Tuesday, May 28, 2013 - 3:30 pm

I was reading 2 Corinthians 9 & 10 today, and once again thinking about giving, and there are a lot of good and descriptive verses in chapter 9 about how to give, and the benefits of giving, but I'd like to focus on verses 12-15, "This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. / Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. / And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. / Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" These are some incredible benefits that we can't really comprehend the full value of. The chance to lead people to give praise to God, to draw their eternal souls closer to Him and reflect His love to them is an opportunity full of joy, with huge effects on the future and eternity. Beyond this, the added benefit of the heartfelt prayers of those receiving what we have to offer rises up to heaven and intercedes on our behalf. Who can know just how much power is in those prayers? As a result of giving God more praise, and the power of those prayers, imagine how much blessing is released over our lives that we are unaware of, simply by giving.