Diving into the essence of giving, we examine the biblical notion of sowing bountifully to reap bountifully, drawing wisdom from Alan J. Huth’s personal Bible reading journey. This episode encourages a heartfelt approach to generosity, highlighting God’s promise to supply and multiply our seed for a harvest enriched in righteousness. Join us as we connect scripture with practical dares to bless and be blessed.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we are in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. We’ll listen to Faith Comes By Hearing’s recording of the 15 verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 9. 2 Corinthians 9
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Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready as I said you would be. Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated to say nothing of you for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.
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The point is this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, He has distributed freely, He has given to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.
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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. you will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift.
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Yesterday, chapter 8 had some principles of giving. We outlined four principles yesterday. And chapter 9 sort of continues the same thought about giving. In 1994, at 39 years old, when I read 2 Corinthians chapter 9, I wrote, Be prepared to give. Then I wrote, related to verse 6, the law of the harvest. How we sow is a measure of what we reap. Then I wrote, give with joy to help others. Then I was referring to verse 8. God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have abundance for every good deed. God is very complete. Ten years later, in 2004, when I was 49 years old, I was reading the Bible chronologically. So I read 2 Corinthians chapters 5 through 9 on the same day. I did have a couple of references to this chapter. I was quoting verse 10. Now 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. Stay the course. More seed is coming. Plant, your harvest is coming. And 11 years later, in 2015 at 60 years old, I was still in Australia reading 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 on the same day, and I wrote about chapter 9, guidelines on giving, and I was referring to verses 6 through 7, and God’s multiplication, verse 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 9 continues the discussion Paul had in chapter 8 about giving. Now this is a subject that most of us don’t like to hear about. We certainly don’t like to be preached at about it. But there are scriptural principles that as Christians we should understand concerning our heart toward giving. And this is one of the more famous verses that we hear often when we discuss giving. So let’s read it together. The point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. Verse 10 goes on to say, 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. In chapter 8, we learned that each one gives according to their means. That’s all we can do. We can’t give more than what God has blessed us with, but we are to be giving according to our means. Here in chapter 9, I think Paul enhances that a little bit when he says, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. In other words, if you’re not giving according to your means, if you’re withholding, or if you’re becoming selfish about what God has given you, you may also reap sparingly. The same principle applies with the continuation of the verse. Those who sow bountifully will also reap bountifully. That may also relate back to chapter 8, verse 3, where it says they gave according to their means, but some beyond their means. That may be bountifully. And each one of us needs to give as we have decided in our hearts, not reluctantly nor under compulsion. In other words, we don’t give because we have to, and we don’t give because we’re pressured to give. We give after prayerful consideration and Time with the Lord according to what He has put in our hearts. In both the Gideon’s International work that I do and in the Ezra Project, I have had plenty of opportunity to appeal for money. Many, many times when I get to that point, I stop. And if there are couples in the room, I say, please stop and pray with your spouse. Allow the Lord to tell you what amount to give. And sometimes he will give it one way to your spouse and one way to you. So after you pray, then talk to each other and see what the Lord has laid on your hearts to give. For example, once in a missions pledge in our church, after Terry and I prayed, we talked about what the Lord laid on our hearts. And in her heart, he laid $50 a month. On my heart, it was $600. Amazing, it was equal, wasn’t it? It was the same amount. So pray before you give, and then do what God has laid in your heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And why wouldn’t you give cheerfully after he has laid on your heart what to give? Usually in my appeals again after that prayer, then I say, and Lord, give us the courage to give what you’ve laid on our hearts. Sometimes the amount might surprise us, and so I pray for courage to be obedient to what I hear from the Lord. Verse 8 gives us sort of a promise about our giving. It says, And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. What that says to me is God is able. He is the one that gives us everything anyway. So he gives us the sufficiency so that we can give generously what he has laid in our hearts. And the promise continues in verse 10. 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. In one way, this tells me he provides the seed for me anyway. He’s the one that’s given me everything I have so that I can even give at all. And when I give, he gives me more seed. In other words, he gives me more so that I can give again. Another way I can read this is he applies to me. It’s me. When I sow seed, when I sow seed, when I provide bread for food, again, he will give me more seed and he will increase my harvest. Oh, don’t you want that? Don’t you want God to increase your harvest? Lord, we thank you for, again, these principles of giving. Help us understand. Help us hear from you. Help us be cheerful givers. Help us sow our seed bountifully so that you will give us more seed so we can sow more and we can increase our harvest for you. What a blessing that you have entrusted us with seed anyway. So with a smile on my face, may I sow the seeds that you give me bountifully. And Lord, we look forward to the harvest. We look forward to a harvest of meeting people’s needs, meeting our church’s needs, meeting the needs of expanding the kingdom here on earth. And we look forward to a harvest when you say, when it’s all over, well done, my good and faithful servant. What are the seeds we sow, Lord? And then give us more seed. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. Across our listening audience, more and more of you are supporting AdBible by visiting our website at EzraProject.net and purchasing resources like Club 365 subscriptions, Bible reading journals, and one or more of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. We thank you so much and encourage more of you to do the same. You will find helpful and inspirational tools to enhance your personal time in God’s Word. Today I want to review the three tools we see most listeners getting. First, Club 365. This is a monthly subscription opening our vault of all Add Bible audio recordings and all printed pages of the entire Day by Day through the Bible devotional series. By joining Club 365 for only $7 a month, you have access to both audio and written information on all 66 books of the Bible. Club 365 is a goldmine, and it is completely flexible to your personal Bible reading plan. So if you’re reading Matthew or Isaiah or Psalms or Revelation, you have access to audio or written comments, applications, and prayers on any of them at your fingertips. Get Club 365 at EzraProject.net today, like so many others have. Secondly, another hot seller are our Bible reading journals. We offer two. 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