Luke 6:26–38. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. And just as you want men to treat you, treat them in the same way. And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same thing. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great” (notice the greatness of your reward), “and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. And do not pass judgment and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For whatever measure you deal out to others, it will be dealt to you in return.”
The ways by which God’s people live should be very different from the ways of the world. Apprehension and concern are in most people, for they face drastic changes in the economy and wonder what is going to happen. But the preservation of God’s people will not depend upon their making astute investments. So many unpredictable tides and hours of crisis will come that it will be difficult to plan adequately. Regardless of what happens, God’s blessing will be upon those who understand what He is speaking now as the Kingdom comes forth and abandon every principle except the principles of the Kingdom of God.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things (clothing, housing, and food) shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33. The Lord assures you that you need not be concerned about them, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Verse 32. Few people can understand the principles behind these verses. They are consistently referred to, even by ministers who love the Lord, as being the most impractical directives that have ever been given in the Bible. Many who read them believe them, and yet they do not make any serious attempt to apply them rigorously as the principles by which they should live.
Believe and embrace every one of these precious truths which show you the principles of giving and the principles of plenty. When you open the valve of your heart to give what God has given to you, the valve automatically opens for God’s ample provision to flow to you until you have an abundance. If you shut your heart against your brother, you also close the valve by which blessings will come to you from the Lord.… there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat… Proverbs 11:24–25. The Lord wants you to know that these principles are not general directives on how to be a nice person, and that if you do these things you will be a good little Christian. These truths go beyond that; they are hard facts—rigid, inflexible principles that will work if you dare to let them work.
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. Luke 6:38. Can you believe that? Perhaps you do not think it works because you gave to certain ones, and they never gave you anything back. It does not work that way. When you give, do not expect anything in return. Then God heaps it upon you, lavishing it so that the more dedicated you are to give unselfishly, really believing the Lord, the more will come back to you.
Many benefits are related to these principles of giving. When you become a giver, immunities are given to you. Disasters can befall you, but immunities come through giving. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse … prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing.… I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes… Malachi 3:10–11. God provides immunities, so that you will not be victimized, even by the insect world. The Lord can rebuke the devourer for your sake, and He can come against the things that would destroy you.
Read the book of Haggai, where the Lord says to consider your ways. If you decide to build your house, instead of the house of the Lord, you will work for much and put it into a bag with holes. As you work for it He will blow upon it, so that it will come to nothing (Haggai 1:5–9). You will be victimized by everything around you until you are completely dedicated to do the will of God and to build His Kingdom. The only way that your immunity comes is by doing the will of the Lord. God will not protect you simply because you are a Christian. God has set up certain laws that you must conform to, and one of them concerns the liberal soul. The man who is a giver receives the immunities which God would give to the saints. Only when God issued a direct decree was Satan able to touch the possessions or the family of Job. Satan complained, “You have hedges all around him.” (Job 1:10–12). Immunities come because you determine to give and to put the Kingdom of God first.
When you begin to give, you prime the flow of the miraculous. Luke 6:31 says, “And just as you want men to treat you, treat them in the same way.” This is not wishful thinking; this is a law. If you reach out to bless, it comes back to you. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Matthew 5:7. The man who reaches out, who does not judge but shows compassion—he is not judged, and compassion is shown to him. You prime the flow of the miraculous and of grace to your heart when you determine that you are going to give.
What will happen if you love your enemies? “… you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. And do not pass judgment and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.” Luke 6:35–37.
Prime the flow for abundance, just as a farmer must prime an old-fashioned water pump when it becomes a little squeaky and dry. To get it to work he must first prime it by pouring some water into it. Then as he pumps the handle, the water will soon begin to flow out. God reveals an abundance in the Scriptures, but few people receive very much, as far as the promises are concerned, until they prime the flow. Do you love the Lord, and would you like to have the abundance of the Lord? Give, and it will be given unto you. Prime the pump. “But all I have is five loaves and two fishes.” Give what you have, and see what happens. A miracle begins when you give what you have. Be faithful in that little; give it, and it will begin to flow back to you. Trust God. Believe it. Do not let unbelief overtake your heart.
Another aspect of giving is found in Matthew 6:19–21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Notice this phrase—where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Use that Scripture to your advantage. Suppose your money is in the bank, and that is where your heart is. Then you will worry about the bank. Instead, put your money in His Kingdom. Use that Scripture to direct the focus of your heart. Where is your heart focused? Is it here, there, and everywhere? Put everything in the Kingdom and then watch your heart focus on it. The Kingdom will then become a source of real concern to you.
