Giving And Receiving

by Jarvie, G. | Category: General | Dec 1954

"What hast thou that thou didst not receive' ? " (1 Corinthians 4.7).

"Every good gift is from above" (James 1. 17).

"It is more blessed to give' than to receive" (Acts 20.55).

It is the privilege of every disciple to give again to the Lord something of what the Lord has first given to him. Giving and receiving are intended by God to bring joy to our hearts, and of the two, giving is the more blessed.

The greatest of all acceptable giving in our lives, is, of course, the giving of ourselves to the Lord. We read about the saints in Macedonia, that "the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality" (2 Corinthians 8.2). Joy, poverty, liberality ! What a remarkable combination! How could they have such joy when they were so poor? Ah! first of all they had given their own selves to the Lord. Therein lay their joy and their liberality. We shall never know the real joy of the giver until we have first given ourselves to the Lord. Often we sing about it

"Naught that I have mine own I'd call,

I hold it for the Giver;

My heart, my strength, my life, my all,

Are His, and His forever!

We are the Lord's, of course, whether we yield our lives or not, but if we are to know His joy in our lives, then we must give Him His own - ourselves, our lives, our all.

How shall we be persuaded to give ourselves to the Lord, to count ourselves as His bondservants, and all our property as His property? ]3ecause "He gave Himself for us " (Titus 2.14). Yes, that is the reason.

"Love that transcends our highest powers, Demands our heart, our life, our all."

Again we say, we shall never know the real joy of the giver until we have first of all given ourselves. First things first! The Macedonians were right when first they gave their own selves to the Lord. That transaction brings great joy, as all giving to the Lord does. Another hymn-writer has expressed it

"But we never can prove

The delights of His love,

Until all on the altar we lay."

Have we held back until now? Have we tried to give the Lord only a part? If we have, then we know it in our hearts, and the joy of the giver is not ours. If we keep back what we ought to give to the Lord, does He not know it? Let us keep it back no longer. Let us bow our knees and gladly yield ourselves to Him, so that through us the Lord, the Giver of every good gift, may pour out His gifts to men.

"What hast thou that thou hast not received? " When we come to think of it, we have nothing but what has been given to us. It has all come from the great Giver, and when we give, we are not really giving our own, we are only the channels of giving!

"The streams of love we' trace Up to the fountain, God."

This is true of every material thing as well. Yes, we gladly admit it, that all comes from Him, the God of boundless resources.

No wonder then that giving brings such joy and the blessing of the Lord. What we give does not really come from us, it only comes through us. " It is more blessed to give than to receive." Of course it is! And He who gave to us so that we could give, can still supply and multiply our seed for sowing and increase the fruits of our righteousness. Let us not limit the Holy One of Israel, nor think that His great work is limited by our small resources. He can both supply and multiply, and it pleases Him to use us as His channels. Oh, think of it beloved fellow-saints, whether it be in speaking the word of life to the people, or in giving our money for His work, it is His desire to use us.

"What hast thou in the house" ? said Elisha to the poor widow. Only a pot of oil! Pour it out! And as she poured, the great Giver gave still more oil until every vessel was filled, and only then the oil stayed.

Fellow-disciples what have we? Let us give it with joy, expecting that the great Giver will supply and multiply?

Channels only, blessed Master,

But with all Thy wondrous power,

Flowing through us, Thou canst use us

Every day and every hour."

Yes, the Lord can use us in many ways if only we give ourselves to Him.

Let us lowly bow before Him, and yield Him our hearts, our lives, our all. Then let us look up to Him in faith that He will use us in giving, and share with us His own joy, the joy of the giver.

Out from under the threshold of the house of God, Ezekiel saw, in vision, a stream flowing, and that stream became a river, too deep to pass through. Because of these waters the Dead Sea will be "healed." Not only so, but on either side of the river fruit trees were growing, tree's whose leaves never withered, and that brought forth new fruit every month. The fruit was for food and the leaves were for healing. Why all this blessing? Because the waters came out from the sanctuary (Ezekiel 47).

In Revelation 22. we read of another river,-"A river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." On the banks of this river also was the tree of life, bearing fruit every month, and again the fruit is for food, and the leaves are for healing.

Shall it be that out from God's house to-day, out from the churches of God, a stream shall flow to a thirsty world, a world of spiritual death and spiritual famine. It shall be, if hearts are yielded and lives are consecrated: if the Lord's people are a people great in giving. If it be so, then many who are dead in trespasses will live as they hear the word of life. What joy too will fill the hearts of the Lord's people as they share His joy, the joy of the giver!

Jarvie, G. | Dec 1954
General