I am seated in the second pew from the front just to the right of the center aisle in a great cathedral. The smell of sweet incense in the air and a residual haze from its smoke causes beams of radiant pastel lights to manifest in streams through the ancient stained glass windows. Huge pillars of grey stone rise from the marble floors, ornately chiseled to flourish at the ceiling that complements the skilled artistry of their sculptors. The ceiling is carefully and passionately precise with brushstrokes of a painter whose job it was to adorn the covering of this house of worship with deeply rich colors and representations of the God who owned his heart, mind and soul and for Whom he lived to do honor. It was his charge to create the veil of a place where heaven touched the earth of its inhabitants. Every dip of his brush, every stroke, every tiny speckle of paint was an act of his worship.My eyes descend as my ears are filled with the tones and textures of a song of gratitude. Just in front of the altar is a lovely young woman dressed in a long white gown adorned with pearls and softly shimmering with tiny sparkles here and there of playful reflected light. The fragrance of Christ has filled the room. She leads us all in a song of thankfulness, simple, sweet, poignant and precise. Its melody is easy, the lyrics fluid and our hearts respond with fullness. There is a swelling of praise from everyone present as our voices rise toward heaven in a prayer of gratitude for grace. My heart is overwhelmed. I inhale so deeply that my chest seems to boarder on bursting. I cannot contain it. I touch heaven… and I awake.
I awake alert, gasping at small repeated gasps of oxygen, like those of a little child just after a long session of weeping. I feel like I can fly through the ceiling of my bedroom and go on forever. What longing fills my heart and senses to cling to His presence and be devoured in His arms, to fully experience the oneness of my spirit in His, to melt into His bosom and find that nothing of me remains only Christ in me and I in Him.
The song. The song. I remember the song of thanksgiving. I toss my blankets aside and rush downstairs to the piano. I pull out several sheets of staff paper and breathlessly scour the piano bench for a pencil or pen. I write down the chord structure as tears spill down my cheeks. I am thankful; thankful for the Name of Jesus; thankful for the blood that cleans us; Lord I’m thankful for you each day….
In a matter of moments the song is notated. Chords, melody line and lyrics are all on a piece of paper on my piano. I return to my bed in a spirit of peaceful accomplishment. I am given a brief moment in heaven and tasted of a simple act of thankfulness and God responded with gracious kindness to let me bring something back, light and easy.
So what does this have to do with tomatoes and cabbage and miracles and God’s principle of reciprocity? Well, this began a study for me. In the coming months God allowed me to pen music in such a divine manner that it was intriguing. One song, “Stepping Out”, was met with 1200 people shouting “sing it again”, five times. Imagine singing a four minute song and having to repeat it four times finally choosing to deny the fifth request at the ongoing shouts of a thousand souls lost in exuberant praise.
What had created this atmosphere of favor? What prompted the creative flow to such a degree when years of prior attempts brought little fruit by comparison? Was there something I had done or some process I had followed that tapped the favor of Heaven in my regard? What caused men to open doors and respond with such enthusiasm? If I could find that out, perhaps I could repeat it and share with my brothers and sisters in Christ the secret of moving faith to activate results? Is there a principle that we can glean from the Scriptures that moves the angels to minister, that triggers heaven to bend down and hear and touch and move on our behalf? I say yes!
Luke chapter 6 verse 38 says, "Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." What I attribute the success, if you will, of this download of music was that several days prior I had purchased five wireless microphones for our church worship team as a gift offering. I planted seed in giving to the music department and by virtue took part in a greater and better means of our local body expressing their worship. I “invested” in music. I planted seed in “music”. I contributed to “music”. God therefore in response allowed me to reap fruit in like kind by giving me music. Wow. What a great principle! This is actually quite critical in our lives to understand and despite its simplicity, I confess that I missed it for most of my Christian life experience.
