(by pastor Jean)
“The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will be watered himself” (Prov 11:25; MEV). God obviously wants us to be generous; He has much to say about giving. In Proverbs 19:16 we are told that when we give to the poor we are actually lending to the Lord and He will pay us back! Proverbs 11:24 encourages us to, “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything” (NLT). (See also Prov 22:9, 28:27). Moses gave instructions to the children of Israel that they should be generous to any poor person among them and adds that God would bless them for that (Deut 15:7-11). We also learn that the “godly are generous givers” in Ps 37:21. When we give, we are following God’s example. In John 3:16 God gave out of love and that should be the motivation for our giving too. In order to become a giver, we must become aware of the needs of others and then obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit (James 2:15,16 and Matt 25:31-45). When we are generous, we know that God will take care of our needs (Phil 4:19) and give us even more than enough (2 Cor 9:8). Notice in all the above scriptures that we have to give first and then God responds (See also Luke 6:38, 2 Cor 9:6 and Eccl 11:1). When feeding the multitudes it wasn’t until someone gave the small amount of bread and fish that God set about to multiply it (John 6:5-13, MK 6:35-44). Finally, don’t forget that “God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or do without) a cheerful (joyous, prompt to do it) giver (whose heart is in his giving) (2 Cor 9:7; AMPC). Let’s be that person today!
(by pastor Norman)
King Davids trust in God’s faithfulness: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and staff, they comfort me” (Ps 23:4; NKJV). Jesus told us that we would experience pressure, affliction and distress (John 16:33) in life but He also reminded us that He has overcome the evils of this this world. King David in his Psalms reminds us that the Lord delivers us from all the afflictions we may encounter (Ps 34:19) and the prophet Isaiah promises us that no matter what floods or fires come across our lives God can and will bring us through (Is 43:2). Nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37). After a day of preaching and miracles Jesus went to pray on His own. The disciples headed across a lake to Gennesaret, but encountered a storm. Jesus came to them walking on the water (Matt 14:22-33). Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water to Jesus but as he changed his focus from Jesus to the wind he started to sink. Jesus rescued him and as they climbed into the boat the storm stopped. Jesus said to Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt 14:31b; NKJV). Jesus can still the storms in our lives but we receive this intervention by faith. “The just shall live by faith” (Gal 3:11b; NKJV) and “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17; NKJV). So, let’s focus on God’s word, meditate on it, saturate in it, speak it out and then we can walk in victory over all the storms of life. Amen.