In this principle of giving, you can focus your heart by the way that you give. Begin to be concerned for the Body, and God will really bless you. Pray for the brothers. Give your time and your love to the ministries who serve you. Support what God is doing. “I don’t see how that will help!” It will. And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? Luke 16:12. If you are faithful in a little, God will give you much (Matthew 25:21). Through this principle, you can begin to tap into the great blessings of the Lord right now. If you do not yet have a ministry, think of the brothers in authority over you who do. Why not be faithful to that which is another’s? Begin to pray and support others in their ministries, and as you are faithful to that, God will give you something that is your own. Pray for a prophet and support a prophet, and you will receive a prophet’s reward (Matthew 10:41). When you identify yourself with a ministry and support it, you soon begin to partake of the same thing. When you focus your faithfulness, the giving of your life, and your intercession toward something that is of the Kingdom of God, it comes back to you.
As another illustration of how much you can receive, James 5:16 says, Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. Suppose you are very sick, and you hope others will pray for you. Rather, find someone else who is sick and start praying for him. Confess your faults so that there is a humbling before the Lord, then start praying for the other brother. Pray for him and you will be healed too, just as the Scripture says, pray one for another, that ye may be healed.
The person who receives the greatest blessing from a service is the one who is responsible for bringing the Word to the people. He must be thoroughly focused on seeing how the Word can bless the people, by making the Word real to them and conveying what he himself has been digesting and assimilating. The Lord feeds him, just as a bee gathering nectar would be fed. Soon the sweetness of the Word has been digested and deposited like honey in a honeycomb. Then the service is as sweet as honey, a predigested food. Like the bee, a pastor does all the work, not just to digest it himself; but he searches the Scriptures, crying out to the Lord who gives him the wonderful Word. This he absorbs, and then he brings it to the people as a predigested food. O taste and see that the Lord is good—like honey on the rock (Psalms 34:8; 81:16).
What does a pastor receive from his dedication to bring the Word? He goes home, rejoicing in his heart and more blessed than anyone else. Does he partake of a sermon while it is coming forth? Not especially, for he is too busy feeding the people. Likewise he may be so busy watching the people in their worship that he has little opportunity to worship. While the rest of the people are worshiping and receiving and feeding, God is enriching him. Why? He is in that state of praying one for another, so he is being healed. When he leaves a service, he is feeling better and the anointing is increased; because he has given, he has received.
As soon as you act on the idea of giving to someone else, it comes back to you again. The principle of giving works in every realm. Learn to give yourself to the Body of Christ. Give yourself to Christ, and God will start pouring it back to you again. You cannot be too generous in any phase or aspect of your life. The blessing will return every time. Jesus stated this principle clearly in Matthew 16:24–26: If you lose your life for His sake, you will find it; if you want to save your life, you will lose it.
The immature Christian has many things that he wants to do with his life, places to go and things to do; he wants the years to really count. He may want a great ministry until he finds something greater, until he begins to cry for others to grow and to be blessed. That is where the real blessing and joy will be. When you learn to give, then the joy will come. If you lose your life for His sake, you will find it. If you try to save your life, you will lose it. Although you may love and want to hold onto the ministry that God has given you, maybe you are making an idol out of it. Maybe the Lord will have to challenge you on it. He may tap you on the shoulder as He did Abraham. “Son, I want you to take your little Isaac up that mountain, lay it on an altar, and put a knife in it.”
“But, Lord, You gave this to me! Didn’t I give up everything I had, all my sins and bad habits?”
And the Lord says, “Now you have an Isaac. You have something really worthwhile. Will you give that back to Me?”
“Oh no, this is my life! This I have to save! This I have to defend!”
Learn to keep giving it back to the Lord, and He will hand it back to you with interest. Never love the creation above the Creator. Never glorify God for what you have become and what you can do until that becomes the center of your focus. In a walk with God, He is first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Whatever He wants, that is what you do. It is all His. Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Do you believe it? Suppose the little Jewish boy had said, “I have to hang onto these five loaves and two fishes. This is all I have.” He could have been in trouble when he let go of those loaves and fishes, because in those days he was far away from the nearest market.
When the widow explained, “I have only a handful of meal and a little oil. We are gathering sticks for a fire to bake it, and then we are going to die,” the prophet Elisha said, “Make me a cake first.” Then she tapped into the secret of perpetual flow (I Kings 17:10–15). Believe these important principles of giving. Let your life be governed by the fact that when you are selfish, the faucet turns off. The day that you start withholding more than is meet, it will tend to poverty (Proverbs 11:24). You cannot afford to be anything less than a giver. Keep throwing everything that God gives you back to Him. You will lose in that battle because you cannot out-give God, but as long as you try, you will have a beautiful battle together.