Generosity - Not a Fault

This transcription is about the importance of generosity and compassion. It emphasizes that fear should be rejected and replaced with faith in God. The speaker talks about the command to give to the poor and how lack of hospitality and arrogance were the big problems in Sodom, not just homosexuality. Generosity and compassion are seen as key values in the Bible, and giving is not just about money but also about helping others in various ways. The speaker highlights the need to be good stewards of our money and to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit when giving. Jesus is presented as a giver, always having money on hand to help others. The speaker encourages nurturing a culture of giving and helping others in need, both physically and spiritually. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of his word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to his perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Deuteronomy 15.10 You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because it is for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you put your hand to. Give to the poor. That's the context of this verse. Give him what he lacks. The poor will always be with you, so open your hand to your brother, the poor, and the needy in your land. That is what the Lord was commanding Israel. Yes, it is a command, not a suggestion. Deuteronomy 15.11 It is something the Lord has always been serious about. Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom. Pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters. She also didn't strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. They were arrogant and committed abomination before me. Therefore, I took them away when I saw it. Ezekiel 16.49-50 Wait, you say. I thought the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexuality. Oh yeah, that was one of their sins. Mark 7.21 and 1 Timothy 1.8-11 shows us that. But it was an outward expression of their inward sin. See, that's the way it works. When Jesus is talking about vine and branches in John 15, he says that a good branch provides good fruit, and a bad branch provides bad fruit. So, their bad branch created all sorts of things that were bad. Homosexuality being one of them. It had an environment in which to grow. But that wasn't the big thing. The lack of hospitality in Sodom in generosity. The prevalence of pride and arrogance and me, me, me, me, me. That was the big problem. The lack of hospitality in Sodom in Genesis 19.4-11 is directly contrasted with the abundance of hospitality in Abraham's camp. Genesis 18.1-15. Generosity of soul, of action, of heart. These are key concepts that the Lord values. Remember this. He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work. 2 Corinthians 9.6-8. So, generosity isn't always about money, but it's always important. Jesus said, Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful. Don't judge, and you won't be judged. Don't condemn, and you won't be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free. Luke 6.36-37. Generosity and compassion are the keys that unlock the blessing of the Lord to put on you the Abrahamic blessing that you will be empowered to prosper in all that you do. Everything you do will be able to be prosperous. Jesus was often moved by compassion. Compassionate because people were lost. Matthew 9.36. They were sick. Matthew 14.14. They were hungry. Matthew 15.32. They were blind. Matthew 20.34. They were unclean. Mark 1.41. They were possessed. Mark 9.22. And grieving. Mark 7.13. He taught that we should be generous in Matthew 18.27, Luke 10.33, and Luke 15.20. Paul taught us it was tied up with a heart for Jesus. Put on, therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance, bearing with one another and forgiving each other. If any man has a complaint against any, even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. Colossians 3.12-13. It was important to the apostle John. But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, then closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God's love remain in him? 1 John 3.17. It was a hallmark of the early church. They carried each other's burdens. Galatians 6.2. They shared. Hebrews 13.16. And we all know sharing is caring. They were eager to give gifts to other believers. 2 Corinthians 9.5-7. They cared for widows. Acts 6. And James, brother of Jesus, exhorts us all in James 1.27 to be compassionate. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world. Paul further charged the church to care for others in 1 Timothy 6.17-19. Charge those who were rich in this present age, that they not be arrogant, not have their hopes set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life. Generosity, compassion, and giving with a joyful heart were not abstract commands, and they were not set apart from the wisdom of being good stewards. This whole thing was part of their lives on a daily basis. But I don't have anything, you say. How can I help others when I can't even make my own ends meet? Now may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness, you being enriched in everything for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. 2 Corinthians 9.10-11 We get so that we can give. Remember the prosperity verse, Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers. 3 John 1-2 This is what it meant. If we are generous in spirit, if we are compassionate in spirit, and if we have a heart to give joyfully, then our spirit is prosperous. We won't try and amass for the sake of amassing. That is not where security or supply comes from. We won't hoard. We won't be greedy. We will get financial bounty and we'll give it away. It's better to give than to receive. Acts 20.35 We don't have to worry about our giving. Matthew 6.31-32 God provides for us. Matthew 7.11 And He provides according to His standards, not ours. Philippians 4.19 But we're still to be good and wise stewards of our money. We aren't to throw it around everywhere. We aren't to ignore our needs. Jesus tells us and the law tells us that there will always be poor. Deuteronomy 5.11 and Matthew 6.11 That doesn't let us off the hook, but it means that you don't need to give your last dollars to everyone