Give What You Want

Scripture:

Luke 6: 35 to 38: 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get
anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to
the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be
judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will
be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your
lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Phil 2:8: And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Col 3:22 to 22: 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you
and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it
with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an
inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

“Give and It will be Given” by Holly Furtick:

God is using you and sometimes we have the opportunity to release resources to help those flood victims in LA – this involved the rebuilding of eight churches and feeding thousands.
Pastor Steven: Some write to me and say that attending church at Elevation is on their bucket list. Elevation Church: What is on someone’s bucket list is in your backyard. We should never take this for granted.
Over 7000 women attended the Reflect event on Thursday with over 1,200 people joining an eGroup.
I love how our eGroups at this big church make the church feel small.
There are three studies: a. For Men: “Get it together” containing eight topics that help men, b. Single ladies: Reflect and becoming Myself + study journal, Married ladies: Becoming Mrs. Better-half – understanding your role as wife and mother.
If you want something from a relationship, you have to give something as well. Give grace and let God be God.
Just because you hare married for 44 years does not mean that you have it all together.
There are many rules of relationships:
- Consider the rule of reciprocation. That give and take rule. I did, now you owe me.
- Per Pastor Steven: If you build up offenses, you will build a fence.
- When I take the time to text you three full sentences, you should never response with “K”
- You can’t date your best friend’s Ex.
- Never go to bed angry – somewhat impossible to do. Etc.
The rule of Reciprocation: Jesus neutralizes this 50 – 50 rule. The problem is that this 50 – 50 never works. A. Some never get the message. Consider for example of waiting for someone to take out the trash. What happens if you play stalemate with the trash? The room starts to stick like garbage. B. We all feel this way. We all think that we are giving and the devil wants us to keep score.
I am not saying that we should not have boundaries in our relationships.
Jesus is trying to change the way we perceive reciprocation.
See Luke 6:36
Most of the time this verse is related to finances. However this chapter in Luke is about relationships.
This is the ultimate relationship your verse.
Give and It will Be Given are the key words today.
Give what you want? Give what you want from the other person and then you get what you wanted. Recall the story of Pastor Steven too busy to talk to her wife. We need to take in the moment to create a situation where we give in order to get what you want.
If you want respect, give respect.
If you want to be thanked, thank someone.
If you want to be forgiven, forgive someone.
If you want to be appreciated, appreciated someone.
We need to give out of obligation not just when we feel it.
Phil 2:8
Jesus is never going to ask you to do something that he did not do himself.
This is the starting place.
When you are about to have a pitty-party, looking around you and reach out to someone else.
Are you motives in the right place? Are you serving to be served or serving to get?
Are you trying to be generous or are you trying to win friends.
If your motives are wrong, you will manufacture stress.
Are you giving out of generosity or are you try to control people? Or trying to get noticed?
God is really into motives. A. Bad news: God is really into motives and will reward us accordingly. B. Goodnews. God is really into motives and will reward us accordingly.
See 2 Kings 4: Shulamite Woman – a wealthy women who prepared a resting place for Elisha. Giving out of sense of abundance and not obligation.
Give and it will be given to you: What is the It? Answer: What you need. God knows what you need today. He knows that you need acceptance, love, encouragement. The profit Elisha wanted to thank the women with a Child – something that the women have given up on this desire. Sometimes God gives you something you have given up on or gives you something that you think that you don’t need.
Also consider great Biographies. Recall the story of Corrie ten Boom. Living in Holland in the 1940s. See: http://www.biography.com/people/corrie-ten-boom-21358155 As a Christians, her family joined the resistance movement and offered protection for Jews. After WWII, she started a ministry and spoke about forgiveness. In 1947, she forgave a German guard that tortured her. She described this moment as a most difficult event – where forgiveness is an act of will. In that moment, she says that never experienced God’s with love with such intensity.
Access something that did not know you that had to provide something that you did not know what you
needed.
Our last word: Given. Give and It will be given.
True fulfillment comes with my relationship with God and not my relationship with others.
When you are serving others, you are serving God and not others.
See Col 3:32
As our church grew, I needed to be more at home and others were needed to take over new jobs. I began to feel lost and unappreciated. God then spoke to me and directed me to focus on what God is calling me to do. What is he calling me to do? Lead wives and make them feel connected, maintain a home, and raise kids.
Rather than waiting for someone to notice me, I set free from the need to be noticed and appreciated and serve the only person that matters – God.
The one I am serving is God. From this position, I can then fold that 100th load of laundry and not complain. We are ultimately doing it for him.
Give us the power and strength to give. Set us free from the need to be noticed and where God is the one we are serving and God is the one that we worship.