A generous man will prosper.

Proverbs 11:24-25 says "One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."

I am truly touched by the above scripture because I love to see how God moves in the lives of his people when they give of themselves to one another.

For whatever reason, this is not always a scripture that people take hold of an impliment its truth in their daily lives, but hopefully after reading this that will change. Me being a man that lives by faith has allowed me to see on many occasions how my giving to someone else puts me in position to be blessed by God in a big way.

2 Corinthians 9:6 says "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully."

Scripture shows us that in a very general sense, what we receive is very much related to what we give. If we choose not to give much of what we have then it really shouldn't be much of a suprise that we don't have much.

..."you know I always thought people would get tired of being broke. That's all it was for me. I just woke up one day and said 'I am tired of being broke' I opened up the Word of God and began to apply the scriptures that were necessary to get me out of poverty...sure enough, the Word will never return void."

There is however a method to our giving:

1st- we must be tithers and offerers....regardless of what you have heard, if you do not tithe your 10% you are stealing from God. The offering is anything in addition to God's 10%...a gift

Malachi 3:8-12 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

2nd- We must know that "faith worketh patience" and that "faith is being sure of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we do not see." As we give we must be faithful and claim the return as ours in Jesus' name.

3rd-Our faith also teaches us that our giving should be done in secret in order for God to openly reward us. It should not be seen by man.

Matthew 6:1-4 reads "Be careful not to do your `acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

The Bible is very clear on this—when we give in private, our Father rewards us openly, and His favor is evident to all of those around us.

4th- the scripture above touches on giving to the poor. This is very important. As followers of Christ, we should love the less fortunate and help them when we have the means to do so. God has promised us many blessings in return if we reach out to the less fortunate.

1 John 3:17-18 says "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

Luke 14:13-14 says"But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

5th- It is important to sow a seed into the life of those in ministry as well as the word teaches us that they should make their living from the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 11-14 reads "If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?
But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

and there it is 5 points from point5...
If you are obedient to God's word and follow the process of giving...both to God and to others. Jesus will bless you in ways you could never imagine! The effect of those blessings will be prosperity and favor. It's time to stop being broke. It's time to stop lacking.

I pray that this message is one that has given you revelation and will begin a change in your life for the better.God Bless. .5