I love today's "Faith To Faith" devotional by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland!
Give More—Not Less
There is that scatters, and yet increases; and there is
that withholds more than is meet, but it tends to poverty. Proverbs 11:24
When money gets tight, it's always a temptation to cut down
on your giving. After all, it seems like the logical thing to do. Don't do it!
You'll end up cutting off the flow of God's financial blessings just when you
need them most.
I faced that kind of situation just a few years ago. This
ministry had fallen behind financially—$1 million to be exact. Gloria and I had
been living by faith for 20 years at that time. We knew firsthand that God
would meet our needs—"according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). We'd seen God prove that over and over
again, not only in our personal lives but in the life of our ministry as well.
Yet this particular time, all the prayers and the faith that
had brought us victory before just didn't seem to get the job done. In fact, as
time went on, the situation grew worse instead of better.
By the end of the year our deficit had grown to be $1
million.
Frustrated and weary, I finally went to God one day and laid
the situation out before Him. "Lord," I said, "You see the
condition of this ministry. I need $1 million just to break even."
"Oh no, you don't!" the Lord replied.
I could hardly believe it. How could He possibly be telling
me that I didn't need $1 million? Hadn't He looked at the books? Hadn't He
talked to my accountant? I was stumped. All I could figure was that I'd
misunderstood something. So I went through it all again.
Again He said, Oh no, you don't.
Despite my initial confusion, as I kept asking and
listening, I began to understand what the Lord was telling me. He was saying
that the red ink on the books wasn't the only thing wrong. There was a bigger
problem behind it.
Then He showed me what I needed to do was to start giving
10 percent of the ministry's income into ministering to the poor.
To the natural mind that looked like no solution at all. How
do you solve a deficit by giving away what money you've got? But when I applied
that solution, the $1 million deficit began to disappear.
Remember that next time the devil tries to put the squeeze
on you. Break his hold on your finances by giving more instead of less. It
won't be long until the prosperity of God is poured out on you!
AMEN! God ALWAYS has our best interests in mind! Be ever ready to study, learn and obey God's Word and you will find yourself blessed beyond measure! Here is Hillsong with "Not Today":
Shalom in Him!
