When we give generously

God, even if it happens in a third party kind of way, blesses us financially when we give.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.  Luke 6:38

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. - 2 Corinthians 9:6

Have you ever asked yourself - why has He provided so much?

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.^[a] You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us - 2 Corinthians 9:10-11

God entrusts me with His money not to build my kingdom on earth, but to build His kingdom in heaven.

Your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.  As it is written,

“The one who had much did not have too much,
    and the one who had little did not have too little.” - 2 Corinthians 8:14-15

He does not want us to have too little or too much. When those with too much give to those with too little, two problems are solved.

I just finished writing some copy for an appeal that a major children's charity will be sending to their donors.  I tried my best to describe to the potential donor what their gifts will do for children in a particular community in Nicaragua. I believe there is no greater joy than for the donor to see the fruit of their gift. Seeing people blessed - the giving is the blessing - but the deepest joy comes when they see the fruit.  This in why I recommend people take trips that allow them to see some of the faces and meet some of the people touched by their giving.  A major giving family in the US who also give to Canadian ministries said that they were hooked on giving when they saw first hand what missions was doing.  They knew where to give and where their giving would make a difference for eternity.  Today, they sold their family business and have created one of the largest Foundations in the US.

 R.G. LeTourneau is known for inventing the Catarpillar brand of earth moving machines.  His spiritually journey had him and his family at a place where they gave 90% of their income to the Lord. "I shovel it out,” he would say, “and God shovels it back, but God has a bigger shovel."

But there are, as I said earlier, third party type of blessings.  The washing machine that is twenty years old and should have stopped working years ago keeps on working.  A car with 350,000 km keeps running with hardly the need of repairs other than tires and oil changes. A checking account that should have dried up before the end of the month and yet it makes it through. Or the prayer for healthy teeth because there is no dental plan and not even one tooth decay.

Have you ever noticed that excess money just seems to dissipate in a multitude of directions?  

 Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes. - Haggai 1:5-6

God said that because the nation of Israel had given to themselves and not to Him, He had minimised and dissipated their profits so they didn't come out ahead.  We need to give careful thought to your ways, asking oursevles if we'd do better to give more to the Lord and ask Him to maximise what we keep.

But no matter how far we move on in the grace of giving, Jesus Christ remains the matchless giver --

For you know the generous act^[a] of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.- 2 Corinthians 8:9