INTRODUCTION :
First of all, let me say that God spoke to me several years ago specifically about finances. At the time He told me some of these things I was still living in near abject poverty. My home was 2 days from foreclosure-----I had no transportation of any kind, except my feet -----My entire financial empire consisted of 10 cents-----all my utilities were to be shut off in 2 days -----and the only food I had was several bags of popcorn someone had given me and a few packages of Kool-Aid; That's all folks!
He told me to start teaching about God's abundance. Can you imagine what was running through my mind at that time? I almost broke out laughing! I had heard the message, literally, hundreds of times; but I was far from living it as a life-style.
I must tell you that I had been tithing since I was saved. I don't really know how I had gotten into this situation; just simply through allowing the devil to mislead me. I had been in this state of poverty for several years only to get worse, to the point where I was about to go "Down The Tubes," financially.
I became determined that I was as poor as I was ever going to be. I was determined to come out of poverty. I began giving when I had almost nothing to give. God gave seed to the sower. As I began to give, a small amount of money would come in. Then I gave a little more, and still more came in. When I saw what was happening I became an absolute fanatic about giving, and still am. I could see myself giving to missionaries and other ministries that were involved in the End-Time Harvest of people.
This book is the result of what worked to bring me out of poverty and into God's Abundance.
Our motive for walking in the Abundance of God has got to be that we could bless all the families of the earth, (Genesis 12:3). God's Word says, "It is Him that gives us the power to get the wealth of the world, so that we could establish and spread His Covenant, the Gospel, throughout the world." (Deuteronomy 8:18).
You may not be in absolute poverty, but you desire very much to move into God's Abundance; Here's how to do it.
What you are about to read will excite you, and I pray this book will cause you to be motivated into giving like you've never thought possible.
In this chapter you're going to learn how to build your foundation of God's prosperity plan for your life. The tithe is of utmost importance for the beginning of your prosperity. Without the tithe you'll never be financially successful in the kingdom of God.
Let's go to the book of Malachi 3:8-10. "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, wherein have we robbed Thee?" (God answers the question) "In tithes AND offerings. You are cursed with a curse because you have robbed Me, even this whole nation." (here comes the answer to remove the curse) "Bring ye ALL the tithes into the storehouse, (so) that there may be meat (supplies) in Mine house, and prove Me NOW herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, (and see) if I will not open (for) you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." And He goes on to say in verse 11-- "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground (he shall not destroy the seeds that you sow); neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field (your stuff won't wear out or break down), saith the lord of hosts."
I might add right here this verse says "Bring ye ALL the tithes into the storehouse, (so) that there may be meat (supplies) in mine house."
We are to bring the tithes into the storehouse, the church where you are being fed. We are responsible to bring the tithes into the storehouse, the local church.
Malachi 3:8 says that we have robbed Him in tithes AND offerings.
You can certainly bring your offerings into the storehouse also; especially if it is a responsible church and the Pastor is sowing the money seeds into good-ground ministries. Be sure to bring your offerings also into the storehouse if they are involved in supporting missions. When you bring your offerings also into the storehouse, the Pastor can sow it again. I'll be telling you how Jesus did this and how it relates to "The Twice Sown Seed" in chapter seven.
Your harvest-----Your increase is directly controlled by what you give over and above the tithe. Galatians 6:7 says---"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: because whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap."
The Amplified Bible says, "Whatever a man sows, THAT and THAT ONLY is what he will reap." Child of God, That is all that you will reap. You'll reap only what you sow. If you sow nothing you, you'll reap nothing.
"Don't be under an illusion, you cannot make a fool of God, because a man's harvest in life depends entirely on the seeds that he sows." (Phillips Translation). You cannot reap anything at all if you don't sow. Sow Nothing --- Reap Nothing ! ! ! ! !
If you would check-out a "Good-Ground" ministry for yourself and begin giving to them, and getting involved with them, and praying for God to meet their needs, you'll soon see that God will begin to use you to help meet their needs because you have been faithful in tithing and giving.