For the sake of the illustration regarding the planting of seed, let’s say I have a farm where I grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, roses and parsley. This is what God has given me specifically to enjoy in the garden of my life: my gifts, talents, skills, abilities and resources. James chapter one verse seventeen reads, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above.”
Now I would like to have some cabbage for a cool summer cole slaw salad. If I plant tomatoes, will I get cabbage? Of course I will not. If I want lilies, do I plant roses? If I want blueberries, do I plant parsley? But that is how we operate and continue to operate despite our inability to receive what we want or need repeatedly. We continue to operate in giving blindly without consideration of our donations as investments subject to harvest. We have been simply taught to give or when times get rough, we emotionally hoard and protect our own, without regard for this critical principle of truth which will never be changed. You reap what you sow, specifically!
See Galatians chapter six verse seven which reads, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” I think we missed the principle because it was referring to harsh behaviors and sin patterns but the principle is the same in every circumstance especially good ones. If I sow kindness, I reap kindness. If I sow encouragement, I reap encouragement. If I sow forgiveness, I reap forgiveness. If I sow mercy and compassion, I reap mercy and compassion. And in these troubled times of economic hardship and challenge that most of the body is facing, consider that if we sow help, we shall reap help; if we sow economic assistance, we reap economic assistance.
We find this peppered through the scriptures such as Matthew chapter seven verse one referring to judgment which reads, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged” or the parable of the debtor where Jesus describes the principle of reciprocation in detail. Read Matthew chapter eighteen verses twenty-three to thirty-four for the complete illustration of a debtor, his choice of forgiveness (mercy) and the consequences he faced at either extreme of investments in seed sown.
The principle is clear. On the negative perspective which brings great stumbling and frustration to my life experience, I may choose to invest in gossip and wonder why I do not have healthy relationships; I may invest in pornography and wonder why I am tormented physically and emotionally; I choose to invest in fattening foods and pray for a healthy body without resolution; I eagerly give my money in the accumulation of worldly goods and wonder why I am financially debilitated and continue in debt regardless of the level of financial wealth I attain; I may betray the trust of a friend and wonder why I am fired from my jobs after contributing to the company’s success or experience the theft of my personal belongings. “The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy…” (John 10:10) and he will take every opportunity to fall into agreement with bad seed and come alongside you in that harvest of your life. I Peter chapter five verse eighteen says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”. There is a harvest that looks just like this but is not motivated or associated with bad seed but all to the contrary. I will address this completely later in this article that judgment may not be exercised over individuals whose life is marked by apparent tragedy or hardship.
On the positive side and back to using the mechanics of God’s kingdom effectively in our lives (this is the really juicy part), let us consider that I give my car away to an outreach ministry that is in need of transportation or a sister who is a great evangelist. What do you think would be the result? I would immediately start to have opportunities and success in leading folks to Christ or I receive a large unexpected bonus at work which is more than enough to buy a new car. We accept these things with gratitude but fail to see the connection. It is a direct result of the seed of faith which we have just invested. I facilitated and invested in evangelism and transportation. I reaped accordingly.
God gives us according to the seed that we plant in like kind and that is the key to God’s miracle principle of reciprocation. Invest in meeting the need for someone else for something you have as a need or want. If I need a car, help someone else get one. If I need a job, help someone else get one. If I need food, throw a dinner party for others with what you have in your pantry. If you want to be a better artist, teach others how to paint. If you want to get better grades, teach younger students how to pass their exams. If you need help cleaning out your garage, help a neighbor clean out his. Now be careful not to make this an exercise in inventory taking. I am not helping my neighbor clean out his garage so I can ask, “Can you now help me clean out mine?” We are not subscribing to “you scratch my back and I scratch yours. “ That would be human, earthly manipulation. We are seeking to operate in healthy kingdom principles of investing and reaping where we sow. Give expecting nothing in return from man. Seek God and His blessing on what you do, exclusively. You can expect Him to do according to His promises; according to His word; according to the principle of reciprocation.
