DIVINE ENCOUNTER
(A MESSAGE BY PASTOR DAHUNSI OLAWOLE)

Text: Exodus 3:1

 “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.”

               From the scriptures above, we are told the story of Moses who killed one of the Egyptians in an attempt to rescue an Israelite and ran away.  When God wanted to deliver His children the Israelites, from the land of Egypt, He decided to use that same Moses. Moses encountered God and after the encounter, seeing the burning bush, he never turned back again.

               The word ‘encounter’ means to meet face to face or have an experience. It means to have a taste of what something is like. So Moses encountered God as he was sheepherding the sheep of his in law. Encounter with God will change your vision and dream. It change the dreams of Moses

 Acts 9:1-6

 “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.  3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”

Paul encountered God on his way to Damascus. He wanted to go and kill the children of God but his life was never the same again after the encounter.

In Genesis 18, Abraham encountered the angels of God, he welcome them and entertained them unknown to him that they were messengers of God. He received blessings from God because of his generosity after the encounter.

The word ‘divine’ has to do with God. It means something beyond human reasoning and explanation; something supernatural. Encounter means to taste, to feel to meet, sudden meeting or accidental meeting.

Bringing these two words together we have ‘divine encounter’ which means meeting God in an unexplainable way or meeting God in a way one cannot explain.

 Types of Encounter:

One can have one of these encounter.

·        Physical encounter- this is encountering something or  someone physical like shaking of hands

·        Spiritual encounter- this kind of encounter happens in the spiritual. It comes from God.

·        Positive encounter- this is encounter that bring brings good things to a person’s life

·        Negative encounter- when you look at the Bible, you see that Jonah’s encounter with God was a negative encounter. He was swallowed up by a fish for three days.

Example of people that encountered God positively or negatively in the Bible:

1.      Lazarus was death for four days and Jesus Christ came and resurrected him. This  was a positive encounter

2.      In the book of Luke, a woman was to go and bury her child when she encountered Jesus. Jesus raised her child from the death. This was another positive encounter.

3.      In Luke 5, Peter had a positive encounter with Jesus. For all throughout the night he was toiling but he caught nothing until he encountered Jesus and his life was not the same again

4.      Jonah’s experience on his way to Nineveh was a negative encounter

5.      The experience of Dathan, Korah and Abiram was another negative encounter. They were swallowed up by the ground Numbers 16:25 -33

What are the things that will happen after divine encounter?

When a person encounters God, he/her life cannot remain the same again. If a person claims to have an encounter with God and his/her life does not change, then it is not an encounter. Encounter will turn you from who you are to what God wants you to be. Examples of encounter are:

·        Saul (Paul) in Act 9. Encountered Jesus. He never turned back again. So encounter will bring a person to salvation and repentance of sins

·         Zacchaeus, when he encountered Jesus, he confessed and restituted everything he had wrongly    acquired without being compelled. This is what we call encounter.

·        Encounter with God will lead to prosperity and divine health. The man at pool of Bethesda, when he encountered Jesus, sickness of 35 years vanished.

·        Divine encounter will cancel death and destruction. If a man is marked for death, encounter with God will wipe it away.

·        It will bring comprehensive blessings. That is, the kind of blessings that starts from you and extends to everybody around you in all ramifications. It is also be referred to as wellness blessings/ total blessing or all round blessing – in he/her home, work, business career etc.

·        It turns sorrow to joy.

·        It terminates reproach

·        It improves a person’s life and gives comfort

·        It brings revival

·        It brings restoration

·        When a person has divine encounter, it will change his/her lifestyle. His/her speech and doing will change. There was a woman that came to church as a quarrelsome and nagging woman but when she gave her life to God, her lifestyle changed and everyone in her compound started wondering what has happening to her. That is the power of divine encounter that transformed her. If you say you have divine encounter and you are still living in you sin, that is not an encounter at all. The persons in the bible that had encounter with God, their life never remained the same. Divine encounter changes your life style and everything about you.

How do we enjoy positive divine encounter?

1.      Learn the method of salvation and repentance: you must have a story or experience of salvation on how you were before your encounter with Christ; how you met Christ and what happened to you after your encounter. The person is saved. He/she had turn from his/her sinful life to God and to do what is right.

