Unless otherwise noted, all scripture is from the King James Version of the Bible.

Giving and Receiving

ePub ISBN 978-1-60463-162-3

31-0029

© 1986 Eagle Mountain International Church Inc. aka Kenneth Copeland Ministries

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Kenneth Copeland Publications

Fort Worth, TX 76192-0001

For more information about Kenneth Copeland Ministries, visit kcm.org or call 1-800-600-7395 (U.S. only) or +1-817-852-6000.

Giving and Receiving

Would you like to know how you can increase your income? Regardless of your status in life, there is a way. The purpose of this book is to bring you the revelation that will show you how. Once you receive the Word of God, then you are responsible for putting it to work.

While talking with a man by telephone one day, we began praying together for his business. The Lord spoke to me right in the middle of prayer and said, Ask him why General Motors didn’t pay him anything last year.

I hesitated a moment, but then I did it out of obedience to God. I said, “How come General Motors didn’t pay you anything last year?” He was quiet for a second and replied, “Well they didn’t owe me anything.”

And the Lord said, Tell him that’s why I didn’t pay him anything either.

That really opened my eyes! The Word says very plainly, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again” (Proverbs 19:17). If we haven’t been giving, then God has nothing to work with to increase us financially.

I want the Word to change your thinking from giving, to giving and receiving. Don’t just think in terms of giving. The Apostle Paul told the church at Philippi that they alone communicated with him in giving and receiving (Philippians 4:15).

“Well, I don’t think I should desire to receive anything back when I give, Brother Copeland.” If this is what you’re thinking, then your thinking is wrong! You wouldn’t think well of a farmer who kept planting seeds and then let his crop rot in the field. Giving financial seeds and not receiving a harvest is just as irresponsible. There are people in this world starving to hear the saving message of the gospel. God wants you to receive a harvest from the financial seeds you plant. You need to have an abundance of finances so you can help finance the preaching of the gospel.

The Body of Christ should be the wealthiest, most powerful and most influential people in all the world. But what have we done? We have turned the management of the world’s finances over to the devil, and believing his lies is an indictment against us all.

One of the ways the devil has deceived us and controlled our finances is through debt. We live in a debt culture. In the book of Deuteronomy, God made a direct connection between Israel’s possession of the Promised Land and lending to many nations while borrowing from none. Debt is a way of possessing. We have allowed Satan to flip the coin over on the other side and put the Body of Christ in debt to the world. In doing this, we have allowed them to possess us. The borrower is servant to the lender.

Many Christians are in so much debt that they cannot give into the ministry. When are we going to turn things around and learn to give and receive from God as our source so that we no longer need to go any further into debt?

Giving Is the Basis of Redemption

Giving is the key element in the Father’s character. The whole plan of redemption revolves around giving and receiving. Let’s look at His attitude in the face of seemingly total failure.

God lost His top-ranked, most anointed angel. In addition, He was deprived of at least a third of His angels when Lucifer fell. He lost the man and the woman He created. And because of man’s fall, He lost the whole earth and all the fullness thereof. When you add it all up, that is a lot of real estate gone down the drain! The Father didn’t do anything to cause this huge loss, but He took the blame for it. Why? Because “the buck stopped” with Him. He is the Creator of the ones who did it. Therefore, the Father accepted the responsibility for turning the whole mess around (Isaiah 54:8-17).

When the serpent seduced Eve and caused the Fall of Man, God prophesied the plan of redemption. Speaking to the devil He said, “One is coming who will put His heel on your head” (Genesis 3:15). Then He set out to get that job done. God searched until He found Abraham—a faith man—through whom He could legally bring the Redeemer.

It’s interesting to note that in His effort to redeem His possessions, God could have chosen from a number of options. But He elected to give. Giving is the most powerful tool God has at His command. It is His cardinal law.

The next question was, what would He give? He still had two-thirds of the angels, all of heaven and, of course, His Son, Jesus.

You or I might think, If I risk the angels and lose them through it, I can always create more. But, I sure wouldn’t want to take a chance on losing Jesus. He’s all I have left. If I lost My Son, I would be all alone. There are other things I could give.

If God had taken that attitude, He would not have really been giving. He knew that to really give, He had to give something that cost Him. Why? Because, if it didn’t cost Him anything, He wouldn’t really be putting His faith on the line. The Father knew it would take faith to turn the situation around. He knew He would have to give all He had to put Himself in a position of faith. He was giving to receive. He gave His best to receive the best.

Jesus put it this way: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…” (John 3:16). Can you see the faith God released in sending His only Son? Man had proven his freedom of choice. He had already chosen the devil over God. From this perspective, we can see the magnitude of the price that was paid for our redemption. God gave the best He had.

After the sacrifice of that Gift on the cross, for a moment Jesus was separated from the Father. The Supreme Sacrifice walked into the place of the damned to answer for Adam’s treason. At that very instant, all God had to give was given for man and to man.

