THE JOYS OF A GENEROUS LIFE (4 OF 5)
by Roger Thomas
Scripture: II CORINTHIANS 8:1-5
This content is part of a series.
The Joys of a Generous Life (4 of 5)
Series: Stewardship--Taking God at His Word
Roger Thomas
2 Corinthians 8:1-5
Introduction: Today is our final stop on our journey through the book Take God at His Word. I hope this has been a helpful study for you. I know it has for me. Some of our leaders who read the book for the first time several months ago were convinced that you would be blessed by it. That's why the decision was made to provide a copy for everyone. That's when we decided to devote these four weeks to this series of studies.
This has been a beginning point. The full extent of the blessings from this point will be determined by each of you individually or as a family. Those willing to take the next step of faith will experience the greatest blessings. I am convinced of that!
Some one has said, there are three kinds of givers -- the flint, the sponge and the honeycomb. To get anything out of a flint you must hammer it. Then you get only chips and sparks. To get water out of a sponge you squeeze it. The more pressure, the more you get. But the honeycomb just overflows with its own sweetness.
Listen to the way our text describes a group of honeycomb givers. Their generosity simply overflowed from the inside. (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). Note how our text links joy and generosity. "Their overflowing joy... welled up into rich generosity." The next chapter makes the same point in different words when it says, "God loves a cheerful giver." It was this conviction that led the Old Testament to say, "Give generously ... and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to" (Deut 15:10).
I am convinced that the intersection of joy and generosity runs two ways. The more joyous our Christian experience the more we are inclined to be generous--in every way. Likewise, the more generous we are, the more joy we will discover. This is one of those p ...
Series: Stewardship--Taking God at His Word
Roger Thomas
2 Corinthians 8:1-5
Introduction: Today is our final stop on our journey through the book Take God at His Word. I hope this has been a helpful study for you. I know it has for me. Some of our leaders who read the book for the first time several months ago were convinced that you would be blessed by it. That's why the decision was made to provide a copy for everyone. That's when we decided to devote these four weeks to this series of studies.
This has been a beginning point. The full extent of the blessings from this point will be determined by each of you individually or as a family. Those willing to take the next step of faith will experience the greatest blessings. I am convinced of that!
Some one has said, there are three kinds of givers -- the flint, the sponge and the honeycomb. To get anything out of a flint you must hammer it. Then you get only chips and sparks. To get water out of a sponge you squeeze it. The more pressure, the more you get. But the honeycomb just overflows with its own sweetness.
Listen to the way our text describes a group of honeycomb givers. Their generosity simply overflowed from the inside. (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). Note how our text links joy and generosity. "Their overflowing joy... welled up into rich generosity." The next chapter makes the same point in different words when it says, "God loves a cheerful giver." It was this conviction that led the Old Testament to say, "Give generously ... and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to" (Deut 15:10).
I am convinced that the intersection of joy and generosity runs two ways. The more joyous our Christian experience the more we are inclined to be generous--in every way. Likewise, the more generous we are, the more joy we will discover. This is one of those p ...
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