“The liberal soul shall be made fat… A generous person will prosper, and anyone who gives water will receive a flood in return… whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (PV 11:25)

It is more than five weeks since I broke my ankle and I have to stay on bed rest and with a cast on my leg. If you are healthy it is hard to imagine the life of a sick person. There are many limitations and adjustments to be made. But I discovered that God gives grace according to the present need. Thank God!

One of the many lessons for me was the benefit and the blessing to be a generous person. God promises that if you practice generosity you shall become (spiritually) fat! (I was trying to diet and lose some weight when I saw this scripture…I am joking…). The word ‘fat’ means to be prosperous in all things and anointed for ministry!

In Hebrew the word ‘liberal’ means to be generous and noble. In the past people believed that kings were chosen by God. The ordinary people expected their rulers to behave like God. One of their attributes was to be kind and generous with their resources. Low class people were stingy and wicked. Generosity of spirit was valued as a royal quality. This generosity is not only about money. It is an attitude of life. You can be generous with your time, emotions, words of encouragement and your desire to help others. Spiritually speaking, a generous person is someone who is willing to be a channel of blessing, to be used by God to bless others. God promised to greatly bless such a person!

A greedy man sees generosity as a waste of resources that will lead to poverty. But it is not so! A greedy man is a foolish man! The Bible encourages us to be noble and generous; investing in the work of God and helping others. Why? The first reason is because God is the most generous Person in the universe! God is a Giver! And we must be like God! The second reason is that generosity really works! It is a good business! This is God’s Law: if you plant mercy, help, kindness and encouragement into the lives of others, you shall have a harvest of the same. The giver is blessed and the receiver is blessed! If you are generous, people are attracted to you. Nobody likes a greedy man. This is a good advice: If you are lonely or you desire to be married, then be generous in your attitude to others. Soon, you will become a spiritual magnet. This is another of God’s laws: If you sow sparingly you shall reap sparingly. If you sow generously, you shall reap generously (2Cor 9:6)

This is my testimony: as an unbeliever I was a selfish and greedy coward. I was afraid to share. I was afraid to become poor. I was afraid to be cheated by others. Things changed after I became saved. I saw that God sent His Son to die for me, to be my Savior. There is no greater sacrifice than that! I also saw that my Lord Jesus Christ went to the Cross for me and by His death He paid all my debt of sin. I was overwhelmed by this most generous God. I wanted to be like Him! I wanted to be free to come into His presence and worship Him! I prayed and was filled with His generous Spirit. Little by little I started practicing generosity in every way I could. I gave to the people not just money but my heart. I gave them my best prayers and my most ‘expensive’ sermons. My heart became free and I started rejoicing in this adventure of giving! Then I started to reap from my sowing! This life style became a flood of blessings to me! Now, at the hour of my need, I testify that there are so many people who pray for me, encourage me and refresh me. I testify that the Word of God is true! God is faithful to His Word!

Child of God, be a generous and noble soul! Be like Jesus! Your reward will be great on earth and in heaven!

PRAISE REPORT
My handsome wonderful husband gave me this picture when we met for the first time in 1973… He wrote ‘With love, Richmond Leigh’. The words were truly prophetic. All glory to God who found us, saved us and married us!

“Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives… Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans… And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done” (Gen 8:15-21)

It is now more than five weeks since I fell and broke my foot. I have been staying in my room since then. My husband takes care of me. I thank God for his life! Some of my children in Christ help us too. Thank God for them! Many people tell me they miss me in the church. I miss them too. But I cannot come out anytime I want. I am the Lord’s ‘prisoner of hope’. The God who allowed this ‘accident’ to happen is the same God who will open the door for me to come back to ministry in the church. I cannot come earlier than that! The God of Noah is my also my God.

In a world of sin, God found Noah to be a righteous man. By faith Noah built an ark according to God’s command. He preached Christ to his neighbors but they mocked Noah for his faith. The building of the ark lasted about 100 years. Finally God commanded Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives to enter the ark. The animals and the birds went in too. And God ‘shut the door’. The rain came from heaven and flooded the whole earth. Then the rain stopped. After 370 days of staying inside the ark, God commanded Noah to come out.

Just imagine Noah, his family and the animals coming out of the ark. More than a year had passed. What they saw now was very different than what they left behind. There were no more wicked mockers; no more enemies. This was a new beginning. What did Noah do first? He did not build a house for himself. He did not start a farm. He built an altar to The Lord and, together with his family, they worshipped God! He sacrificed clean animals knowing that ‘without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins’. He acknowledged Christ Crucified as their Savior!

The smoke of the burnt offerings went up. And God received and rejoiced in that aroma of faith, surrender, obedience, thanksgiving and true worship. That altar and the sacrifice point to Christ who ‘gave Himself for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2). God accepted the sacrifice of His Son. He then vowed in His heart never the punish man again. Christ is enough forever! Amen!

The flood water was God’s judgement on sin and sinners. The ark represents Christ! All the people inside the ark survived. Not a drop of the water of judgement touched them. All the people outside the ark perished. This is the lesson: If you are inside Christ, you shall live! If you reject His offer of salvation, you shall perish! There is no other option!

This is one of the blessings of obedience: ‘you shall be blessed when you go in and you shall be blessed when you go out’ ( Deut 28:6). To be blessed it means to be happy! I claim this blessing for myself! I rejoice in all things God has allowed in my life! I have no complains and no regrets! My body is not my own but it is the temple of the a Holy Spirit. God can do anything He wants with His temple! It is Christ in all! From the time I fell on the stairs I fell into God’s arms! Every moment since then it is God’s power that carries me! His presence is with me right now! In God’s time I shall come out from this ‘prison’. God Himself will open the door! There shall be worship and thanksgiving! The aroma of Christ Crucified coming out of purified hearts will be pleasing to God! God will be happy with us, His children! He will grant us revival! His glory, and not His judgment, will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea! The glory revealed in the future cannot compare with the inconveniences of the present! It is our holy duty to rejoice even now! Hallelujah!