Activities in church do not mean salvation and when a man is born again, he/she must be baptized as a sign that you died and resurrected unto new life in Christ.

 I pray for you; anything spoiling your salvation shall die in the mighty name of Jesus.

2.      Learn the principles and method of giving when you are expecting divine encounter

3.      Learn the method of aggressive prayers

4.      Learn the method of divine placement or location: learn to be at the right place at the right time where God can encounter you

5.      Learn the method of consistency: be consistent and persistent on God for a divine encounter

6.      Learn the method of faith - Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

7.      Learn the method of hospitality

8.      Learn the method of evangelism: go out and preach the word of God, inviting people to come and enjoy what you are enjoying in Christ Jesus.

Encounter will give you:

·        What you want

·        All God’s promises

·        It will make you not to struggle in prayers

·        It will make your enemies to be far from you

Close your eyes and talk to God for divine encounter before you pray the following prayers;

1.      O Lord my father, touch me and renew me by your power in Jesus name

2.      Divine encounter that will change my story, manifest in my life in the name of Jesus

3.      O Lord arise, solve all my problems in Jesus name

4.      Divine encounter that will wipe away my sorrow, manifest in my life in the name of Jesus.

O LORD, RESTORE THE GLORY OF MY MARRIAGE
(A Message of Pastor Dahunsi Olawole)

Text: 

Hebrews 13:4-5

 “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

               Be contented with what God gave to you; as a man, be contented with your wife and as a woman, you need to be contented with your husband because God said He will not leave you nor forsake you and your family. Do not be like Jacob in the Bible that was not contented with Leah (his first wife) that God had given him after serving his father-in-law for seven years; he still wanted Rachael (the younger sister to Leah) who eventually led him to idolatry against God. Rachael never believed in the God of Jacob, that is why she brought an idol from her father’s house to her husband’s house which most women do in our society today by scattering people’s marriages and luring the man to serve strange gods against God Almighty.

               Marriage is an institution made by God because He saw that it was not good for a man to live alone. God decided to give man a partner and He said ‘for this reason, shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they shall become one’ which means God respect anybody who respects marriage because He respects and love this institution called ‘marriage’

Proverb 18:22 “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.” So it is God’s favor to find a wife and have a good marriage.

Jeremiah 29:6 “Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.”

The desire of God for every marriage is to have children and live happily together

 Things that brings problems into marriages:

·        Bad foundation - when you indulge in sex before marriage, it defiles the bed of that marriage from the beginning of the marriage. That is known as a bad foundation of marriage and it kills the marriage. I met a sister who was complaining of her husband’s attitude of sleeping around with women. So I asked her if she had not discovered this attitude of her husband before getting married. She confirmed yes but she added that, she was always giving him sex so that he will not go outside even before marriage. Till date, the man is still cheating on her in the marriage. So pre-marital sex contributes to the problems of most marriages.

·        Deceitfulness: this is deceiving each other into marriage; a lot of people do not tell their partners the truth before getting married and this has caused a lot of problems in the marriage today. Deceitfulness breaks marriages, so learn to tell the truth to your spouse.

·        Marrying a man because he is rich or wealthy brings problems into the marriage also

·        Marrying a woman because of her beauty is another reason for marital problems

·        Beating a woman before and after marriage is an evidence that the marriage cannot last

·        Marrying on sympathy or pity

·        Lack of respect for each other

·        When the parents of the man disapprove your marriage with their son and vice versa and you went ahead with the wedding, there will be problems in the marriage.

·        Collecting gifts constantly from spouse before marriage also brings problems that should have been sorted out during courtship. Gifts will blind you from observing and correcting your partner’s weaknesses.

·        Marrying a particular partner as an option after the disappointment of your formal partner.

·        Marrying as a result of pressure from friends, family etc.

·        Marrying a stranger that you do not know. That is what we call proxy marriage; you have not studied the person and you rushed into the marriage.

·        Being forced into marriage also brings problems into that marriage.

·        Too many traditions without God can also affect a marriage.