What guarantee was there that the Father would ever get His Son back? The guarantee was the power of faith in His own Word and its power to bring itself to pass, released through the law of giving and receiving. This spiritual principle is by far the greatest promise there is: When you plant a seed, it will produce a harvest. It’s guaranteed. No one can stop it. The devil may try, but there is nothing he can do powerful enough to block the law of giving and receiving.

God gave His Son so He could receive many more sons! (See Hebrews 2:10.) Hallelujah! Jesus did not just hang on the cross for nothing. He was the seed. You and I are the harvest.

Giving and Receiving

One of the exciting benefits of this revelation is that financial harvests are not seasonal. If you give, you will receive! You may not receive the harvest immediately, but if you plant, you will always be on the receiving end. The Word says to cast your bread on the water and after many days it will return to you (Ecclesiastes 11:1). If you keep casting it out there, eventually you will have something coming in on every wave—steady income from the steadiest source of all: God the Father by Christ Jesus according to His riches in glory.

God is leading us to change the way we live our lives. The most important change is in the way we give.

“Well, yes, Brother Copland, but I’ve given all I can.” No, you haven’t given all you can until you have given all you have.

Some might say, “Well, I don’t think we’re required to do that!” I am not talking about what we have to do. God has given me much more than I required to live, but that’s because I stepped out and beyond what God required of me a long time ago! The more I study tithing, giving, receiving, etc., the more I say, “How much can I get God to receive from me?”

Giving Prepares Us to Receive

Giving is an essential part of everything we receive from God. First Corinthians 9:7 says, “Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not from the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?”

You don’t join the army and then buy your own uniform and weapons. The government provides everything you need. They not only provide everything, they get everything! They own you, brother.

The Body of Christ is a military organization provided for by the King! He has made provision for all we will ever need. Determine to enlist in His great army. Whether you are a private or a general, it doesn’t matter. Just be committed to the Lord and to your buddies whose lives depend on you. We are all in His service together.

The sooner we take the attitude that we belong to Him and let Him rule over us and all that we have, the sooner His provision will begin to flow our way.

God has made a way for His provision to flow to all in His Body, including those in ministry. First Corinthians 9:9 says: “For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?” The Apostle Paul was saying, don’t put a muzzle—don’t withhold your seed—from ministries preaching the good news. Those ministries are the oxen treading out the corn. First Corinthians 9 continues: “Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope” (verse 10).

When you sow into the gospel, then, expect a crop. Sow in hope. Plow in hope. Don’t plan on crop failures. Without hope, faith has nothing to bring to pass.

Verses 11-14 say:

If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

These verses are talking about those in ministry. Wherever God tells you to put your seed, don’t get upset because those of us who are doing the work of the ministry are living by the work. That is God’s provision. Keep your eye on the harvest and on the Lord of the harvest—Jesus!

Now let’s tie those verses in 1 Corinthians 9:11-14 with a thought in 2 Corinthians 9:9-10: “He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”

Righteousness means “right-standing with God.” Giving puts us in a right relationship with Him. It is the cardinal law, synonymous with love. When we give, we love. When we are walking in the God-kind of love, we are in right relationship with Almighty God. Love gives. We are then in a position to receive everything the Word declares is ours: faith, salvation, hope, prosperity and healing.

What does healing have to do with giving? Second Corinthians 9:10 says that He would “increase the fruits of your righteousness.” The fruit of healing is the product of right-standing with God. If you are in a right relationship with the Father, you don’t have any trouble receiving your healing. Giving or planting always increases the fruit.

God also promised that when you give it will be given to you again. The way you measure it, it will be measured back to you again (Luke 6:38; Mark 4:24). So, never give without expecting to receive a return. That measure belongs to you! Expect it!

Giving Edifies the Body

Now let’s tie all this in with Ephesians 4. The Apostle Paul’s attitude as he wrote this letter to the Ephesians was that of a “prisoner of Jesus Christ.” The Apostle Paul was a bond servant of the Lord. It wasn’t that Jesus had taken him prisoner. Paul voluntarily gave himself to the Lord as His servant.

Notice Paul’s statement in Ephesians 4:1: “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” Paul had abandoned himself to Jesus and he admonishes us to do the same. When you are born again, you become a child of God, not a servant. The only way you can become a servant of the Lord is to volunteer.

Once we take on the Apostle Paul’s attitude, that we are living totally for Jesus and for His Body, we will be in a right relationship with God. What happens then? Again, the fruits of our righteousness will increase, which will, in turn, cause revival. And then we can expect the gifts of the Spirit to operate in a far greater measure. Why?

Manifestations of the Holy Spirit are called “gifts.” Gifts are part of giving and receiving. They are part of the fruits of righteousness. Living totally for Jesus and His Body, or living to give, helps bring us to the place where He can trust us with power, whether it’s in His gifts or in the form of handling His money.

