How generosity opens heaven to bless your socks off!

Generosity transforms us to be more like God and experience all He has for us. But how can we become generous? This personal testimony can inspire you. David Sorensen shares how he used to criticize ministries that ask for support… Then God revealed something to him, that transformed his life.

Do you also get annoyed when Christian ministries ask for support to maintain their ministry? I totally understand that. In fact I also used to be annoyed by requests for donations from preachers. ‘Why can’t they just go to work?’, I wondered frustrated. Until… God called me to lay down my own successful business in 2001 and focus full time on sharing His love with people. Wow…

But I had a plan: ‘I will sell my own Christian art and that will support my ministry’ I thought, proud of myself. I would never ask for donations, ever! I was way too good for that! I was better than all the others. Puh!

I had it all planned out… I would earn so much money with my designs, that I would live comfortably, while bringing millions to Jesus. Praise God!

Things however took quite a different turn. The sales of my art wasn’t as spectacular as I had expected… and the demands of the ministry I was now in, was towering far above my head. Thousands of people responded to my work and I was overwhelmed with requests for help. Literally every single day people wrote me with the most horrifying stories of pain, despair, suffering, sickness, sin, addiction, crisis and struggle in every imaginable area of their life.

I had no time or energy left for my commercial activities. These people had been touched by God’s love and needed to be helped.

Generosity opens the heavens

For about a year I tried desperately to keep up my commercial work besides my ministry, but it didn’t work. I ran into a brick wall of exhaustion and came to a stop. I had no idea what to do… Then God sent several people to me, who all said the same thing. It was not what I wanted to hear. But it was God speaking so clearly and so loud, that I had no way of denying it. He said:

‘David, give people the opportunity to support My work through you. It will open the heavens for Me to bless them. If you don’t offer them the chance to support you, you are keeping them from being blessed by Me.’

Now that was a brand new way of looking at it! I had never considered this… So, when I give others the opportunity to support God’s work through me, that literally gives God the opportunity to bless them more. When I thought about that, I realized it is indeed what the Bible says. Jesus promised that when we support a prophet, we will receive the reward of a prophet. The apostle Paul wrote to the people who sent him a generous donation, that God would now provide all of their needs.

‘I do want you to experience the blessing that issues from generosity.

I now have all I need—more than enough—I’m abundantly satisfied! For I’ve received the gift you sent by Epaphroditus and viewed it as a sweet sacrifice, perfumed with the fragrance of your faithfulness, which is so pleasing to God!

I am convinced that my God will fully satisfy every need you have, for I have seen the abundant riches of glory revealed to me through the Anointed One, Jesus Christ!’

(Philippians 4:18, 19)

 

God’s kingdom principles concerning generosity

A second principle God started showing me in the Bible, is that anyone who preaches His word, is worthy of an honest wage. He led me to 1 Corinthians 9, where the apostle Paul explained this principle:

‘We who are on missionary assignments for God have a right to decent accommodations, and we have a right to support for us and our families.

Are soldiers self-employed? Are gardeners forbidden to eat vegetables from their own gardens? Don’t milkmaids get to drink their fill from the pail?
…
So, if we’ve sowed many spiritual gifts among you, is it too much to expect to reap material gifts from you?
…
Don’t you know that the priests employed in sacred duty in the temple are provided for by temple resources? And the priests who serve at the altar receive a portion of the offerings?

In the same way, the Lord has directed those who proclaim the gospel to receive their living by the gospel.’

(1 Corinthians 9: 7-13)

What I learned from the Word of God is that He ordained it in His kingdom that His servants should be supported.

So my initial criticism of ministers who receive support for their missionary work, was unbiblical! I just never understood how God works. Learning how God sees this, helped me to humble myself and submit to God’s principles in His kingdom.

I hope this will also help you, to have a better understanding when I ask for support. It’s a Godly principle and He greatly rewards those who are generous. Like the angel said to Cornelius, who had a habit of generously giving:

‘Your prayers and your gifts of money have gone up to God. He has remembered them.’
(Acts 10:4)

The actual meaning of the Greek word ‘remembered’ means ‘God has remembered them so that He is about to help you.’

An angel told Cornelius that God has remembered his generosity and is therefor about to help him.

Giving generously literally activates heaven on your behalf… It causes God to act for you, send His angels your way and help you in times of need. One day I heard the Spirit of God speak to me about this. He said:

‘A radical act on the earth causes a radical response from heaven.’

If we give what we have in our hand, God gives what is in His hands. Like the little boy that gave his bread and fish to Jesus. It’s all he had, but in the hands of Jesus it became food for thousands of people…

When we give God what we have, God gives us what He has!

Once we understand this, we will never want to be greedy, selfish, bitter or negative, but we will want to become radically generous. It’s a kingdom principle installed by God, that generosity on the earth opens the windows of heaven to pour out blessings.

God helps those who help others.

Generosity makes us more like God

Partner up with the God of life and healing to bring His salvation to people in need. There isn’t a greater cause. And He will reward you in ways you can’t imagine right now. It literally – read these words carefully – it literally opens the heavens for blessing and answered prayers for you. The more we give, the more the doors of heaven open up for blessing to pour down. What we do to others, will be done to us.

Learning to give will not only open the heavens for you, it will also transform you.

Nothing changes us more than when we learn to open our hearts to give abundantly. It breaks the chains of selfishness and makes us REAL (!) people of love, with actions instead of words. It transforms us to become more like God, who is a giver.

God is a generous GIVER, and when we learn to give, it changes us to become like Him.

I hope this helps you overcome the negative feelings you might have had. Learning all these divine principles, sure helped me.