Things to Avoid In Your Marriage:

1.      Ungodly behavior and attitude: anything God does not like nor support, do not permit it in your marriage

2.      Avoid anger

3.      Avoid pride for any reason

4.      Avoid cursing/use of abusive words

5.      Avoid deceit and lies to each other

6.      Avoid stinginess to your partner, your children and everyone around you

7.      Avoid sexual denial even if you are not in the mode

8.      Avoid arguments

9.      Avoid unfaithfulness

10.   Avoid dishonesty or anything that will tamper with your integrity

11.   Avoid bad habits; learn to be hygiene/clean as a man or woman, look good and smell nice always for your partner to admire

I remember a woman that came to report her husband to me after our command the month programme one morning. To my surprise; I noticed that she had body odor that early morning and I had to shift away while listening to her but she was still coming close to me. When I could not hold myself again and she does not understand why I was shifting away, I told her to come back later and see me. Uncleanliness can push your spouse outside which will result in many problems.

Qualities you must embrace in marriage:

v  Celebrate your spouse’s birthday with him/her

v  Consider your spouse when fixing appointment because you may forget that you have an appointment at that particular time and date.

v  Avoid doing anything without considering your spouse

v  Avoid expecting sex on demand because your spouse may not be in good state of mind/mood

v  Help your spouse in doing some things in the house sometime without being told to do so. Your wife must not do everything in the house always

v  Engage your spouse in a discussion sometime

v  Avoid unkind speeches, language or words to your spouse

v  Avoid bitter and unforgiving attitude to your spouse and your family generally

v  Avoid beating your spouse. As a child of God, you are not expected to fight anybody for any reason including your wife

Close your eyes at this point and cry to God for mercy upon your marriage as you pray the following prayers:

1.      My father in any area I have offended you, have mercy on me in Jesus name

2.      O Lord restore back the glory of my marriage in Jesus name

3.      My father, build for me a marriage that will glorify your name in Jesus name

4.      Any curse that I have issued against my spouse, be cancelled by fire in the mighty name of Jesus

5.      Anything my spouse have done against me, I forgive you today in Jesus name

6.      Any wickedness that I have done against my spouse, be cancelled by fire now in the name of Jesus

7.      O Lord my father, bring back the glory of my marriage in Jesus name

8.      Any implications over our actions in the past; blood of Jesus, nullify them in the name of Jesus

God bless you in Jesus name

O LORD, MAKE ME FRUITFUL
Message of Pastor Olawole Dahunsi

Text: Gen 1:28

 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Gen 35:10-12

 “And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.  11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; 12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.”

Gen 28:3-4

 “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;  4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.”

Gen 8:17 

“Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.”

Gen 9:1

 “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”

 and verse 7 “And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.”

The desire of God is that every of His children be fruitful and prosperous. From the passages above, we can see that the first thing God said is ‘be fruitful’ meaning that His desire for us is to be fruitful.

What does it mean to be fruitful?

1.      To be fruitful means to have an outstanding result in what you do; in your business, marriage, academics, career etc. 

2.      It is having excellent result when others are failing

3.      It means to be highly favoured and succeeding where others are struggling

4.      To make progress.

5.      Having positive impact or effect in everything you do and anywhere you are.

6.      To be fruit means to be relevant: There are people that are living and nobody knows anything worthwhile about them. When you are not in a place as a fruitful person, people should be looking for you to show that you are relevant or valued.

7.      It is to be fulfilled

8.      It mean to be exceptionally good in your business.

9.      To multiply, increase, yield good harvest and good fruit

10.   To be fruitful means to impact lives and be relevant to your people.

Note: Success in life is impactation. So if you cannot impact others, you are not successful.

11.   It means to flourish according to Psalms 92:12 “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”

12.   To be well in your health and everything.

13.   Fruitfulness means to yield more fruit to the kingdom of God. John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” and verse 5 says“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Different Types of Fruitfulness

1.      Physical fruitfulness: Psalms 92:12, Deuteronomy 7:14. This is a situation where everything around you is doing well. When you touch anything, it sprouts and blossom.

2.      Spiritual fruitfulness: A person can be spiritually fruitful when his relationship with God is perfect. He does things for God without looking at anybody nor waits for compensation from anybody. His spiritual children are always around him and his life style draws people to God. He wins souls to the kingdom of God.  

A man was selling knives and any one that buys from him; he wraps the knife with a track (gospel track). One day, a certain man came and bought a knife from him with the intention of committing murder. As he unwrapped the knife he saw the track and began to read it; before he got to the end of the track, he was weeping. He ran back to the knife seller and confessed to him he was about killing his brother with the knife but the message gotten from the track made him to take a U-turn to Jesus Christ. That is how he gave his life to Christ.

