Topic: Scatter to Increase [Saturday 3, June 2017] Memorise: There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withhold...
Topic: Scatter to Increase [Saturday 3, June 2017]
Memorise: There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. – Proverbs 11:24
Read: Proverbs 11:23-25 (KJV)
23 The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
24 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
Bible in One Year: Acts 27-28 Jeremiah 41:4-18, Hymn: Sing hymn 10
MESSAGE:
John 15:16 says you have been chosen to bear fruits and to sustain these fruits. To bear fruit, you are required to win souls regularly. Newly saved souls are like new born babies that require a lot of care and nourishment in order to grow into adulthood (1 Peter 2:2). To sustain such converts therefore, there is a need for us to keep planting churches. No wonder Genesis 1:28 said that if you are fruitful, you must strive to multiply. Plant a parish and continue planting more. Just repeat the right things you are doing that works. Do not wait to start a church of 2000 people. You can start small churches of about 20-50 people and these will grow into churches of 100, 150 and more. The house fellowship unit can be effectively used in doing this. You can start a house fellowship with just a few people and as it grows, you can split it and have another house fellowship centre. In doing this, you are applying the principles of scattering to multiply. As these grow, you will soon have enough people to start a church parish. How effective is your house fellowship centre? Are you even a member of a house fellowship?
Another area where you can apply the principle of scattering to multiply is in the area of giving. Luke 6:38 says if you give, you shall receive in return. Keep giving and God in His own way will give you your reward. Today’s Bible reading reveals that it is possible to scatter but yet increase, whereas you can hold back and remain poor. There is a particular man I know; when he goes anywhere and people get to know he is around, they would gather round and he will fling bundles of money at them; every one of them then scramble for their share of this money. Someone once asked me why this man does this, and I told him that the devil knows the principle of scattering to increase. If you go to a witchdoctor for a charm to make you rich, one of the conditions he would likely give you is that you must learn to scatter some of your wealth to the poor. This is a universal principle; so if unbelievers practice it, they will get results. So would believers if they can practice it. Consider the weeds that grow rapidly around us; they multiply so fast because they scatter their seed through the wind, water and by sticking to so many different things. In the past, those of us who were Bible study leaders went all out to meet the needs of the gospel by sacrificing our salaries and the little we had. Today, many years after, I see the same people who once lived in a room and parlour now living in their own mansions. Are you ready to pay the price of multiplication through scattering?
Action Point: When you want to scatter you seeds, start with needy members of your local church.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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