Financial Testimonies II

The Manifestation of Giving

Luk 6:38

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

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, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

I've been reviewing the testimonies posted on this page, going back to May of 2020. It's part of my process for compiling the testimonies into a second book. One of the things that jumped out to me was how many testimonies I had where people gave me money.

Having spent a lot of time in "Word of Faith" churches, I have heard pastors speak many times of being blessed with love offerings or cash gifts. I have been on the giving end of those types of gifts.

But Luke 6:38 wasn't written just for pastors. The Scripture says that "men" will give to us in the same way that we give to others. 2 Cor 9:6 says the same thing. It says if we give sparingly, we will reap sparingly, and if we give generously, we will reap generously.

There is a manifestation that is supposed to accompany our giving. If we are giving to others, we should experience others giving to us. If we are sowing, we should be experiencing reaping.

The manifestation of the return on your giving is one of the ways that 2 Cor 9:8 says that "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."

Part of God's provision for us is the promised manifestation of the return on our giving. We receive this manifestation in the same way we receive any other promise in the Bible—by faith.

As I was looking over these testimonies over the past few years, I could see where friends, family members, and others had given me $50, $60, $100, $120, $400, $586, etc. And I have shared many times how the banker gave me $6,150 from an anonymous donor to make the down payment on the house I had in Phoenix.

I saw where a former student gave me $2 and where one of my godsons gave me the change in his pocket. Small amounts, large amounts, men were giving to me.

I will add that I had to learn how to receive these manifestations. An older version of me would have thought I was being “polite” by saying no. I shared in one of those testimonies how I had to force myself to receive my godson's change. And later that day or the next day, I saw a neighbor's kid give my godson a whole bag of expensive wrestling figurines.

God's Word works. We should expect to see the manifestation of our giving in "men" giving back to us to the same degree that we have been giving. I believe in that principle but going back through my testimonies has helped remind me of it.