 Are you there and you cannot affect lives positively? Or are you a lecturer and you cannot call a student that is misbehaving and talk sense into his head?
How many people have you impacted? Even at 90 years, you can still make a change in your life to impact others.

I pray for you, every power that is killing fruitfulness in your life shall be roasted in Jesus name.

3.      Mental fruitfulness: God has given you mental fruitfulness, high intelligence but what are you doing with it?

4.      Financial fruitfulness

5.      Social fruitfulness: Having good relationship with people around you. That is, any one that meets you will want to be your friend.

To Be Fruitful, You Must Have The Following:

1.      You must have a seed which is Christ in your life. The seed here is your salvation.

2.      A good soil which is your place of worship for nurturing your salvation. What church do you attend? Can your church nurture your salvation? If not, then change the church to a Bible believing church.

3.      Watering and fertilizer: Your prayer life and Bible study are the watering and fertilizer. You need to always study the word of God and render your service to God if you want your salvation be nurtured.

4.      Constant taking care of that seed: Constant nurturing of that seed (your salvation).

Levels of fruitfulness

·        Fruitful

·        More fruitful

·        Much fruitful – you bear more than you can handle

·        Continuous fruitfulness- he or she continues to increase and expand regularly.

·        Ever fruitful – even when the person has departed this world, his fruit is still increasing and prospering.

Why Do You Need To Be Fruitful?

·        You need to be fruitful because you are a child of God and God wants you to be fruitful. Heaven desires above all things that you prosper

·        You are created to be fruitful.

·        To showcase the glory of God.

·        To prove to the world that you are a child of God

·        You must be fruitful so as to attract other people to God. People will come to you and tell you “I am you neighbor, your church member or relatives” when you are successful.

·        It is an evidence of God’s blessings in our lives.

·        Without fruitfulness, one becomes irrelevant. So fruitfulness brings relevance because only the fruitful can be known and celebrated.  The unfruitful cannot be celebrated and heard. When he/she is talking, people will be moving away.

Qualifications for Fruitfulness:

1.      Total dependence on God - Deuteronomy 7:14

2.      Ask God to help you to be fruitful.

3.      Know and follow the word of God totally. John 15:5

4.      Have faith in God and be faithful to God and to others.

5.      Live a holy life: The eye of the lord is on the righteous. A life of righteousness is an essential qualification for fruitfulness

6.      Be a good giver: give to God, men of God, the poor and the needy around you. A fruitful person is a giver, he/she is not a stingy person and he understands that if one does not give, he/she will lose.

7.      Always look for an avenue to do good to people and the work of God.

8.      Keep off from things that kills fruitfulness. For example - unforgiveness, malice, anger, fornication and adultery. Sin generally kills fruitfulness.

Brethren, remember, I told you that there are levels of fruitfulness. But what I pray for you is that you will be ever fruitful.  Bow down your head and talk to God. Ask Him to remove anything that kills fruitfulness in your life.

Prayer points:

1.      Any agent of darkness eating up my seed, die in Jesus name.

2.      My seed of greatness, what are you doing in witchcraft coven, come out in the mighty name of Jesus.

3.      O lord my father, make me ever fruitful in Jesus name.

4.      I receive power to be fruitful in the name of Jesus.

5.      Powers that say I cannot be relevant in my days die in the mighty name of Jesus.

O LORD MY FATHER CHANGE RULES FOR MY SAKE
Message of Pastor Olawole Dahunsi

Text:

Psalm 34:10 “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”

Psalm 34:8-9 “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.”

God can because of a single person turn things around. He can also waste a whole generation because of one person. If God wants to bless a person, He has the capacity to take that person out to the place of his blessing. There is no rule that can stand when God want to do something. When He wanted to move the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt He sacrificed their entire first born including that of the animals. When God saw that the red sea was going to obstruct them, He made the red sea to form a wall and the children of Israel to walk on dry land through the red sea - a mystery. There is nothing our God cannot do. In the days of David, we are told that Goliath was very tall and stout even Saul was afraid but because God wanted to glorify Himself, he raised a small boy with a single stone to bring Goliath down. Such is the attribute of our God. He can promote and demote. In the time of Nebuchadnezzar, He turned him into an animal so that he can know who God is. Here we see that our God is a God of mystery. He does not disappoint those who trust in him.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

What is a rule?

