Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study

Dr. Kevin Zadai 09-24-2023 -- 09-30-2023

Giving By Revelation

"Even if you just gave a small amount because the Lord led you to do it, it will start to bring back the flow of the finances in your life"

~Kevin Zadai

You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. "For God loves a person who gives cheerfully."
—2 Corinthians 9:7 NLT

DISCUSSION:
This week we will discuss the topic of giving by revelation. The Lord has given me understanding concerning giving and offerings to share with you. There has been widespread abuse of offerings, with ministers pressuring people for money in churches and ministries. Most of us have endured this abuse, which must be addressed. I want everyone to know that although tithing and giving offerings is biblical, we should be Spirit-led when giving; it should not be under coercion.

GOD WANTS YOU TO PROSPER
Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.
—Deuteronomy 28:1–2

In the Old Testament, God promised His people that if they obeyed what He asked them to do, He would prosper them; He gave them the incentive that everything would go well with them. The Lord told them that if they followed His commands, they would be the head and not the tail; they would be the lender, not the borrower, and the list of blessings goes on (Deuteronomy 28:1–14). Deuteronomy 28 is an amazing chapter; however, it also says that curses and terrible afflictions will happen if you don't love the Lord your God and disobey Him (Deuteronomy 28:15–68). There was the good and the bad that came with the old covenant. The New Testament is a better covenant through the blood of Jesus, which is based on greater promises (Jeremiah 31:33–34; Hebrews 8:6).

And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
—Deuteronomy 8:18

Look at some of the promises made in Deuteronomy 28 and other scriptures about prosperity, such as Deuteronomy 8:18, which says God has given us the power to obtain wealth. You will see that God wants His people to prosper. Today, many Christians look down upon people who believe in prosperity. I believe in it the same way the people in the Old Testament did; it's just that we are under a new and even better covenant. There has been an onslaught against the church because satan wants to shut off the flow of resources from the body of Christ. We now deal with many controversies about healing, deliverance, tithing, and giving.

All the different areas of the gospel are being hit because satan doesn't want the Church to be able to flow and operate in what she's called to do. The Church is supposed to be the glory of God on the earth; we are the body of Christ, with Jesus as the Head (Isaiah 60:1; Colossians 1:18). The people of God have been abused because ministers have fallen away from the Lord, which has resulted in the church growing cold in the time that we live in. Many of these abuses have come through ministers manipulating congregations concerning giving tithes and offerings.

LET THE HOLY SPIRIT LEAD YOU IN GIVING
The solution that the Holy Spirit has given me comes from 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9, where Paul addressed issues concerning giving. We rarely hear teachings from these chapters, so when I discovered them, I realized that the body of Christ had gotten off track. We are not against giving, of course; it's just that the mindset and the mode in which we approach it is wrong and needs to be corrected. The bottom line of what the Holy Spirit revealed to me was that we should tithe, but then be Spirit-led concerning giving offerings. At first, I felt uneasy about this because sometimes the Lord would tell me to give large amounts to people, then there would be other times where He'd say not to give anything. It wasn't consistent like I was used to.

Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity! Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything—every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do. Just as the Scriptures say about the one who trusts in Him: Because he has sown extravagantly and given to the poor, his kindness and generous deeds will never be forgotten.
—2 Corinthians 9:7–9 TPT

2 Corinthians 9:7 teaches us to let giving flow from our hearts, which means we should follow the Holy Spirit instead of giving from a sense of religious duty. In other words, when you give an offering, it should not be because you felt coerced to do it. That's why Paul said that God loves a cheerful giver. Don't give out of being strong-armed or, as one translation says, being forced: That's the wrong way. The Lord told me that many of us are not receiving the return on our giving because we gave out of pressure; we did it for the wrong reason or with false motives. I've had the Holy Spirit say, "I didn't tell you to give in that offering because the ministers pressured the people." We have all endured that from ministers—many who are well-known.

We must be led by the Holy Spirit in our giving. Kathi and I tithe faithfully and have designated monthly gifts for specific ministries. Over and above the tithe and recurring offerings, we give much more money as gifts as the Spirit leads. We don't just give to our ministry, but to other works that need the money, which just causes more to come in. We have seen an increase in every area when we give this way, but it flows from the heart, not from a sense of religious duty. In other words, you shouldn't feel pressured to do something just because somebody says to do it.

o Discuss the difference between the right and wrong ways of giving.

I have heard statements by well-known ministers that were so atrocious that they took my breath away. I was there in the meetings; this is not hearsay. I've just had to distance myself from individuals because of this. There is a lot of error with money, such as ministries charging people to attend meetings to receive deliverance, prayer, and prophecies. Some have to pay between $200 and $1,000 just to get in the door for a weekend meeting. These are ministers who I know, and I refuse to do that; it's not what God wants. That's why at Warrior Notes, we don't charge; we actually give out to the attendees, so they benefit.

2 Corinthians 9:7 instructs us to let giving spring up freely from the joy of doing so. Giving is worship, which should be done because you love God. You shouldn't just give because you need something back. There are scriptures that show that sowing out of your need is valid; however, giving is expressing worship to God; it's a gift from your heart, so you should not do it just to get a return. You do it because you love God and believe in the work that people are doing. Everyone who gives to our ministry believes in what we do. We follow what God's telling us to do, so our work is an extension of Him and those who give to it. We're all working together to complete what God has called us to; therefore, our giving should spring up from that joy. God loves a cheerful giver; He wants us to be generous because we love Him.

