One of the most powerful ministries Father has given to us is the ministry of “GIVING.” I capitalized this to emphasize the depth of its importance and significance in the Kingdom. You see, the greatest outpouring of this gift on mankind was the GIVING OF YAHSHUAH… our beloved Jesus Christ. If ever there was an expression of what the TRUE MEANING of the ministry of giving really is – it is hidden in the studying out of John 3:16.
That beloved and most memorable passage of scripture says: “For Father so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed.”
So often GIVING is taught from a “resource” perspective. While this is part of it, I tell you – it IS NOT the HEART of it. Iti s not the foundation of it! Father said this to me so clearly, “Prophet, no one can understand giving if they DO NOT seek to understand the depth of my-kind of love, which is a self-sacrificing, relentless love. For it is out of this depth that I have given all things. It is out of this depth that I love my people.”
In Hebrew, “GIVING” carries a deeper meaning than just to give something. Among its meanings are the definitions “to overturn, to deliver or to give up.” This “giving up” is not a giving-in-to – but a place of freely releasing to.
I’ve been a part of ministries of varying kinds over the years. At nearly everyone of them, there were different perspectives on giving and a number of them have really the congregation of the Lord in great bondage concerning “GIVING.” Some of those teachings were from the heart of men, passed down from one denomination or doctrine to another…. leaving many focused on the “material” aspects of giving so much so that many people have given things out of their shame, condemnation, fear or men or intense guilt. I’ve been there, and had to be delivered of this.
In instances when people may not have had these “materialist resources” to give, they become enslaved through service. In other words, they would rend their WORKS in exchange for the pressure to meet these “materialistic” obligations. The fallout from this is far to in-depth to address in an article.
A mentor who, for a time, spoke into my life said this directly to me – and I’ve grown so much from it over the years. She said this, “Don’t give ANYTHING unless you have a revelation from God for yourself concerning giving. If He has not instructed you concerning WHY you are giving and WHAT you are giving, then you need to seriously consider WHY you are doing what you do. Giving, Theresa, is an issue of the heart.”
She instructed me to apply this to every area of giving in my life! Why? Because Ruach Hakodesh, Holy Spirit, must be allowed and released on the inside of us to bring us into GODLY understanding and truth. Father wants us to move with a spirit of understanding and wisdom in all things.
Our journey is one rooted in THE GREATEST TWO COMMANDMENTS WE’VE BEEN GIVEN – (1) to love the Lord our Father with everything in us and (2) to love our neighbors as ourselves.
It’s time to come to a place of maturity when we can see giving NOT BY THE AMOUNT OF MATERIAL RESOURCES you may have; but by the PURITY OF LOVE that exudes through your life. It should be JOY to give! There should be excitement in giving! There should be a love in bringing joy into someone’s life or into the congregation by giving!
For years, I did not have the spirit of giving within me. For one, I was selfish and self-focused. Secondly, I had always had to fight for what I wanted. Being “given to” was something I wasn’t use too; and what was even more significant was this: “Giving to others was rarely a consideration.” I didn’t have “givers” around me. I was hooked up with “takers” and had that “what’s due me” mentality. IT WAS THE GRACE OF GOD, that broke this cycle or it would have continued on throughout my life and ministry.
Even in ministry, it was HARD for me to receive from others. I was always wondering what they wanted in return. That mindset kept me believing there was NO WAY people would give you something for nothing. BUT GOD, through His love and surrounding me with GIVERS destroyed this mindset and placed the SPIRIT OF GIVING all over me. You see, as the LOVE OF GOD IN ME GROWS so does my desire to GIVE THAT LOVE to others. Giving to me is an act of love today… not duty or an obligation. BUT, I only give when Father has placed it on my heart to do.
I was one of those people who were GUILTED, CONDEMNED & PRESSURED into giving in the congregation. I was a person who was TOLD THAT THEY HAD TO DO THIS or HAD TO DO THAT. I was even in positions in which the AMOUNT OF LOVE SHOWN TO ME was predicated on my level of what I was able to give MATERIALISTICALLY. I now realize all of this was for my learning, and I THANK GOD that I was able to walk beyond offense in this area and STILL MATURE as a giver.
Even now, there are ministries that won’t even counsel you or extend church services to you if YOU DO NOT PAY TITHES or GIVE ALMS OR OFFERINGS. I tell you, your ability to love beyond rules and regulations could actually unlock a person’s heart TO GIVE! People of God, please do not misunderstand or misinterpret what Father is having me teach here. I am not saying that that members of a congregation should not pay tithes, give offerings or alms as their leadership asks. I AM SAYING that it is imperative that when we DO GIVE, we do so with the understanding that GIVING is about GOD’s love – not your stuff. I AM SAYING that giving is about your HEART CONDITION not about the outward ACT.
