Generosity: The Door to Great Destiny
The partnership letter for June 2011
Greetings to all my precious saints of God in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. This month I would like to share with you along these lines “Generosity: The Door to Great Destiny”
My Scripture reference is as follows: Isaiah 32:8“A Generous Man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand” Giving is one thing; generosity is another. We can be givers and still not be generous. The kindhearted, merciful, non-condemning person easily gives far more than expected, easily goes the extra mile and easily exceeds what is required. It is the generous person, the big-thinking person, who thinks and acts in terms of better quality, larger quantity, and above and beyond giving.
The opposite of generosity is stinginess. Stingy people measure out the smallest, lowest-quality thing they can find in order to gratify their meager conscience. That is a legalistic mind-set that comprehends nothing about the generous Spirit of God. The key to generosity is the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is to overflow with generosity in our attitudes, with our possessions, with our money, and with ourselves.
The Bible gives many striking examples of over generosity:
1) King David generously showered wealth and property upon Mephibosheth, the crippled son of Saul's son Jonathon. In 2 Samuel 9:7-13, we learn that David not only had Mephibosheth eat at his table all the rest of his days, but he also gave him the entire estate of the late king Saul, plus all of the servants of Saul's house and all the income from Saul's vast properties.
2) In Genesis 13:9, Abraham displayed extraordinary generosity when he gave to his nephew Lot all the plains of Jordan-half of all the lands that had been promised to Abraham by God Himself.
3) In John 2:6-10, the generosity of Jesus was shown when He turned plain water into 180 gallons of the finest wine. He did this at the end of a feast, when neither that much wine nor the 'best' wine was needed.
4) In Acts 20:34-35, Paul was generous when he worked hard and prospered, and then supported everyone that was travelling with him. He explained that the reason for his generosity was so they would, '...remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'
There are countless other biblical stories of above and beyond generosity. These examples were set for us to follow. 'Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by your generous Spirit' (Psalm 51:12)
Generosity opens the doors to great destiny. Your generous spirit can expose incredible opportunities you might have never known God was offering you, blessings beyond your greatest desires and imagination. Let us consider the example of Rebekah in Genesis 24. That amazing account followed Eliezer, chief servant of Abraham, as he travelled back to his master's homeland to find a wife for Abraham's son, Isaac...
Eliezer took ten camels laden with gifts for the fortunate woman whom he would choose as Isaac's bride. As he approached a well just inside the homeland, he prayed that God would reveal the future wife of Isaac by her generosity. (See Gen 24:14)
As soon as he finished praying, along came Rebekah, the most beautiful young woman Eliezer had ever seen. When he asked her for a cup of water, without hesitation she gave him the water, and then she went above and beyond that act of generosity by also offering to water all of his camels. (See Genesis 24:18-20)
That was no small act of generosity. A camel can drink up to twenty-five gallons of water in one sitting. Also, the well was not some bucketon a rope rig. She had to trudge some fifty steps down to the well to get water. If each camel drank its fill, that would be two hundred and fifty gallons Rebekah had to lug all the way up those stairs- and she was not described as a beefy lass! At the very most, she could probably carry no more than five gallons back up those steps! Now that is generosity-eager, willing hearted, hospitality in action.
Eliezer must have stood there drop-jawed at the sight of this beautiful young woman working her heart out-all from her unconditional, over-the–top generosity. And with each panting breath and faltering step, Rebekah was answering a prayer and marching toward a destiny far beyond her wildest dreams.
When she finshed the task for Eliezer, he told her why he had come. Then Rebekah rushed and told her family the story, and her brother Laban ran out and invited Eliezer to their father's home.Within hours, the family, blessed with Eliezer's gifts, had agreed to the marriage of Rebekah to Isaac, and Rebekah was ready to depart on the journey to meet Isaac and his family-and to establish a legacy that is unmatched in all of human history.
The rest of the story is the foundation of the entire nation of Israel and of God's plan of salvation for mankind; Rebekah became the mother of Jacob (who became the father of the Israelite people, from whom the Messiah would come), she became part of the wealthiest family in the entire East, and she went down in history as part of the plan of God to bring Christ into the world. All because of Rebekah's acts of selfless generosity. An incredible example!
So, remember that generosity opens the doors that you may not even know God is offering you.
May God continue to richly bless you and your family. I pray for you daily and take pleasure in seeing you enjoy God’s blessings that make Rich & adds No Sorrow.
We Love You very Much,Pastors Roshan and Zubeda Sing