·        A rule is an official way of doing something; that is it has been laid down. It becomes a standard or a pattern. In the civil service for example, the rule says; you can only be promoted after 4 year of services. But when God want to change rules, God can promote a person before that time. When God wants to change things, that official way of doing things, He can change it.

·        A rule is an authorize way of conduct; a convention.

·        It is an established way of doing something.

·        It is a guide put in place by the governing body in order to guild a body/establishment. Like the medical association that governs the practice of medicine, the NBA governs the practices of Law etc. In the army, if a lieutenant is already seated and a major comes in, it is a rule that the lieutenant stands up, salutes the major and vacates the seat for him.

·        A rule can also be called a command, a statue, a verdict and a judgment. I pray for you that evil judgment upon your life shall be broken in the name of Jesus.

·        A rule can be seen as a pronouncement

·        A rule can also be seen as a decision

·        A rule can be seen as a decree

·        It can also be seen as a pronouncement put in place that applies to everyone

·        Rules carry the weight of the authority that gives it.

·        Rules, whether the person who made it is there or not, it still exist. Rules can exist for a long time.

There are powers too both in the physical and the spiritual realm that can put up a rule against a person. A brother bought a car and took it to the village. At night, in his dream, he had a visitor that asks him ‘who had ever bought this kind of car in your family? No one ever buys a car in your father’s house. That was how he went to start the car in the morning but it did not start. All efforts to repair the car were in vain.

·        A rule can be a limitation, something that subjects you to a restriction. I remember a brother who in his father’s house, they die at 50. At 48 he saw the next person die so he ran to church. Now he is 60 years old. So God can change rules.
There are so many families that have not risen beyond where their father stopped and the Bible says that were are expected to be better than our fathers. So many families, people do not go beyond their father- why? Evil rules.

Powers that make rules

·        Ancestral powers - these are powers that controls the ancestry of a family. It knows everything about the family. They have been there from your grandparents. So they set limits. They are powers that know you too well.

·        Witchcraft powers. Sometimes witchcraft comes in to a family through polygamy. Any polygamous family that there is witchcraft, there will be limitation.

·        Evil foundation can set a limit to a person’s life.

·        Environmental powers - there are powers in the environment that subject people to poverty in that area. They can give rule that nobody prospers in this environment. There is a town I know that if a million is given to her indigene to start business, that business will fail but if they leave the area even for one mile, they will make it.

·        Star hunter – powers that hunt stars. Immediately they see you, they know your star. Even when a baby is born into the family, they know. So they set a standard.

·        Evil priest.

·        Evil/satanic parent. There are parents that do not want their children to rise above them so they issue curses on them. I pray for you that every such curse over your life shall be broken in the name of Jesus.

Let see what God does when He want to change rules

1.      When God want to change rules, He appears Himself in his power. You will see that this is truly the finger of God. It was God that made Joseph a prime minister without anyone asking ‘where do you come from?’ Esther became queen by the hand of God

2.      when he want to change rules, He gives you wisdom – makes you wise like Daniel

3.      He gives instruction through the Holy Spirit.

4.      He raises a helper - a helper that will raise you up, that will support you and remove obstacles for you.

5.      He raises a voice – somebody will be speaking for that person.

6.      He gives you good vision, good dreams; he appeared to Joseph and showed him his future.

7.      He sends good relationship. He can give you good wife /husband. He can also give you a good teacher. He can give you a good pastor who will inspire to discover yourself and fly like an eagle. He can give you a good mentor

What must we do for rules to change?

§  You must know your God. “…but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” If a person does not know God, he/she will be exploited. Rules will not change for their sake. They suffer under rules. Even when Joseph was a prisoner, he was made to be in charge of other prisoners. If you know God, He does what no man can do. He can help you beyond your capacity.

§  Learn to trade and profit with God. Challenge God, tell Him “God only you can help me”

§  Be obedient to the word of God.

Rules have to change for you to move forward. If certain rules are not change, one can be limited for ever. But when God sets aside those rules, the movement of that person will be like lightening. I pray that every rule that is hindering your progress shall be uprooted by fire.

