2 Corinthians 9:6-7 NKJV

Paul began this chapter praising the Corinthians for their enthusiasm to minister to the needs of their fellow saints at Jerusalem. He encouraged them to prepare their gift ahead of time, stressing the importance of being ready and willing to give generously and not grudgingly. Throughout Scripture, the act of giving not only benefits those who receive but also those who give. King Solomon said that the generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself (Prov.11:25). 

In today’s passage Paul continued his instruction of Christian giving, using a farming metaphor Jesus taught: “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully (v.6). Just as farmers have seasons of sowing and reaping, so do believers whose reward is based on whether they sow sparingly or generously. Jesus said, “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.”

“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (v.7). Paul is stressing that believers’ giving should be willingly from the heart with love and joy because God loves a cheerful giver. It can be an act of kindness, time, or money. Remember that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. What greater love is there? 

Lift your voice and shout, “Glory!” 

2 Corinthians 9:1-5 NKJV

Have you ever thought that your giving will bring blessings to others? Sure, you have; it is a Christian principle, and their willingness to give has a significant impact in the church. Paul didn’t think it was necessary for him to write the Corinthians about the offering that is to be collected for the saints at Jerusalem (v.1). He praised them concerning their zeal to help others and boasted to the Macedonians about them and stated that Achaia was ready a year ago to contribute to a collection for the relief of believers in need. Paul said that their zeal had stirred up others to give generously as well. So, he advised them that it was beneficial to give the offering they promised. It is important for believers to be ready to give as an act of faith to honor their word and support one another. 

To ensure that their boasting of the Corinthians was not in vain, he sent brothers ahead that they may be ready with their collection as promised (v.3). He was confident in the Corinthians’ promises and wanted them to be prepared so that if some Macedonians come with him, he nor the Corinthians should be ashamed (v.4). He desired that their actions match their words, and that they be ready and faithfully fulfill their commitment in a spirit of love. 

Since they had previously promised a generous gift to help the Jerusalem believers, Paul thought it necessary to encourage them by sending brothers ahead of him to make sure the gift they promised was collected. Having the gift ready was a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation (v.5).

Lift your voice and shout, “Glory!”

Mark 4:28-29 Mark 4:28-29

February 14, 2026

Jesus continued instructing His audience, using the parable of the growing seed to compare its natural and mysterious growth process to that of the Word of the Kingdom of God. The seed that is planted grows into a mature plant, but the planter does not know how it grows. “For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head” (v.28). Because of God’s creative work and transformative power, His earth automatically produces its harvest without man, who cannot fully understand how it happened.

When a man sows God’s Word into the hearts of others, who have faith and trust in what God can do, the Holy Spirit all by Himself gradually produces spiritual growth. This is God’s process of naturally producing fruitfulness in the lives of believers that they might build a mature relationship with Him. It doesn’t happen overnight; it requires faith and patience. Isaiah 55:10-11 NIV states: “As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the Sower and bread for the eater” (v.10),

“so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (v.11).

“But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come” (v.29). All things are in God’s timing, and when the harvest is ready, the reaper immediately starts gathering. Therefore, since believers walk by faith, they must know when they are spiritually ready to accomplish the purpose God has for them. 

Lift your voice and give God glory!

 

Mark 4:26-27

Here Jesus taught The Parable of the Wheat or The Parable of the Growing Seed which is only recorded in the Gospel of Mark. He began His teaching, and He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should sow seed on the ground” (v.26), “and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow; how [it does this], he himself does not know how” (v.27). 

Jesus used this metaphor to illustrate the act of spreading the teachings and messages of God. The sowing of the seed on the ground is representing His Word being spread in the hearts of man. Jesus stated that the man went to bed at night and got up every day and checked the growth of the seed he planted. The seed spouted and grew, but he did not know how, which is indicative of the growth of the kingdom of God. Because of God’s sovereign nature and transformative power, nothing happens haphazardly in His kingdom. He is purposeful in His ways so that His plans will be fulfilled. “So, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God Who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7). 

Therefore, trusting God’s process will bring spiritual growth even though we do not know how it happens. “As you do not know what is the way of the wind or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who makes everything” (Eccl. 11:5).

Lift your voice and give God glory!