You Can't Out Give God!

I have struggled with whether or not I should give this testimony. A lot of people love to jump to conclusions and misrepresent your every move and this is one area that I don't want my motives to be misconstrued. The thing is God has done some amazing things and I want to share them with the hope of encouraging some of you. So, here it goes.

Lu 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.

We evangelists aren't getting rich (maybe some, but none that I know), so every dollar we get is a great blessing. I want to testify to you that the greater blessing comes from giving it back and letting Him multiply it.

Several weeks ago we were preaching a revival in Florida. A sister there gave my wife $30.00 to spend on herself, to buy clothes, etc. My wife really appreciated it, but she felt very strongly that she should give it to a widow lady who has a prison ministry, so she did. A couple Friday nights ago, after I had preached at a church in Kentucky, a lady handed my wife a $50 bill. We were able to send it off to pay bills immediately. $30.00 became $50.00 simply by giving it to God.

A few weeks ago we were needing to travel to a certain place to attend a youth camp that we have attended for 8 years straight, but did not have the funds to do so. I really didn't know what we were going to do, but a pastor that was there (who knew nothing of our financial plight) gave us $100.00 which was just enough for us to make the trip. But as soon as he handed me the money the Lord told me to give it to the night speaker of that meeting, so I did. Back to square one! Saturday morning, the day after the campmeeting ended, I heard a knock on our camper door. A preacher that I met in the meeting told me that as he passed by our camper the Lord told him to give me a piece of money. Guess how much? $100.00. God gave it back in just a day or two.

This past week we were atttending another campmeeting in Alabama. The offering plate was passed every night, but we had nothing to put in. It troubled me terribly bad, so I asked God to bless us. Just a few hours later a lady handed my wife a $20.00 bill. We were then able to give in the offering. The next night, a pastor handed me $50.00 more dollars; he said a lady had given it to him to give to us!

Today, we arrived in Waynesboro, Mississippi. After we parked our trailer, we left for town. When we pulled in to a parking lot I noticed a young man walking toward my window. It was a pracher that I hadn't seen for many years. I have no idea what he was doing in this area, but he said as we passed by the Lord told him to give us $50.00. I'd like to know how much that young man's $50.00 turns into for him.

Here is the most amazing thing that happened today. After we got back to the trailer, I began leveling it. As I did so, a car pulled up in the parking lot. A lady I have never met stepped out. I thought it was a member of the church, so I jokingly asked, "Did you bring us some money?" To my surprise, she said, "Yes". She was weeping. She said, "I don't know who you are, but God told me to give you everything in my purse." It was $28.00. I asked her if she was a member of the church I'm preaching revival at this coming week. She said, "No". She was a local pastor's wfe. She was still weeping when she got back into her car. Before she shut the door, she said, "God is going to bless you." That was worth more than the $28.00. So, $20.00 turned into $128.00 simply by giving to God.

I intentionally left out another very important story that happened to me about two months ago. It really places the finishing touch on this lesson. We were pulling our trailer down through Florida, trying to get to another revival. We pulled into a gas station. As I did, I noticed a friend of mine walking to his car. He came over to me and we began to talk. As we talked, he handed me a $50.00 bill; he said the Lord told him to do so. You need to understand that $50.00 is a MAJOR blessing to us.$50.00 is a step closer to us getting our bills paid when we often don't know how they're going to be so. We concluded our conversation and we parted ways.

A couple of weeks later he came to a service that I was preaching. After the service was over, we stepped outside the church and we began to talk. He said he had something he needed to tell me. He referred me back to the night he gave me the $50.00. He said he had three denominations of money in his front pocket: a $20 bill, a $50 bill, and a $100 bill. He said God told him that whatever he gave me, God would bless him 10 fold. If you remember, he gave me the $50 bill. At church the next Sunday, after he gave me the money, he was given $500.00. He told me he wished he had given it all. I chuckled to myself because I wished he had too! LOL!

The moral of the story is this: you can't outgive God! I know that the money I've mentioned isn't a whole lot, but it was to us and knowing that God is watching over us is the greatest blessing of all.

If you need a financial blessing, try giving someone else a blessing. You may have to ask God to give you some money in order to give some money, but it will be well worth it.

I'll conclude this little message with the following story:

We were completely broke and had a bill due. God told me to go to a certain church and he would bless us, so I did. I had one dollar to my name; I put it in the offering plate. As I left the church that night, I was confused as to why no one had given us any money. I heard the door open and man came running after me. He handed me a $10.00 bill. I didn't know what it was; I just stuck it in my pocket. I thanked him and told him that it was a great blessing; that we had a bill due and I didn't know how I was going to pay it. He hung his head, ran his hand back into his pocket, and said, "Man, I knew I should have given you this." He handed me a $100.00 bill. $1.00 became a $110.00 simply by giving it to God. And that gentlemen could have saved himself $10.00 if he had of gave what God told him to in the first place.

So, if you're struggling financially, find somone to bless and God will multiply it! You can't outgive God!

David Lamb