“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:10
God’s promises
Those are strong promises the Lord gives us if only we are obedient to His commandment to tithe to His church. Please join me today in the sharing of my testimony to the faithfulness of God’s Word regarding these promises made.
In 1999 I bent the knee of my will to the Lord Jesus Christ and was born again!
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 – Jesus to Nicodemus, a man of the Pharisees, and a ruler of the Jews.
Thanks be to God for His mercy, grace, long suffering and especially His death on the cross for my sin. Since 1999 I have been walking this earth as an alien no longer feeling at home in this world, but longing to be home with my Lord in heaven. My purpose on this earth is now solely to yield my body a vessel of honor to the Lord for the work of His church.
Part of my duty as a Christian is to give of my first fruits back to the Lord’s church in the form of a tithe. That is, I am to give 10% of my earnings to the church in obedience to God’s Word. First fruits meaning we are to give 10% of our gross income, not net income. This tithing by God’s people is one of the ways the Lord funds his ministry here on earth. Does the Lord need our money? No, He can do anything He wishes any time He wishes, however the tithing of His people is the system He chose to implement and work through, so as Christians we need to faithfully give in this manner.
Have I tithed faithfully since my salvation in 1999? No, regrettably I have not. At times I have been a faithful giver, and at other times have been disobedient to my Lord and withheld my tithe for one reason or another. Today I want to give my readers a journal entry of my experience of both giving in obedience, and not giving in disobedience.
Looking back over the 9 years of my Christian life I can now see that the times of my greatest financially stability, regardless of how much money I was bringing in, were in direct correlation to when I was giving of my tithe to my local new testament church. Likewise, the times when I seem to have struggled financially were always in the midst of a titheless period in my life. Though I have always known I should tithe, the Lord has just recently revealed the utter and imminent importance of these things to me in all clarity of mind. I began faithfully tithing again at the first of this year (January 2009) and intend to never go another month of my life without giving to the Lord in this respect. Over these last two months I have been witness to Gods direct financial intervention in my life. To me it is both a blessing and a miracle. Before tithing I always seemed to be living paycheck to paycheck (sound familiar?), seemed to be slowly getting into more credit card debt, all while being unable to save much of anything. Why was this happening? My wife & I don’t have any kids. We don’t buy new cars. We don’t buy expensive toys. We don’t blow a lot of our money on frivolous purchases…so why was this happening to us?
In the Old Testament, when God’s people were not obedient in the giving of their tithe, one way or another He always seemed to part them with the money they were withholding from Him. In my life, while disobedient, it always seemed like random things were happening that would consume any extra money I had left over leaving me wanting again until my next paycheck. Now that the Lord has granted me repentance and has again turned me toward Him these things have changed drastically. Before tithing I would pay my bills on the last possible day they were due, sometimes even having to pay late fees, simply because I had to wait for my next check to be deposited before I could pay the bill. Now that I have been tithing, I am able to pay all my bills the day I get them in the mail. To summarize, let me give you some of my financial drawbacks I experienced before tithing, and what I am realizing now that I’m giving faithfully.
Before I was giving my tithe:
- I was living paycheck to paycheck
- I waited until the due date of my bills before I paid them
- Every single month I seemed to incur random expenses that consumed all my extra money and even pushed me more into debt
- Always broke even on my tax return or owed money to the government
- Bank fees: be they credit card over the limit, over-drawn checking account, late payments fees…you name it I paid it
- A guilty conscience
- A heavy heart
Now that I’m tithing, though no increase in salary this has been my experience:
- I’m able to save at least $200 every month
- I pay every bill the day it comes in the mail
- Random expenses have not been a part of my life for the last few months
- For the first time since we filed taxes Married Filing Jointly, my wife & I are receiving a sizable return of over $1,200
- No more bank fees
- A clear conscience and a happy countenance
- A peace that passes all understanding – Philippians 4:7
Please believe that the things listed above are just the tip of the iceberg. My obedience to God in my tithe opens the door to other areas of obedience and therefore more blessings of a peaceful spirit and fellowship with my God!
If you are a Christian, I strongly urge you to consider my experience and use it to transform your view upon Christ, His Church, and your tithe. Please give joyfully and liberally and experience the blessings of the Lord! He is challenging you today to prove Him now, how will you respond? If you are not born again, please consider Christ and His death on the cross for your sin. Look to Him and live.
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Romans 5:6-11
What is your giving testimony?
Share your experience with giving in the comments below. God bless.
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