Matthew 6:16-20 CJB says, “Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also. `The eye is the lamp of the body.’ So if you have a `good eye’ [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; but if you have an `evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Take a look at the bolded verse in context with that entire passage. That wealth is speaking of that one thing that is precious to the Lord — the depth of our Love for HIM and the depth of our love for OTHERS. When we begin growing, walking and maturing in the COMPASSION of the Lord — that place of wanting to be blessed to be a blessing… we begin moving in the HIS SPIRIT FOR GIVING.
It’s not enough just change YOUR MINDSET ANYMORE! YOUR HEART MUST CHANGE WITH YOUR MIND! When we can walk into this place of STORING UP KINGDOM WEALTH… then GIVING will be first nature!
To be in Christ (Yahshuah) and to be IN FATHER is to BE A GIVER! The kind of giver you are is TRULY BETWEEN YOU AND GOD! There are people who love FEEDING PEOPLE, SITTING WITH PEOPLE, cooking meals for them, and such. Giving is as UNIQUE as you are in the Kingdom of God. There are even people whose entire ministries are rooted in just GIVING OUT of their own storehouses — finances, things, resources, time or what have you.
I tell you, they are givers not because of WHAT THEY GIVE MATERIALISTICALLY but because of what their HEARTS DESIRED TO DO FOR YOU IN THE LORD! It’s the DESIRE of the heart that makes and identifies the giver.
Even the Lord doesn’t want an offering given begrudgingly.
2 Corinthian 9:6-7 CJB says, “Here’s the point: he who plants sparingly also harvests sparingly. Each should give according to what he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for Father loves a cheerful giver.”
The Hebraic understanding of this scripture is profound! I tell you – I’ve had to repent for the many times that I’ve given (finances, resources, time, etc.) and the SPIRIT OF GIVING wasn’t anywhere in my heart! I had to be delivered of a deep hatred I had toward giving because of the pressure and guilt that had been placed on me. I would actually lose sleep if I could not meet demands made of me sometimes in ministry. I thought God was judging me…
I’ve had to FORGIVE LEADERS who have prostituted me and my gifting! I’ve had to ask the Lord to heal me from SUSPICION and PARANOIA and FEAR OF BEING PIMPED OUT under the guise of servant-hood. I’ve had to SEE JESUS in the midst of all of this – making sure that I TEACH THOSE ASSIGNED TO ME that the true spirit of GIVING is about the LOVE OF GOD. I tell the leaders in VOC all the time not to SOW A DIME into this ministry, if they can’t see the Lord leading them….
No matter what is requested of THERESA by leaders or by anyone… I have to work this thing about giving out in MY OWN HEART with the Lord at the helm. That means that he will not only HELP ME BECOME A GIVER in EVERY AREA of my life – not just my pocket book – but He will HEAL ME of the wrong thinking that BLOCKS ME from giving from EVERY AREA of my life – including my pocketbook.
TRULY, God-sent leaders are worthy of your seed! But I tell you, until you get a revelation of GIVING and how the Lord blesses the SOWER — keep your seed!
I ask you this question today? Do you REALLY have the HEART OF A GIVER? Father’s kind of giving is rooted in sacrifice. He gives to us EVEN WHEN WE DON’T DESERVE IT! HIS GIVING is not predicated on my PERFORMANCE, MY WORK or solely on my OBEDIENCE! How do I know this… because HE GAVE HIS SON FOR ME WHEN I DIDN’T DESERVE IT! He came for me when I didn’t know He existed. He was selfless in giving me a GIFT that supersedes ALL OTHER GIFTS… and examples of giving…
The bible says clearly that there IS NO GREATER GIFT than that of a man who lays down His life for a friend. If I never GET another thing, that … is more than enough. That is the greatest example of GIVING that I’ll ever need. Why? Because if REALLY expresses the Kingdom… and reflects the greatest commandments ever given to man — the command to love.
Luke 21:1-6 CJB: Then Yeshua looked up, and as he watched the rich placing their gifts into the Temple offering-boxes, 2 he also saw a poor widow put in two small coins. He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. For they, out of their wealth, have contributed money they could easily spare; but she, out of her poverty, has given all she had to live on.” As some people were remarking about the Temple, how beautiful its stone work and memorial decorations were, he said, 6 “The time is coming when what you see here will be totally destroyed — not a single stone will be left standing!”
What do you value? Is the AMOUNT of the gift more important to you than the heart of the giver? Are you NOT GIVING because you don’t value what you have so you keep it… waiting until you have more? Today, ask the Lord to help you put on the mind of Christ and seek the HEART OF GIVER! Will you be tested? Oh yes you will, but it will be worth it as Father opens up doors for you in this hour to be expressions of His great love!
From this point forward, I pray that when people teach on giving that it is birth from this foundational root. There are so many books out there that talk about tithes, offerings, alms, first fruits, and so forth… but they don’t even talk about the foundation of the GIFT OF GIVING …. the ultimate GIFT FROM GOD… from which all other aspects of giving flows.
This… is the principle of the matter…{jcomments on}