Prayers

My father, if there is any rule in my father’s house that is making me stagnant, remove it now in Jesus name.

Every rule stagnating my destiny, scatter in Jesus name.

Rules that will not allow men and women succeed in my father’s house, break in Jesus name.

Holy Ghost fire, take me above all evil rules in my father’s house today in Jesus name.

Any power that has vowed to suffer me this month, die in Jesus name.

THE MYSTERY OF SACRIFICIAL GIVING
Message by Pastor Henry Arikpo

Text:

2 Samuel 24:24 “And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel”

Psalms 126:4-6 “Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. 5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

A lot of us have heard this message, but there is need to remind ourselves once again so that those of us who have not been giving sacrificially will change our attitude and those of us that have been doing it will remain blessed by God.

Are you giving something to God that does not cost you anything? From the passage, we see that David choose to give God what will cost him a fortune.
Giving attracts prosperity especially when it’s sacrificial. A sacrifice is a giving that will cause you great pain. It honors God and causes Him to bless you in an extra-ordinary manner.

Sacrificial givers occupy a good spot in God’s heart. Sacrificial giving is giving what cost you a great deal. Such givers will experience prosperity beyond comprehension. No mortal man can comprehend the mystery of sacrificial giving - your prosperity will defy human logic. The amount of prosperity God will give you will exceed human calculation.

God cannot watch a sacrificial giver go poor. He will release all his riches till poverty dies in such life.
In Genesis 8:18-22 God changed his mind towards the earth because of what Noah gave – a sacrifice.

What is sacrifice?

1. The act of giving something important to man or God.
The Bible tells us that “the gift of a man maketh a way for him”. The devil cannot give something freely but our God can give anything free of charge without demanding anything from us. But all he needs from us is to ‘give back’

Giving must be done with compulsion. We give because we love the Lord. When we give the way we are expected to give, God will visit us in a special way.
When you read the Bible, the widow of Zeraphath was to eat her last meal. Elijah greeted her; Good day Madam. Elijah said: get me water, the woman said ah, ok. As she went, he added; and a meal. The woman said: I am going to prepare my last meal to eat with my son so we would die thereafter. Elijah said prepare for me first, you will not die. Your food will never finish. The woman obeyed and her supplies never ran dry.

2. Giving provokes blessing. 2 Kings 4:8-17, Proverbs 28:27, Luke 3:11, Matthew 5:42.
There something I heard while I was in Lagos. An old man, a stranger, was passing by a store where he demanded water from the store keeper, a woman. The woman gave him. He demanded for food, the woman gave him. Then the old man asked the woman; please send your child to remove the plates. The woman said I have no child. Very sympathetic,  after 20 years of marriage. The old man said, by this time next year, you will have a child. Exactly one year later, the woman conceived and had a child. This is what giving can do.
In Luke Chapter 6:38, the Bible commanded us to give. Note that it was not an advice. When you refrain from giving, you will remain in poverty

All the scriptures above are saying one thing: give and get, keep and lose.

Some facts about giving.

1. The hand that gives will gather.
2. Trying to cheat God is a bad economy.
3. Two qualities make a Christian stand out - giving and forgiving.
4. What you give lives on even when you die.
5. Giving is God's medicine to cure greed. If you don’t want to give to the church, better go and look for God where He is and give to Him
7. Your uncommon sowing will create an uncommon harvest for you
8. Giving is a divine attribute and those who give are God-like
9. If you are a lazy giver, you will be a lazy receiver
10. There are three kinds of givers (a) giving grudgingly (b) duty giving and (c) thanksgiving
11. If you want to change what you get, change what you give.
12. You have to sow before you get.
13. There is nobody in the Bible who gave and did not receive more than what he/she gave.
14. One reason for poverty is stinginess.
15. Giving is not a contribution but an eternal investment

Roman 12:1 is one key scripture every believer should take to heart. It says “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” It talks about giving your life and body to God as a sacrifice. This is the most acceptable sacrifice we all need to offer. In Mathew 27:3-4 money destroyed Judas Iscariot, do not let it destroy you. Give today and be blessed.

Prayers
1. My father my God, re-arrange my life and turn it to your covenant
2. Lord Jesus purge out of my life every habit of the old man
3. My father restore me to my glorious destiny