We are concerned about survival; yet we are not concerned about just surviving. We are concerned about coming through with immunity in the days that are ahead, but not just to exist. We want our lives to have a purpose for God. We want to ride on the crest of all the tides of judgment and everything of God that will be in the earth; but we want to be speaking the word of God, and we want to be doing the will of the Lord.
Many times throughout the years, God’s people have felt that they were not receiving their share. The ungodly seemed to possess most of the money, most of the food, and most of the land, whereas a child of God did not seem to receive much at all. It appears that God has put His people in a place of poverty, while the people of the world have an abundance of everything. However, I do not think that this is God’s intention, for as I read the Scriptures, I find that abundance is the provision of the Lord.
We pray that God will multiply us, that God will heap to us, and that blessings untold will be ours; but when we finally see that God has already made the provision, we still do not know how to make it work. Therefore, we are especially concerned about survival because eventually all sources of supply will be cut off—all but one. The natural sources of supply will be cut off. Keep that fact in mind.
Are you one who thinks that we are heading into a beautiful day in which there will be no unemployment, no recession, no problems, a very stable economy and monetary system around the world, and that we are ready for the greatest period of peace and prosperity the world has ever seen? What about the frightening reports that at the present time the total food supply of the entire world would feed us for only eight days. It is happening now. Throughout the world many are starving. These frightening statistics make us realize that we are already in tribulation. We are in it, and soon there will be unbelievable scarcities. If this is true, what will be the source of our supply? We cannot store enough food; no matter how large the supply, it would not be enough to take care of us very long. What will be the source of our supply?
There are many immunities that God wants to give to His people and many blessings that He wants them to have; but first, consider the problems of poverty, of limitations, of restrictions, that are presently upon your life.
You can learn the secret of God’s provision so that you will never again be in want or be without. God says, “I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:25). You may have seen Christians in a bread line, but remember: a Christian is not necessarily a righteous man. A righteous man is one who walks in the words of the Lord. Because of that, he is a generous soul, and the generous soul shall be made fat (Psalm 92:12–14). If, in spite of his faith, a man comes to want, it is because he, in his unrighteousness has brought his suffering upon himself. His suffering is not a result of his righteousness. Proverbs 11:24 tells us.… There is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want.
Two sins stand out as the cardinal sins in a walk with God: rebellion or a lack of submission to the Lord and to divine order, and withdrawal and withholding. When you withdraw or withhold, you shut off the flow of blessing. To withdraw or to withhold is as deadly as anything I know. You can be overtaken with a number of problems and somehow come out of those problems victoriously, but when you withhold from God you turn off the faucet, the source of supply. When you withdraw you put yourself in a position where the blessings and the flow through the Body of Christ cannot reach you and the living word cannot reach your heart. It is spiritual suicide to withdraw from God.
Have you ever found yourself withdrawing and then realized how dangerous it was, how the flow of life was closed to you and how day by day you felt in your heart that you were cut off? Your own withdrawal caused it all; and the same will happen when you withhold. Why is it that some people in the congregation can be so blessed while others reach and reach for the blessing and never seem to get it? It is the generous soul that is made fat. Even the Word is more precious to the man who has learned to be generous and to give.
Luke 6:38 is a very familiar Scripture: “Give, and it shall 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 phrase “to others”; is in italics (indicating that it was not in the original Greek). However, it is much more than “to others;” it is to God, it is to yourself, and to everything. It is the measure you deal that will be dealt to you again. You actually determine the way God will bless you, or not bless you. You are the one who actually determines that.
People with a bitter spirit, those who are critical or rebellious, those who have quick tempers, or those who are harsh in their judgments of someone else can listen to a Word over and over, but they just cannot get a hold of it. The opposite is true of someone who is outgoing and giving. The windows of heaven are open to those who give, and the Lord pours into them the understanding and the perception of what He is doing and what He is trying to say. It comes through to them every time.
This message will help you to become one who loves to give, regardless of your own need. God will pour His blessings upon you when He has proven that you are a giver. He will pour it back to you, and there will not be room enough to contain it (Malachi 3:10). That is the way it works. When the Lord gives money to you, you will find that the happiest thing in your life will be to love and bless someone by sharing with them what God has given you. Keep it circulating, do not let it stay in your hands long. Prime the pump. Give and it will be given unto you.
The miracle of God’s generosity begins when you have given what you can, when you have taken those five little barley loaves and two tiny fishes and thrown them on the water. After giving them, without reservation, you will watch all the loaves and fishes return in abundance—and perhaps a little fresher than the ones you gave the Lord! This is based upon a principle that you must recognize: everything you have and are is under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. When all that you have is His, then He reciprocates by giving all that He is and all that He has to you. Do you believe that all you have is His? Then you must also believe that all He has is yours.
God says in effect, “Let’s make a deal. You take of Mine and I’ll take of yours.” And so, when you start to give, then God gives. You can see that this process takes a little time, for it becomes a contest to see who is able to give the most. You give, and He gives back. He gives you more than you gave him, so you give Him some more; but He gives you more in return. Soon you find yourself lying on the canvas while they are counting you out, just laughing hilariously. Does it work that way? Yes, it really does work that way. It is the blessing that the Lord brings.