you see who is poor unless you're directed by God to do it. Not every type of giving is giving to the poor, but we tend to focus on the other types of giving and neglect the poor because they're always with us. It isn't about money and it isn't about the material need. These are outward manifestations of inner compassion. And if we cultivate that inner compassion, if we cultivate spiritual prosperity, not just in generosity and compassion, but in all the areas, then because we are faithful to Him, He blesses us. That's promised in the Word again and again and again. Now, there are those in this world who are lost, lacking, and alone. They don't have to feel that way. We aren't to let them stay in that state. We're called to do, to help. Now, that can be giving money. That can be helping to feed them. That can be helping to set up programs or administrate programs that both care for those in need and remove the causes that led to their reduced circumstances. It can be all of that, and it can be more than that. If we nurture a culture of helping, giving, blessing, being blessed, receiving, assisting those lower than us on life's ladder, teaching, preaching, we will be nurturing an environment that allows for generosity of spirit, kindness of action, and listening. Why listening? Because it all needs to be led by the Holy Spirit, not our hearts, not our minds. We can be good, kind, wise, and wealth distributors, but if it isn't going where He knows it needs to go, when it needs to go, and how it needs to go, then it will not be as effective as it could be. Not for us, and not for them. We are not to neglect almsgiving, because that's important. But almsgiving isn't the whole story. The people are the whole story. We are to help people physically, financially, and spiritually. Now, Jesus, He was a giver. He was such a giver, that in the middle of one of the three feasts of the Jewish year, feasts all Israelites were to participate in, by ordinance of Yahweh God, Judas left the table to head out, and the other disciples assumed that Jesus sent him to give money to the poor. John 13, 28-30. You have to be a generous and regular giver for that to happen. Jesus always had money on hand to give. When the crowds came and He wanted to feed them, Philip points out that their cash on hand wasn't enough to do it. John 6, 7. Thing is, their cash on hand was equal to half a year's wages for an agricultural laborer. In today's money, and working on a very average and very general scale, that's about $18,000-$20,000. Don't buy into the myth that Jesus was poor. He wasn't. But He was a giver, not a hoarder. Now, He had a house, John 1, 39, Mark 2, 1, and 2, 15. His needs were met. He had a lot of followers who hung around Him, and none of them were lacking either. Jesus took care of them, and they took care of Him. He had nice clothes, Matthew 27, 35. He wasn't hurting, but He didn't have a lot. He gave a lot, which means He got back a lot more, Luke 6, 38, which means He gave a lot more. It was a cycle of blessing. That is what we are called to do. When Jesus was traveling in His ministry, He wasn't going from town to town staying in the best hotels. He tells someone that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. He had, but He didn't keep and hoard and use it for Himself or His own comforts. If you give, it will be given to you. The measure and means that you give are returned to you multiplied. We're to care for the widows and the orphans. We're to help meet the needs of those whom the Holy Spirit points out to us. We're to be concerned about people, not about bills. As servants of Yahweh God attuned to His will in His Word, we are eligible for blessing. If we give, we get. If we bless, we're blessed. If we forgive, we're forgiven. If we don't judge, we're not judged. If we're generous with a cheerful heart to those around us, He is generous to us. It's a cycle. Get, give, give, get. That is prosperity. That is generosity. That is compassion. That is kingdom finance. And that is what we're called to do. Our daily affirmation of God's love is 1 Corinthians 6, 12-15. God made us. God wants to keep us. God doesn't want to deny us. But there are things in this world that aren't good for us. Not that the Lord is saying they don't appear good, taste good, feel good, or anything of that nature. He says clearly that they aren't expedient. Expedient means convenient and practical. When dealing with the Lord, there's always a spiritual component because both God and ourselves are spiritual beings. So just because in the flesh it feels good, looks good, and seems good, doesn't mean it is spiritually convenient or practical. There are moral laws in this universe because God created this universe. It was fashioned from His thoughts. His thoughts are righteous. Therefore, there is a standard or a law of righteousness that exists throughout creation. Creation fell into sin, got diseased, twisted. It didn't change the righteous foundation. It didn't change that there is a standard all creation is supposed to adhere to. We can't always see it. But when we are confronted with things in the flesh, the world, that don't jive with what the Lord says in His Word, we need to be aware that while the things may not be sin, they are still not advisable. How do we know the difference? The love of God. How is that? Well, God loves us too much to leave us hanging. He gives us the Holy Spirit to be our guide, to speak truth to us. Yahweh God gives us wisdom, Proverbs 4, 5-8. When you don't care about someone, you let them go where they will and do what they want. When you love someone, you give them the tools they need to succeed. God loves us very, very much. Use the tools. Be spiritually convenient and practical. Be obedient. Be wise. It's there in His hand for you. Take it and use it and expound with His blessing. As we close, remember that you have birth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love. And no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you just because you're you. 1 John 4, 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent His only-born Son into the world, that we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear, too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.