I BRING YOU GREETINGS FROM THE CITY OF PORT-HARCOURT WHERE WE HAD AN EXPLOSIVE CRUSADE
WE HAVE NOT DONE ANY SPECIAL THING WHEN WE GIVE TO GOD
WE ARE ONLY RETURNING BACK TO THE OWNER WHAT HE OWNS
THERE IS NOTHING YOU OWN THAT YOU DIDN’T RECEIVE
WE GIVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD AS THE OWNER OF EVERYTHING WE HAVE
EVERYWHERE THERE IS LOVE, THERE IS GIVING
PEOPLE CAN FAST AND PRAY BECAUSE THEY HAVE A NEED FROM GOD BUT PEOPLE GIVE TO GOD TO CONFIRM HOW SINCERELY THEY LOVE GOD
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHETHER A PERSON IS A LOVER, FIND OUT ABOUT HIS GIVING
CHURCH PERSON THAT CANNOT GIVE TO GOD, HIS LOVE FOR GOD IS A QUESTIONABLE LOVE
LOVE SPEAKS AND A MAJOR LANGUAGE IS THE LANGUAGE OF GIVING
I WAS NOT PLANNING TO BECOME A PASTOR WHEN I BEGAN TO TITHE IN 1986
NOBODY IS TRULY BLESSED UNTIL THEY EXIST AS BLESSINGS
YOU’RE NOT GREAT UNTIL YOU’RE A CHANNEL OF GREATNESS
PURPOSE BRINGS PURSUIT AND PURSUIT BRINGS POSSESSION
I BEGAN TITHING BEFORE I BECAME EVEN A CHURCH WORKER
WHEN YOU GIVE PURPOSEFULLY, YOU’RE GIVING CHEERFULLY AND THAT ATTRACTS THE LOVE OF GOD
WHEN YOU GIVE ON PURPOSE, THE BLESSING IS A GUARANTEE
– Dr. Pastor Paul Enenche on “REASONS FOR GIVING (2)” || February 2024 Impartation Service || Dunamis International Gospel Centre || Glory Dome, Abuja.
I welcome everyone here this morning in the precious name of Jesus. I bring you greetings from the Garden City of Port-harcourt. Church Gist. We had a most exciting and explosive crusade. The ground was so overwhelmed that we decided to think that we might not be able to hold the crusade there again on that particular ground. Faithful, faithful God, to Him alone be all the praise.
“REASON FOR GIVING (2)”. 2 Corinthians 9:7. We saw last week in the midweek service where the message started from and our objective of course was understanding the purpose of giving, especially giving to God. Church Gist. We began to see by way of introduction that people have different reasons and motives why they give and giving must be done on purpose. We saw that some people give as a matter of religious obligation – to go to Church is to give; some others give as a product of habit or duty – ‘it is offering time’; there are those who give in order to appear like others, not to be left out in action – it’s giving time, so, they begin to dip their hands in their pockets to see what they can pull out atimes from a pocket that looks like a bottomless pit. Church Gist. Have you ever been in a taxi with someone before especially in the university days who is struggling to bring out money from the pocket so that you can tell him, ‘don’t worry, I’ll pay’. Hallelujah. Some people give as an act of favour to God or the Church. It’s called contribution, donation ‘I am donating, I am contributing’. Church Gist. Some others give like we saw for recognition or applause. Atimes someone steps out when they say those who want to give this or that come out, somebody atimes is pushed out maybe because his friends went out and he’s still there.
So, we began to look at, what is the most purposeful purpose of giving that will attract the attention of Heaven or the most reasonable reason to give. Church Gist. We looked at four of them and because this service is a continuation, we are going to look at those four again. The most reasonable reason to give, the most purposeful purpose to give.
1. Giving as an act of gratitude for the supplies and help of God.
That is, God helped me, God supplied my needs and I am grateful to Him, so, I give. Church Gist. 1 Chronicles 29:13-14; Psalm 50:14.
2. Giving as an act of praise or worship.
It’s a department of our praise and worship. Genesis 22:5; Psalm 96:7-8.
3. Giving as an act of honour to God.
We read Proverbs 3:9-10. Malachi 1:6-8.
4. Giving as an act of surrender or consecration. 2 Corinthians 8:1-5; Romans 12:1-2.
If He owns me, then He owns what I have.
