God "Gives"

As part of our studies on the relational attributes of the Father, I will like us to camp around the aspect of His giving, understanding it both as a relational attribute and the attitude behind it.

We agree that God gives. Again, what is the attitude behind this attribute? That is the direction we will follow as we proceed in this teaching. God Gives! He not only gives; He outgives! No one can give as much as He does, however, each one of us can learn from Him, the attitude of a giver. A person’s ability to give is a relational attribute that is birthed or that is directly connected to the relational attribute of love. We are told in John 3:16 That “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son and whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

So, the giving of His Son at that time is directly related to His love for the world. This is very important because, through giving, an individual could be blessed or manipulated. It can go both ways. Meaning, both the giver and the receiver can be blessed or manipulated in the process. There is an attitude of the giver and there is also an attitude of the receiver. Our emphasis is on the attitude of the giver. Amen. If your giving is not done out of love, it is preferable to learn and understand the attitude of a giver. I would not say you should not give, just because you do not have the right attitude, rather, learn the attitude of the giver and apply it to your life then will you see results. In the kingdom, you will discover that your life depends on your giving. There are many aspects of giving.

It is impossible to live the kingdom life without giving. Some doors in your life will only open up to you when you give. So do not let the enemy steal from you or lie to you when it comes to the area of giving. John 3:16 is a great scripture that expounds on the attitude of the giver. God Himself.

We have looked at the fact that the foundation of giving is love. Not just any kind of love. The God kind of love. The degree to which God’s love abounds in you will determine how far you will go with your giving and how much you will give. We are looking at this in context of John 3:16. For God to have sacrificed His only Son for sinful man, tells me that His love for man was not casual, it was abounding. Gradually, we are beginning to unfold the attitude of the giver.

So, we will conclude by saying this – God gives. That’s who He is. His giving is out of abounding love. Consider becoming a giver as well and learn how to grow in love so that you will give just as the Father Himself does. Amen.

The Centurion’s Encounter with the Lord

The story of the centurion can be found in the book of Luke 7:1-10. The centurion was a man in authority whose servant was sick and at the point of death. So he sent elders of the Jews to Jesus so that they could plead with Him to come and heal his servant. The elders did just that and Jesus responded to their plea and went with them. Jesus was not very far from the house when the centurion sent friends to Jesus telling Him that “He should only say a word and his servant will be healed. This is a very brief summary of the encounter of Jesus and the centurion. So much can be learned from this story, however, this is what I want us to see in the context of the relational attribute of the Lord.

He is responsive to our call for Him. Being the man of authority that He is, He does not consider Himself too important and unwilling to respond to us when we call on Him. As you relate with Him, one thing you will discover is that He is with you always and this time in the person of the Holy Spirit. Unlike the centurion who had to send elders to plead with Jesus on His behalf, we do not have to go through that process. The process has been simplified for us. The word promises us this in Hebrews 13:5 that He will never leave us nor forsake us. The dispensation in which we live requires that the Holy Spirit in us communes with us if we permit Him to.

Here is my guarantee to you as a son and daughter of the most high God who has accepted Jesus as Lord. There is never a time when the Spirit of God is never with you. My encouragement to you is that you should maintain a constant flow of communication with Him any day, anytime. Freely present your requests to Him as well. There is no procedure. Amen.

Another relational attribute we learn about the Lord here is that although praise worthy, He seeks opportunities to praise us. Listen to what He said to the crowd about the centurion in verse 9 – When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned to the crowd and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel”.

This is very significant because Jesus did not only recognize and keep the thought to Himself, he praised the centurion publicly.

Responsiveness and praise (in this case public praise) are two very important relational attributes that we can learn from the Lord and also apply to our daily relationships. When in relationship, learn to speak well about the people you are relating with when you are with them and also in their absence. Also, learn to be responsive. How timely you are in your response matters a lot. Do not be the type who is noted for never responding in a timely manner. Your timeliness to respond is also a reflection of your character of excellence. Amen.

So far, we have seen an extended list of the relational attributes of the Father. We trust that your understanding about the Lord as concerns relationship has been enlightened.  We hope that you will not only be a hearer of the word but also a doer. When you do, in this case, seek to develop a relationship with the Him and make it your lifestyle, you will enjoy the fellowship. Amen.