Bible Base: Jeremiah 29:11

My pastor, Wade Barker of the  Heritage of Faith Family Church, Rogers AR., said something recently that resonated strongly with me.

Most times we ascribe so much power to the devil, whereas it is God’ preemptive mercy at work. 

Some weeks back, I was distraught because  we could not meet our financial obligations to God, via tithing. 

We were on our way to fellowship, but had a very tight schedule. Then we got caught in traffic, and missed that window of opportunity, (or so I thought), and had to keep another appointment.

However,  after keeping that other appointment,  we had an emergency: The fix of which was the same amount as our planned Tithe.

We had a vehicular breakdown deep in the woods, and needed a wrecker to get our truck out of there!

Brethren, was it good that we had that amount at hand!  It would have been very embarrassing 😳 otherwise!

And there I was beating up myself for missing that window of opportunity to give, without even considering the possibility that God knew we would have need of that money. And in His preemptive mercy, helped us not to keep the appointment! I’m all so emotional as I recall that situation!

Most times, our deep-seated denominational indoctrination makes us forget that;

“Christianity is a relationship with God, based on a daily faith-walk with Christ Jesus”. 

My religious mindset/upbringing says,  ‘tithe goes to the church’ (period), whereas Biblically, Tithing is to God (Read Malachi 3:8-12).

Tithing is not a religious obligation but a relationship with God, that acknowledges His partnership in all your income! 

The Bible says: in 1 Chronicles 29:11-12 KJV:

“Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11-12 KJV)

What do you have that you were not given by God?

The tithe is an act of worship of God who freely gave you everything.

It has nothing to do with your pastor. It is your business with God. The pastor is just the one who executes the will of God- His custodian.

“Anyways, why should I bother how the pastor executes the will of God? He will give account to God. I have enough on my plate to bother about non issues.”

Background Story:

Decades ago,  when the yoke of poverty and indebtedness was a heavy burden on my shoulders, I did research on God’s Prosperity plan for His people. I was tired of being poor in the midst of plenty.

That was how I discovered Matthew 23:23, and was shocked that tithing was still a New Testament obligation.

Prior, I was of the school of thought that tithing was one of those ordinances that were nailed to the Cross (Colossians 2:14). So. I stopped tithing.

But all those changed after my research, and I resumed tithing.

In the passage of time, complacency set in, and I forgot the hard lesson that tithing is unto God, and not unto any human.

I reverted to the religious errors of thinking of the  tithe, as another religious obligation, devoid of a personal relationship with God.

Until one day, as I took out my Tithe in preparation to give in Church. Then I heard a sniffing in my spirit instead of an affirmation.  It was disturbing!

I stopped and asked God, “Dad, what am I doing wrong here? I’m praying over my tithe before taking it to church, and you are not happy?”.

Then a dialogue ensued whereby God made me realize that the Tithe was His, and I had no business spending His money as I deemed fit. 

Did you get that? I treated the tithe as my money, to spend as I wanted. Whereas, the sec. I set it aside as tithe, my ownership ended- it was no longer my money, but God’s.

My mind was set to take my Tithe to my church, but God’s Word says “into the storehouse” (Malachi 3:10).

 And we know there are lots of God’s storehouses globally.

And if we acknowledge God in all our ways, He will direct our paths (to the storehouse that we should send the Tithe to).

After that encounter, I take out my Tithes,  worship God as my provider, and wait for His direction. 

Surprisingly, over the years,  He has specifically directed me to some storehouses ( you have no idea!)  

As I obeyed, and walked in God’s will, the yokes of poverty and indebtedness lifted, and I began to enjoy the benefits of salvation. 

And then I relapsed again recently, into a religious mindset.

But I am so thankful that God’s preemptive mercy restrained me, and restored me back into acknowledging Him in all my ways.

Hence I said that my pastor’s message resonated strongly with me.

Perhaps, you are still of the school of thought that tithing expired with the Old Testament laws. 

My simple question is this, 

“How is that working out for you?”

#SpiritualWarfareTeachings ;

To break the yoke of poverty and indebtedness, you not only confront the forces of evils that are enforcing them:  You have to obey God’s Word, which immunizes you from the devourers! 

Read Malachi 3:8-12 without any religious bigotry, perhaps you will catch a revelation there.

Know God for yourself. A religious mindset will keep you in poverty and Indebtedness.

You can destroy that yoke by simply obeying and owning/personalizing God’s Word.

Search the scriptures and do what is right to do.

In closing, I pray one of the Pauline prayers for you:

“ That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory…give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ…” (Ephesians 1:17-20)

Shalom from Hephzibah Christly, Ph.D., #TheSpiritualWarrior, November 14th, 2024