WHEN I GIVE TO A SERVANT OF THE LORD

When a man or woman is called into ministry, he or she becomes a different person altogether because he or she officially becomes a representative or an ambassador of the kingdom of light. Concerning this kingdom, apostle Paul says in Colossians 1: 13 “He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his dear Son”. Now, this scripture applies to all believers in general and those who are called into the five fold ministry are not an exception. However, these ministers of God who represents God’s kingdom of light here on earth have been mandated by the Almighty God to “equip God’s people to do his work (not only limited to ministry) and build up the church…(Ephesians 4:12). Do you see that? For them to carry out this assignment they must certainly be above the ordinary believer in rank and glory for by strength shall no man prevail.

Despite the fact that it’s true that there are a lot of imbalances in the body of Christ, it doesn’t mean we should conclude and say all ministers of God are fraudsters or swindlers. We give to the poor and needy, orphanages and widows and some of us too give to sponsor works that don’t give glory to the Lord. So the big question now is when I give to the Lord through his servant, what happens?

The first thing that happens when you give to a servant of God is that, you handover your troubles or battles to him. In other words, your battles become the battles of the Lord since he (the man of God) represents God. He begins to pray for you physically and in his closet. God then begins to reveal deeps things about you to him and shows him what to do for you to be blessed or come out of your battle. Elijah was fed by a widow in Zarephath in 1 Kings 17. In the same verse, the woman’s son died and Elijah was called upon because of the relationship she had with God’s vessel and he ( Elijah) responded accordingly by resurrecting the lad from the dead.

Do we have to pay men of God for the services they render us? No! But wisdom demands we honour them with our prayers and substance because the gospel rides on the winds of money. So, Iet’s learn to connect to God through His people. What is dead in your life? Is it your marriage, is your business doing badly? Or you have a challenge with your health? Brother, please learn to bail yourself out of that ugly situation by blessing God’s people. We may not need your money per se but for you to be blessed you need to provoke the anointing. One of the things I find so difficult in ministry is to appeal for funds or teach on giving. Many people close their ears and voluntarily decide not to give thinking they are doing the man of God a disservice. Paul says in Philippians 4: 16 -17 “Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness”. I want you to receive a reward he says. What reward? You have got to do something for someone before you are rewarded. Ever since you got that employment you fasted and prayed for, did you personally honour your man of God with your substance? Don’t wait for trouble to come before you begin to honour him. Please, do it now! When you were promoted at work, did you honour your father in the Lord?

You know what? The man of God has a covenant with the Lord that surmounts certain levels of battles so as you give to him, you allow his covenant to bail you out of your challenges. So, for some of us we don’t have to spend all monies that we receive. Out of the monies we receive is a seed that can be sown and eventually produce good fruits for us tomorrow. I pity those who steal from the house of God. Anything that is for the man of God or is in the house of God belongs to God so if we touch it dishonestly we steal from God and that action can attract God’s anger on us. Some months ago, someone came to our church and stole one of our flatscreen TVs and bolted away. That fellow didn’t know what he did. The articles you see in God’s house do not only belong to God but are God’s people’s expectations. Gehazi attracted leprosy to himself by dishonestly taking money from Naaman. Some people are struggling in life and in destiny because they took that which belonged to God’s servant or the church and thought it was nothing. The curses that follow such people can’t be averted because it’s God Himself dealing with them.

Besides, when you give to a man of God or a ministry, you open up yourself to marvelous possibilities. Even in the dark world, when you give to fetish priests or people who serve dark altars, you receive something from them which is always a negative reward. How much more when you give to the Lord’s servant. The Bible says in support of this point that “Anyone who receives a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward of a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs” – Matthew 10:40. The reward the Bible is talking about is a product of what you do. Without sowing you don’t reap in any realm or whatsoever. You can receive an unction or a new one if you had one already, a grace or favour when you give to God’s men. When Moses laid hands on Joshua, the Bible says he ( Joshua) received something from Moses which was the spirit of wisdom. As you give, don’t give up, continue till you begin to walk in the realm of wealth. In fact, it’s in these hard times that you have to dare God by giving. Your faith must be at work if you want to ascend higher realms. I have personally received several graces by giving to men of God, ministries and even believers. I started giving when I was not even financially stable and the Lord never disappointed me. Hallelujah!

When it was time for Isaac to bless Jacob, he said to him “make me venison”. Was Isaac that hungry? Wasn’t his wife around? Why call a man to prepare you food to eat when a woman, in fact your wife is around and she’s hale and hearty? Think about it!!! He simply wanted to release something on his son! There are mantles that are hanging in the realm of the Spirit that need to be caught but most of us aren’t ready. Mantles for leadership, finance, administration, ministry among others are available. It’s true that it’s not only giving that attracts such mantles but brethren, a sacrifice from you can bring upon a mantle that took years for your pastor to have. What are you waiting for? Do you want to follow naysayers and disdain men of God by not honouring them when the need arises? The choice is yours though.

I know without a shadow of doubt that you are a wise person and for that matter you will become wiser after reading this write up by doing kingdom business. I see you become a kingdom financier. You will be so rich that you will lend to institutions and even individuals because the wealth of the unbelievers shall be transferred to you because you put the word of God into practice. “ If you know these things, happy are you when you do them – John 13: 17

You are blessed indeed!

Dr. David Tobi Ogoudou