BLESSED TO BLESS

“Hashtag Blessed”
Pastor Dan Levy – October 29, 2023

Genesis 1:27-28 — So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them…

1. Some of God’s blessings are CONDITIONAL and everyone gets to CHOOSE how much or how little they get in on them.

2 Cor. 9:6-8 — Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly…

”If our giving habits do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we want to do but cannot do because our giving expenditures exclude them.” – C.S. Lewis

2. God’s blessing is less about raising our standard of LIVING as it is about raising our standard of GIVING.

2 Cor. 9:10-11, 13 — “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. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God….Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ…”

Acts 20:35 — “You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

3. Biblical generosity isn’t just about what God wants to do THROUGH you, it’s also about what He wants to do IN you.

2 Cor. 9:10 — “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”

Matthew 6:21 — “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Matthew 6:24 — “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”