Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me.
But you say, Where have we robbed thee? In tithes
and offerings. You are cursed, with a curse: for you have
robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the
tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
mine house, and prove me now herewith, says 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 3:8-10(KJV)
If someone came to you and asked you the following question, what would your response be? “Would you like to be so blessed that you will not have enough room to receive the blessing?” I think most of us would answer “yes.” Who wouldn’t want to have so many blessings that we could not contain them? Yet, when we do not tithe, we are shutting off that very thing. What we say to God is, “No thank you, I would not like to be blessed.”
What I have to say in this article is for the most part, not my words, but I felt compelled to share it. It is one of those things you read, and think it is too good not to share with someone. I found the acronym DEBT, Doing Everything But Tithing somewhere, but I do not remember where. I am not taking credit for creating it, but I cannot give credit to the right person either. I just know it ministered to me, so I am passing it along. The article that I have typed below, with the exception of the last paragraph comes from Dr. D. James Kennedy’s book, Freedom From Financial Fear.
Before I share the article from Dr. Kennedy’s book, I must share how this principle has affected my life. If you do not tithe, please do not shut me off, but hear what God has to say. Although I struggle with various things as a Christian, tithing is not one of them. Does that make me super spiritual? By no means! (I’ll get around to writing about my struggles another day, because there are many). I find tithing a joy. I love to give my money to God. I am thankful that He has blessed me and so I give back a portion to Him. He does not need my money, but He welcomes my willingness to trust Him to take care of me. My thought is: it is God’s money anyway, and if He wants it, He will take it. He owns it all. He says in Psalms 50:10 (KJV), For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. He promises to meet all of our needs. He says in Philippians 4:19 (KJV), But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He tells us in Matthew 6:25-34 not to worry about anything. He will provide for our clothes, food and any other needs that we have. It is my obligation to wisely handle the money that I earn and to spend it wisely. The first step to doing this is by giving back to Him first. Does that mean we should never save for fun times and buy things? No, it means we must give back to Him first and ask for guidance on how He wants us to spend the rest. Many people think that because they work hard, it is their money and they can do with it what they want. However, God gives us the very breath we breathe and the very jobs that we hold, He could take either way, if He wants too.
Tithing is a step of faith. If I look at my money or budget on paper and think about my future, it makes absolutely no sense, but God has been faithful and has NEVER let me down. God cannot lie. His word is true. He will provide. God has worked many miracles in my finances. Many times in my life, my financial situation has been nothing more than a miracle. Somehow some way, I have always been able to pay whatever needs to be paid. Maybe you are saying, “I cannot tithe because I will not have money to pay bills.” I urge you to step out on faith and tithe anyway. Reevaluate the spending in your life. Are all of the things that you spend money on each month absolutely necessary? Are they worth missing out on God’s blessing? I challenge you to take ninety-days, tithe and pray. Ask God to help you step out on faith. Ask him to show you how to spend your money because you want to learn to give to Him. Keep a journal and write about how God supernaturally works in your life and your finances.
I have found that as I tithe, not only does God take care of my physical and material needs, but there is a spiritual freedom that cannot be explained, and that is what I want you to experience. I once heard a preacher describe those that did not tithe as God-robbers. He went on to say that if you are not tithing, then you are robbing God. The clothes that you wear, the food that you eat, the house that you live in, and the car that you drive are all stolen items. These are stolen items because you bought them with money that belonged to God. I am thankful that my parents instilled the tithing principle in me at a young age. For as long as I can remember, any money I received I was instructed to tithe from it first. If I received a $5.00 for chores or as a gift from someone, .50 went to God. Once I was saved this was a fairly easy principle for me to follow. If you do not tithe, I want you to think about your church. What if every single person in that congregation refused to tithe? What would happen to the church? What would happen to missions? As I have already said, God does not need our money. He gives us the opportunity to give to him so that we can honor him, be thankful unto him, and then in return he pours out a blessing. Why He set it up this way I do not know. I just know that it is wise to follow His way. If you do not tithe, I am not trying to belittle you. I am trying to tell you about the blessing that you are missing out on. I want you to get in on the blessing. Pray and ask God to help you take this step of faith. Do not look at your check book and bills, and then wonder how you are going to “make it.” His word already promises to take care of you. Ask him to restore you and then be on your way to freedom! My desire is to see you live in freedom in EVERY aspect of your life!
Below is the article adapted from Freedom From Financial Fear, by Dr. Kennedy.
Many people spend much of their lives worrying about money. I know, because there was a time in my life, many years ago, when I did too. It seemed I could never quite make ends meet. Some people, however, never learn the secret of trusting God for their finances, as I did. Instead, they spend much of their lives as worrywarts.
Interestingly enough, we trust God to fulfill His promise to save us and take us to heaven, but in the area of our finances, we ignore His promises. “What promise?” you may ask. God has promised that if we, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse…” He will “…open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10 NKJV).
