Generous Growth

On January 13, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 11: 24 – 25

There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more and there is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want. There generous man will be prosperous and he who waters will himself be watered.

How is it that the one who gives generously shall increase all the more while the person who hordes shall experience lack? It hardly makes sense. This, however, is the law of sowing and reaping that Jesus taught his disciples and is still teaching us today. This is how the Kingdom of God works. You cannot reap a harvest without putting some seed in the ground. When the Israelites were being fed in the desert by manna from heaven, they found that when they tried to store away extra, it rotted. That is what happens with our resources. I am all for saving but not at the cost of being tight fisted and stingy. The Kingdom goes to those who learn how to give.

I have noticed that the people who get the most disturbed about Christians and especially ministers having substance are those who are not givers. The reason might be that they simply do not have a revelation yet of how generous Father God is yet. They seem afraid to release anything that belongs to them. Once they find out that there is joy in giving then they will no longer be afraid of loss. Then, perhaps, they will not begrudge others having material wealth because they will understand two important principles. First, they will not fear that someone else having wealth means that they will somehow be deprived and second, they will understand that those people acquired their substance through their own generosity as the scripture says. Once we understand how the kingdom of God works and have experienced God’s generosity in our own lives then there really is no place for fear of lack or jealousy.

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Reaping Peace

On November 24, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 16: 20

I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil. And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

I am sometimes amazed at people whose lives are filled with chaos. They have an uncanny ability to live in the midst of turmoil. As for me, I need peace. I want a life of calm. In this passage, Paul teaches us how to have that peace. One thing I love about this verse is that God himself will provide his peace. He will do it by crushing the devil under our feet. I love that! But you see, for the person of chaos, they are constantly inviting the spirit of chaos to rule in their lives. I think some people are addicted to the drama. But for those of us who love peace, God has told us that if we will focus on those things which are good and pure, and will avoid all things which are from Satan’s camp (lying, cheating, back-stabbing, gossiping, etc.) then the peace from God will make its abode with us. 

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Logic Defied

On July 23, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 11: 24        Amplified

There are those who [generously] scatter abroad, and yet increase more; there are those who withhold more than is fitting or what is justly due, but it results only in want.

Have you ever heard anything so counter-intuitive in your life? How can you give away and yet have more or hoard and have less? It makes no sense. Look at the NIV translation rendition of this verse: “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.” I feel compelled to conclude that things work differently in the Kingdom of God than they do in the world.

We could reverse engineer this verse and get an epiphany. This is how that would look. If I want to increase more, then I would want to generously scatter abroad or as the NIV says, I would need to give freely. Now, here is where we have to make a decision. God is telling us one way to increase but all of our experience and logic tell us the exact opposite. If I need money, for example, my natural first response is not to go give money. One might work overtime, sell something or maybe not give to the church this month. That is how we have been taught by the world economic system. Look around you, though, how well is the world economic system working. Have you been listening to the news broadcasts about Greece’s troubles? Greece is not alone. We are all just a few short days away from being broke, busted. Why then are we so heavily invested in the world system? Does that really make sense? We keep investing in a broken system; we keep taking our advice from those who have run entire economies into the ground. Perhaps it is a time for a change in our thinking. Maybe it would be a good thing to take our financial advice from a guy who paves his driveway and roads with gold.

Honestly, if we want to succeed in this life, we are much better off to listen to our heavenly father than to continue to try to get a harvest from depleted fields. Our father has abundant resources staged and awaiting each and every one of us. We need to start listening to Him and applying His advice. It may not seem to make sense at first blush but how much sense does it make for us to continue to pour our money and other resources down the drain. This world system cannot produce fruit. It is broken. How long are we going to continue to try to ride a dead horse? Take a tip from the master investor. Scatter abroad, give generously. Then you will indeed have a great harvest. It’s true!

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Investment Return

On April 24, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 13: 23

And the one on whom seed was sown on good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

This verse is from the famous parable of the seed. It is such a great expression of the kingdom of God. One of the things that has always struck me about this verse, though, is that Jesus mentioned the hundredfold return first. Then, as if he knew that some people could not receive a hundred fold he said, “Okay, sixty fold.” Still there were some who could not believe for a sixty fold return on seed so he said, “Alright, some will receive thirty fold.” It has made me wonder for years where we could have gone on the other end if we could believe. Would Jesus speak about a thousand fold return with someone who has faith for big returns?

I think sometimes of the stock market and other investments. We all want the largest return on our investment that we can get. If an investment broker offered us a 30%, 60% or 100% return on our money I am pretty sure each of us would choose 100%. So what happens to our thinking when Jesus starts talking about the return on seed sown? Does something about that short circuit our brain patterns?

The first instance of this crop is that the word has been sown as seed to us. Are we fertile soil which produces a crop? The good soil, which is the person who receives the word, brings forth a crop. Some people produce a small crop, others produce a large crop. The second instance of the parable is the seed that we sow back. Those from a farming background will tell us that some of the crop is saved in order to sow for the next crop. We take what Jesus first gave us and sow it back into the kingdom so that others may hear the word. Now, we have invested in the kingdom. What return should you expect on your investment. Here is where people get a little choked but you see, Jesus is expecting every seed to yield at least a 30% return and for those who can believe he is willing to double the investment. That alone becomes a very interesting proposition. 

