Extravagant Giving

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GOG - 20 - 288 - Extravagant Giving

Extravagant

Giving Pa s t o r C h a r l e s O m o f o m a h

1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.

2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was lled with the fragrance of the oil.

4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.

8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

John 12:1-8 3 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster ask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the ask and poured it on His head.

4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted?

5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.”

And they criticized her sharply.

6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. 7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.

8 She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.

9 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

Mark 14:3-9

Extravagant giving is synonymous with superuous giving, big giving, gigantic giving,

It is wise to plan your giving; make up your mind about what to give to God before you go

plenty of giving, etc. Extravagant giving sets

to Church. Sadly, some people make it a

you apart, as though you are the only one

practice of giving anything small as their

giving, and still you continue to give more.

offering. They search for the lowest

The texts recount two different narrations of

denomination of cash they have with them;

the same event, and the purpose of this is to

they look carefully in order not to bring out

get a better understanding of Mary’s actions,

any high denomination. That is not good. God

how she gave extravagantly. In this article, we

deserves the very best from you. When you

will be learning some vital lessons from her

have to meet with the King, be prepared.

giving.

Pour Out Your Oil Break Your Box

The second lesson we learn is that the woman

The rst lesson we learn from our texts is that

did not open the box, she broke it, and the oil

she broke her alabaster ask of ointment, and

poured out. Pour your money into the work of

she did it for good. What this woman did is

the kingdom; it will be put to good use. Give

what I would call an unreserved giving. When

cheerfully, and not grudgingly, let it pour.

she broke her alabaster ask, she was no

Don't be one of those who only gave in the

longer in control of what happened. She broke

past and stopped giving; don't let your giving

a year's wages at the feet of Jesus. We could

be in the past tense, you are only allowed to

say that she worked for a year, got an

talk in the past tense when making a faith

ointment with the money, and anointed

declaration such as, “God has already done

Jesus's feet. Just like this woman, you can

it”. Your story should be that your giving is

break your bank accounts. Don't get into a rot

new every morning.

in your giving; let your giving be like the faithfulness of God that is new every

Early in my Primary school years, I remember

morning. If you really believe the gospel, you

being asked to make a sentence, and I said

would look for avenues to give. I love to give

"The water is rushing slowly". That was

and I see genuine excitement in a person when

wrong grammar because water cannot rush

I give because a problem has been solved.

slowly; it rather rushes uncontrollably or

There is only one way to live an exciting and

gushes uncontrollably and that is how your

satisfying life, and that is by giving. One of

giving should be.

the things that can change your story and turn it around for good is giving. It might be

It Is For Kingdom Purposes

painful initially, but it is an exciting

The third lesson we learn is that her giving

adventure, and the dividends always come.

was for kingdom purpose. In verse 8 of our

Give of yourself, give of your service, give of

text Jesus said, “She is doing this in

your worship, and give of your money.

preparation for My burial” (Mark 14:8). This is

The Carpenter’s Church, Greenville, Port Harcourt. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other form, without the prior permission of the above.

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GOG - 20 - 288 - Extravagant Giving the highest form of giving; giving for

against them. If you have all the billions in

God can locate where your money is because

kingdom purpose. The Scripture was careful

the world, you will still have to budget and

He knows where it is. We learnt this from

to say that the oil was very costly. It is costly

plan, however, give to God extravagantly.

Jesus when He sent His disciples to go to the

to give. It pains to give. Many times, you have

sea, cast in a hook, take the sh that comes up

to think twice or thrice as hard to give. When

Extravagant Giving Has Its Reward

rst, and they would nd a piece of money in

you know that your God is a God that multiplies, you would give unreservedly.

It honoured Jesus The fourth lesson we learn is that extravagant giving honours Jesus. There is a quote that goes thus: Show me who you honour and I will show you what your life will be like tomorrow. The Bible records in 2 Samuel that David was so thirsty that he wished for water from the spring at Jerusalem. Then, some of his men broke through the troop of the Syrians and fetched the water for him.

However, David would not drink it. He said, “These men went to get this water at the risk of their lives, so I am not going to

its mouth (Matthew 17:27). Your money might be hidden from others, but it is not

The fth lesson we learn is that extravagant

hidden from the eyes of God unto whom

giving has its reward. The Bible says in Psalm

everything is naked and bare. This act of

126:6 that he that goes forth with precious

Jesus: of locating the money in the mouth of

seed shall doubtless return with his sheaves.

the sh also signies the transfer of the

The word “sheaves” means bundles. It's time

wealth of the wicked to the righteous. The

to come with your bundles. When I talk

whole earth is full of the goodness of God

about reward, don't try to gure out how

(Psalm 33:5). Do the right thing to attract His

God is going to do it. God can reward you

goodness. The blessing of the Lord is the

any way He wishes, and when you attract

ability to excel in everything you do and this

God's reward, they come in from every side.

is what God wants to give you. The blessing

Extravagant giving has its reward. 2

of God breaks through barriers, generational

Corinthians 9:6 says, “He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly and he that soweth

makes you rich and adds no sorrow to it.

bountifully shall reap also bountifully”, and

When you give radically and unreservedly,

curses, and all generational nonsense. It

you receive in the same measure.

drink this. God, You have it”. In

God locates where your money

other words, “I don't deserve this

and your wealth is and opens

honour or maybe I do, but there is

your eyes to see where they are

Someone who deserves this

and take possession of them.

honour more: God”. God said David was a man after His heart.

When the woman poured out the

There is no giving that can equate

oil, everybody could smell it

the one that Jesus gave on the

because the smell was all over the

cross for you and me. “For God so loved the world that He gave…”

place. It made an impact. You've got to make an impact. When you

(John 3:16). If we love the Lord,

make up your mind to begin to

then we should give to His

give radically, God blesses you in

people, give to His ministers and

advance for it. God has come to

give to the children of God. David said he was not going to drink the water, so he presented it as a sacrice to honour Jesus. Does your giving honour Jesus? The Bible specically says honour the Lord with your substance and the rst fruit of your increase (Proverbs 3:9). Become someone who honours God in your giving.

Be a distributor. An athlete who hasn't practiced for a long time may not perform as well as he used to before and may tend to become rusty. Don't get rusty in your giving, be fresh, keep practicing because the more you give, the easier it becomes. I am deliberately making a demand on your giving and I am doing it for the kingdom's sake and your sake. Giving will turn your life around for good. Enough of managing and always trying to sort it out. Planning and budgeting are good practices and I am not

know me as a man of integrity,

Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it

give, even before I do, I start getting

will be measured back to you.” You can

dividends and returns, and that stirs and

and I say this in utmost humility. I observed that many times, when I make up my mind to

determine how “goodly” is measured back to

spurs me up to give even more. That is the

you by how well you live on this earth. The

only life you should live – a life of giving. It is

present standard you are experiencing is a

both an exciting and adventurous life.

function of your giving. You can give yourself out of lack. Give, give, and give again. Ecclesiastes 11:1 says to cast your bread upon the waters and after many days you shall nd it. It says give a portion to this; that is after you have given completely, then give again. When you cast your bread upon the waters, you are not going to nd it the same way you threw it in. It will come back

Knowing the purpose of the abundance God puts in your hand is also vital. When God makes a multi-millionaire out of you, work in your purpose, and do kingdom distribution.

The prosperity of fools destroys them because they do not know the purpose of it.

Your prosperity elevates you when you know what to do with it.

swollen. How swollen it gets depends on you. Begin to give extravagantly. If you are already a giver, continue to give, and you will receive the same way.

The Carpenter’s Church, Greenville, Port Harcourt. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other form, without the prior permission of the above.