We are to give our tithes, and on that basis, we can claim His promise of abundant blessings. God has left for us the greatest example of giving. He is a God who gives! His greatest gift to us is His Son, and through Him is given the gift of eternal life.
God wants us to become like Him-which means we have to learn to give. We have to learn to do what He has told us to do to “bring all the tithes into the storehouse.”
Consequences abound when we don’t. They are explained to us in Malachi 3:7-9. In this passage, we see a triple indictment.
First, the people had departed from God and his ordinances; second, they had robbed Him; and third, they were cursed with a curse. God says that they would gather much, and He would cause it to come to little. They would fill their hands, and He would blow on it and scatter it away. He says that they would put it in a bag, and He would put a hole in the bag. He said that He would send the locusts to eat up their crops, and what the locusts didn’t eat, He would send the cankerworms to eat. God is saying very clearly that those who withhold the tithe, which is, His, are thieves-they are robbers.
Now note the threefold blessing when one tithes. First, God promises to open to you “the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing…” (Malachi 3:10). Second, God says that the blessing will be such that “there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Third, God says, “I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes” (Malachi 3:11).
He is talking about the devourer of the ground who devours the fruit of their field-who causes the vines to cast their fruit before the season. We may not live in an agricultural community, but there are still things that devour our lives and our livelihood.
Many people have disobeyed God, withheld the tithe, and have spent five or ten times over their tithe on doctors’ bills for themselves or their children, because God has not rebuked the devourer of their lives. Rather, due to their disobedience, the devourer has been unleashed. Their own personal cankerworms and locusts are consuming them. Many others rob God of His tithe and then wonder why nothing goes right in their business. They don’t know that they have departed from God and are under His financial curse when, instead, they could be under His blessing.
When will we learn the lesson that a loving Father wants to teach us, which is that we can take the strain out of our finances by tithing? My friend, obey Gods’ command-His ordinance. Bring the tithes and the offerings into His storehouse and trust Him in His work. He will provide for all of your needs out of His riches in glory. He will open the windows of heaven and pour out such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it!
Some may say, “I do not tithe, yet I do not experience any difficulty or curses in my life.” My answer to you would be, “you are probably suffering spiritually and do not even know it.” And, a father corrects his children that are disobeying his rules. If you are not being corrected, you may want to make sure you are truly a child of God (Hebrews 12:6-8).
But you say, Where have we robbed thee? In tithes
and offerings. You are cursed, with a curse: for you have
robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the
tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
mine house, and prove me now herewith, says 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 3:8-10(KJV)
If someone came to you and asked you the following question, what would your response be? “Would you like to be so blessed that you will not have enough room to receive the blessing?” I think most of us would answer “yes.” Who wouldn’t want to have so many blessings that we could not contain them? Yet, when we do not tithe, we are shutting off that very thing. What we say to God is, “No thank you, I would not like to be blessed.”
What I have to say in this article is for the most part, not my words, but I felt compelled to share it. It is one of those things you read, and think it is too good not to share with someone. I found the acronym DEBT, Doing Everything But Tithing somewhere, but I do not remember where. I am not taking credit for creating it, but I cannot give credit to the right person either. I just know it ministered to me, so I am passing it along. The article that I have typed below, with the exception of the last paragraph comes from Dr. D. James Kennedy’s book, Freedom From Financial Fear.
Before I share the article from Dr. Kennedy’s book, I must share how this principle has affected my life. If you do not tithe, please do not shut me off, but hear what God has to say. Although I struggle with various things as a Christian, tithing is not one of them. Does that make me super spiritual? By no means! (I’ll get around to writing about my struggles another day, because there are many). I find tithing a joy. I love to give my money to God. I am thankful that He has blessed me and so I give back a portion to Him. He does not need my money, but He welcomes my willingness to trust Him to take care of me. My thought is: it is God’s money anyway, and if He wants it, He will take it. He owns it all. He says in Psalms 50:10 (KJV), For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. He promises to meet all of our needs. He says in Philippians 4:19 (KJV), But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He tells us in Matthew 6:25-34 not to worry about anything. He will provide for our clothes, food and any other needs that we have. It is my obligation to wisely handle the money that I earn and to spend it wisely. The first step to doing this is by giving back to Him first. Does that mean we should never save for fun times and buy things? No, it means we must give back to Him first and ask for guidance on how He wants us to spend the rest. Many people think that because they work hard, it is their money and they can do with it what they want. However, God gives us the very breath we breathe and the very jobs that we hold, He could take either way, if He wants too.
