RECAP
Intro: What it Means to be
Blessed
-
God gives us
blessings, produces blessings, and promises blessings.
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We as people
tend to focus on material blessings more than God does.
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God has given
us blessings, but how much stuff we have is not the best way for us to measure
God’s blessing in our life.
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The truth is
that we ARE blessed— blessed with every spiritual blessing.
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We have access
to the blessing of God.
- However, we must walk in them in order to experience His blessings the way He intended for us.
Part 1: Delighting in God’s
Word
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There is a
blessing when we delight in God’s Word.
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Blessed is the
man who refuses to listen to the voice of the world.
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Blessed is the
man who delights (values) God’s Word
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Blessed is the
man who meditates on God’s Word
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Blessed is the
man who obeys God’s Word
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That person
will be blessed: stable, sustained, fruitful, enduring, and prosperous.
- Walking in God’s ways is the closest thing to heaven on this side of it.
Part 2: Walking in Integrity
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Integrity
means wholeness—being the same person publicly and privately.
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Integrity is
not perfection. When people of integrity fail, they admit it, repent, and make
it right.
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Through
integrity, we are building the life we will live in tomorrow. Our words,
decisions, and actions eventually become our foundation.
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God connects
integrity with His blessing: His favor, His vindication, and a generational
blessing upon our children.
- Never sacrifice what God has promised tomorrow for what compromise can give you today.
Part 3: Making God our
Refuge
- A refuge is
a place that we run to in times of trouble.
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We make God our refuge when we stay close to Him and by
declaring that the Lord is our fortress and our defense.
- God promises protection over our
life, even the things we don’t see coming.
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He also promises His personnel of angels concerning us to
watch over us.
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God promises to be present with us, answer us, and deliver
us in times of trouble.
PART 4: LIVING GENEROUSLY
Today in part 4 we are going to discover the blessings that come with us living generously. To do so, we are going to look at the historical account of the Widow of Zarephath in the Old Testament.
The Widow of Zarephath
Israel was suffering through a severe drought and famine. God sent Elijah to Zarephath and told him that a widow there would provide food for him.
1 Kings 17:8-11
"8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.””
Elijah goes to Zarephath as the Lord commanded and asked the widow to give him water and provide for him a “morsel” of bread.
Morsel = A very small piece; a handful.
Now lets look at what the widow said in response:
1 Kings 17:12 — “So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”
She was preparing what she believed would be the final meal for herself and her son. Yet, the widow who needed a miracle was being invited to participate in someone else’s miracle.
God chose someone who needed a blessing and gave her an opportunity to become a blessing.
This is a pattern we see throughout Scripture.
The Shunammite woman carried the pain of having no child, yet she generously opened her home and prepared a room for Elisha. While she was making room for God’s work, God addressed the empty place within her own life and blessed her with a son.
Then there was The Boy with Five Loaves and Two Fish Who did not possess enough to meet the enormous need in front of him. But when his small lunch was placed into Jesus’ hands, Jesus used it to provide a miracle for thousands of people.
In each of these stories, someone who was an unmet desire or a need of their own was invited to participate in what God wanted to do for someone else. At times, while we are asking God for a miracle, He asks us to participate in someone else’s miracle.
It is important to understand that being in need does not disqualify us from being used by God. Instead, it is the soil in which God uses to bring about His blessings in your life. In other words, we do not have to wait until every need is met or every prayer is answered before we can become a blessing.
The widow of Zarephath was in need:
•
But God still
chose her to provide for Elijah.
•
She could have
concluded that she had nothing to offer because she did not have enough for
herself.
• Instead, she trusted God with what she had, and discovered that God not only was going to meet Elijah’s needs, but was also going to meet her need as well.
Today we are going to use the account of the Widow of Zarephath to bring about 4 blessings that are experienced through generosity.
4 Blessings Experienced through Generosity
1.
The
Blessing of Freedom from Fear
The widow’s first response to the Prophet Elijah was to hold back. However, she
was not holding back because she was greedy. She was holding back because she
was afraid. Although God had a plan for her, she could only see what was in her
jar. As far as she knew, what she possessed was not enough to survive the
famine and sharing any of it would only cause her to run out sooner.
I believe this is why Elijah’s first
words addressed her fear:
v13 — “Do not fear…”
The real battle the widow faced was not merely over how much flour and oil she
had left. Instead, it was about where she was going to place her trust.
Fear says:
- “I cannot afford to give.”
- “What if I do not have enough?”
- “If I let this go, I may never get it back.”
Faith says:
- “God is my source.”
- “Everything I have comes from Him.”
- “God is going to take care of me.”
