I will start out by saying that Kierra and I were sharply chastened by God this weekend. We had been told by others to start talking about giving and to allow others to sow into our ministry, and we have always done so, but on a very passive level! Because giving is usually done so wrong in the church, many Christians including us have a hesitancy about speaking about it in detail when it comes to our own ministry. This weekend a dear mother of the faith said to us, “You guys sow into people all the time and you help them to change their lives. People pay a lot for therapy, psychiatric, counseling, and coaching, so why shouldn’t people sow into you for what you do?” The main point is that we are called to help a lot of people, and that requires resources. We are called to help the homeless, Veteran’s, the broken, the hurting, the fatherless,

So many times we don’t get our needs met and live in constant poverty because what we should be using for seed, we use for our needs. So instead of seeds growing, our needs are growing instead. Prosperity is the Promised Land that we are called to but that will only happen when we stop thinking like a child, speaking like a child, and understanding like a child and put away the childish things that keep us focused on our own basic needs and survival. The moral of the story is that our needs get met and we begin to walk in overwhelming provision when we sow. Our mentality has to shift to a ’Sow to grow’ frame of mind. If a farmer and his family eats the seeds that they are supposed to be sowing into his field, what will his harvest look like? That's why most Christians lives look the way that they do because of a scarcity mindset that causes us to sow sparingly and without intent.

God doesn’t need our money, and neither does anybody that God calls to do anything, because He is the supplier of our needs. His vision, His provision. So why does God ask us to give then? So that we can have a channel for Him to Bless us through. Elevation from God comes from honor. When we honor what God is honoring and bless what God is blessing, it opens the door for God to bless us. This is God’s system. The opposite of that is an ‘orphan spirit’, that literally makes us a ‘robber and a thief”. That’s a hard word, but a necessary one. That spirit makes you take from others with no consequence or bearing of the value that is being given to you. It’s a darkness upon the heart that blinds you to gratitude, honor, or respect. It’s associated with a spirit of poverty, and anyone who is still in rebellion and dishonor will walk in poverty, debt, lack, and want. These are curses that come upon those who take without honor. In the short-term it seems like we get over when we don’t sow into those who sow into us, but in the long-run, what you don’t honor you don’t get to keep.

God wants to bless us! So, how do we get the blessings that are in heaven down to earth into our storehouses? By giving! Cheerfully sowing into God and not into men. Never sow into men because then you will think you are do doing someone a favor, buying favor, or doing it with the wrong motive. Before you give to anyone, make sure God is telling you to do it and then it’s on God to repay you and not on a man or ministry. Sow or sacrifice with the intention of changing something and using an offering as a tool of transaction.

Give cheerfully, because God says:

2 Corinthians 9:7 KJV - Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

Galatians 6:7 KJV "Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

We pray that this message helps you become a better giver and breaks the ‘orphan spirit’ off of your life. Now you are free to walk in the ‘Law of life in Christ Jesus’ that has made us free from the ‘law of sin and death’. We thank you in advance for your seeds to help us fulfill God’s Kingdom mandate here on earth. We are incredibly grateful for your faithfulness in prayer, financial assistance, love, and support! Get ready for the windows of Heaven to be open in your life as God rewards you abundantly for your giving!

Blessings!

~ Dr. John & Kierra Whitfield