You'll then be so involved in meeting their needs that you'll look back on your needs after a short while and see that you don't have any more needs, because your needs are to meet other people's needs and you're so involved in how to get the money out to them, somehow the money coming in is already there to meet their needs and yours.
The reason, I believe, most Christians have not experienced the blessing that is promised in Malachi 3:10----- " That there shall not be room enough to receive it "----- is because they are giving Ten Percent --- and not a penny more! They are the ones that are limiting themselves to God's blessings. When you tithe, you are simply returning to God what is already His.
When you give over and above the tithe you are saying to God, "Father, I not only demonstrate my trust in you by returning the tithe, I'm giving over and above so that you can return to me 30 - 60 - 100 fold in return." When you do that, you are in for the blessing time of your life.
Now let's look at the last part of Malachi 3:10. "There - shall - be - room - to - receive - it."
I have emphasized seven words in this text that are written in italics in the King James Version. It is common knowledge that all italicized words in the King James Version have been added to the original text at the liberty of the translators during that time. Here is one of the few big errors in the translation of the Authorized Version. These words, "There," - "Shall," - "Be," - "Room," - "To," - "Receive," and "It," are the added words which do not clarify the meaning of the original text, as italicized words are supposed to do, but actually add a meaning that God did not intend.
The King James Version of the Bible is one of the few translations that have a "red flag" built in to alert you as to what is not written in the original text. That is, the words that are not in the original manuscripts are in italics.
The passage should read: "and pour you out a blessing, "that's not enough." You see, tithing only opens the windows of heaven. If you had someone living next to you who was stealing from you, would you leave your windows open? Well, the same is true of God. When we fail to tithe, we are stealing from Him, and " The windows of financial blessing " are shut in our lives!
However, when we do tithe, God opens wide the "windows of heaven." But, remember the original text says, "that's not enough." We must then complete the process through our offerings to establish the rate of return out of these windows.
When we tithe we are not giving to God. We are simply returning to Him what is already His. After we tithe to open the windows, then we put into effect Luke 6:38.
The only giving we do is through our offerings, over and above the tithe. These offerings are so vital because they determine how much we receive in return from God through the open windows. ".....For with the same measure you mete (allot - portion out - measure out) withal, it shall be measured to you again" (Luke 6:38).
Remember: Your tithe only opens the windows of heaven; and when you begin tithing just picture God opening those big wide windows just for you; and when you begin tithing He said HE rebukes the devourer for your sake, and he (the devil) shall not destroy the seed that you've sown by your offering after the tithe. The tithe literally protects the seeds that you sow.
I repeat, You are not sowing until after the tithe is returned to God !
Your seed is not a seed until the tithe is paid because God will not protect your money when you're stealing from Him. You read above that your seed will be destroyed by the devourer if you don't tithe. But, when you do tithe God rebukes the devourer for you.
Your offering establishes the measure that God uses to give back to you through the open windows and protects the rest of your money. God has the ultimate money protection system. It's called the tithe. I'm repeating myself here to get you to realize the truth. "The truth will make you free." (John 8:32). This truth will make you the free-hearted giver that God will NOT do without. (2 Corinthians 9:7, The Amplified Bible).
If you are going to receive the maximum, optimum God-kind of prosperity in your life, you must not overlook or under-emphasize the basic building blocks of your Biblical prosperity plan. It is an absolute necessity that you follow the Biblical plan in the area of tithing. To get the windows of heaven open and keep them open-----you must tithe. Tithing is NOT an option in God's Word ! The tithe is something you literally owe to God.
"Brother Fred," you say, "You make it sound as if tithing is an obligation, rather than a free act of the will." God says if we do not tithe, we are committing the crime of robbery against Him. So make it a free act of your will and determine to tithe out of your love for Him and out of obedience to His Word. He says we OWE Him the tithe. There is one important distinction. The tithe is given, not at our discretion, but because God commands it. By faithfully bringing the tithe to Him, we establish our basic honesty and obedience. Now, because we love and honor God and want His absolute best for us, we do it willingly, out of obedience, and with love.
