

1. Jesus Christ was deemed so unimportant that He was born in a manger.  A manger is a trough from which animals eat.  Yet this Christ had His own star and was announced to the shepherds in the field by the angel of the Lord.  A multitude of the heavenly host filled the sky and praised God.  Luke 2:13-14:

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

2. On the Cross, the world saw a pitiful sight: There hung a young, single, Jewish man between two thieves.  He was on display as a naked pauper, beaten and spat upon, His whiskers ripped from his face, ridiculed and taunted, a crown of thorns upon His head, and spikes in His hands and His feet.  The world thought that this man was suffering from delusions of grandeur and saw an abject failure.  But what actually happened couldn’t have been a greater display of 180° out.  The world saw failure but Satan, the god of this earth, saw something entirely different.  Satan saw his legal challenge, made in Job 1 and 2 totally shattered without any hope of an appeal.  Because of the Cross, Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven, down to the earth (Revelation 12).  Satan’s kingdom on earth was spoiled and all power and authority was given to the conquering Christ.  Satan’s stranglehold on the sons of Adam was broken to all those who believe upon the Christ of Calvary.  Even death itself—Satan’s ultimate terror—was swallowed up in victory.  That is a sampling of what Satan saw. 

3. Jesus Christ wore a crown of thorns.  Pontius Pilate hung a mocking plaque upon Christ’s Cross that read, “the King of the Jews.”  The world saw a pauper and an impotent king crowned with thorns.  Consider this 180: If someone owned that crown of thorns today, it would be worth more than the aggregate value of all of the crowns of all of the world’s kings since the beginning of time—and rightfully so, for Jesus Christ is the King of kings. 

4. Approximately 800 years before Christ’s virgin birth, this prophecy was penned in Isaiah 7:14:

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

This passage in Matthew 1:23 speaks of the virgin-born Christ:

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

For the most part, the Jewish leaders of the day (and of today) refused to acknowledge that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin because if He was, they instigated the crucifixion of their Messiah.  These leaders deemed (and hold this opinion still today) Jesus Christ a fatherless child, otherwise known as a bastard.  One historian noted that around the time of Christ, Jesus was blasphemously called “Mary’s bastard.”  Here is an absolutely staggering 180: “Mary’s bastard” was actually the one and only, virgin-born, only begotten Son of God, the one by whom God created all things visible and invisible on earth and in heaven, and the champion of eternal life for all that believe upon His name—surely not a fatherless child. He presently sits on the right hand of His Father.

Today’s feature is 180° all the way. 

When we, in Christ Jesus, obey the commandments of God, God, His Christ, and His angels begin to move on our behalf on multiple levels. Every commandment of God has inherent within it a blessing or a curse.  Because the Word of God is the inerrant truth, obeying the commandment yields the fruit of the blessing, of doing the right thing. Because the Word of God is the inerrant truth, disobeying the commandment yields the deadly fruit of the curse, of doing the wrong thing.  The cardinal law of Galatians 6:7-8 stands:

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

When we obey the Word of God, supernatural things are put in motion.  The spirit of faith and obedience permeates at all levels, even at the molecular level, directly affecting our physical and psychological well-being.  We were made to interface with the spiritual world and we choose between two. Those two choices are 180° out. 

God’s commandments concerning giving is today’s subject.  Years ago, I preached a sermon concerning the funnel of life and our need to turn it around.  In this life, we approach opportunities with the wide face of the funnel facing outward.  We survey the situation and suck in all the good we can get.  That is natural, of course.  Even our salvation began just that way.  I came to God due to my great need for deliverance, hope, and salvation. What I brought to the table was the mess of one directional funnelism.  We are all affected by this vanity.  Romans 8:19-21:

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

BUT! Once we become BORN AGAIN, everything changes as the 180 kicks in to high gear.  The funnel begins to turn.  Instead of looking for what we can get, the redeemed begin looking for what we can give.  As we learn to give, and where the seven keys I listed at the start begin to function, we become more and more God-like, what God’s Word calls godliness.

Years ago, my niece Allison (now already in the presence of the Lord) said to me: “Uncle Dave, they don’t make Christians like you anymore.”  I answered, “Honey, maybe your friends aren’t Christians.”  Christians all look the same: forgiven and fully committed to the Cross of Jesus Christ.  FULLY.  ALL IN.  NO MATTER WHAT! Dr. Grant Jeffrey poses this question in his book Creation, and the answer might shock you:  

Ask yourself: Why is Christianity in North America like the Mississippi River—“a mile wide and an inch deep?”  George Barna has spent years studying the beliefs, values, and activities of North American Christians in comparison to non-Christians.  He examined 131 separate measures of attitudes, behaviors, values, and beliefs and concluded that there were no significant differences in the behaviors and beliefs of Christians and non-Christians. [End of quote]

That survey information was published in 1997.

