Give $100!” Maybe that phrase sounds familiar. Perhaps from a preacher, perhaps from that still small voice. “Give $200!” Perhaps it seems that whenever you are looking for breakthrough the only advice you get is to give! That doesn’t seem fair. What is God trying to do, keep you broke?! Push you until you yell, “MERCY”! Keep you from truly enjoying your life?
Beloved, if those thoughts about God have come from your mind, then you need to be introduced to a part of God that God has kept for His covenant children. He is the God of More than Enough! In Genesis 17, God is establishing His covenant with Abraham and his seed.
As God is setting up this covenant He identifies Himself as “Almighty God” (vs. 1)! You might think that “Almighty God” is somewhat redundant, however, the actual Hebrew word used here is EI-Shaddai! El-Shaddai literally means, “The God of more-than-enough”! So what God is actually telling Abraham is, “I am the Lord your God, I AM and I have whatever you need for every circumstance and situation in your life.” Through God coming into covenant with Abraham and revealing the abundance of His nature to Abraham, he changes Abraham’s status from average to awesome! “Well, Pastor Thad, isn’t that good news for Abraham?” No, that is good news for YOU! Galatians 3:29 tells us, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” We are the seed of Abraham. We are heirs to the same promise given to Abraham. El-Shaddai promises to abundantly provide for those who are in covenant with Him.
In Exodus 3: 14 God reveals Himself to Moses as, “I Am that I Am!” God is declaring to Moses and to every covenant-child of God that He is whatever you need Him to be in your life! He is your provider of abundant supply! He has at your disposal any amount of bless-ing, benefits, solutions, grace, miracles, and anything else that you could ever need! His passion isn’t to leave you penny-less! His passion is to bring you to the place where you have more-than-enough. Were you don’t have to get frustrated every time that he asks you to give a large amount of money.
Consider Your Ways
You may say, “Well, Pastor Thad, I’ve heard this before. I know that God is good and that He wants me to have plenty, however, it isn’t coming to pass in my life like it is in other people’s lives.” Romans 2:11 tells us that, “God is no respecter of persons”! He will not allow it to work one way for one person and not work for another! God’s system isn’t broken for you! His system works every time that someone works it right. If you are not getting what the Word of God says you should have, then take a look at yourself! Haggai 1:7 tells us, “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.” Beloved, if you are not receiving the blessings of God, then there is something that YOU have neglected, overlooked, or left out! God is a more-than-enough provider of all things. The problem is not God…..it is you!
Today, I want to take a look at five things that can get neglected in our lives. Five things that are a part of God’s system for stepping into the more-than-enough in your life. Consider your ways!
- Seek the Kingdom of God! Matthew 6:33 – “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Remember, the Kingdom of God is not a place it is a method of operating. The Kingdom of God is about doing things the way God does them. So if you want to tap into God’s abundant supply you must first seek his way of doing things. You’ve been doing it your way long enough, now do it God’s way. Creflo Dollar says that “the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.” If you have been doing things your way and they have not been working, then perhaps that should tell you that your way and God’s way are not the same. Beloved, get into the Word of God and search the heart of God. Search how Jesus did things when He walked the earth. Once you have sought His way, then do what He has said to do. Then everything will be added to you!
- Get your house in order! 1 Peter 1:15 (AMP) – “But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourself also be holy in your conduct and manner of living.” Being holy is a prerequisite to receiving God’s blessings. Whatever is out of order needs to be put in order before God can lavish His blessings on you. Clean living! Beloved, your unholy lifestyle will tie God’s hands and prevent Him from operating in your life, the way He wants to operate in your life. 1 Thessalonians 4:1 tells us, “Furthermore then we beseech vou. brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.’ ” If vou are desiring to abound more and more, then you need to make sure that you are walking your life to please God. This is very important: You cannot earn God’s blessings by how you live, but how you live will determine if His blessings come or not.
- When you have a need, sow a seed! 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 – “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” If you desire to step out of insufficiency and into God’s abundance, you have to learn the power of giving and sowing seed. The seed that is being talked about in 2 Corinthians 9 is definitely the seed of money. If you are going to enjoy God’s abundant provision you need to learn to give abundantly. The kingdom of this world has a motto, “Get all you can, Can all you get, then sit on the can!” However, the Kingdom of God operates a little different: Matthew 13:24 – “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.” Matthew 13:31 – “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field.” His kingdom operates through sowing and reaping (see Genesis 8:22). You have to plant your seed into the system in order for God to return to you more than what you have planted! You must sow out of your insufficiency and watch God multiply it to meet your needs. He is not trying to get anything from you, but is trying to get abundance to you!
- Bring your seed to Jesus! Matthew 14:17-20 – “And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.” Beloved, quit giving to people and start giving to God! Bring your seed to Him! He will empower your seed! He will bless the seed so that it will bring increase! “Well, Pastor Thad, how do I give my seed to God?” First of all, when you give money to someone, quit waiting for a thank you! Don’t expect a thank you! Don’t expect a plaque on the back wall that says what you did! If that is what you are expecting then that will be your reward! Secondly, quit giving where you think there is a need and start giving where God tells you to give. Isaiah 1:19 tells us, “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” We all want to help people who are in trouble, however, that is not necessarily the place that God wants you to put your money. Three words towards breakthrough, “HEAR AND DO!” The third way to give your seed is to put it into your local church. Where ever you go to church is your storehouse and you need to not only put your tithe into that place, but you also need to put your offerings (see Malachi 3:6-12). The final way that you bring your money to Jesus is to give to your man of God. Galatians 6:6 says, “Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.” That word communicate means to distribute or give. If someone is teaching you the Word of God, you need to put seed back into them, so that you can receive more back from them.
- The Master Key: Your Mouth! Proverbs 18:21 – “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Matthew 12:37 – “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Matthew 15:11 – “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” James 3:6 – “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” This is where so many Christians miss it. They keep going around talking about how bad their situation is and they can’t even see how things could change. They go around asking everyone for prayer and telling them what a mess they are in. It is okay to ask for prayer, but spend your time talking about the blessings of God instead of the current situation! Romans 4:17 tells us to call “those things which be not as though they were.” Speak about what you desire, not about what you have! Remember, Moses inability to speak to the Rock kept him out of his desired Promised land (see Numbers 20:1-12). Don’t let it keep you out of your abundance!
Get ‘Er Done! When God tells you to give the biggest seed you’ve ever given, don’t panic! He’s not trying to break you, He’s trying to break you through to a new place of abundance! Just keep doing what you know to do and see the blessings of the Lord manifest in a new way. See the God of More-Than-Enough show up for you time after time after time!
