We all beat ourselves up with that question. We think if we haven’t won a soul for Jesus we’ve failed. Or if we haven’t prayed with a neighbor or personally met another’s need that somehow we’ve not been a good Christian. But have you thought of other ways that you can or have done just that? I didn’t. Until in my conversation with the Lord the Holy Spirit began bringing some things I’ve ignored to mind. And He may use this message to release you from self imposed condemnation. Yes we should always look for ways to reach and touch those around us. We can’t help but be who we are in the world, salt and light. But there are various ways to carry out the great commission.
I was going over all the things I hadn’t thought I’d done last year until the Holy Spirit brought them to my attention by way of partner letters I received in the mail. They began this way. “ Dear Winsome, these are the things you helped us accomplish this year.” Normally I glance over the letters, but this time the Holy Spirit made me pay attention. I have been very busy. I don’t know where I found the time to accomplish these things. But my giving preceded me.
I have traveled the world preaching and teaching the Good News, I've won countless souls to Christ. I’ve clothed and fed the hungry, dug wells, help start businesses, rebuilt homes, built bomb shelters in Israel, help pass legislation to protect Israel’s right to exist, protected the unborn, provided Thanksgiving meals for families, bought gifts for orphans, and made sure there was meat in my Father’s House, all from the comfort of my home. How is this possible? I gave. I support multiple organizations monthly who go where I cannot, and do what I could not. But I never gave much thought to the impact of these small monthly financial commitments, until the Holy Spirit pointed it out. I have no idea who Morning Messages impacts daily, nor am I privy to how lives are changed as I teach the Word. When I pray with a neighbor who’s hurting, or lend a helping hand when they’re overwhelmed, that's doing something for Him. What we see as nothing God sees as doing something for Him.
That check you wrote to provide a meal for a family in need. That toy you dropped off at the mall. That meal you cooked for the family down the street. That lonely neighbor you sat with for hours. That ride you gave to a friend who didn’t have transportation to get to an appointment. You name it. Jesus said you did it on His behalf. Now, if you haven’t done anything for anyone but yourself and who you know, Then you haven’t done anything for Him. We are told to do for others, what we’d like others to do for us. Let’s read some verses to help us be partners with Him.
“Every time you give to the poor you make a loan to the Lord. Don’t worry—you’ll be repaid in full for all the good you’ve done.”Proverbs 19:17 TPT
“for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’”
Matthew 25:35-36 NKJV
“Give generously and generous gifts will be given back to you, shaken down to make room for more. Abundant gifts will pour out upon you with such an overflowing measure that it will run over the top! The measurement of your generosity becomes the measurement of your return.”Luke 6:38 TPT
“In everything you do, be careful to treat others in the same way you’d want them to treat you, for that is the essence of all the teachings of the Law and the Prophets.”Matthew 7:12 TPT
Are you a giver? Are you generous and lend or share? We are blessed to be a blessing. Don’t look at what you don’t have, look at what you do have. Ask the Lord to give you His eyes and heart. He’ll show you what you can do for Him. Elisha taught the widow left with insurmountable debt by her husband a valuable lesson. It’s valuable to us today as well, by asking this simple question. “What do you have in your house?” She thought she had nothing. But what she had became a blessing to her and her neighbors.
“What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied. When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”
2 Kings 4:2, 7 NLT
Did you see her response? Some of you are looking around with eyes of defeat and doubt saying the same thing: I have nothing. Look again with eyes of faith. That dress or shoes in good condition that can no longer fit you, is something to someone else. That extra loaf of bread is good for someone else. Those extra cans of food you aren’t using is a meal for someone else. That extra twenty dollars you’re wondering what to do with, is helpful to someone else. Your ‘not enough/ nothing’, is wealth to someone in need. Just use faith eyes coupled with a compassionate heart. You aren’t doing anything because you have bought into the lie that you can only be of help if you have a lot to give.
Start with the tithes. Don’t let your pastor or the devil rob you by telling you to start with two percent. Start with what God said: ten percent. He has promised to rebuke the devourer by bringing the whole tenth -not two or where you feel comfortable. Question: How come we’re not afraid to get into debt, but we’re afraid to tithe? The same devil who encouraged you to get into debt by the lust of the eyes, is the same devil telling you that you can’t afford to do the one thing that involves the Lord’s intervention and His rebuke. It’s a trust and love issue of the heart. Satan wants us to doubt God by using the same old trick he used on Eve. But if we will obey the Word of God, as He supplies more because of your obedience, find a trusted organization that can accomplish more with your small donation than you would by keeping it, and give sacrificially. Our tithe isn’t a sacrifice as some teach, neither is it a debt we owe, it’s an act of obedience. Sacrificial giving is what Paul teaches about in Philippians 4 and 2 Corinthians 9. Nowhere in those scriptures is Paul addressing the tithe.
Obedience is key to a rewarding life. The widow the Lord told Elijah would sustain him thought she had nothing. But her willingness to share what she had brought an endless supply during a drought. 1 Kings 17. I personally believe that sacrificial giving is one of the most powerful attestations to the faithfulness of God. It gets heaven’s attention every time. I’ve shared my testimony of how Sheri and I had no food, all our bills were behind with no help in sight. The Lord gave me one answer: “Praise Me!” I found twenty dollars during this time and the Lord told me to sow all of it. I did. My cupboard and refrigerator haven't been empty since, and I’ve never been late with a payment since. My giving has increased in every way. So when He answered my question of what have I done for Him lately, He rolled the video tape.
I thought because I’m sitting home retired that I wasn’t doing much. But not in His eyes. I’ve been all over the world doing amazing things in His Name. Morning Messages are being read in places by people I may never meet except in heaven. My giving is touching and changing more lives than I will ever be able to count. Little becomes much when placed in His hands. So what have you done for Him lately? Maybe more than you think. And if you’re not, Start in this new year by asking Him to show you what you can do for Him. We put limits on ourselves and God, by choosing a lie over His Truth.
“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”
1 John 4:4 NLT
“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
Philippians 4:13 NLT
“the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Colossians 1:26-27 NKJV
That twenty dollars was all we had that day. But a seed remains just a seed until it is sown. Then it becomes a harvest. What will you do with the seed today? You can hold a seed but you can’t hold a harvest. The harvest is always greater than the seed. What have you done for Him lately? Let Him show you.
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
January 6, 2022
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