Good afternoon glorious ones!

2 Corinthians 9:8 tells us some of the most wonderful news I have ever heard!  Listen to this:

  • And know this, GOD IS ABLE to lavish all grace (every bounty, favor, benefit, and that which brings joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness and loveliness) upon you, so that in everything you will always have all sufficiency (a perfect condition of life in which no aid or support is needed), so that you may be super-abounding in every good word.

Let us just park here for a moment because this news is so wonderful, we do not want to just blow past it!

He exhorts us to KNOW THIS!  See, you have got to know something. And look at what He wants us to know:  That GOD IS ALBE to lavish. Wow!  Don’t you just love the word “LAVISH”? It means to abound (no bounds), to be abundantly furnished with, to have great abundance, to exceed, to have over, to overflow, to have a large measure, to have affluence, to excel, to exceed, to furnish one richly so that he has abundance, to make abundant or excellent.

What a wonderful life!  To ALWAYS have ALL SUFFICIENCY in ALL THINGS!  And this is possible because of your giving.  Who knew? This is why I am exhorting you today.  It is an exhortation to give and to give bountifully!  As a result of your generosity, God promises that He will give back to you LAVISHLY!

Wow, family, GOD IS ALBE to do this for you IF you will do what He exhorts you to do.  “Well, what is that”, you are probably asking? If you back up a few verses, Paul is talking about the amazingly generous offering that the Corinthian church and most of the churches in Greece had been preparing for 1 year to give to the church in Jerusalem.  He actually encourages them with these words from verse 6:

  • This I say, the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

He goes on to say in verse 7:

  • Let each give according as he purposes in his heart, not out of sorrow or out of compulsion, for God LOVES a gleeful (joyful, willing, hilarious, cheerful) giver.

Paul is exhorting the church that if they will give bountifully, they will reap bountifully. Their bountifulness will come from sowing (giving).  I know it is counter-intuitive, but the Word of God usually is.  It is a very different system than the world’s system.  If you will submit yourself to God by submitting yourself to His Word, your life will be full of joy and satisfaction! It is God’s Word!

Let’s now look at 2 Corinthians 2:10-11,

  • Now He that supplies the seed for sowing and the bread for feeding (eating), may He continually furnish and multiply your seed; may He make you rich (enrich you, make you wealthy, richly furnish you), so that you can be continually generous, for this will result in thanksgiving to God.

Wow family!  GOD SUPPLIES…It feels like WE SUPPLY it, but we do not!  You are a resource for Him. You are a servant of the LORD, but He lavishes it on you while you are giving it out to others.  RELEASE IT!

Paul is pronouncing a blessing upon the church in verses 10 and 11. Let’s receive God’s Word for us today!

Know this from verse 12,

  • …that the dispensation (dispensing) of the ministry of your giving will not only replenish the needs of the saints, but will also super-abound in much thanksgiving to God.

In Romans 12:8, 13 we read:

  • …he who gives with liberality…distributing to the needs of the saints…

In conclusion, Paul says in verse 13 that,

  • Because they stood the test of the dispensation (because they faithfully dispensed their contribution to the needy saints), God will be glorified by the subjection of their confession (their lifestyle) to the Good Message of the Anointed, and by the generosity of the contribution they are making to them and to all.

Paul was encouraging them that they were passing the test being good servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 14 says,

  • As a result, they will long (be earnest) in prayer for your sake because of the surpassing (exceeding) grace of God that is on you.

The enemy will always try to keep us from releasing our finances into the Kingdom of God because He knows we will use it to further God’s Kingdom.  (Why do you think Satan does not care about a rock star earning 20 million dollars a year)?  They are no threat to satan’s kingdom.

So make sure you sow!  Believe this truth from the Word of God:  You will reap as you sow.  Give and it will be given back to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will men give back into your hands. (Luke 6:38).

I encourage you to sow where you grow!

Knowing GOD IS ABLE,

Lisa Gordon

Jesus City Church