Giving God's Way
The below article is excerpts from Daniel's book tilted, 'Extraordinary Giving.'
As I was preaching parts of what is contained in this book (Extraordinary Giving) at my home church, I was prompted by the Spirit to do something I had previously seen done while I was preaching at another church's camp meeting. So I obeyed and asked our ushers to bring offering plates and spread them out around the altar. I began to tell them how strong the anointing was while I was preaching at this particular church and that I experienced something I had never seen before. As I was preaching, someone came up and threw something in front of the pulpit. It caught my attention, but did not distract me because of the anointing. In no time at all there came another, another, and then another. They were starting to come three at a time throwing something down in the same manner as the previous ones. As I was moving back and forth on the platform I could begin to see money scattered in the floor in front of the pulpit. I later found out that they were taught when the Holy Spirit moves on you to give, don’t procrastinate. Don’t put it off, do it then! This was revelation to me and has made an even greater impact in my giving. I told my home church, while I am preaching this message to be sensitive to the Spirit of what He speaks to you about giving. So many times we are caught up in tradition that we say, 'oh, I have to wait, it’s not the proper time,' 'I'm not getting up in front of anyone,' 'I have never seen or heard of this being done before,' etc., and we never progress in our giving. Being sensitive to the Spirit and obeying promptly carries great rewards of its own. So why did I put the offering plates out? As I continued to instruct the congregation, I said to them: “If the Spirit moves you to give an offering during this message, as we go through these nine points, I want you to come place it in the plates. Tithes will be taken up at the end of the service, but this time is just for you to hear and obey in the offering. I guarantee you, God will bless you:" I continued to say to them, “if you believe me and you are expecting a blessing from your obedience to the Holy Spirit, I want you to lift your hands up and shout Hallelujah!” Well, we had a great offering during the service because people were listening to the Holy Spirit and were giving as they were prompted. The tithes at the end of the service were even better.
I want to share something with you that I believe resulted from giving to people's need that I have practiced for many years. On July 31, 1985, I had an unforgettable accident. I was on a job and my right hand was almost severed completely from under the last joint of the thumb, up the back of my hand, down between the middle and ring fingers and almost half way through the palm of my hand. All the bones were completely severed and the flesh from under my thumb and half way through my palm was keeping the severed part from falling off. My desire is not to gross you out, but I want to share this so you will know why I made the commitment to the Lord that I did. I have never been in that much pain. Also, I've never had such a traumatic thing happen to me. I got over it fairly quickly, but I still remember it for the reasons I am about to tell you. I had family and Christian friends come to the hospital to visit after the doctors gave me the possible prognosis. They told me my flesh was contaminated because of the contaminates I had been working with, and the chances were very slim that the flesh would even heal after it was cleaned. They would know if it would or not during the surgery, but the way it appeared to them at the time, it is very possible that it would not. They continued telling me that when I woke from the anesthesia I would most likely see a nub below my wrist bone. This result would be because of the removal of the other two fingers along with the contaminated parts. They said the other two fingers would not function properly because of the way the tendons and muscles had to work together. You may think I am getting a little graphic, but believe me I am getting to an amazing point.
After listening to the doctors I was already talking to God. Then my family and Christian friends came in and I rehearsed the entire prognosis with them. We all prayed and I experienced a supernatural peace come over me and I knew everything would be alright. It was all in God's hands! Although, I was continuing to talk to God and He was talking to me. I heard Him tell me clearly in my spirit that I would come out with my hand, but I would have to go through a test. Of course, I said OK! All I wanted at that moment was to know I was going to have my hand. I found out I would have to go through three additional surgeries.
After the surgery and recovery I headed home and had to go sign papers for workers' compensation at my place of employment. I found that the workers' comp pay was a lot less than what I was making, because I was making a very good salary. Even with a good salary we were still living with a tight budget, but able to save some. Several days later the test came. I was praying one day and it came into my spirit about tithes and offering. I didn't know what this meant, but I knew it was something I had to figure out. I also knew my tithes and offering would be much less than what they normally would be. As I continued to pray, tithes and offerings came up again, but much more vivid and stronger. I asked the Lord what this meant and I received no answer. While I was meditating on this, I began to think about what I was going to do financially. Then while I was pondering all of this in my mind, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Of course, the way revelation works with me, it could have been two tons of bricks. These words came to me: Prove God and watch Him bless you supernaturally. As I was thinking on this, immediately it came to my mind to give the same tithes and offering that I had already been giving before the accident. I told my wife what had happened and we both agreed that I needed to do it. That is exactly what I did for one year while I was out of work and going through three additional surgeries.
Let me tell you what God did through all of this. First of all, I had my hand with all five of my fingers. My family never went hungry; as a matter of fact we went out to eat more with other people than we did before the accident. Groceries, utilities, fuel, insurances, school money, and anything else needed were always paid. We also helped with special offerings at our church and some individuals that really needed assistance. I paid a car off that we had for only one and one-half years. I paid our home off two months after I was released from the doctor's care. It was supernatural how all the needs were met and how we still had finances to help others.
This is the last piece of the testimony, and I think you will really like it. After I went back to work, my employer did not treat me correctly because I was now a liability, they thought. It was still taking time for my hand and arm to function properly to do the tasks they gave me to do, which were intended to discourage me. They really harassed the doctor to finally release me even though I knew I wasn't ready, but I went ahead and returned to work. Pay close attention to what I am about to tell you. I knew I could not keep doing what they gave me to do, so I had to do something. I was praying and the Lord told me to start my business full time and He would bless it. So I turned in my notice to leave my full-time employment. At this time I hadn't yet been back to work for even two months. I had a meeting with a Union representative that told me what the employer was doing was wrong and that they could get my job back. I told them I had to obey God and my decision was final. They respected my decision and admired me for standing up for my beliefs. After leaving, within two weeks my hand and arm were back to normal and the business was starting to flourish. Within two months of leaving my previous employer, I was making the same amount of money each week and it only got better and better after that. God blessed because of extraordinary giving! I believe this is the way Cornelius (Acts 10) was led in his giving and decision making. Hopefully you will do the same!
by Daniel W Evans