Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:06] I'm Pastor Chuck Allen, and welcome back to another weekday podcast. I want to pick up where I left off yesterday, and today I want to talk about the generous heartbeat. There. There's this sound beneath the surface of a generous life. I really do believe this. It's like a.
[00:00:26] I don't know, it's like an ultrasound when. When you hear a baby in his mother's womb and you hear that heartbeat, you hear that going on, and then you hear that.
[00:00:40] I mean, it's just. It's just a beautiful, beautiful sound. It's a sound of life.
[00:00:47] It's not frantic, it's not rushed. It's steady, it's alive.
[00:00:53] It starts in the quiet place where faith meets trust, where the spirit whispers to us, let go.
[00:01:04] Let me say that again, because that was kind of fun. Let go.
[00:01:07] And if we listen closely, we hear the rhythm of Philippians chapter 4, beginning in verse 17, where Paul says, I don't say this because I want a gift from you, rather I want you to receive a reward for your kindness, and this same God that takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches.
[00:01:33] Paul is saying, generosity isn't about obligation.
[00:01:39] It is about participation.
[00:01:42] Okay, I. I wish I had written that down because that actually sounded pretty cool.
[00:01:48] Generosity isn't about obligation. It's about participation.
[00:01:53] You're stepping into the flow of God's own ultrasound heartbeat, because God has never once stopped giving.
[00:02:05] From the book of Genesis in creation through the end of the book of the Revelation, the story isn't about stinginess. It. It is about abundance. Think about this creation, it's a gift.
[00:02:21] Breath, it's a gift.
[00:02:23] Grace, it's a gift.
[00:02:26] Salvation, it's a gift.
[00:02:29] Forgiveness, it's a gift.
[00:02:31] Jesus, the ultimate gift.
[00:02:35] And when we give, whether it's our time, our words, our resources, maybe even just our graciousness, sometimes our forgiveness, what happens to us is that we are literally aligning ourselves with the rhythm of God's heartbeat.
[00:02:57] We begin resonating with the sound that holds the universe together.
[00:03:04] But notice the prophet Malachi's challenge. In Malachi 3 10, he says, bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple. And if you do, I will open the windows of heaven for you.
[00:03:21] Windows of heaven.
[00:03:25] That imagery always gets me.
[00:03:28] Because windows are designed and meant to reveal, to let light in.
[00:03:37] What if God's promise isn't about financial return, but about revelation?
[00:03:43] What if when we live open handed, he opens the windows not just to bless us, but to show us his heart.
[00:03:54] Remember, Jesus said that he was the light of the world.
[00:04:00] When we open the windows, light comes. Comes in windows of heaven.
[00:04:08] So there will be enough food in my temple. And if you do, I will open the windows of heaven for you.
[00:04:16] You see, something happens when we give graciously and generously to kingdom work.
[00:04:24] You see, we stop living limited by fear of not enough.
[00:04:30] We start seeing that everything we have came from a limitless God.
[00:04:36] Here's the weird paradox. The more we give away, the more we discover how rich we really are.
[00:04:45] Because generosity isn't forced. It's formed. Formed in the tension between need and gratitude, between fear and faith. And when that formation finishes its work, what's left is joy, that quiet kind that doesn't depend on the market or the moment, but on the unshakable reality that our God owns it all. Our Heavenly Father has it all under control, and he still is inviting us to enjoin him in giving it away.
[00:05:27] You know what it does to us? It changes us.
[00:05:30] Our prayers sound different. Our perspectives shift.
[00:05:34] You move from what do I get? To what can I grow?
[00:05:38] And the kingdom grows with it. So today, if your heartbeat feels out of rhythm, if anxiety or scarcity has stolen your peace, try aligning your life with generosity.
[00:05:53] Give something away, let it go.
[00:05:58] And listen closely.
[00:06:00] That sound you hear, that's heaven's heartbeat. And it's been calling your name all along.
[00:06:11] Oh, friend, hear that call.
[00:06:15] Find that heartbeat and enjoy the peace that comes with it, Rather than what do I get?
[00:06:22] What can I grow?
[00:06:23] Go. Have a great day. Thanks so much for listening in. Today on the weekday podcast.
