He Took and Gave and Gave

Mark 8:6

And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.

Giving is the secret of the Christian life that allows the Believer to have more so they can do more for Christ. In the verse above, you will see three instances of giving. The first instance is when Jesus took the seven loaves. Someone had to give those seven loaves before Jesus could do something with them. The second instance was that Jesus brake those loaves and gave them to the disciples. So, what was given to Christ was given back to others. Now, here is the key. Jesus took to give, and He gave to the disciples so that they could give. The third instance of giving is found when the disciples gave to the people what had been given to them. In these three instances of giving is the great secret to getting more than you could ever give.

First, you must give what you have. What you have may not seem to meet the needs at hand: it is not in what you have to give, but it is about Who you give it to that determines what you give will do. The one who gave the seven loaves gave by faith. They gave what they had by faith believing Jesus could use what they gave to meet the needs of the multitude. You must never have the mentality that what you give is too small to make an impact. God is able to take your small to meet the needs of the multitudes. Your small becomes big if you will be willing to give what you have by faith to God. It was the little that the widow woman gave that Jesus talked about more than the big gifts that the wealthy gave because what she gave was by faith, and God always blesses faith. You give what you have by faith, and God will use it to meet the needs of His church.

Second, you cannot give more than God will give back. Luke 6:38 says, Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Whatever little you have to give always becomes more in God’s hand. You can keep the little, and it will stay little, or you can give what you have to God by faith and watch God give back more than you gave. Who would have thought seven loaves would be enough to give to twelve disciples. God always gives back more than what you can give.

Third, God gives to you so that you can give to others. This is the true secret of giving. I give, to get, to give, so I can get to give again. My getting is a result of my giving. God wants you to take what you have to give to others. By giving what you have, God takes it and gives more back so that you can use it to give to others.

Fourth, you cannot give more out to others that God won’t give more back to you. They started with seven loaves and gave to the four thousand, and still there were seven baskets gathered after the feeding. Your investment of faith determines God’s investment in giving to you. You give by faith not knowing how it can meet the needs, and God blesses it to reach the multitudes. If every believer gave as they should, the multitudes would be reached and there would still be much left over to reach more people. If you will learn to give, God will always use your giving to reach more than you thought could ever be done.