On Wednesday I introduced you to our newest staff member and first church plant resident, JR Isham. In order to make the move to Knoxville for this position, he and his family had to make some huge sacrifices and work hard to raise financial support to be here. In the midst of that, they felt God leading them to continue giving generously and then saw God take care of them in a huge way! Check out their story:

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In Part 3 of the Generosity Challenge, Pastor Rodney unveiled what the “easiest- yet hardest- step” of this challenge would be – trust. Within his post he proposed to us that if we would dare to take this step, God would grow us and take care of us like never before. My name is JR Isham and this is one story – of many stories – in my life where God has shown Himself to be the God that He says He is.

A little over two months ago, my Bride and I resigned from a church that we dearly loved and told them that we believed the Lord was leading us toward church planting. At that point, we needed to raise $20,000 of support in less than two months in order survive and we also needed to sell a house that we had previously placed on the market for a year and had not received one single offer. We had no idea how in the world this was going to happen. How in the world could we continue tithing while taking a huge pay cut and trying to raise $20,000 of support? On paper, we knew that this looked very unwise, but we were confident that God would provide for us if we trusted and obeyed Him. So, we took a step of faith and began the journey by crafting a support letter and making preparations to sell our house again. This step of faith is big in and of itself with two small children and no certainty for the future, but little did we know that God didn’t want us to stop there.

About a month later, God crossed my path with a gentlemen that I came to find out was raising support as well because God had led him to adopt a child in Africa. God instantly spoke to me and said, “JR, are you going to live a life of fear and try to hang onto the abundance I’ve given you that was never yours in the first place or are you going to continue to live a life of faith and trust and obey me by giving to this gentleman that I’ve placed before you?”

I was FIRED UP! I was so grateful that the Lord wasn’t finished with me and I saw at that moment, he was sharpening me by giving me the opportunity to give although I desperately needed to receive. God allowed My Bride and I take another step of faith that day and we partnered with this gentleman by generously giving towards his adoption.

This is where God revealed Himself loud and clear. Five hours later, I received an email saying that we had received an offer on our home that had only been on the market for four days! We are also thrilled to announce that the Lord has provided over $22,000 in support in just two months! We stand today proclaiming from the roof tops that God is a God who can be trusted! He is a faithful God who blesses those who trust and obey Him!

What about you? What’s your story of God’s faithfulness when you gave generously in faith? If you’ve never stepped out in faith to give sacrificially, will you dare to take that step today? Will you dare to test the Lord and see that He will indeed “open the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing so great that you won’t have enough room to take it in!” (Malachi 3:10). May the Lord richly bless your obedience! I can’t wait to hear the awesome stories of how He shows up!

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Take part in the generosity challenge online today! http://onelifeknox.com/give