God must be able to trust us with His money. In Deuteronomy 8:6, 11-14, the Word says:

Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him…. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied [Remember, 2 Corinthians 9:9-10 talks about the multiplying and increasing of the fruits of your righteousness.]; then thine heart be lifted up [This is what God is against.], and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

What will keep us from becoming proud and independent of the Lord? Being totally committed to Jesus and living to give. If you are not living to give, then you are living for yourself and cutting off the flow of God. Living to give will bring you into the place of living from your giving.

Giving Establishes God’s Covenant

He goes on to say in verse 18: “But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.”

This has a double meaning. First, God promised it, so in order to establish His covenant, He has to give you the power to obtain wealth. Secondly, He gives you the seed in order for you to put the covenant into motion. Giving establishes or sets in motion God’s covenant. When the fruits of your righteousness increase, not only will you be healed and have your needs met, but the gifts of the Spirit will begin to operate in you. When the gifts of the Spirit flow, revival comes. Giving activates your covenant with God.

Giving Uproots the Devil

First Timothy 6:10 tells us where the root of all evil lies: “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred [been seduced] from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

This scripture says the love of money is the very root of Satan’s operation. We can cut him off at the very root and destroy his base with the love of giving. Glory to God!

Is there a situation in your life that needs to be turned around? In comparison with fallen man, our little human problems don’t even compare. Redeem your circumstances the same way that God did His. Give your way out of it. Give your very best. Don’t eat your seeds. Give, give, give expecting to receive, so you can give, give, give!

Investing in the kingdom of God is a sure thing. God has been doing it since the beginning of time! His investment has produced a generous return. As we saw, He gave one Son in order to receive many sons (Hebrews 2:10). Glory to God!

If you have never become a son by making Jesus the Lord of your life, you cannot activate His covenant. This is the first step. It is where giving and receiving begins. Receive God’s gift to you. Ask Jesus to come and live in your heart. Then give yourself to Him to live in His heart.

Pray this prayer from your heart with me:

Prayer for Salvation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word says, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). I am calling on You. I pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life according to Romans 10:9-10: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” I do that now. I confess that Jesus is Lord, and I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead.

I am now reborn! I am a Christian—a child of Almighty God! I am saved! You also said in Your Word, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: HOW MUCH MORE shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13). I’m also asking You to fill me with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, rise up within me as I praise God. I fully expect to speak with other tongues as You give me the utterance (Acts 2:4). In Jesus’ Name. Amen!

Begin to praise God for filling you with the Holy Spirit. Speak those words and syllables you receive—not in your own language, but the language given to you by the Holy Spirit. You have to use your own voice. God will not force you to speak. Don’t be concerned with how it sounds. It is a heavenly language!

Continue with the blessing God has given you and pray in the spirit every day.

You are a born-again, Spirit-filled believer. You’ll never be the same!

Find a good church that boldly preaches God’s Word and obeys it. Become part of a church family who will love and care for you as you love and care for them.

We need to be connected to each other. It increases our strength in God. It’s God’s plan for us.

Make it a habit to watch the Believer’s Voice of Victory television broadcast and become a doer of the Word, who is blessed in his doing (James 1:22-25).

About the Author

Kenneth Copeland is co-founder and president of Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Fort Worth, Texas, and best-selling author of books that include How to Discipline Your Flesh and Honor—Walking in Honesty, Truth and Integrity.

Since 1967, Kenneth has been a minister of the gospel of Christ and teacher of God’s Word. He is also the artist on award-winning albums such as his Grammy-nominated Only the Redeemed, In His Presence, He Is Jehovah, Just a Closer Walk and his most recently released Big Band Gospel album. He also co-stars as the character Wichita Slim in the children’s adventure videos The Gunslinger, Covenant Rider and the movie The Treasure of Eagle Mountain, and as Daniel Lyon in the Commander Kellie and the SuperkidsTM videos Armor of Light and Judgment: The Trial of Commander Kellie. Kenneth also co-stars as a Hispanic godfather in the 2009 movie The Rally.

With the help of offices and staff in the United States, Canada, England, Australia, South Africa, Ukraine and Singapore, Kenneth is fulfilling his vision to boldly preach the uncompromised WORD of God from the top of this world, to the bottom, and all the way around. His ministry reaches millions of people worldwide through daily and Sunday TV broadcasts, magazines, teaching audios and videos, conventions and campaigns, and the World Wide Web.

Learn more about Kenneth Copeland Ministries by visiting our website at kcm.org

When The LORD first spoke to Kenneth and Gloria Copeland about starting the Believer’s Voice of Victory magazine...

He said: This is your seed. Give it to everyone who ever responds to your ministry, and don’t ever allow anyone to pay for a subscription!

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Jesus Is LORD!

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland