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Tithing
The point: Tithing is a visible manifestation and demonstration of a spiritual life of faith & trust in God. Faithfulness in handling worldly goods is both a fruit and evidence of the presence of, and a life flowing with, the Holy Spirit.
Gen 14:18-20 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." He gave him a tenth of all.
Lev 27:30 Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S; it is holy to the LORD.
Num 18:20-21 Then the LORD said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel. To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.
Mal 3:8-12 "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes," says the LORD of hosts. All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land," says the LORD of hosts.
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Acts 2:44-45 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.
Luke 12:33-34 Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus said (at least) three kinds of things about the people that belong to Him:
· They believe certain things. (John 8:24)
· They have a relationship with Him; they hear His voice and He knows them. (John 10:27)
· They obey the things He said to do. (Matt 7:21-27)
The bottom line is that the New Testament is fully infused with the concept that to belong to Jesus and to experience the power of the Holy Spirit, an element of this life is to live in accordance with God’s perspective on the world’s goods.
Action Plan
· As a spiritual exercise, hypothetically set aside your financial constraints and situation, and ask God what He wants.
· As a practical exercise, review your 2009 expenditures and categorize them, to determine how your spending patterns line up with God’s perspective.
· When you have heard from Him on this, ask Him for the power to do what he asks. Consider taking up God’s challenge to test Him in this way.
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