That was where we stopped. So, giving is not just contribution, donation or religion, it is a definite action that has a purpose. Church Gist. So, we proceed further. Today, we look at three more in this first service and then look at another in the second service.
5. Giving in acknowledgement of God’s ownership of all things.
1 Chronicles 29:14. Let me give you a practical example of what I’m talking about. Church Gist. When Isaac asked Esau his son to bring venison for him so he can bless him and Esau went to the bush to hunt. Jacob and his mother, Rebecca took an animal that belonged to Isaac, prepared it and brought it back to him, he ate it and blessed them for giving him his own food. That is what it is.
🎵🎶 Whenever you see me, I talk about Jesus, He is the owner of my soul🎶🎵
Psalm 24:1. We have not done any special thing when we give to God, we are only returning back to the owner what He owns. Church Gist. 1 Corinthians 4:7. What car do you have? What house do you have? What money do you have that you did not receive? Haggai 2:8. We give to acknowledge God as the owner of everything we have.
6. Giving as an act of love.
Everywhere there is love, there is giving. There’s always giving in love. John 3:16. 1 Corinthians 13:4. Kindness means love is generous – there is generosity in love and we are called to love the Lord our God. Church Gist. Mark 12:29-30. 2 Corinthians 8:7-8. People can fast and pray because they have a need from God but people give to God to confirm how sincerely they love God. Fasting and prayer may not confirm that you love God, it may confirm that you love you and you may want a particular need of yourself met. Church Gist. If you want to know whether a person is a lover, find out about his giving. Husband that cannot give his wife, the love is questionable. Father that cannot give his children, not spoil his children but minister to the necessity of his children, his love for them is questionable. Church Gist. Church person that cannot give to God, his love for God is a questionable love. 2 Corinthians 8:8. Church Gist. Love speaks and a major language is the language of giving. The head of the love languages is the language of giving.
– somebody say a loud Amen.
So, when you see people arguing, “should I pay tithe?” Such a person hasn’t started with God. Church Gist. You’re not talking of what to pay, you’re talking of how far you can go.
– someone say a loud Amen.
I’ve had instances in my life where the house of the Lord had the need for one thing or the other and I had it, the Church didn’t need to stress at all. Church Gist. I’ve been invited to places to preach and I saw the need on the ground and I went, cleared some things out of my resources to meet that need, God-giving. Sincerity of your love.
– somebody say a loud Amen.
Your greatest excitement when you’re in love is when you give. Church Gist. When you see the excitement of your loved one in response to your giving, that makes your life.
– lift your right hand and say, “Father, I thank you for loving me. I love you Lord and I’m ready to prove the sincerity of my love by my giving. Be glorified Lord in Jesus’ precious name”.
Somebody asked and said, “what is the budget for this Port-harcourt crusade?” And was told the budget in terms of millions because what you saw doesn’t just happen. Church Gist. Television, billboards, bus transportation that brought people, jingles, all manner. One signature cleared all bills. I said, “the Lord bless you”, he said, “what is the money for? Except I don’t have it”.
– God will take you to that realm!
That is, the crowd you saw, the altar call that came, souls that were saved, blind eyes were opening at the frequency of water, all that enters his account alongside the account of the one who preached, those who interceded, those who did the counseling, all have their share in the outcome of the crusade. Church Gist. That is what to do with your life.
– I prophesy to you today in the name of Jesus, every devil restraining you from serving God with resources that way you would love to serve God, I declare that devil is arrested!
7. Giving as an act of gratitude for the gift of life. Life itself happens because God made it to happen. Job 33:4. Acts 17:25-26. Church Gist. Listen, when somebody says, ‘my money? You mean my money?’ that person does not know he’s talking about. ‘My sweat, my energy’. Question number 1: who woke you up in the morning before you went out to sweat the sweat that brought the resources? Question number 2: Who keeps your heart pumping? Church Gist. The heart has what we call the sinoatrial node that is at the apex of the heart. It is like a little brain, it gives it what we call automatic rhythmicity, intrinsic capacity to continue to function on its own. When the heart of an animal is suddenly pulled out by any means, it’s on the ground, it’s pumping for a while. Church Gist. That thing continues, 72 beats per minute by itself for over 80-something to 90 years. Jehovah keeps it beating, when it stops beating, the victim is in the mortuary. Who was it that made that heart to keep beating and not stop beating? What about your breath? Church Gist. There are many people who breathe in and then breathed out and then are there those who breathed out and couldn’t breathe in again. That is called death. So, every single possession you have came because you have life. Nobody gives gifts to a dead man. Coffin lying on the ground and you say, “please, I just brought you this 10,000 dollars”. Church Gist. No. For to him that is joined to the living, there is hope. You have only hope and you can attract favour and all the things you want to attract for as long as there’s life. Having this understanding makes you to release to God without restraints.
– lift up your right hand and say, “Father, thank you for the gift of life. I am not alive by my own power, I am not alive by own strength. I am alive by your mercy and grace and all I have is from you. I thank you Lord for the gift of life. Be glorified Lord in Jesus’ name”.
– God has spoken to you and you feel blessed, say a loud Amen!
These three we’d look at in this service. I will mention the other three we will look in the next service and I will like you to pick up the tape.
8. Giving in acknowledgement of our stewardship of God’s resources. That is the mentality and principle of a caretaker. Church Gist. I am just a pipe that the water is passing through. We will look at that in the second service.
9. Giving as proof of mastery over money. You’re not the servant of money, you’re the master of money. That is, literally giving as a result of the conquest of greed which is a very important thing because there are people who go to hell because of money. Church Gist. Many people are not givers because money is their master. I’ve seen people that money rendered miserable, nobody around them is successful. Greed. They become killers because of greed. We will look at that in the next service.
10. Giving to be a blessing and to live in the blessing. We have a call to bless our generation. Giving to be a blessing and to live as a blessing. Church Gist. I just told you just now that someone asked for the bill that covers a whole crusade, a region-wide crusade. Cleared the bill. Kingdom can’t forget such. Giving to be a blessing and to live in the blessing. We will look at that in second service.
Let me drop this before we proceed, nobody is truly blessed until they exist as blessings. You’re not blessed until you’re a blessing. You’re not great until you’re a channel of greatness. Church Gist. Young man met me in Port-harcourt the other day, he said I met him at the airport sometime back and I tapped his shoulder twice, that was all, everything changed about his life. He was on his knees. Under 15 years of being in the service, he’s an assistant Comptroller in his field. He said, “Sir, at this age, I got two accelerated promotions back to back. This is where I am now at this level and I have 20 more years in the service”. Church Gist. By the time he has done another 10 years, he will be at the peak and then has the balance of another 10 years. Do you understand what I’m talking about? I’ve seen people that were grounded catapulted, empowered. We will look at that in detail.
I don’t know about you but anywhere I have found myself, in the House of God, in the Church of God, my presence must be felt, my absence must be noticed. If I wasn’t there, the devil would know.
In conclusion, this is my counsel: Giving on purpose like we are talking about:
1. Purpose brings pursuit and pursuit brings possession. So, when you understand purpose, it will cause you to pursue what needs to be pursued and the outcome of the pursuit is possession. Church Gist. You pursue giving to God because you understand it. You’re not encouraged. Habakkuk 2:1-3. Purpose brings pursuit and pursuit brings possession.
Since I knew several reasons why I give and not because Church said, I began tithing before I became even a Church worker. I was not planning to become a Pastor at all when I began to tithe in 1986. Church Gist. ’86 is 38 years, without encouragement because I saw it in the Bible and I saw its result. I have not needed to be encouraged by anybody or any Preacher, ‘this is what to do, this is how to give’.
2. Purpose brings favour and favour brings increase. 2 Corinthians 9:7. When you give purposefully, you’re giving cheerfully and that attracts the love of God. Church Gist. When Daniel purposed in his heart in Daniel 1:8, Daniel found favour in Daniel 1:9. Purpose brings favour and favour brings increase. Acts 2:47.
3. Purposeful giving guarantees the blessing. When you understand purpose and when you give on purpose, the blessing is a guarantee. Acts 20:35. The blessing is in the release. Purposeful giving guarantees the blessing. Hallelujah!
– somebody is blessed this morning, if you’re the one, your Amen would be the loudest.
– I declare today a new season of blessing, the revelation will bring a revolution to your life! It will bring a change of story to your life in Jesus’ precious name!
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