Much of the problem that the research reveals is that the newly BORN AGAIN looks around at the Christ-confessing community and begins to model what they see.  II Corinthians addresses this matter in Chapter 10, Verse 12:

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

The redeemed are all called to be Christ-like and His likeness is described, “line upon line, line upon line,” in God’s beautiful Book.

The funnel must flip.  The sinner says, “give me, give me,” and then curses; while the redeemed say, “give me, give me,” and says, “Praise God!”  Too many similarities, don’t you think?  The difference will be found in the giving.  I need to turn the funnel around.  It’s the 180.

A marvelous and deep Gospel secret is hidden in these Words of our Lord: “It is more blessed to give than to receive,”  (Acts 20:35). The blessing is discovered in the giving.  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.  

When we obey God’s perfect commandments, big things are put in motion at multiple levels, and the outcome is glorious.  Israel had fallen away from God.  God speaks to them in Malachi 3:9-11:

9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

God’s promise to the obedient was He would open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing they could not contain.  His blessing included and extended to  the physical crops in the field.  Do keep in mind, giving preceded the getting.

The following verses speak of God’s great prophet Elijah and a widow woman; I Kings 17:9-15:

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.  

When the widow woman acted in obedience to the instructions of the man of God to feed him first, her miracle followed.

His name was Job, and he was the wealthiest man of the east.  He tells his secret of great wealth in the book of the Bible that bears his name.  When Job speaks of his tabernacle in this passage, he is referring to his home.  Job 29:2-13:

2 Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;

3 When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;

4 As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;

5 When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;

6 When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

7 When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!

8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.

9 The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

10 The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.

11 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow''s heart to sing for joy.

Job reveals his secret of great wealth to us.  Again, verses 12 and 13:

12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow''s heart to sing for joy.

Watch the 180 here:  Those who are destitute, those for whom all appears to be lost, are seen as “valueless” to the world’s economic engine. Yet, they are the ones who possess the blessing to give.  Job said the poor and the destitute were the secret of his great wealth.  By obeying God’s directives of helping the poor, the orphans, and the widows, to visit the sick and the imprisoned, to support the downtrodden, we allow God to open the windows of heaven for these individuals truly have a blessing to give and they give it. If you give $10 to a rich man, he will be nonplussed; give that $10 to a poor and hungry man and his young son, and they will go to McDonald’s and eat a king’s feast.  The poor man and his son will bless the giver from their destitute hearts.  The poor man made Job wealthy because he had a blessing to give.

God’s 180° Principle plays out first on the real platform, which is the spiritual one, then displays itself in this temporal vapour we call life.  Surely, there is a measurable result: first in the real then in the vapour.

The poor man and seldom the rich man has the blessing of God to give. 

✟ Psalm 41:1:

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

✟ Psalm 69:33:

For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.

✟ Psalm 72:12:

For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

Blessing the poor is part of God’s super weapon against Satan’s bondages and this weapon is called fasting.  Note Isaiah 58:6-8:

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

God knows where the best return on investment is hidden.  How marvelous is Proverbs 19:17:

He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

Imagine when out of a heart of compassion, one gives to the poor, he is actually lending to God.  What an awesome concept, that God could be indebted to you or me, and He will repay. 

When we obey God’s commandments, big things are put in motion at multiple levels, both spiritual and physical.  The interface between spiritual and physical is truly dynamic.

The following research was published in the GodSaidManSaid feature, “The Secret that will Make You Richer than a Trillionaire:”

Here we go! New research reported by WebMD on November 15, 2002, verifies the fidelity of the Scriptures one more time. The following is a direct quote from the article:

It really is better to give than to receive. Helping others—but not getting help from others—lowers the risk of death for elderly people. The finding comes from a University of Michigan study. Researchers Stephanie L. Brown, Ph.D., and colleagues looked at 423 married couples in which the husband was at least 65 years old. Over the five-year study period, 134 of these people died. Those who said they gave no emotional or financial support to relatives, neighbors, or friends were twice as likely to die. “Making a contribution to the lives of other people may help to extend our own lives,” Brown says in a news release.

