The Penny March

As a child, I couldn't wait for our pastor to call for all the kids to come forward for the "PENNY MARCH."  By the time the invitation came, the change I had been clenching in my fist was clammy with sweat.  I wanted to be first in line.  Somehow, the sound of my change passing through the glass neck of that old fashioned water bottle and clanking around made me feel like I had really done something big!

My pastor was teaching me that I wasn't just giving an offering...I was INVESTING in the Kingdom of God.  I guess you could say, I was given a lesson on finance at an early age.  As I grew up, I carried this lesson with me and learned how to tithe consistently.  Today, it continues to be one of the wisest lessons on investing that I've ever learned.

When we put God FIRST in our GIVING

...God blesses our LIVING.

Bringing our TITHE (10%) to God acknowledges His ownership of everything BEFORE we enjoy any of it for ourselves.  God is so generous...He only asks for the 10%, in faith, while allowing us to live on the 90%.

Remember the PRINCIPLE Malachi taught us concerning stewardship? "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, 'says the Lord Almighty'" (Malachi 3:10 NIV)

Lessons Learned:

1. When you tithe, you get DIRECT ACCESS to the CAPITAL of Heaven!  God promises to open the "floodgates of heaven" to those who tithe! (v.10)  The Bible says that the "earth is the Lords."  He is the CFO of the universe!  And He has continually made heaven's RESOURCES and RESERVES available to me, as I have obeyed Him in my giving.
2. INTEREST EARNED!  God's returns are compounded.  He said, He would "pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it!" (v.10).  In other words, you can't out give God...you'll find out in the end that He's outgiven you!

All you have to do is read the next verse to understand how serious God is about BLESSING you and INSURING you through your giving! "I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit." (Malachi 3:11 NIV).

Friends, everything you INVEST into the Kingdom of God will be returned to you in Heaven!  

Tithing a Way of Life...(Part 4)

Tithing connects you to the promise.

Genesis 12:1-3 ¹Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: ²And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: ³And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

God is taking the initiative toward Abram and announcing the PROMISES of the covenant.  Notice that God does not do anything until He first makes the promise or covenant to do it.  God lays out His terms to Abram. 

• I'm going to make you a great nation.
• I'm going to bless you.
• I'm going to make your name great.
• I'm going to bless them that bless you and curse them that curse you and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.

In verses 9-10, a famine takes place in the land causing Abram to journey down to Egypt.  In verses 14-20 an unusual thing happens.  His wife, Sarai, who is very beautiful, captures the attention of Pharaoh.  So Abram, fearing for his life, gives Sarai to Pharaoh, claiming her as his sister in return for sheep, oxen, asses, servants and camels.

Abram receives so many goods from Pharaoh that he now is considered wealthy.  After Sarai settles in the palace, God begins to plague Pharaoh's house.  When Pharaoh realizes that Abram has lied to him, he banishes Abram from Egypt, but does not take back all the goods given to him.

• Genesis 13:2 reads "and Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold."

In chapter 13 God is dealing with Abram.  Then strife breaks out between Abram's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen. 

• Anytime you allow offense, bitterness, a wounded spirit, or hatred in your life, the covenant between you and God shuts down.
• The bible says "a house divided cannot stand."  Abram begins to deal with the strife in verse 8 and separates from Lot.

Genesis 13:14-17 ¹⁴And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: ¹⁵For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. ¹⁶And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. ¹⁷Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

Again, God is taking the initiative to make a covenant with Abram.  In chapter 14:16, Lot and his household are taken captive as prisoners of war.  When Abram learns of Lot's captivity, he declares war.  "And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people."

• As Abram's 300 men defeat the armies of these four cities, he is entitled to the spoils of those he defeated. (custom)
• It is interesting what Abram plans to do with his increase.

Genesis 14:18-20 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.  And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 

• After the battle, Abram meets the high priest Melchizedek and they share bread and wine.
• Melchizedek begins blessing Abram and Abram gives tithes on his increase.
• Melchizedek blesses Abram again; thus, we see the reality of the covenant he made with God.
• In chapter 12, the covenant was a PROMISE but in chapter 14 it becomes REALITY!

It is wonderful to know all the promises of God in the Bible, but there comes a time when we need more than just a promise.  We need to go from the realm of promise to the realm of reality.  We need to experience it, wear it, be hungry to taste it and see that the Lord is GOOD!

We must hear the promise and then
we must experience the promise!

Abram's promise became reality in chapter 14 but notice this:  If Abram had gone home with his increase and kept his tithe, then Melchizedek would have stayed home and kept his blessing.  The reason Abram got his blessing was because he want to "church" to give his tithe.

The tithe, in essence, becomes the covenant connector to the promises.  If there had been no tithe, there would have been no blessing.  If there had been no blessing, there would have been no receiving of the promise.

More to come...

Tithing...a Way of Life (Part 3)

Tithes are HOLY unto the Lord.  Anything that belongs to God has to be considered holy.  Therefore, tithing is separated unto Him.

Holiness is being in TOTAL AGREEMENT with God.

How is tithing related to the covenant?  First, you have to answer this:  WHAT EXACTLY IS A COVENANT?

• A covenant is an agreement or pact between two or more parties to carry out the terms that are agreed upon.
• It is a pledge, a vow, a promise.
• It is a will or a testament.

Consider the BLOOD COVENANT...it's a little different...however, it too is an agreement between two or more parties to carry out the agreed terms.  If you make that covenant in blood, it becomes binding for life.  The only thing that can nullify a blood covenant is death.  If one party were to break the covenant, the other party has the right to take your life.

In essence, the two parties would split the backbone of a heifer and lay it open.  Then they would walk around each end and meet in the middle and announce the terms of the covenant.  They would then shake hands, cut their palms or wrists and mix their blood, pointing it toward the sacrifice, and say, "if I break this covenant, God, then you do to me what I have done to this animal."

A blood covenant is the strongest covenant known to man and is only breakable by death.  It holds a great deal of accountability.

Question:  What if the covenant of marriage was made by blood today?
Answer:  If it were broken by infidelity or divorce, like so many are today, one party would have the right and obligation to kill the other.

WOW...the divorce rate would certainly not be what it is today.

Tithing is more than just putting money in the plate.  It is an agreement with God.  It is the only way to be connected to your covenant with God.  This means the tithe is your COVENANT CONNECTOR.  In other words, the only way you can receive the promises of God is through tithing; tithing connects you to the promise.

More to come...

Tithing...a Way of Life (Part 2)

Tithing is one the most important principles taught in the Bible. God has commanded each one of us to tithe, just as He has commanded us not to: kill, steal, bear false witness against our neighbor, and to keep the Sabbath holy. Just as there are no degrees of sin, (meaning sin is sin and a lie is the same as murder), tithing is no less important than the Ten Commandments.

We live in a “me first” society where greed is good and everyone looks out only for himself. We have forgotten that God commands us to put Him first, including in our finances.

Tithing is not a "get rich scheme" or even a "get out of debt" formula.  However, I would be willing to say that the number one reason God's people aren't debt free today is because they are robbing God of the small portion that He asks.

Everything on earth and in heaven already belong to God and all that He requires from us is a mere 10%.  The manifestation of God's blessings cannot come to your house if you are robbing God.

Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule?  That's where 20% of the people of the people in any given congregation pulls 80% of the load.  In other words, even though tithing is taught by every major denomination and  most every independent church in America, most Christians, by far, do not tithe or give offerings.

Tithe simply means "a tenth."  The word tithe equals ten.   Some people say they give 20% tithes or 8% tithes.  However, that is impossible because a tithe, by definition, equals TEN.  Anything more than 10% is not a tithe, it is an offering.  Anything less than 10% is not a tithe, it's disobedience.

The Bible also uses terms such as First Fruit.  This refers to the tithe as a first fruit, a first thing, a firstling and a first law.  This is what God expects from each of us.  He wants your tithe to be the first fruit of your increase, not the second, third, fourth or fifth of your increase.  Tithing requires FAITH.

Question:  "Should I tithe on the gross income or the net income?"
Answer:  Gross amount.

There are two reasons for this.  One, the gross amount is your increase.  Two, what kind of blessing do you want?  Do you want God to withhold a part of your blessing just as you withheld a part of His tithe?  The answer to that question is NO.

Everybody would say that they want the complete and full blessings of God - the best that He has.  So why do God's people withhold their best from God?  It is not God's problem that the government does not trust you and takes out its part before you receive it.  We are to tithe on the gross.

Question:  "What if someone else gives me money or I find money on the ground?"
Answer: You tithe on that amount because that is added to your INCREASE.

Anything that God gives
increase on, you tithe on.

Leviticus 27:30-31 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's:  It is holy unto the LORD.  And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.

Verse 30 says everything belongs to the Lord.  Surely we can see the fairness in this verse.  Since God has created everything that exists and everything belongs to Him, it seems very generous that He allows us to keep 90% and only requires us the first 10% (the first 10% of everything).

Some people would say, "I believe it's all mine.  I worked hard for my money and I don't believe I have to give any of it to God."  Friend, if the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, then, unless He gives it to us, what really belongs to us?

If God wanted to, He could charge a price for the air you breathe, the house that you live in or the sunlight that keeps you warm.  Would you like to be billed monthly or annually?  What do you think would be a fair price for air or life?

Another part of this verse is quite unique.  It says not only is the tithe UNTO the Lord, but that "it is HOLY..." 

Holy means separated unto God.  Holiness is more than just the perceived "no make-up and long dresses..." rules of men.   Holiness has to do with our CONDUCT and BEHAVIOR.  There will be plenty of people with no make-up and long dresses in Hell.  The bottom line is this:  holiness is being in total agreement with God, having one MIND with God, and submitting to the WILL of God.

More to come on HOLINESS in respect to tithing.

God is a Covenant Keeping God

We see through the gift of salvation that God is not a LEGALIST.  How do we know this?  The Bible says in Genesis that everything must reproduce after its own kind, but when God sent His Son to redeem us, He rewrote the rules and sent His Son through a virgin.

This means that He did not come through the seed of a man but He was conceived of the Holy Spirit.

God is a not a LEGALIST.  Satan, the adversary, is very much a legalist.  When Lucifer fell from Heaven his name changed to Satan.  Names represent personality.  The names of Satan and Devil both mean ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN.  One means false accuser and the other means true accuser.

When Adam and Even sinned in the garden, they bestowed on Satan the legal authority to this world.  It did not come from God, but from man.  Before the battle in the garden took place, God had given Adam dominion over the world.  The Bible says Eve was beguiled by the serpent, but Adam was not deceived.

When Adam took of the fruit he transferred OWNERSHIP of the world to Satan.  As long as Adam was under God's authority, he had dominion over the world to multiply and subdue.  When Adam broke the covenant, he released his authority of the world to the enemy.  Now, Satan is the prince of this world.

From that time until today, Satan has been constructing an order of things that are diametrically opposed to the will of God.

Satan then attempted to do the same thing to the last Adam (Jesus) as he did to the first Adam.  In Luke 4 Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  Satan is tempting Jesus to "sell out" just as he did with Adam because if he can get Jesus to fall to him like Adam did, then man will have no hope to be redeemed.

Jesus, who is sinless, being both God and man, is the only one that can make covenant with God.  Since Jesus is our elder brother and was totally man, He brings us into covenant with God.  Satan knew he had to get Jesus to sell out.  He was hoping Jesus did not realize the power of His ministry and the anointing that God had given Him.

Satan takes Jesus to a high mountain peak and shows Him all the kingdoms of this world.  And yet, Jesus already has full possession of the earth and the fullness thereof. (Psalms 24:1)

The earth belongs to God.  Not only the earth, but also everything upon the earth.  David makes a distinction between the earth and the world.  Why?  Because the world is always changeable.  The world is nothing but decor or a prop.

The real wealth of this planet is not in the world.  All of the real wealth is in the earth.  That is why when God talks about what He possesses, He never uses words like "I possess all the money in the earth" but He talks about possessing the earth itself.

All of the real wealth is in the earth.

Tithing...a Way of Life

Your obedience in tithing is the thing that ensures you to receive the blessings of Malachi 3:8-12.  If you are robbing God of your tithes, you nee to understand that these promises cannot come to you.  No matter how much prayer, fasting or believing you do, you cannot receive these blessings because the Bible shows us that only our OBEDIENCE ensures the blessings are operating in our life.

Many people are not obtaining what God wants for them due to sheer disobedience.

The Hebrew word "maasrah" means "the tenth."  This alone shows us that God has determined what our tithe is.  It is a tenth of our increase.  Tithing is not giving what we want to God and calling it "our tithe."  It is already predetermined and preset at 1/10th of your increase.  Increase is your GROSS pay not your NET.

I've been asked many times..."do I tithe on my gross or my net?"  The answer is simple, do you want a GROSS BLESSING or a NET BLESSING?

Anything required by God is required by FAITH.  We are told in Proverbs 3:9-10 to "Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: so that thy barns be filled with plenty and they presses shall burst out with new wine."

Look at the words "honor the Lord" in verse 9.  The literal meaning here is "to mark out a place for God."  It has the connotation of digging a hole to be filled.  How do we honor the Lord?  By digging a hole for God with our substance or the first fruits of our increase.  Then we are giving God a place to pour into our life.

If there has been increase to you, you must tithe from that increase.  Make sure you have dug a hole so God can say, "because of that hole and because you have honored me, I will fill it for you!"

Why do this?  So that your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats may burst out with new wine.

That which is not of faith, is sin.

The problem with many Christians is that they do not understand that whatever God requires of you is required by FAITH.   According to Romans 14:23, anything that is not of faith is sin.  Tithing is done by faith. 

Anyone who adds up their bills FIRST to see if they will have 10% left and then pay tithes, even though it is 10%, is not tithing.  Tithing is a FIRST FRUIT; it must be done before anything else by FAITH.  It must be FIRST to be accepted by God.

God is a covenant God and a covenant keeping God.  he is the one who says, "IF and THEN."  He does what He promises He will do based upon our meeting His conditions.  "if you do this, then I will do that."  If you obey Him, He will keep the terms of the agreement or covenant.  If you disobey Him, then you cannot expect Him to honor the terms of the agreement because you are a covenant breaker.

Some Christians wonder what God being a covenant God has to do with their financial situation.  Once you are born again, you have a new RELATIONSHIP with God.  This relationship is much different than the one you had before.  With this new relationship, God has already DETERMINED TO BLESS YOU.  He paid a price for your soul and since you accepted His gift of salvation, you are now qualified to receive all the other blessings He has in store for you!

More to come on this subject...