Tithing is a step of faith. If I look at my money or budget on paper and think about my future, it makes absolutely no sense, but God has been faithful and has NEVER let me down. God cannot lie. His word is true. He will provide. God has worked many miracles in my finances. Many times in my life, my financial situation has been nothing more than a miracle. Somehow some way, I have always been able to pay whatever needs to be paid. Maybe you are saying, “I cannot tithe because I will not have money to pay bills.” I urge you to step out on faith and tithe anyway. Reevaluate the spending in your life. Are all of the things that you spend money on each month absolutely necessary? Are they worth missing out on God’s blessing? I challenge you to take ninety-days, tithe and pray. Ask God to help you step out on faith. Ask him to show you how to spend your money because you want to learn to give to Him. Keep a journal and write about how God supernaturally works in your life and your finances.
I have found that as I tithe, not only does God take care of my physical and material needs, but there is a spiritual freedom that cannot be explained, and that is what I want you to experience. I once heard a preacher describe those that did not tithe as God-robbers. He went on to say that if you are not tithing, then you are robbing God. The clothes that you wear, the food that you eat, the house that you live in, and the car that you drive are all stolen items. These are stolen items because you bought them with money that belonged to God. I am thankful that my parents instilled the tithing principle in me at a young age. For as long as I can remember, any money I received I was instructed to tithe from it first. If I received a $5.00 for chores or as a gift from someone, .50 went to God. Once I was saved this was a fairly easy principle for me to follow. If you do not tithe, I want you to think about your church. What if every single person in that congregation refused to tithe? What would happen to the church? What would happen to missions? As I have already said, God does not need our money. He gives us the opportunity to give to him so that we can honor him, be thankful unto him, and then in return he pours out a blessing. Why He set it up this way I do not know. I just know that it is wise to follow His way. If you do not tithe, I am not trying to belittle you. I am trying to tell you about the blessing that you are missing out on. I want you to get in on the blessing. Pray and ask God to help you take this step of faith. Do not look at your check book and bills, and then wonder how you are going to “make it.” His word already promises to take care of you. Ask him to restore you and then be on your way to freedom! My desire is to see you live in freedom in EVERY aspect of your life!
Below is the article adapted from Freedom From Financial Fear, by Dr. Kennedy.
Many people spend much of their lives worrying about money. I know, because there was a time in my life, many years ago, when I did too. It seemed I could never quite make ends meet. Some people, however, never learn the secret of trusting God for their finances, as I did. Instead, they spend much of their lives as worrywarts.
Interestingly enough, we trust God to fulfill His promise to save us and take us to heaven, but in the area of our finances, we ignore His promises. “What promise?” you may ask. God has promised that if we, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse…” He will “…open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10 NKJV).
We are to give our tithes, and on that basis, we can claim His promise of abundant blessings. God has left for us the greatest example of giving. He is a God who gives! His greatest gift to us is His Son, and through Him is given the gift of eternal life.
God wants us to become like Him-which means we have to learn to give. We have to learn to do what He has told us to do to “bring all the tithes into the storehouse.”
Consequences abound when we don’t. They are explained to us in Malachi 3:7-9. In this passage, we see a triple indictment.
First, the people had departed from God and his ordinances; second, they had robbed Him; and third, they were cursed with a curse. God says that they would gather much, and He would cause it to come to little. They would fill their hands, and He would blow on it and scatter it away. He says that they would put it in a bag, and He would put a hole in the bag. He said that He would send the locusts to eat up their crops, and what the locusts didn’t eat, He would send the cankerworms to eat. God is saying very clearly that those who withhold the tithe, which is, His, are thieves-they are robbers.
Now note the threefold blessing when one tithes. First, God promises to open to you “the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing…” (Malachi 3:10). Second, God says that the blessing will be such that “there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Third, God says, “I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes” (Malachi 3:11).
He is talking about the devourer of the ground who devours the fruit of their field-who causes the vines to cast their fruit before the season. We may not live in an agricultural community, but there are still things that devour our lives and our livelihood.
Many people have disobeyed God, withheld the tithe, and have spent five or ten times over their tithe on doctors’ bills for themselves or their children, because God has not rebuked the devourer of their lives. Rather, due to their disobedience, the devourer has been unleashed. Their own personal cankerworms and locusts are consuming them. Many others rob God of His tithe and then wonder why nothing goes right in their business. They don’t know that they have departed from God and are under His financial curse when, instead, they could be under His blessing.
When will we learn the lesson that a loving Father wants to teach us, which is that we can take the strain out of our finances by tithing? My friend, obey Gods’ command-His ordinance. Bring the tithes and the offerings into His storehouse and trust Him in His work. He will provide for all of your needs out of His riches in glory. He will open the windows of heaven and pour out such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it!
Some may say, “I do not tithe, yet I do not experience any difficulty or curses in my life.” My answer to you would be, “you are probably suffering spiritually and do not even know it.” And, a father corrects his children that are disobeying his rules. If you are not being corrected, you may want to make sure you are truly a child of God (Hebrews 12:6-8).
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