In the book of Exodus we discover that when a man is caught stealing he must repay double (Exodus 22: 4). Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s anointing and got it (2 Kings 2: 9). And in Isaiah 61: 7 we are promised a double portion for our former shame. So, the double portion would not have sounded remarkable to the Jews to whom Jesus spoke. None the less, he kept backing down to reach the belief level of others there, or at least that is my theory. 

My point is this. First we should give Jesus a hundred fold return on his investment. We are to produce fruit and every fruit bearing tree or bush gives off much more than that which was planted. Secondly, we should eagerly invest in the kingdom of God from the harvest of our fruit and we should expect a hundredfold return. Those who sow, ought to reap. It would be a perversion otherwise. We shouldn’t get all choked up and “Holy” when it comes to investment and return. After all, Jesus is Jewish and he knows how money works. This is the guy who could get money from a fish’s mouth. He isn’t going to freak out if we want to talk about money. It certainly didn’t seem to bother him when Peter asked him about money for the taxes. Jesus was so cool. He just said, “Go fishin” and that was all the advice Peter needed.

Invest in the kingdom. That is God’s will for us all but also expect a big return.

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Spiritual Farming

On September 30, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 97: 11

Light is sown like seed for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

One of the most illustrative Biblical principles is that the Kingdom of God is like a seed which is sown. Jesus compared the Kingdom of God with seed many times. In Luke 13: 18 – 19, for example, he said, “What is the kingdom of God like and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed….” And of course there is the very famous parable in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. But these two examples are not isolated. God often uses the seed to explain to us how the Kingdom of God works. In today’s example, light is sown as is gladness. Have you ever stopped to consider that Jesus was a seed that was sown? God sowed Jesus, His only child and He reaped many children. This is the lesson that God has been attempting to teach His kids for generations now.

Too many times we think of sowing seed as only relating to financial gifts. Well, if you need a financial harvest I cannot think of a better seed to sow than money. However, whatever you sow that also you will reap. If you sow kindness, you will reap kindness. If you sow distrust then people are not going to trust you. What do you suppose a person who sows love will reap?  

The point that I would like to make is only a reiteration of what Jesus taught. The Kingdom of God is like farming. It works through sowing of seed. Christianity does not have to be difficult. Operating in the Kingdom does not have to be a mystery. Jesus certainly tried to reveal the internal workings but we were hard of hearing. What you sow is what you will reap. Sow nothing, reap nothing.  

Once we understand this simplest of principle we can look at our lives and determine if there is any area of lack. If there is then there is a chance that we don’t have enough seed in the ground in that area. We can also check the quality of our seed. Seeds sown in anger, unforgiveness and the like are doomed the same as a seed that is nothing more than some used up thing that we no longer want anyway. But when we sow in faith then the Father causes the seed to grow even though we don’t know how.

Since Jesus told us that the Kingdom of God operates by sowing and reaping it might pay us well to meditate on it a bit. God is sowing light and gladness. That is an awesome concept if you think about it. I wonder what the harvest will be. It is a crop that has been planted for you. Now, receive your harvest but don’t forget to emulate the Father and sow some of that seed back into the ground for the bounty that is to come. And for goodness sake, don’t eat the seed for next year’s harvest which simply means, don’t take all that you have reaped, all that God has given you and spend it on your flesh. Put some back into the Kingdom of God so that it can produce another crop for you. The Kingdom of God is like a seed but it only works when you plant.

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Digging Holes

On July 16, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 7: 15 – 16

He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his on his own head.

At this time of the year every year you can find me watching the Tour de France. In the first stage of this year’s race one of the best sprinters in the world crashed towards the end of the race and unfortunately was injured and is out of the race. It was particularly sad because this rider is British and they were racing on British soil. Moreover, the stage ended that day in his mother’s home town. It was a potential fairy tale ending that concluded in disaster. On the slow motion replay one could see that the rider who crashed out had caused the accident by leaning on and pushing another racer.

So often we are the victims of our own malfeasance. That is how the universe works. In Galatians 6: 7 we are told, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, the he will also reap.” Paul writes, God is not mocked. He told us thousands of years ago that if we dig a pit for others, we are the ones who will be ensnared. Whatever we sow, that shall we reap. This is a universal principle that cannot be avoided.

The good news is that it works in a positive direction as well. When you sow peace you reap peace. When you sow kindness, you reap kindness. Now you can put this principle to work in your life. Whatever you need, sow towards it. Plant a tomato in order to get a tomato.

What you see in your life is a result of the seeds you have sown in the past. The future is completely predictable. Your life will reflect the seeds you sow and the words of your mouth because words are also seeds. So, determine what you want your future to look like and plant those seeds then keep your language consistent with your goals. God is not mocked. What He said years ago still holds, whatever you sow, you shall reap so get out there and plant some good seeds.

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