Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
With a new look
Make Room
God knows you, and He knows what you need to do. Believe it or not, He knows you better than you do. And He knows what works.
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return,” (Luke 6:38 Amplified Bible).
Now, why do you think that Jesus started that statement by saying, “Give”? Well, if you will allow me, I would like to give you some illustrations.
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First: Suppose you had a closet full of clothes, clothes that were in new condition but too small. They were given to you while you were sick or very skinny for whatever reason. Now you have them, you can’t sell them because they are out of style, and you want something new. So, what do you do? You can’t put anything more in that closet. Well, you could throw them out but they’re still good clothes; no one will benefit then. You’ve got to make room for more clothes. Plus, you are not too joyful. A bird comes by and tells you to give those clothes away to the thrift store; at least someone will benefit from them. When you give them you find joy in doing it and more clothes are given to you—stylish clothes—and you find something in the back corner of the closet that you didn’t know you had; a gold coin. Now your closet is full again with stylish clothes that fit you and you have money from that gold coin. “They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”
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Second: You go to a garage sale and see a beautiful handbag. You collect handbags. This one is bedazzled with red and gold and clear jewels. You ask the proprietor, “What do you want for this bag?” Well, she tells you to make an offer and you try to offer as little as you can get away with. But she looks at you as if she is looking right into your heart, “You really want that bag, don’t ya? Well, I’ll tell ya what. You give $000.00 to ______ ______ Benefit, write a check right now, pay me $0.05 cents and the bag is yours.” You have a decision; are you going to give that money and get the bag or not; it’s a large amount and you just started being a giver of small amounts to ministries that you know well, but it’s a beautiful bag.
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You’re thinking, ‘that is a lot of money to give. I really could use that money somewhere else. O but I really like this bag.’ Just then your best friend walks up and you talk to her. She laughs and says, “You make twice that in a week. What’s the problem?” After some ‘conscience’ debating you decide to give the money, you pay the nickel and thank the lady for the bag. But those jewels get you thinking; she told you they were fakes but something is needling you about that. So, you go to a jeweler and have the bag looked at. The jeweler tells you that you have truly been blessed with a $100.000 bag.
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Third: You have been a tither and giver for quite a while now. You have a garage but your car is a piece of junk, it’s parked outside. And your garage is full of boxes and other junk. Well, you pray for a good car. Now, what should you do to prepare for the car?
“Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity!” (2 Corinthians 9:7 The Passion Translation).
God knows you, and He knows what you need to do. Believe it or not, He knows you better than you do. And He knows what works.
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return,” (Luke 6:38 Amplified Bible).
Now, why do you think that Jesus started that statement by saying, “Give”? Well, if you will allow me, I would like to give you some illustrations.
​
First: Suppose you had a closet full of clothes, clothes that were in new condition but too small. They were given to you while you were sick or very skinny for whatever reason. Now you have them, you can’t sell them because they are out of style, and you want something new. So, what do you do? You can’t put anything more in that closet. Well, you could throw them out but they’re still good clothes; no one will benefit then. You’ve got to make room for more clothes. Plus, you are not too joyful. A bird comes by and tells you to give those clothes away to the thrift store; at least someone will benefit from them. When you give them you find joy in doing it and more clothes are given to you—stylish clothes—and you find something in the back corner of the closet that you didn’t know you had; a gold coin. Now your closet is full again with stylish clothes that fit you and you have money from that gold coin. “They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”
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Second: You go to a garage sale and see a beautiful handbag. You collect handbags. This one is bedazzled with red and gold and clear jewels. You ask the proprietor, “What do you want for this bag?” Well, she tells you to make an offer and you try to offer as little as you can get away with. But she looks at you as if she is looking right into your heart, “You really want that bag, don’t ya? Well, I’ll tell ya what. You give $000.00 to ______ ______ Benefit, write a check right now, pay me $0.05 cents and the bag is yours.” You have a decision; are you going to give that money and get the bag or not; it’s a large amount and you just started being a giver of small amounts to ministries that you know well, but it’s a beautiful bag.
​
You’re thinking, ‘that is a lot of money to give. I really could use that money somewhere else. O but I really like this bag.’ Just then your best friend walks up and you talk to her. She laughs and says, “You make twice that in a week. What’s the problem?” After some ‘conscience’ debating you decide to give the money, you pay the nickel and thank the lady for the bag. But those jewels get you thinking; she told you they were fakes but something is needling you about that. So, you go to a jeweler and have the bag looked at. The jeweler tells you that you have truly been blessed with a $100.000 bag.
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Third: You have been a tither and giver for quite a while now. You have a garage but your car is a piece of junk, it’s parked outside. And your garage is full of boxes and other junk. Well, you pray for a good car. Now, what should you do to prepare for the car?
The more you give, the more you are prepared to receive. Amount of money is not the issue; if you don’t have a large store of money, maybe $300/month, then giving $10 after tithing is a lot: if you make $10,000/month then giving $10 and not tithing is not giving at all, that’s just letting it go. Giving must come after the tithe is set.
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God loves people who love to give. He loves everyone but according to this verse He takes greater pleasure in hilarious givers, those who have fun giving. This is because the one who has fun giving will, most likely, want to give more often, and again and again.