About three out of four people in the study said they gave at least some help to others without pay. These people tended to live longer. But getting help from others didn’t help people live longer.[End of quote]

Truly, “it is more blessed to give than receive.” (Acts 25:35)

Finally, the article reports:

The study suggests that care for elderly people should shift from making them feel supported to supporting them in helping others. The findings are scheduled for publication in the journal Psychological Science. [End of quotes]

God has designed you and I to interface with the spiritual world at the very cellular level.  The following excerpts are from the GodSaidManSaid feature, “God Said Give and the Perfect Interface:”

The headline in a feature published by Seeker.com reads, “Happiness from Being Generous has a Neural Basis Within the Brain.”  The sub-head reads: “In a study on the psychology of giving, MRI scans revealed that an area of the brain linked to generosity triggered a response in another part related to happiness.”  A few excerpts follow:

What inspires humans to display acts of generosity?  Economists, psychologists, and philosophers have pondered this question for millennia.  If one assumes that human behavior is primarily motivated by self-interest, it seems illogical to willingly sacrifice resources for others. 

In an attempt to solve this paradox, some experts have theorized that giving satisfies a desire to boost one’s standing in a group.  Others have suggested it fosters tribal cooperation and cohesion—a key element in mammal survival.  Yet another explanation is that we give only because we expect to receive something in return. 

The real answer, a study suggested Tuesday, may be much simpler: Giving makes us happy. 

Scientists conducted an experiment with 50 people at a lab in Zurich who reported on their own happiness levels after acts of generosity.  Consistently, they indicated that giving was a feel-good experience. 

At the same time, MRI scans revealed that an area of the brain linked to generosity triggered a response in another part related to happiness. 

“Our study provides behavioral and neural evidence that supports the link between generosity and happiness,” the team wrote in the journal Nature Communications.  

The findings have implications for education, politics, economics, and public health, said the researchers. 

“Generosity and happiness improve individual well-being and can facilitate societal success,” they wrote.  “However, in everyday life, people underestimate the link between generosity and happiness and therefore overlook the benefits of … spending” on others.  [End of quotes]

The headline of a January 19, 2022 feature in the Epoch Times reads, “Giving is Good for You.”  Columnist Mary Hunt, founder of EveryDayCheapskate.com and author, had this to say regarding the science of the spirit of giving from a grateful heart:

Giving Makes Us Happy

It’s a fact!  Givers are happier people than nongivers.  A Social Chapter Community Benchmark Survey of 30,000 American households revealed that people who gave money to charity were 43% more likely than nongivers to report being “very happy” about their lives.

Giving Makes Us Healthy

One study conducted by the nation’s top universities—Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford—as reported in The Christian Post, revealed that people who are givers see the benefits of delayed mortality, reduced depression, increased well-being, and good fortune.

“Give daily, in small ways, and you will be happier.  Give and you will be healthier.  Give, and you will even live longer,” wrote Dr. Stephen Post, bioethicist and co-author of the book Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by the Simple Act of Giving.

Giving Makes Us Rich

The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey provided credible results: People who give charitably make significantly more money than those who don’t.  More giving doesn’t just correlate with higher income; it causes higher income.  And when people earn more, they give more, so the wealthier they become. [End of quote]

Imagine Deuteronomy 28:1-2 and Verse 8 as literal, for it surely is:

1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Mary Hunt asserts giving from a grateful heart creates wealth and that is true.

At the start of this feature, I asked you to consider seven points, which I will re-list here:

1. Spirit dictates real physical outcomes, beginning at the cellular level.  It is always spirit first.

2. God functions at the molecular level and forward into all aspects of man’s daily life.  If we look, it will become obvious.

3. God hears the prayers of faith and obedience and responds.

4. Psalm 37:23: The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.  God orders steps to assure an expected outcome.

5. Angels get directly involved, even in very physical ways. Hebrews 1:14: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

6. God pays His debts.  If you want someone to owe you, make that someone God.  Proverbs 19:17: He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

7. I can bless or I can curse, and it is my choice.

God’s Word, penned thousands of years ago, remains and will remain the inerrant truth.  This is the place to build a life, a life that will last forever.

GOD SAID, Matthew 25:35-40:

35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 

GOD SAID, Acts 20:35:

I have showed 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.

GOD SAID, Psalm 41:1:

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

MAN SAID: Well… To be absolutely honest with you, I’ve really never actuallyread the Bible all the way through.  Ok…so, maybe I didn’t read any of it at all, but so what?! Everybody knows it’s not true.  Besides, I’ve got better things to do with my time than read fairy tales. 

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

GodSaidManSaid, “God Said Give and the Perfect Interface”

GodSaidManSaid, “The Secret that will Make You Richer than a Trillionaire”

Hunt, M., “Giving is Good for You,” Epoch Times, January 19, 2022

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