Give and receive - a never ending story

GIVE AND RECEIVE - A NEVER ENDING STORY

A couple weeks ago I baked cookies for first time visitors at our church.

I gave “the invitation” to receive your cookie after I gave the invitation to receive Jesus, and I told the people that they can just take the cookie whenever they want to, basically.. The cookie jar was next to the offering basket. This of course was not planned… you cannot buy my cookies.

We took up an offering at the end of the service and people made their way to the front in order to give, and when everyone was seated again, I noticed that the cookie jar was empty… What had happened? Did someone take them all at once? Or did some people take cookies that were not first time visitors? Or maybe there was everything in order? Or was there in fact, some strange cookie conspiracy that took place? We will never know for sure…

What I do know is that later some first time visitors sent me an email that the cookies were so delicious and that the service was great too (the emphasis clearly was on the cookies)  

One thing that was really interesting was that people who gave ended up having cookies, since they had to go to the front in order to give… you give and you receive… very simple… it never changes… some people will probably get mad for making that connection but my point is… keep giving and you will be blessed. It will always be that way.

And from the perspective of a minister of the gospel: many years ago it dawned on me that it is impossible to finance me anyways. It will surely result in a great blessing for people when they can get involved with what God is doing but no one is really capable of funding the vision God has laid on my heart. (This is also one of the reasons why I will never charge a conference fee when organizing an event, besides the fact that it isn’t biblical either). You see God as your source of blessings and walk according to His Word you are a person now that cannot be bought who sees God Himself as the only source of his provision, Jesus Christ - your beloved employer and CEO - because the only thing that matters in your life is to be involved in Gods great quest to see mankind saved and restored. Gods provision flows inevitably into what He is doing in the present. 

“When Gods work is done in Gods way, it will never lack Gods provision” ~ Hudson Taylor 

The devil hates it when finances are in the hands of the sincere believer.

And when our hearts are free from the love of money, God can trust us with it 

Philipp J. Schmerold, January 13th 2021