God's Promise to the Generous

November 9, 2023

Every time we are generous we make God happy.

Generous giving is an act of worship that honors God.  

Philippians 4:18 “I

am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus.

They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to

God.”  

Those of you who are parents, Are you happy when your kids

are selfish and won’t share their toys? No. Are you happy when your kids

learn to share their toys? Of course you are. Are your happy when your

kids are generous? Absolutely! So is God. God loves it when

his kids learn to be generous. Every time we’re generous – we’re not

selfish. We give away money, we give away time, we give away energy, not

for our own benefit God goes, “That’s my boy!  You see how generous he

was? That’s my girl! You see how generous she was? They’re my kids.”

God takes pride. Why? Like Father, like son. God is

the most generous person in the universe and he wants his kids to be

the same way. God is watching us every day of our life to see what

we do with what he’s given us. He’s watching to see how generous we are.

This is the premise behind the greatest promise in the Bible.

He’s ending the book with this promise. When you are like

these Philippians who were noted for their generosity, God says when

you give out of gratitude, when you give to become more like Jesus, when

you give to stretch your faith, when you give to invest in your home in

heaven, when you give to show what really matters most, and when you

give to please God then God says, this promise, then 

Philippians 4:19, “God… will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”  

“Then God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” This is one of the greatest promises in the Bible. How many needs will God meet? All my needs. That’s

a verse you ought to write on a note card, put it on your refrigerator,

put it in your car visor and you keep reading it. It’s a great antidote

to worry.  

This week when you go, “God, I don’t have enough time to get all this done!” remember: “God will meet all my needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:19. 

“God, I’m not feeling good today. I need strength, I need energy.” “God will meet all my needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” 

“God, I need peace of mind. I’m so stressed out.” “God will meet all my needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” 

But you’ve got to remember the premise before the promise. God says, “I’m watching to see if you’re generous.”