Our friend, Micheal, recently learned the joy of giving with a generous heart and witnessed God’s riches that poured in because of his obedience. Micheal’s message is one that many of us, in this economy, can relate to: If you don’t have much material wealth in this world and are struggling to stay afloat, give generously. You will be amazed by God’s ability and willingness to multiply our limited resources into something magnificent!
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” - Malachi 3:10
This is a testimony to this verse. These past 2 months God has been teaching me about money. I remember being in a car with my small group leader and he was rebuking me saying, “It’s not that God doesn’t want to give you money, it’s just that you’re not ready for it yet. If you get money, God knows you will spend it on things you probably shouldn’t.”
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That night we went to a workshop on money. There, I learned about generosity. We should give in 3 ways: One, tithe. Two, give until you ‘see the whites of their eyes’, which means give so generously until you can see their eyes open wide in surprise. Three, royalty giving. In the same way there was this queen in the Old Testament who brought gifts to King Solomon, we should bring gifts to those we visit, even if they are rich. It’s not so much the gift, but more about knowing that you thought about them and went out and took the time to bring them something. We are royalty. We are sons of the King, princes and princesses. Giving should be a part of who we are.
That night, I went home and immediately tithed for all my projects. I later also attended a GBS prayer meeting, where they prayed for those who needed financial help. A week later, I received 8 projects within about 3 days. (I’m a motion graphics freelancer and normally I only get like 2 projects in one month). A week later, I tithed again, donated some money to the organization “Food for the Poor,” and also gave my roommate, who found out that the new job he got was for a scam artist and ran away with his money, $100. That same day, I received a call and got asked to do a video for KOLLABORATION. Simultaneously, my church amazingly also started a 2 week series on money and giving. At our small groups, our leader challenged us to give to whoever asked of us this month. That week, I received mail from 2 organizations, Food for the Poor and Holtz International, asking for donations. I gave to them and tithed again. A couple days later, I received 3 more projects: One for the KPOP MASTERS concert at MGM in Vegas, and another to make background graphics for the new KIA cars when they are showcased at the national auto shows around the US. These are some of the biggest projects I’ve ever received.
This is NOT a prosperity gospel testimony. It is not about seeking after money. What it is about is the following: If you seek after God, He will take care of you. If you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your hearts. (Psalm 37:4). I’ve received a lot of projects. But these projects don’t give me the same kind of joy as when I’m praying or when I’m in the presence of God. That is TRUE JOY and no amount of amazing projects, fame, or money can compare! Aren’t you thankful that there is someone out there who doesn’t care about how much money you make, or what you look like, or how many relationships you’ve been in, but cares for what matters most: our character? He cares for our soul. It is not that He doesn’t want to fix your financial life, but rather that He wants to first fix your heart. My pastor from my home church in Illinois would always say: God is always looking for ANY excuse to bless you! It’s not that He doesn’t have enough blessings for us, it’s that we don’t have enough room in our hearts to receive the blessings. Father, increase the bowls of our hearts so that we may take more of you in!
Lastly, for those who are in need of financial help, I wrote this for myself. Maybe it can help you. Open up your bank account and look at how much money you have. This number could be $50 or it could be $50 million. But let me tell you some truth. That number you are staring at is NOT a measure of how much God loves you and it is NOT a measure of how much God will take care of you. You already KNOW how much God loves you. You know how much God will provide for you and how many resources He has. That number, whether it be $50 or $50 million, is problematic. It’s far too small compared to how much God loves you and how much you ALREADY have in Jesus.
Seek the Lord first and He will give you what you need. And for those who are rich, which I argue is anyone living in America, let’s learn to be generous. God doesn’t give you more money to increase your standard of living, but to increase your standard of giving. And how could we not give!? The more we give, the more God has promised to give back to us!
