God takes care of givers

I’m continuing my discussion of Philippians 4:10-19, one of the many passages containing Paul’s Prosperity Plan. In the early verses we saw that God always taught that giving produces results. In other words, the incomings will always exceed the outgoings. In business this is called “profit”, in your personal finances this is called being “financial”. You can never outgive God.
Next we look at the conditional promise in verse 19. “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from [according to, KJV] his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus” (NLT). So what is conditional about that statement? I’ve often heard it said that a text without a context is a pretext! So look back at the context. Verse 14, you’ve “shared with me in my present difficulty”; verse 15, you “gave me financial help… no other church did this”; verse 16, “you sent help more than once.”

It does not take a college degree to understand that the promise of verse 19 is only for those who are givers. Giving is the catalyst that starts the receiving process. You give nothing, you receive nothing. Paul taught proportional, persistent giving — that is, proportional to what you have, and persistent, once a week or once a month, whenever you have income. See the previous discussions for verses that teach this. It is also limited to those who are “in Christ Jesus”, believers in Christ.
Now let’s dig into verse 19 just a little deeper. “God… will supply all your needs.” The word “supply” is pleroo, from which we get “complete, replete”. It means to cram (a net), level up (a hollow), to furnish (an office), according to Strong’s Dictionary. All those word pictures show God filling to capacity. An accurate translation would be “according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus”, not “from his glorious riches” as that implies He has less now that He has filled your needs. Yet our God is limitless, so the principle of standard applies, that is, in proportion to what the giver has. The widow in the Gospels actually gave more proportionally than did the rich men, for she gave all she had.
We must also understand the word “needs”. It does not mean “greeds”. It means “a lack, a necessity” (Strongs), not something you want, like a vacation, but a necessity — food, clothing, shelter, and some seed to sow to keep the process going, and some left over to help others in need. Are your present circumstances covered? I would think so. “But my God will fill your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” So apply the context by giving and receive the promise by your act of faith!