Picture this:
It is a Sunday morning at Berith Christian Fellowship and it
is the giving part of our worship service. The praise and worship leader
instructs the congregation to stand after the offering basket passes by so that
we can sing our “offering song”. Following her instructions, I sow my seed and
stand to sing…
“It’s impossible to out give God. Believe and receive your
blessings. It’s impossible to out give God; believe and receive your blessings…
Pressed down, shaken together, running over in the favor of God… “
Though I have memorized the words to this song (and the cute
hand gestures that go along with it), this particular Sunday, I focused on the
words – literally. I read them as they flashed across the giant screen.
“…pressed down, shaken together, running over….”
Then, the Whoament came:
Although I knew the
words to the song and had a “general” understanding of what they meant, I didn’t
really know what it meant that my blessing will be “pressed down, shaken
together, and running over…”
Like me, you’ve probably read, recited or heard Luke 6:38
many times before.
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
But come on, admit it. Do you have really know what the terms mean? If you are like me, the answer is "not really". I will agree
with you and say that you probably “get” the concept of giving and receiving: you give, you receive.
Even if you understand that
principal, I submit to you that it is so much deeper than that.
In my quest to get a better understanding of the scripture, the
first thing I did was asked God to give me more insight of the real meaning behind the words I was
saying and reading. I wanted true
clarity so that the next time I sang the words or read them in the Bible, I
would know exactly what they meant.
Going into the week, this was still heavy on my mind. I
began looking at everyday, normal things and situations trying to get a clearer understanding
of the words. Every single time I experienced something, I tried to find the meaning of the words within it. Although these are the instances when Whoaments come to me, I purposefully looked at everything to gleam a Whoament, which isn't usually how they come to me. Whoaments tend to come when I least expect them to.
For example, on one occasion, as I removed laundry from the dryer preparing to
fold it, I placed the items in a small laundry basket. As I piled the clothes
into the basket, it was beginning to overflow. I knew that if I pressed down on the clothes, I could fit
more into the basket. So without much thought, that is exactly what I did. Now
all the clothes from the dryer seemed to fit. As I walked to the area where I would be
folding the clothes, the shaking from
my walking caused some items to fall onto the ground. Clearly, the basket was literally
running over. I had challenges
containing the items into the basket.
As I sat down to the fold the clothes, I thought “WHOAMENT!”
I get it! Or at least I thought I did. You too, right? Well, that was the first general picture I got
of the scripture.1) If I pressed down on the clothes, I could make more room to fit more clothes.
2) As I walked, my vibrations shook some clothes out because there wasn’t room enough to take them all in.
3) The clothes were running over.
Later that evening I realized that I was trying to create a Whoament and although I received part of the answer, I still wanted something more. I was still unsettled about the visual I thought I received. So, I decided to research the scripture more in
depth. I went to the concordance and looked up the words:
1.
Pressed down – (Piazo G4085)
To squeeze; i.e. seize(gently by the hand) or officially arrest; capture,
apprehend, pack
2.
Shaken together – (Saleuo G4531)Agitate; rock; topple; to disrupt; incite
3. Running over – (Huperekchuno G5240)To pour out over ; (passively) to overflow; run over
Now it was coming together. Enter the real Whoament! When I give my money, time,
services, etc., I will receive good things in return. You may say, “Tiffany, I
know that. ”
But here is what you may not have considered before:
God owns everything, including you. He is responsible for
providing for you. It is His good pleasure to bless you.
“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. “ Luke 12:32 NKJV
When you give sincerely, you open yourself to receive all
that God has for you. It causes the blessing process to begin and a lot of
things happen supernaturally behind-the-scenes.
First, God captures, holds and arrests your blessings so
that no one else can have them. God presses down your blessings so they can’t escape or slip away. After
all, these blessings are intended solely for YOU! Next, just as clothes in a
washing machine need to be agitated so that dirt is removed, your blessings go
through a thorough cleansing process where God shakes them [together]. By
doing so, He gets rid of contamination. All corruption, mal intent, and
misplaced motivation is removed and you are left with the most pure and best
blessings possible.
Have you ever listened to a song and liked it so much that
you just had to play it over and over and over again? You literally pressed the “repeat”
button so the song would just automatically repeat when it was finished because you
never wanted it to end? Well that is what it's like to receive an outpouring of blessings from
God. When you give sincerely, without hesitation and in faith, your flood gates
are open to receive. God pours out His blessings over us and they keep running over. They are on supernatural repeat mode.
Imagine that! All of
a sudden, we have more “stuff and things” than we know what to do with (though
we know that we are given things so that we can be a blessing to others);
everywhere we go, people flock to us because they see something different about
us and they want to be around us; we have favor with both people and God.
“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 NKJV
With this revelation, I can now sing those words and
proclaim the scripture because I have a clearer understanding of exactly what
it means to have blessings "pressed down...shaken together...and running over."
I am excited because I get to give bountifully, knowing that
I will be bountifully blessed in the process…over and over and over again.
Remember, seeds
are still working, even when no one is watching. It is evident by the fruit. So
get to sowing!
Selah!
~Tiffany
