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Channels of Blessings
A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. - Proverbs 11:25
Whatever you need in life, God will pass it through the hands of men. God uses men to get you to where you need to be. That is why the divine injunction is that whatever you want men to do to you, do so to them.
So, whatever you want men to do to you, whatever you want men to be to you, you set the ball rolling and initiate it, even if you think it is insignificant. The emphasis here is two-fold:
Reach out to others (be a giver).
Initiate the giving (do not give only when others give to you).
Have you ever considered why God never lacks? It is because He is constantly giving. That is why Jesus reiterated that what we are discussing here is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets. Giving fulfils heaven's demand it provokes increase. The onus is therefore on you; there are certain things you can do to provoke increase:
Tithing
Tithing is the covenant blessing connector and is as old as man himself. At creation, God gave man access to everything in the Garden of Eden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). In other words, everything belonged to man except this particular tree which belonged to God in its entirety. And that is basically what tithe is that portion of what God has committed to you which belongs to Him in its entirety.
By tradition, that portion is a tenth part of your income or everything you own. We find Abraham, without prompting or any antecedent, willingly giving Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High, a tithe of all' (Genesis 14:18-20). In fact, it is the first place we ever heard of the word tithe' in the Bible. Commenting on this, Adam Clarke, a British Methodist theologian and Biblical scholar, wrote: "Abram gave as a tribute to the Most High God, who, being the possessor of heaven and earth, dispenses all spiritual and temporal favours, and demands the gratitude, and submissive, loving obedience, of all his subjects." It is therefore no wonder that Abraham was rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. It is doubtful if there was any as rich as he was in his time.
Again, we find that Jacob promised to give God a tenth of all that He would give him (Genesis 28:22); and that was long before the Mosaic Law. It is clear therefore that tithes predate the Law of Moses and was still in effect at the time of Jesus. In fact, before the birth of Jesus, God said through one of the last Old Testament prophets, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in thisand see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it" (Malachi 3:10-11).
When Jesus confronted the teachers of the Law and Pharisees, He said, "Woe to you. You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former" (Matthew 23:23). In effect, Jesus, contrary to the opinion in some quarters, supported tithing. He merely told the people that God expected more from them, in addition to tithing.
As a Christian, you have not started giving until you have given to God what rightly belongs to Him. In fact, your generosity can be called to question if you claim to give to men without first giving to the Lord the one who has blessed you with everything you have.
Generous Giving
Givers never lack. So, give to people generously these include your spouse, children, parents and relatives; the poor and needy; those with an anointing or spiritual gift you desire; and those who are already succeeding in your area of interest. In the same vein, you are expected to give to the servants of the Lord from whom you have benefited or are benefiting (Galatians 6:6).
Apart from giving to people, you are also required to give to God. This is your offering and it is something besides your tithe.
Generous giving can add much more to your life, and it has been said that you give upwards to go up, give sideways to enlarge and give to those below for promotion.
The truth is, it was not for nothing that Apostle Paul said to the Philippians, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). It was because they had sent gifts to him again and again with which he had met some of his needs. Much more, however, he noted: "Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account" (v.17). This exactly is the secret of generous giving: it is divinely credited to your account, not the account of the person you are giving it to. And it is an account from which you can reap a harvest of eternal blessings.
Thanksgiving
One of the many things we can all give is thanks. In fact, that is why it is called thanks-giving. It is the only thing you can still give even when you have no other thing to give. Those who give thanks for the little they have will soon enough be given the opportunity to give thanks for more. It is a divine principle, and it applies to everything on this side of eternity.
A heart of thanksgiving will often attract more. Whether it is to God or men, you will discover that more will come to you as you begin to appreciate and give thanks for the little you have been given. That was exactly what happened in the story of the 10 lepers who had an encounter with Jesus in Luke 17:11-19. For returning to give thanks, after he was healed, one had much more added to him. He received what the other nine were not given complete wholeness.
On the other hand, those who grumble and refuse to be thankful for anything will have what they have taken from them. They lose their joy, peace and whatever it is they grumble they do not have.
Are you angry you do not have enough to give? The Bible states, "in everything give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). This is one of the ways of harnessing the blessings heaven is ever so willing to bestow on those who desire them.
Jesus gave thanks over the little boy's meal and it became enough to feed 5,000 men, besides women and children. At the tomb of Lazarus, He gave thanks and he who was dead and decomposing came back to life. Thanksgiving will always multiply the blessings of God and bring life to every dead situation.
Unity
One of the divine requirements for getting God's best is to "be of one mind, live in peace" (2 Corinthians 13:11). In fact, Psalm 133 describes this as the place the Lord commands His blessing.
Giving to foster unity is a special kind of giving and it attracts the awesome blessings of God. Abraham knew this very well and that was why he would not tolerate the strife between his herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen. He knew that if allowed to fester, strife would eat up his blessings and consequently stop the flow. So, he decided they should separate. Not even Lot's choice of what looked like the greener pasture would make him change his mind or regret his decision.
Apostle Paul said, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone" (Romans 12:18). According to Publilius Syrus, where there is unity there is always victory.
If you are married, the first place to seek or ensure that unity exists is in your home. This is because there are some blessings that will never come to you except you are of one heart with your spouse. Of course, this requires a lot of giving of yourself and everything you have love, affection, care, forgiveness and even material things. To do otherwise is to hinder the blessing of God from flowing to your family.
If you are not married, it still behoves you to seek peace and unity in your family, church, neighbourhood, office and everywhere you find yourself. Even if you do not stand to gain directly from it, the good Lord who has commanded you to be at peace with all men will reward you with His abundant blessings.
