Last night I tuned in to a telethon for Christian television. A famous minister was speaking on the topic of...
"SEEDING"
planting financial seeds in someone's ministry
for future harvest.
What I found so intriguing about this particular message was the minister's personal testimony. Years ago, someone had challenged him to plant a rather large seed of $1000 into someone else's ministry. He had never given such a large offering, and the request came at a time when he had some huge financial obligations himself. In fact, he didn't have enough to take care of his own bills, let alone give away so much money. The man was relentless in his approach with the minister. Finally, the minister surrendered and gave the offering. Sure enough, by the end of the week, the minister received unexpected monies that far surpassed the amount he had seeded. He thought it was just a fluke, so the same individual challenged him to try it again. Once again he seeded $1000, and this time an even larger amount of money came back to him. Baffled, he tried it one more time, and one more time it came back to him multiplied many times over. Within a couple of weeks from that first offering, his bills were paid off in their entirety. Not only that, the minister personally broke through into a whole new level of ministry.
As he stretched his faith and believed God
to return to him a financial harvest,
God stretched the man's ministry
to a whole new level!
Today, however, I was sitting in church and the pastor was talking about the devastation that just occurred in the Philippines. With no pressure whatsoever, he took up an offering. Right then and there, the Holy Ghost began to stir within me.
"Give sacrificially, Gail!
Stretch your faith like that minister did
and I will meet your needs, and stretch
your ministry to a whole new level."
I'm so serious when I say that the pastor was in no way pushy whatsoever.
God, however, was quite a different story. He was rather bold in his personal challenge to me! So how did I respond to that? I pulled out my purse and took out the cash I had reserved for gas money. Next I found the few dollars I was going to use for a light lunch out. Then I even went into the little zippered pocket where I hid $10 for an emergency. Everything... I gave everything! I folded up all the bills and stuck them in an offering envelope and dropped it in the basket! I'd love to tell you that it was all about the cause. It's a good cause, but I could have easily just thrown a couple bucks in the basket, and that would have been it. But no...
I did it because of God's anointed instruction
combined with the promises of His Word.
"Give, and it will be given to you.
A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over,
will be poured into your lap.
For with the measure you use,
it will be measured to you."
Luke 6:38
Having worn RED shoes now for 316 days in a row -- all while looking and listening for God -- I have noticed that my relationship with the Holy Spirit has changed. As I yearn for greater divine partnership, I have found that it comes with a cost. When He speaks, not only must I listen, I must obey. There's always a choice to be made. Or is there? I've noticed that He's speaking a lot these days. His voice has become clearer and louder. With that, I am finding myself responding -- Yes, in obedience -- but even more so, I am responding in love -- in excitement -- and in anticipation of what great things He will do! There's no choosing "MY" way. That's the wrong direction. I'm choosing "HIS" way and loving every minute of it!
Walking with Him
In RED shoes,
Gail
