Are you a tither? Do you give the full 10%? Or do you give a dollar here and there? Maybe you give more than 10%... What spurned your decision to give or not to give? Where do you give? To your church, to missionaries??? What is the point of giving anyway? What does the Bible say about it?
Scriptures for this week:
Leviticus 27: 30;32;40, “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 32The entire tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord.' 34These are the commands the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites." (NIV)
This is where the tenth of your income comes from. The Israelites gave a tenth of what they had, which was given to the Levites. The Levites, then, were asked to give a tenth of that back to God (which was Aaron/the high priest's portion). (Numbers 18:26)
Mark 12:41-44, "Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.'” (NIV)
Luke 6:38, "Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." (NLT)
Can you imagine having so much money that it needs to be vacuum packed just so you can fit into your bank what you would get tomorrow??? If you give the ten percent, you will get that much back and more to the point that you will need to make room for all that God will bless you with! And if you give more than ten percent, that just opens the door for God to give you even more back!!! How Awesome is that!?!
This verse not only applies to money, but to anything you might give (including negative things). If you read the scriptures around this passage, you will see that Jesus it talking about being selfless, forgiving, and not judgmental.
Malachi 3:10, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!" (NLT)
Once again, so much that you won't have enough room to take it in! This is the only matter in which God says we can test Him. He must be pretty serious about it.
It is God's desire to bless us (Deuteronomy 28:6). When we give to Him, we enable Him to give to us. Ten percent isn't very much... Especially considering when you give that ten percent, God will give you more than that in return. Test Him if you want... I'm sure you will discover that you are way better off to give to God than to keep it for yourself! (Acts 20:35)
As always, I am interested in hearing your thoughts and testimonies!! :)
Blessings!
~ S*
girlbiblestudy@hotmail.com
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