Pressed Down and Spilling Over

 

“But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.”

Generosity to the poor matters to God. Not because He needs our generosity but because it is the essence of who God is as an expression of His love. He is a giver and incredibly generous with us. One cannot be stingy with others or seek to gain from others while they are genuinely expressing love towards them.

Generosity is so central to our being that it impacts our countenance. Just earlier in Luke 11:34 it says that the way we see things from a perspective of giving or taking brings light or darkness to your whole being. If you see the world with a heart of generosity, you will be healthy and exude light. But when you see the world around you with a stingy heart, you will be unhealthy and full of darkness.

Jesus goes on to say we are to see to it that the light within us is not darkness. In other words, that we are givers in generosity by our new nature and not takers in stinginess by our old nature. As we let the new nature that expresses love in generosity take over, our whole body is flooded with this light. But if we let the old nature that expresses itself in taking from others take over, we will be flooded with darkness. (Luke 11:35-36)

But in this initial verse, we are looking at not only generosity but generosity with the poor. There is something about generosity to the poor that moves God’s heart. Daniel, when King Nebuchadnezzar became proud and had a dream that he was going to be taken out of his position and be like a wild ox, eating the grass, told the king to demonstrate his repentance by showing mercy to the poor.

Daniel says to the king, “Therefore, O king, let my advice to you be [considered and found] acceptable; break away now from your sins and exhibit your repentance by doing what is right, and from your wickedness by showing mercy to the poor, so that [if you repent] there may possibly be a continuance of your prosperity and tranquility and a healing of your error.’” (Daniel 4:27)

Verse after verse, speak of caring for the poor:

Proverbs 14:31: Whoever mistreats the poor insults their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Deuteronomy 15:11: For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

Psalm 41:1-2: Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble. The LORD will protect and preserve him; He will bless him in the land and refuse to surrender him to the will of his foes.

Proverbs 22:9: Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

Isaiah 41:17: When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

The Lord level’s up the poor giving them not only the same portion as those who are less needy but the portion needed to make them whole. In other words, He gives more to the poor and needy to bring them into a place of abundance rather than lack.

When Jesus revealed Himself as Messiah, the one He chose to share this with was someone who was considered an outcast. He knew right where He could find her and showed up there, at the well in the heat of the day. When He was resurrected, it was also, Mary, the woman who had been delivered from many demons who He showed Himself to first.

It comes back to what Jesus told Simon in Luke 7:47 speaking of Mary who washed His feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

But not only this in giving us such freedom, but He changes our nature to one of generosity. Like the story of the Scrooge that so many watch on Christmas. He thought he was rich and was really so poor in heart and selfish that had an awakening. The Scrooge changed as he saw the end of his decisions, and as he did, he became transformed into a giving and joy filled man. It is the story of the gospel.

For myself, when I came to know the Lord, He told me, “You don’t know how poor you are.” I didn’t know this. But He came in in power and broke through every stronghold and barrier. Everything from depressions, toxic shame, suicide ideology, to trauma, anger, worry and even financial struggles and false beliefs about myself. He took it all on the cross. He took it all, not a measure of it. Even sickness at a few different points.

“There is nothing that our God can’t do” sings in the background.

I am living a life that is beyond my wildest dreams. I never knew there was such freedom, grace and life. As I stand in wonder on the other side of miracle after miracle, I am so grateful. I am not only grateful but I deeply long to see others who struggle set free. I know the pain of despair and hopeless and I know the freedom of having so much joy that I thought I could burst for a time.

“You’re not going to run out of miracles anytime soon” sings.

On the other side, sometimes people can be rich and not have this kind of generosity. They don’t realize that what they have been given in the natural is such a gift too. Maybe they just don’t realize how rich they are and how much they have.

Going on in Luke 12:13-21, Jesus tells a parable to a man who was upset with his brother who wouldn’t divide his inheritance. He warned him to guard against amassing wealth and abundance of possessions as it can make the heart heavy and weighted down.

He tells them a parable of a man who was successful and had an abundance. When He had more than enough, he decided to store up his surplus so he could have an easy life in the future. In this parable, what the man did not realize is that his life would end that night. All the wealth he amassed would be left behind, not only this but his lack of generosity with his resources was considered as “not rich towards God.”

Rather, Jesus then goes on in Luke 12 to talk to his disciples about worry about what they have, will consume or wear. He tells them instead of worrying about these things to live in abandon to the Lord. They can trust that He will supply in their time of need. Rather than be afraid, they are to see the abundance of the Kingdom they have been provided (Luke 12:32).

Not only are they not to amass wealth and focus on what they have, but they are to give it all away. He tells them in Luke 12:33-34, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purposes for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

When I was at the International House of Prayer and planning to go on a mission trip, I ran into a lady there that felt like such a divine appointment. She told me how when she went out to another country, she saw how poor they were and she cashed in her retirement savings and gave it away to them. She now was living in this place of supernatural provision. She didn’t own anything anymore but she was rich in freedom, love and joy. She gave me a word that the mission trip I was going on would change my life.

Then as I went on this mission trip, it did change my life. It opened me up to see all these children that were in lack and need. So many hurting children. I cared for a young girl whose mom abandoned her because she couldn’t afford her. It broke my heart. Not only this, but in a room on a lower floor, there were babies who were dying. They were weak, frail, malformed, and sick because of malnutrion. When I got back from this trip, caring for these children led my husband and I to discussions about foster care. This eventually led us to adopting our boys.

If we find ourselves struggling, feeling burnt out or lethargic, if we just start giving away what we have and helping others, we will find our faith reignited. Rather than running after things, we have an invitation to run after God. To seek His favor above all.

In our new life, we are created for generosity. We are created to give our lives away and to live from a place of faith with our reliance upon God. We are to go from glory to glory as we live by faith. Our faith is not to acquire or accumulate but to accomplish Kingdom purposes.

We cannot buy our way into heaven, but we see throughout the Bible that God breaks every rule for those who are generous. It was because of generosity of a man name Cornelius was seen by God and him and his household received Christ and the baptism of the Spirit.

It says in Acts 10:1- 6, “At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

Cornelius stared at him in fear. ‘What is it, Lord?’ he asked. The angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.’”

What an amazing story! The Holy Spirit not only sent for Peter to baptize them but gave Peter a vision and prepared him. Cornelius was moved into this place of significant privilege with God and favor with man because of his devout life and generosity.

We know this with the woman who put two talents into the offering as well. While it wasn’t much from an actual wealth standpoint, it was such a great offering that Jesus wanted to watch her give it and celebrate it with His disciples. We don’t know any of her story beyond this but I imagine she went on to do other great things and was incredibly blessed. But this is not the moral of the story. It is not about what God does for us. It was about the precious offering she gave.

Lord, I hear Your invite to let it all go. We long to be more like Mary who pour out our life savings at Your feet to bring You glory. Help us to be free with our wealth. Free us from the temptation to acquire and accumulate it and give us hearts that give generously at every turn.