GOD’S PATTERN FOR GIVING, TO RELEASE KINGDOM LIVING

1 Corinthians 16:2 NLT - "On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once."

Giving shows God is first place in your life, not money.  God's nature is that of a giver.  Giving is a process to release prosperity into your life.  As We Increase Our Giving, It Increases Our Capacity for Receiving - Luke 6:38 "...the amount you give will determine the amount you get back."

WHAT IS GOD’S WAY? “There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty.”

Proverbs 11:24 NKJV - To walk in increase we must release!

1. THE HOARDER

WITHHOLD means “accumulation that is carefully guarded, to hoard” - Having stuff does not mean you have provision!

• Hoarding is a Self-Preservation mentality
• Hoarding prevents giving
• Hoarding is based in fear
• Hoarding prevents giving.

There is Wisdom in Preparation but NOT at the expense of OBEDIENT Giving!!!

RESULTS OF HOARDING:

POVERTY means “insufficiency or lack of necessities” - WHEN YOU HOLD BACK – YOU LIVE IN LACK!

2. THE SOWER

SCATTER means “to disperse or sow”.  Plant the seed and pray for the harvest!  The seed only GROWS when someone SOWS.  Tithing and Giving doesn’t affect your salvation but it does affect your blessing as you walk in obedience to God’s Word!  Sowing always precedes reaping.  Our motive for giving is not to get more stuff.

WHY DO WE SOW?

• We love God
• We want other people to be blessed
• We are blessed to be a blessing!
• We don’t want to consume all we have on ourselves Acts 20:35 “…It is more blessed to give than receive” - JESUS

RESULTS FOR THE SOWER:

“There is one who scatters, yet INCREASES more…”

• Hold Tightly - Have Less
• Give Freely - Gain More

BE GENEROUS & PROSPER! - Proverbs 11:25 says "A Generous Person will Prosper…"

• IT PRODUCES: TREASURES IN HEAVEN
• IT PRODUCES: PROVISION AND MULTIPLICATION NOW

What You Keep is ALL You Have, What You GIVE Multiplies.  John Wesley said "Earn all you can, give all you can, then save all you can."

Challenge:
At HWC we are known as "The Friendly People" and that's good; now let's trust God and covenant to be generous on all occassions so that we become known as "The Friendly, Generous People".

Wisdom From Proverbs for Success @ Work!

POWERFUL PROMISES OF HARD WORK

• Want to be RICH? “Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get RICH.” - Proverbs 10:4
• Want to become a LEADER and have SUCCESS? “Work hard and become a LEADER; be lazy and never succeed.” - Proverbs 12:24
• Want to be someone who GETS THE JOB DONE? “A lazy life is an empty life, but ‘early to rise’ GETS THE JOB DONE.” - Proverbs 12:27
• Want to PROSPER in ALL areas of life? “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will PROSPER.” - Proverbs 13:4
• Want to live on the EASY PATH? “A lazy fellow has trouble all through life; the good man’s PATH IS EASY!” - Proverbs 15:19

WORKING HARD Isn’t Something We Do Once In A While, IT’S A LIFESTYLE that produces success!

WORK DILIGENTLY - Proverbs 13:4; Proverbs 10:4

DILIGENT means “constant in effort to accomplish something”

We want to be the ONE who GETS THE JOB DONE!

Hard work is doing whatever your hand finds to do and doing it with all your might! - Ecclesiastes 9:10

'Laziness is the parent of poverty while diligence is the parent of wealth.' - Kevin Begley

WORK RELIABLY - Proverbs 22: 13

PRACTICAL STEP:
Set YOUR alarm AND your children’s alarm one half hour earlier than usual.  Prepare everything you can the night before.

WORK ENERGETICALLY - Proverbs 20:13

LOVE means “to have an appetite for”

PRACTICAL STEP:
Develop a healthy sleep pattern.  Go to Bed at a reasonable time, get up early.  If you watch T.V. before bed – set a timer to go off ½ hour before you want to go to bed.

*National Sleep Clinic tells us that 6.5 to 7.5 hours of sleep will cause you to live longer & healthier!

WORK COMPETENTLY - Proverbs 22:29

COMPETENT means “skilful, knowledgeable, well qualified”

PRACTICAL STEP:
HOW do we become competent?  Take upgrading courses that are for your field; Ask someone who is respected and does well in your field or company if they would mentor you; On your own time learn more about the company or the career; Attend workshops.

*If you never get a promotion, ask your supervisor, “What can I do to improve my performance?” Then, whatever they tell you to do – DO IT!

IMPORTANT:  PROMOTIONS don’t come as a right, but as a reward – for a job well done!

WORK SELF-SUFFICIENTLY - Proverbs 6:6-11

WORKING HARD IS NOT SOMETHING SOMEONE ELSE CAN FORCE YOU TO DO, IT IS SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE FOR YOURSELF!

“The work of our hands brings many benefits” Proverbs 12:14 - Benefits in Finances, Relationships, Home, God, Church & Workplace

Wisdom from Proverbs for Relationships

There are Friendships That Can MAKE You or Friendships That Can BREAK You!

"SHOW ME A PERSON’S FRIENDS, I WILL SHOW YOU THEIR CHARACTER!"

HARMFUL FRIENDS

1. FAKERS – Proverbs 29:5
   There is a difference between a compliment and flattery.  Motive Is The Key.  When someone pays a compliment, the motive is about others; they aren’t looking for anything in return.  When someone flatters, the motive is about themselves; they have ulterior motives.  It’s ok to be nice, but don’t put people in a vice.
      
