Faithful People Are Generous

Nov 12, 2014 Faithful People Are Generous by Rick Warren “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Luke 16:11-13 CEV) Faithful people are generous when they don’t have anything to give. Anybody can be generous when they have a surplus. I can be generous with my time when I’ve got a lot of extra time. I can be generous with my money when I’ve got a lot of extra money. I can be generous with my energy when I’ve got extra energy to spend. It’s when I don’t have enough time for me, I don’t have enough energy for me, I don’t have enough money for me, I don’t have enough talent for me that God says, “This is a test. I’m watching you to see if you are faithful. Will you be faithful, and will you trust me?” Here are five principles in which God will test you and then bless you: God gives to generous people. Why does God want me to be generous? Because he wants me to be like him. Obeying God’s vision will bring God’s provision. If you do what God tells you to do, God will bring along the resources you need at the right time. What he’s given you the vision for he will give you theprovision for. When I do all that God tells me to do, he does what I can’t do.God often asks you to do the impossible to stretch your faith. When you give what little you have, God multiples it and makes up for it. When I have a need, I sow a seed. Whatever you need in your life, sow that as a seed, and it will come back to you. There’s always a delay between sowing and reaping. There is a season between planting and harvesting. What’s going on in the time delay? It’s a test of your faith. Will you be faithful to give when you have little? Will you keep on doing the right thing? Will you do what God wants you to do, no matter the cost, and then see what God does? Talk About It In what ways are you generous with your time, money, and talents? How do you respond to giving something in which you have a shortage? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fo1UV9pfrs Build on the Rock

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge...”

(Psalm 18:2, NIV)

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

When you go through difficulty in life, one of the ways to keep the right perspective is to take a moment to look back over your life and remember what God has done for you. Remember how He made a way when you didn’t see a way. Remember how He opened doors that should have never opened. Remember how He put you in just the right place at the right time, promoted you, healed you and restored you. If He did it for you once, He can do it for you again. When you read what He did for the people in the Bible, you can have confidence that He will do the same for you! This is how you build your house on the rock. Hold on to the promise that no matter what comes your way, when the storm is over, when the trouble has passed, you’ll still be standing. As a believer in Jesus, you have the DNA of Almighty God. The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives on the inside of you. You may get knocked down, but you’re not going to stay down. You’ll rise up and stand strong when you build your life on the Rock!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father, thank You for Your protection, grace and mercy on my life. I choose to focus on You; I choose to dwell on Your goodness; I choose to lift up my eyes to You because You are my help in Jesus’ name. Amen!