(Provider, Generous Benefactor contd)
Meditation 6: Generous to Givers
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Proverbs 19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.
What is wonderful about this attribute:
The reason we are reluctant to be generous is we fear that if we give our money or time or energy to someone else, then we may not have enough time or money or energy left over to do what would bring about our own joy. But if we know this attribute of God – that He considers our gifts to others a loan that He will repay, then the fear of losing our joy evaporates and we are free to be generous. God made this promise because He loves to be trusted so much that He always makes more joy available to us when we trust Him than when we do not.
The repayment God has promised to the generous is far more than anything we could ever give to anyone. It is when our souls become so deeply convinced of these promises that we are delighted to be generous that we are walking by faith. And the result is others receive glad generosity from us, we receive massive blessing from God, and God receives glory as one worthy of being trusted.
What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God’s generosity to the generous today?
__________________________________________________________________________
Experiencing this attribute:
Memorize at least one of God’s promises to bless the generous, and cling to that promise when you are tempted to be stingy with your time or energy or money. Remind yourself that it is both your joy and the glory of God that are at stake.
Forgive me, dear Lord, for all the times I have lived in a manner that would advertise to the world that I need to hoard most of what I have. What a reproach that is on Your name. Lord, teach me to live in a way that shouts to the world that I have a Father who is a rich King. Teach me to live like a man who has infinite resources promised by a rich Father who delights in generosity. Let my heart become like Your generous heart, that I might walk close by Your side in intimacy.
Teach me to be much more interested in the promised great reward than in the money in my wallet. Teach me to long so desperately for my light to rise in the darkness and for Your guidance and satisfaction from You and being a well-watered garden and a spring of water – all the things You promise to the generous. Make me crave those things with such deep craving that my stingy heart will be moved to generosity. Make me so I would rather have those rewards than money or time or energy or any of the things I horde.
Think: With which commodity are you most tempted to be stingy: time, energy, money, or something else? In what ways do you think God would repay you if you became generous with that commodity?
Promise to trust today:
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Proverbs 19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.
Isaiah 58:9-11 If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Write your own prayer:
