The Widow Factor:

“The Widow Factor: Living on the Edge with God”—2

www.newperceptions.tv

• The Widow’s Narrative
  • 2 Kings 4:1-7
  • Desire of Ages 371: “The means in our possession may not seem to be sufficient . . . but if we will move forward in faith, believing in the all-sufficient power of God, abundant resources will open before us.”
  • “If the work [prayer] be of God, He Himself will provide the means for its accomplishment. He will reward honest, simple reliance upon Him. The little that is wisely and economically used in the service of the Lord of heaven will increase in the very act of imparting.” (Ibid)
  • “If we go to the Source of all strength, with our hands of faith outstretched to receive, we shall be sustained in our work, even under the most forbidding circumstances, and shall be enabled to give to others the bread of life.” (Ibid)

• God’s Arithmetic
  • When we ADD, God MULTIPLIES.
  • Luke 6:38—“‘Give [When we ADD], and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over [God MULTIPLIES], will be poured into your lap.’”
  • Malachi 3:10—“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse [When we ADD], that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing [God MULTIPLIES] that you will not have room enough for it.’”
  • The four spiritual benefits of endtime giving:
    
    • #1—Giving shapes me into the likeness of God, who is a Giver by nature—and a cheerful and sacrificial one at that.
      • John 3:16
      • 2 Corinthians 8:9
      • Galatians 2:20
    • #2—Giving deepens my walk with and trust in God, creating opportunities to cast my cares in trusting confidence on Him.
      • 1 Peter 5:7
      • Philippians 4:19
    • #3—Giving declares I believe that it all belongs to God “from whom all blessings flow.”
      • Deuteronomy 8:17, 18
    • #4—Giving in all its forms is the most frontal assault I can launch on my inbred and natural selfishness and greed.
      • Mark 8:34, 35
      • Christ’s Object Lessons 351: “Our money has not been given us that we might honor and glorify ourselves. As faithful stewards we are to use it for the honor and glory of God. Some think that only a portion of their means is the Lord’s. When they have set apart a portion for religious and charitable purposes, they regard the remainder as their own, to be used as they see fit. But in this they mistake. All we possess is the Lord’s, and we are accountable to Him for the use we make of it. In the use of every penny, it will be seen whether we love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves.”

“You would have gotten more out of it, if you had put more into it, wouldn’t you have?”