The tithe is ten percent of your increase. And the Bible says that God gives the increase. (1Corinthians 3:6-7 & 2 Corinthians 9:10). Since God gives the increase, and we don't want to steal from Him, we need to return the tithe (ten percent) to Him from that increase.
I'm going to stop right here for a moment to tell you about tithing on your increase. I'm just going to give you an example and you can take it from there.
I know a lady in Shreveport, Louisiana, who was blessed with a house full of brand new furniture. She said, "That is my increase, so I'm going to tithe on it." She inquired as to the estimated cost of the furniture, then she gave ten percent of that amount in cash to her local church for the tithe on that furniture. She gave the tithe on the furniture because God has given her an increase.
Now, I want you to see what she did with some of that furniture after she received it. After she had tithed on it, she decided to sow some seeds from it. She gave away a bed, a table and several other items to sow seeds into the Kingdom of God.
She is still receiving furniture as gifts, just because she tithes on ALL of her increase and she also sows seeds from that increase.
She is always sowing and always reaping.
Do you see how this works?
Tithe on ALL of your increase! ALL increase comes from the "Father of Increase." Since He is the One giving the increase, go ahead and tithe on it and sow seeds from it, and just watch what happens to YOUR STUFF !
I also might mention here, if you are tithing from your STUFF INCREASE, God rebukes the devourer from YOUR STUFF, and YOUR STUFF will not be destroyed, it will last longer than other people's STUFF !
"And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, a monument, shall be God's house, a sacred place to me; and of all the increase of possessions that you give me I will give the tenth of all." (Genesis 28:22, The Amplified Bible). Jacob said, "I will give a tenth of all the increase that God gives me." Look also at Hebrews 7:2-4 and you'll see where Abraham gave a tenth of all that he had, including the spoils (the loot) from the nations he had conquered.
There are many more examples from the Word of God that will clearly show us the tithe is ten percent of the increase we receive from God.
Let's read something from the Old Covenant that tells what God really thinks about faithfulness in finances.
First of all, we find in 2 Kings 12:11-15 that King Jehoash had made sure that all the money that was collected for the purpose of repairing the house of the Lord was indeed handled by trustworthy people.
After all the money was collected, this is what happened:
"Then they gave the money, when it was weighed, into the hands of those who were doing the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord. And to the masons, and stone-cutters, and to buy timber and hewn stone for making the repairs on the house of the Lord, and for all that was outlay for repairing the house. However there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. But they gave that to the workmen, and repaired with it the house of the Lord. Moreover, they did not require an accounting of the men into whose hand they delivered the money, to be paid to the workmen, because they dealt faithfully. (2 Kings 12:11-15 - The Amplified Bible).
These workmen were not held accountable. They were not required to provide receipts for the materials or any other expenses because they were considered faithful in the financial area of their life. They had dealt "above-board" in all financial matters. King Jehoash knew thay could be trusted.
Bluntly speaking, if you can trust God with your very life, why wouldn't you trust Him with a measly 10% of your finances? After all, He's the One that got it for you anyway. Don't you think He can get you more of it for you? If you can't trust God with your money----How can HE trust you ?
I dare you to just start tithing if you are not doing so now and begin learning how God's Abundance will work for you!
I want you to catch something here. I use the words "Tithing" and "Giving" together many times because God does. He groups these words together in Malachi 3:8, "Tithes and offerings." God is literally saying here that when we don't tithe and give offerings we are robbing Him. "Will a man rob God? Yet, you have robbed Me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed You? (God answers the question) In tithes and offerings"
I believe that we are commanded to tithe. But I also believe that when we fail to give offerings we are "Robbing" God of the opportunity to give us increase. God wants to give us the increase more than we want to receive it!
If we don't sow (give) we won't reap. I don't know about you, but when I see this I want God to give me increase. The only way to get the increase from God is to sow and reap. In every area of life God expects us to make the first move, a faith move, then He comes in and backs us up all the way. He begins giving the increase.