2 Corinthians 9:7 in the Passion Translation says that God loves hilarious generosity.

Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study

Dr. Kevin Zadai 09-24-2023 -- 09-30-2023

We should change how we view giving and offerings; our motives should be to worship God because we love Him, so we should view it as an expression. We should also give because we believe in what someone else is doing and want to help them accomplish God's will. When you give to a ministry, you're essentially part of it, so if God's leading, you should sow. Warrior Notes could not accomplish everything we do on our own. We have connections that enable us to access meeting rooms, large amounts of food, and resources to minister in different countries. We rely on people's giving to function and help others, so our partners are actually part of the ministry.  

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it."

—Malachi 3:10

You need to change the way you think about tithes and offerings. Of course, we are not asking for money through this study; however, ministries should always give people who want to be a part of what they are doing the opportunity to give as an act of worship. Tithes are different than offerings; Malachi 3:10 instructs God's people to bring the tithe to the storehouse, which was the temple. Tithes took care of the Levites, who didn't have full-time jobs outside because they were always in the temple. The Levites oversaw the music and different aspects of the temple. The whole idea of the storehouse is that you can tithe to wherever you receive from God; it doesn't have to necessarily be a local church—it can be any ministry you receive from.

As we have discussed, you should always give from joy, not under compulsion; you're not under the law anymore. Remember that you sow because you know it pleases God. However, you must understand that God is pleased with you regardless of whether or not you give; He still loves you. You must be free from that compulsion to do something to make God like you because it's unnecessary. You don't have to do anything because Jesus has already done everything He will do about sin; if you repent, you're forgiven. You don't have to perform to make God like you because He already loves you. Jesus Christ demonstrated this love by dying for your sins before you were even born (Romans 5:8; Revelation 13:8).

IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE

And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

—Acts 20:35 NLT

In Acts 20:25, the Apostle Paul said that he left an example of how we should serve and take care of those who are weak. He instructed the believers in the New Testament churches to always cherish the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who taught that giving is a far greater blessing than receiving. Paul taught about giving and shared his account of going around from church to church, collecting offerings to take to the Church of Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8–9); this money was distributed to care for the poor, orphans, widows, and the expenses of the head church. Since Paul was collecting offerings from different churches, he wrote with instructions to take the offering before he came so that it would be ready for him to receive it (2 Corinthians 9:5). He reminded them that they had pledged a certain amount. He said he left them an example that we should serve and take care of those who are weak.

He who is gracious and lends a hand to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him for his good deed.

—Proverbs 19:17 AMP

When you give, it is a sacrifice because you could use it for yourself. You are ministering, fulfilling the law of Christ to love the weak and those who need to be taken care of. In the early church, this was why offerings were collected. Jesus said that we would always have the poor among us (Mark 14:7); we can't change that because of how the world is. There will always be people who need help–whether it be food, goods, or money.

As believers, we must take care of people because this is God's heart.

• Paul set an example that we should follow to care for the weak.

• You must always remember that it's more blessed to give than it is to receive.

• Couple that with the fact that God loves a hilarious giver. He loves somebody who is full of joy and does not give out of compulsion.

• Be released from the pressure concerning giving and offerings.

• The overemphasis on financial prosperity and the abuse of money caused many to lose their joy in giving.

• We can't stop giving just because people have abused us, taken advantage of us, or manipulated us about money; giving is still in the Bible.

Many of you probably have stories of being traumatized by ministers manipulating the offering, as I have. I would intentionally not bring my wallet to church because I felt like I was constantly being coerced. Demands were placed on me with wrong motives, so I'm very transparent in order to bring it to the light. I've recently watched ministry videos with statements during offerings that were so shocking I couldn't breathe. I thought, How could somebody do that to the congregation?

We've all been abused and need to receive healing. Even if you just give a small amount because the Lord led you to do it, it will start to bring back the flow of the finances in your life. God will accept Your giving because you did it from the right motive. Remember to always give out of revelation.

PRAYER:

Father, thank You for healing all of us right now. We've been all traumatized by the abuse of offerings, Lord. We know that everything is based on money in our financial world, and we realize that we must pay our bills. We have many demands to meet in this world system. Yet, Lord, You have set us free! Thank You for giving us the freedom to be unlatched from the world system through giving to You as worship and by supporting Your work on the earth. Lord, I ask that You heal us all from the trauma we've gone through with forced offerings and feeling guilty about not giving enough. Lord, You have given everything to us, so we receive healing right now. We ask that You help us be Spirit-led in our giving, understanding that You love us to be joyful, happy, and hilarious givers. Thank You, Lord, that everyone is receiving healing all over the earth right now, in all the gatherings. We will not back off from giving, but will do it with the right motives moving forward. We will no longer allow people to manipulate and control us anymore, in the name of Jesus, amen.

1. Discuss what 2 Corinthians 9:7 means when it says God loves hilarious generosity.

2. How has the manipulation of offerings caused believers to have a wrong perspective concerning tithes and offerings? Why is it important to address this?

3. How was the Apostle Paul an example to the church, according to Acts 20:35? Why did he say that it was more blessed to give than receive?

4. What does God think about those who help those in need, and what does He promise to do for them?

5. According to this study, what can we do to release the flow of finances in our lives?