- “God can do more with what I give than I can do with
what I keep.”
Matthew 6:21 — “For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Where we place our treasure affects the direction of our hearts. When we give,
we remind ourselves that money is a tool, not our master. Our possessions may
be resources, but they are not our source.
We are freed from believing that our security depends entirely upon what we
possess. Generosity frees us from fear, greed, materialism, and the pressure of
believing that everything depends upon us.
2.
The
Blessing of God’s Provision
Look at the promise that Elijah gave to the widow in verse 13-14:
1 Kings 17:13-14
“13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said.
But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make
something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of
Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be
spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends
rain upon the earth.’”
The widow now had a decision to make.
Would she trust what she could see, or would she trust what God had said?
Scripture tells us, “She
went away and did as Elijah had told her” (1 Kings 17:15). Remember that this
widow only had enough for one last bite for her and her son. However, God was
asking her to provide for Elijah first. You see, her generosity was an act of
faith that positioned her to be in line with God’s
promise. Because she trusted God and obeyed Him, the Bible says that “...there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her
family” (1 Kings 17:15). God faithfully provided for her throughout the famine.
2 Corinthians 9:8: “And
God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having
all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
Notice what God promises: having all that you need. The promise is not that
every generous person will become wealthy. The promise is that God is able to
provide what we need so that we can continue doing the good work He has called
us to do.
God did not immediately give the widow a warehouse filled with flour. He gave
her enough for each day. The blessing was God’s
sustaining provision. She did not have to worry about where tomorrow’s provision would come from. She only had to trust God
for what she needed for today.
The widow’s jar never overflowed, but it never ran out. God provides us with
what we need. Sometimes we think blessing means having more than we could ever
use. But blessing can also mean looking back and seeing how God has faithfully
carried us, sustained us, and gave us what we needed every step of the way. God
may not always give us everything we are asking for all at once, but He will
faithfully supply your need.
3.
The
Blessing of Refreshment
Before the widow responded in faith, she believed she and her son were
preparing to eat their final meal and die. But after she responded, Scripture
says there was food every day for her household. What she thought would be her
final meal became the beginning of God’s daily
provision. She refreshed Elijah, and in the process, she and her household were
also refreshed.
Proverbs 11:25 — “A
generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”
That word “refresh” in some translations use the word “watered.” The
translation of that word is to be drenched. The imagery is not of one watering
a plant. Instead it is of hard rain being poured down on the earth and the soil
being soaked. In other words, when you look to be a blessing and pour into
others lives, God will then also pour down of blessings into your life as well.
When you pour out to
others, you make room for God to pour back into you.
[Share story of
investing into Steve’s home]
When we pour into others, we make room for God to pour back into us. You may
become the answer to someone else’s prayer—and while you are refreshing them,
you may discover that God has already prepared refreshment for you.
4.
The
Blessing of Lasting Impact
The widow only had a handful of flour and a little oil. In her hands, it
appeared to be enough for one final meal. But when she released it in obedience
to God, it helped sustain her family and Elijah throughout the famine. What she
kept could feed her family once, but what she put it in God’s hands was able to
reach much farther.
2 Corinthians 9:10 — “He
who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your
seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”
Paul compares generosity to planting a seed. A seed kept in your hand remains
one seed, but a seed planted in the ground can produce an entire harvest. In
the same way, God can take something small that we give and use it to meet
needs, change lives, and move forward the Kingdom of God.
The widow’s generosity also helped sustain
Elijah and made her part of what God accomplished through his ministry. Because
she sustained Elijah, he was able to go on and do much ministry during and
after that during his time. She was a major part of that.
Not only that, but her impact also outlived her. Hundreds of years later, Jesus
mentioned the widow of Zarephath in Luke 4:25–26. The flour was eventually
eaten, and the oil was eventually used, but the spiritual fruit of her faith
continued. We are still talking about her today! No way she would have ever
thought that by obeying God and meeting the need of the Prophet Elijah, that
she would have continued to be talked almost 3000 years later.
1 Timothy 6:18–19 —
“They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to
share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for
the future”
Everything we possess in this life is temporary, but when temporary resources
are placed into God’s hands, they can
produce something that lasts for eternity. What we release to God can
reach more people and last longer than what we keep for ourselves.
When we live generously:
1.
Generosity
frees us from fear.
2.
Generosity
positions us for provision.
3.
Generosity
refreshes us.
4.
Generosity produces
lasting impact.
TAKEAWAYS
I.
Trust
God as your provider
II.
Release
what God has placed in your hands
III.
Look
for someone you can refresh
IV.
Invest
in what will last