God knows when we are faithful in tithing and giving; and He'll see to it that your finances never fail.
Have you ever heard someone say, "Bless you, Bless you," other than when you sneeze?
What does the word "BLESS" really mean?
Go to Acts 20:35 and let's take a closer look at this word to see how Jesus used it.
"I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."
The Strong's Concordance Greek reference for this word is (yoo - log - e' - ho = pronounced you - log - ay - ho ). This word in the Greek language literally means to cause an empowering to prosper and increase.
Why is it more empowering to give than to receive? Surely it's a lot of fun to receive. But there is absolutely no power in receiving. Receiving does not cause a harvest or an increase. Receiving is the end-result of the giving that empowered the harvest to begin.
When you plant, you empower the seed to grow and multiply and then the harvest comes; and that's wonderful to see the results of our sowing - planting - and giving; but the empowering begins when you give over and above the tithe. When the harvest comes, you lock it in to God with the tithe, and you have the joy of God and you being one in this thing together. After all, He's spending the tithe on your spiritual development anyway.
Then you take another part of that harvest and you sow again. Because of increase, you ought to be sowing more this time than you did before---because you are now sowing from a harvest that was an increase from the last time you sowed.
So, now you are empowering from a larger field and an even bigger harvest ought to come from that and so on.................This is why giving on a regular basis works so well. When you're always sowing new seed-----soon, on down the line, as each harvest begins to come in-----you'll always be reaping a new harvest. Keep on sowing & Keep on reaping! Continuous sowing brings continuous reaping!
That is the reason Jesus said it is more blessed---(more empowering) to give than to receive.
Giving is a spiritual gift which you and I learn through application.
To achieve God's desired prosperity; to achieve the abundance that will give you the ability to effectively participate in the End-Time Harvest, You must faithfully apply these principles in your everyday life.
Give constantly. It doesn't have to be large amounts. Just begin to increase the size of your seed everytime you sow, and you'll begin to see an increase in your harvests.
I would recommend giving on a percentage basis, simply because you can see the immediate increase as you give, and every time you give. I've found that as I gave continually on that percentage basis I noticed increases, small at first, but then the increases began getting larger.
When you see these increases start happening you become an absolute fanatic about giving. Then your heart is in your giving.
You're not in love with money. You begin to love what the money can do for the Gospel!
You want to get all the money that you can to your favorite Missionary or Evangelist. And believe me, he won't refuse it !
For instance, When I gave 10% of my increase in addition to the tithe I noticed that my giving had increased from the last time and each time the harvest was more than the time before.
As you continue to give you'll find that is is easier to give as you increase and there is great joy in blessing others with the finances that God has entrusted to you.
You're money is now Empowered - Blessed ! You're money is now Anointed and Empowered ! When you're money becomes Anointed it has power. Your money has the power of God on it and it will cause miracles of increase wherever it goes. You are now a financial partner with God, Jehovah! He leads you into the best places to give.
The love of money doesn't control you any longer; You control the money; You tell it where to go; You tell it what to do !
When you arrive at this point, you'll never have lack; you'll never be short again; you'll have joy in sending money to that Missionary or that Evangelist that you've so longed to help; and now you can.
Thanks to, and because of what the Word of God says, I am giving away several thousand dollars a year into missions and into two other international ministries; And I am giving away much more now than what I was earning several years ago.
This can happen to you. Other people will see that God has gotten involved with your finances. They will call you blessed - empowered !
Malachi 3:12 says, "And all nations (people) will call you blessed." People will call you empowered because they can clearly see that God has empowered your money; and they'll see the "overtaking blessings" of God that are upon you (Deuteronomy 28:1).
You may print this article and give it to another person, so long as it is not sold or exchanged for any consideration or price.
How To Be Born~Again
1. Give your gift in the name of Jesus.
2. Pray over your gift; consecrate it to God's service, then:
3. Release your gift so God can unleash His powerful principles of increase and abundant supply back into your life.
What FAITH Is
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