2. TAKERS – Proverbs 19:6,7
   Many will entreat the favor of a liberal man, and every man is a friend to him who gives gifts. All the brothers of a poor man detest him - how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone.
      
3. SQUAWKERS – Proverbs 22:24
   These people are often critical.  WARNING: They phrase it nice but it’s Dangerous & Contagious!  Quarantine relationships that have squawkers.
      
4. TALKERS – Proverbs 16:28; 20:19
   Stay away from people who talk too much!  Fools Will Be Found Meddling – Proverbs 20:3.  CAUTION: Those who talk WITH YOU about OTHERS will talk WITH OTHERS about YOU.

HELPFUL FRIENDS

1. TRUSTWORTHY – Proverbs 20:6
   FAITHFUL means Trustworthy  LIFE LESSON: Loyal people are not necessarily trustworthy people – BUT – Trustworthy people are loyal people. They have your best interest at heart!
      
2. DEPENDABLE – Proverbs 17:17
   LOVE means Dependable, Steady, Constant
      
3. ENCOURAGERS – Proverbs 27:9
   HEARTFELT means Sincere words that bring life.  We need to be people who bring sweet words of encouragement, even in the midst of a bad atmosphere.
      
4. WISE – Proverbs 13:20
   WISE means Give Careful Thoughts To Your Words & Actions

2 characteristics of WISE people:

1. They seek to please God and not other people. Do we want to be people-pleasers or God-pleasers?
2. A wise person considers other people before themselves - Proverbs 12:26

CHALLENGE: Proverbs 12:26 tells us, 'The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.'  We need to use wisdom in choosing our friends, but first, we need to BE a good friend.  Do I make people better people and better believers as a result of their being around me?  Am I building people up with my words?  Can people rely on me?  Am I a giver, not looking for something in return?  We need to be trustworthy people of character.

Wisdom from Proverbs for Marriage

Today we are going to increase in wisdom in the most important decision you will ever make in your life - after knowing Jesus.  The first most important decision you can make is the decision to follow Jesus; that is an eternal decision.  After that, the most important decision is not your career, your clothes, your shoes, your house, where you will live or what church you go to.  The decision that will impact you most after choosing to become a Christian is who you choose to marry!  This decision will impact your life like no other decision.  This is the one decision that can determine if you live in a war zone or in peace; in poverty or prosperity; in frustration or happiness; in chaos or order!

QUALITIES FOR A SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE

What a MAN'S ATTITUDE should be toward marriage:

The man who finds a wife finds a treasure and receives favour from the Lord - Proverbs 18:22  A wife is a RARE TREASURE to be cared for and cultivated.  Most women respond to a loving attitude.  Choose to: WORK HARD AND WORK TOGETHER – she needs to know she’s your priority and you are on her side!

What a WOMAN'S ATTITUDE should be toward marriage:

A worthy wife is her husband's joy and crown; a shameful wife saps his strength - Proverbs 12:4  A husband is to be SUPPORTED and RESPECTED.  A wife's attitude is NOT to NURTURE or NEGLECT but to RESPECT.  Shameful means 'Disinterested and disrespectful'

Great Marriages don't just happen, they take work!

So we need to become SKILLED in HOW WE BUILD!

ATTITUDES THAT TEAR DOWN:

Main Ways a Woman Tears Down is With Her WORDS:

• Nagging – A nagging wife annoys like a constant dripping - Proverbs 19:13
• Arguing – It is better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a contentious wife in a lovely home - Proverbs 21:9  Contentious means 'argumentative'
• Complaining – It is better to live alone in the desert than with a crabby, complaining wife - Proverbs 21:19  TO COMPLAIN WILL ONLY DRAIN YOUR MARRIAGE!

Main Ways a Man Tears Down is With His ACTIONS:

The Main thing Proverbs WARNS men to guard against is LOOKING & LONGING - Why be captivated, my son, with an immoral woman? - Proverbs 5:20  Captivated means 'thrilled or fascinated with'.  Men are VISUAL – they are VISUALLY under attack all the time.  A second glance makes an image an imagination.  Don't allow inappropriate images to turn into an inappropriate imagination.  Looking at images is cheating on your spouse!  You begin to compare your spouse with the images.  Nothing devalues a wife more than when her husband looks after another woman - Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. ….May you always be captivated by her love - Proverbs 5:18-19

ATTITUDES THAT BUILD UP:

1. HEALTHY INTIMACY

A wife needs to be VISUALLY GENEROUS toward her husband.  Honey seems tasteless to a person who is full, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry - Proverbs 27:7

Give him an eyeful every day and he won't stray!

2. TRUST EXPLICITLY (Trust means 'to put one’s confidence in')

Her husband can trust her and she will greatly enrich his life - Proverbs 31:11  Trust takes years to gain, minutes to loose and when lost may never be gained again.  If trust is broken, understand that it will take time to earn that trust back.

3. WALK IN UNITY

She will not hinder, but help him all her life - Proverbs 31:12  Unity means 'to be pleasant and agreeable'.  Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction? - Amos 3:3  Couples need to AGREE IN UNITY!  They should talk and pray together.

4. LIVE GODLY

He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honour - Proverbs 21:21  Righteousness means 'to desire to live right'

More than anything else this will BUILD A STRONG MARRIAGE AND A GREAT LIFE!