I have an aunt who loves me dearly. She is an amazing woman with a heart big enough to fill the room she inhabits but she was raised under an ungodly belief that if she gives something to someone, she has the right to ask them for something in return as they are now indebted to her. Here is the scenario. She invites you to dinner having prepared your favorite meal, beverage and desert. It is perfect. She sets the table, serves you graciously in speech and action. She speaks of her desire and enthusiasm in preparing this meal just for you to show you how much she loves you and desires to honor your visit to her home. She dotes over you, buttering your bread, filling your glass whenever you take a sip, and building up excitement for the special desert she made just for you. Every moment is focused on you for about fifteen minutes.
Somewhere about half way through the meal, she will get up and go to her bedroom, emerging with handfuls of letters and documents and pill bottles which she then proceeds to set on the table next to your meal. She then informs you that she would like you to read the letters to her and have you search out the medications on the internet to learn their side effects. And after that, she would like you to call certain people on her behalf and make appointments or ask for information or any number of other tasks she has detailed in chronological order on a list she places on top of the pile of documents you are to read. After laughing, this has got to unnerve anyone. One suddenly feels like a turkey being escorted to the barn on thanksgiving morning.
This behavior is rooted in a fear of rejection and lack of self worth. She does not believe that she is worth helping or serving without her first giving something of herself. But the enemy twists even this around so she loses every time. Who wants to be around someone who shares good only to create a venue for guilt and usury? Her attempts at being gracious turn out to push folks away instead of win their hearts and she is left feeling unloved, unappreciated, undervalued and bewildered at the turn of events. Her gifts are emotionally perceived as manipulative and the recipient is offended and moves away from her. She reaps exactly what she anticipated and tried to avoid. The seed was sown and reaped and she remains a victim with a wounded heart. The enemy knows how to ruin and destroy well. He is very skilled at it. Manipulation never works to build relationships and is the farthest thing from the miracle principle of reciprocation which is grounded in discernment, discretion and confidentiality. The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. There is no place for guilt or usury or inventory taking as to how much one gives in correlation to what one gets. It is all about being a generous investor with what God has given you without condition upon man.
I spoke to my aunt about this so no judgment exists and God is bringing healing to her heart even at age seventy-five. How wonderful to know we can be children of the Lord throughout our lifetimes.
There are seven keys I have found to activating God’s miracle principle of reciprocation. Any one of them will yield fruit but the more of them I hold as personal commitments; the more I reap God’s kindness, favor and intimacy in my life. I have had abundance of material wealth and have more recently experienced great loss but the windows and doors of heaven are open to me as never before. My heart is filled with thankfulness and I rest in His providence and grace and mercy with resoluteness and trust as I have not known prior. This brings me to a point of clarification.
The following principles are those which I have found from the Scriptures that create an atmosphere of anointed receiving. Just remember that all you do in favor of God’s kingdom, His people, Israel and the promotion of the good news of Jesus Christ locally and globally will bear fruit and is subject to harvest on your behalf. Thank you for your partnership in the kingdom. May all His blessings continue to be yours and manifest in your word and deeds with ever increasing faithfulness.
Activating God’s miracle principle of reciprocation:
1. Be generous: “Freely you received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8 and “For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.” I Chronicles 29:14
2. Give with an attitude of investing: “And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” Matthew 13:8
3. Sow in good soil where you want to reap: "Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." Luke 6:38
4. Become committed to blessing others: “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” Galatians 6:9-10
5. Be observant of the needs of others: “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4
6. No inventory taking or manipulation: “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” II Corinthians 9:7
7. Keep it between you and God: “So that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:4
Now as we contemplate our future investments, let me note that there are only two things that last forever according to God’s word; His word and people. It would seem from this that living your life for anything other than these two would be an exercise in limited return on investment. Blessings to you and yours now and forever.
“So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
“Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.” Psalm 119:89
"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.” John 4:35-36
Alex Delgado
International Renaissance House
http://www.irhouse.org/
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