Do not worry about finances. Many churches are told to give until it hurts. You have not given enough if it hurts; keep giving until it starts feeling good, until you have the spirit of giving, until something within your heart just yearns to give everything over into the hand of the Lord. Will it work? Yes, it will work.… Give, and it will be given unto you. There is something within you that is an indefinable principle. The way you live and move actually determines the measure of your appropriation of the Lord. He wants to give of His abundance, and yet, if you are stingy with Him, He is stingy with you.
This principle is one of the best keys to help us through the days to come. The way to make it is to be in touch with the great source of supply. We cannot afford to be without this principle any longer. We cannot afford to withhold what we will never be able to keep. Think about that; weigh it in your heart. These truths of the Kingdom are very real.
Return now to Luke 6; verses 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, 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 it will be dealt to you in return.”
We see that there is a principle behind it. Some people have been protesting for the last ten or fifteen years that they cannot afford to tithe, because they are too poor and in debt. And it is true, they cannot afford to tithe. They are waiting until they have more money until they can afford to tithe, but it never happens. It just does not happen that way. What should they do? The Word tells us we are to bring all the tithes into the storehouse first. (Malachi 3:10). Give the Lord the first fruits of all thine increase then your barns will be filled with plenty. (Proverbs 3:9). If you do not have a barn, God will give you one. But first, you must prime the pump by giving the little that you have. You can not afford to keep it because you are priming the pump with it. I can remember farm life; and if we were almost out of water on a hot summer day, I would take a bucket of precious water and pour it in the pump in order to create a suction. Soon we had all the buckets of water we wanted. That is the way to prime the pump of God’s abundance. Give to Him.
Do you feel that you cannot afford to tithe? If you think you are poor, then you are poor. But if you think that in Christ you are rich, then you are rich. Accept the abundance of Christ that is committed to you. Accept His covenants of plenty; agree to them and believe in them. Then it becomes impossible to think of yourself as poor. If you think of yourself as poor, you are walking in unbelief because you have not accepted the bounty of God.
In the past we suggested that for thirty days no one pray for himself. We witnessed some of our greatest deliverances during that time. Instead of lining up to be prayed for after the service, we all began to pray for each other, confessing our faults to one another. James writes, Pray for one another, so that you may be healed. James 5:16.
Forget yourself! Pray for a brother! Believe that he will have a deep ministry in the Word, that God will anoint him in a special way. That is a good way to start, and if you keep that up, soon you will be flowing in the will of the Lord. It is true, that even in old order when someone seeking for the Holy Spirit was unable to break through, we told him to pray for another brother. Soon, both of them received the Holy Spirit. When you forget yourself, you yield to the Holy Spirit, and it becomes a blessed experience in the Lord.
Become concerned about someone else besides yourself. Become more concerned about the house of God than about yourself. Pray and seek first the Kingdom of God. The phrase, “Seek first the Kingdom of God” has a deep implication in the Greek: Seek first “only” the Kingdom of God. It will not work if you seek the Kingdom along with other blessings. You must lay all your needs on the altar. Lay all of them in the hands of the Lord and determine to seek His will first. Above everything else, seek only His Kingdom. It does not work if God has only a little edge over the enemy. It only works when He is the total absolute picture. Then when you start giving, it starts coming back.
It is good for us to know that we do not have to be poor. We are conditioned to exist without things that God wants us to have. He wants us to be rich, to increase in the riches of the Kingdom. We must find a way to apply this message immediately, to start giving. Whatever burden the Lord lays on our hearts, that we will give and that we will do. We have already given Him our lives, but He requires that we walk daily in the principles of His Kingdom.
The remnant will be wealthy in the days of disaster. Their hands will never be empty as they deal their bread to the poor. God’s people will find that this is the fast that God has chosen (Isaiah 58:6–7). Believe to be delivered from the root of selfishness, from the fleshly instincts of self-preservation. Give your life in order that you might save it. Lose your life for the Lord, in order that you might enter into the abundance of living. There is no other way.
May this Word trouble you until you cry for God to give you an obedient heart, for the mind would reason against this Word. To the mind this word is too extreme, for you have been conditioned to look out for yourself, to save up for a rainy day. But when you walk in the principle of giving, you will walk into the greatest thundershowers you have ever experienced. Your giving to another will make it rain upon you. The cry of your heart must be that you be delivered from selfishness, from everything that would oppress and harass you. Desire the will of the Lord within your entire life in order that you become like Him. Be merciful as He is merciful, generous and giving as He is generous and giving—even to your enemies.
This Word will bother you somewhat, but work on it. Do not accept it only because it was presented in a convincing way; accept it because it is a truth that is in the Scriptures and because you know it is the word of God. Do not be talked into anything; it must come to you by revelation. Look to God’s Word, and react to it in your heart.
Determine to be a giver, to be a generous soul that shall be like a watered garden. Like the Lord, give and give, and when it looks like it is all gone, there will be something there. You will be sustained by an invisible, unfailing source of supply, even when the children of men are without.