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Godly Financial Principals

This Study started out with one simple lesson called Two Basic Points of God's Economy.  At a later time more was added to it.  Since different parts were added in different years, the little bit of testimony that is included reflects a particular time in my life.  Over time God has increased my faith and my testimony.  Therefore, the reader may notice these differences if they compare the various testimonies found at different places on this web page.

As many people do, I started with a lesson on tithing.  However, since that time I have learned that God wants us to start with changing our attitudes to match His attitudes.  When we do that, we do not have the problems with correcting our actions.  Therefore, the order of this Study is not the order of when parts were written but the order that God wants us to follow so that we can properly understand the subject.

Sections of this Study include: Have a Godly Attitude,  Attitudes from the Bible,  How our Attitude on Giving Affects our Worship.,  Financial Perceptions From Luke 12,  Sowing and Reaping,  How to become a cheerful giver,  Godly Actions: Three Action Verbs for Money,  Godly Actions: Tithing or Robbing God,  Godly Actions: 10% of What,  Godly Actions: Firstfruits Offering,  Godly Actions: Entering God's rest,  Godly Actions: Getting Money the Right Way,  Godly Actions: Getting Money the Wrong Way,  God's Program,  Laying up Treasure in Heaven,  Those who reject Godly attitudes about giving,  and God's Plan.

A Godly Attitude About Money is Critical

  1. In Mark 12:41-44 we read about the widow's two mites.  Some say that is about one peso.  Some say about a couple of centavo.  We don't know the exact amount but know that it was too small to really be useful for anything.
    1. The first thing to note is that Mark 12:41 says And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury.  It doesn't say that he paid attention to how much they gave but how they gave.  God is looking at your attitude while you handle money.
    2. The second thing to note is that this sentence starts with And.  It is added unto the Bible telling us about the religious leaders challenging Jesus on doctrine and Him telling them that they were close to the kingdom of God  but still missed it.  He then warned the people against religious leaders who had an outward show of serving God but were sinners when not seen.  Thus, our story about the widow's two mites is added to a warning against religious hypocrisy.
    3. Third, Jesus said that she cast in all her living.  People will tell you that she had nothing left but if you study the culture she would still have her lot in the country, her hut on that lot, her clothes and whatever food or chicken eggs she could raise on her lot.  What she gave was all of the money that she had earned that week and she was always poor.  God says that we are to be satisfied even if all that we have is the clothes on our back and only vegetables to eat and basic shelter.  Anything more than that we are to thank God for.
    4. Next we need to consider that our verses say that Jesus...beheld how the people cast money into the treasury.  It doesn't say that he paid attention to how much noise they made as they cast in their money but it tells us what it means by the word how  when our verses say For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had.  The word For  means 'here's why'  and after that we have Jesus commenting upon their attitudes, not on their actions.  The word how  is not talking about how  they physically threw the money into the treasury, and called attention to themselves, but is talking about the attitudes behind the actions which are attached to the word how.  Our attitude while giving is what God is looking closely at and God is more concerned with our attitudes than He is with our actions.
    5. She displayed an attitude of complete trust in God.  She acknowledged that God had already provided for her needs when He provided basic food, clothes and shelter.  She displayed an attitude that everything beyond that belonged to God.  Since what she had was too small for her to really use for anything, she gave it to God to see what God would do with it.  God used this 'worthless amount' to create a lesson that will last for eternity.

  2. In 1Kings 17:9 we read about Elijah going to the widow of Zarephath after there had been a famine for a time.  Also, this was in the land of the enemies of Israel.  He told the widow to fetch him some food and water and she answered As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 
    1. The famine existed because most of God's people had stopped trusting and obeying God.  They trusted that doing what religion told them to do would make them good and they were trusting in their own abilities and the methods of the world to provide for them instead of truly relying upon God.  While they claimed to rely upon God, they refused to do the true acts of faith like pay God's tithe and stop their sinning so that they truly represented God to their neighbors.
    2. Notice that this widow said As the LORD thy God liveth.  She accepted God as LORD  with His right to tell her what to do.  She recognized that God liveth  and is actively looking at our lives and how we deal with our situations.
    3. She did not blame God even though God had caused the famine.  God cause the famine because of sin.  Therefore, the sin of man was the true root cause of the famine and she had to recognize this truth in order to avoid blaming God.
    4. In addition, to all of that, she honored God by providing for the man of God, even though it appeared as if God would not provide for her.
    5. This was literally their last morsel to eat and not enough for a meal.  We are talking about a mother with a starving child.  Yet she gave the last morsel of food to the man of God and trusted the promise of God for the food for herself and her son.  Please notice that she didn't even have basic food.  Since she was not a child of God, she wasn't even promised the basic needs.  In spite of no promise, she trusted the character of God and the promise of the man of God.
    6. God blessed her act of faith which required her to go against everything that her flesh demanded of her.

  3. While many have preached about the story that of these two widows, we need to see the similarities.  It is in looking at how God does things more than once in the Bible that we find how God will deal with us in similar situations.
    1. Both of these widows displayed the Godly attitude that is required to get help from God.  They each gave all that they could give and then gave and their life to God and trusted Him to provide for their needs.  This attitude does not force God to bless us and does not let us demand that God bless us when and how we want.  However, we will get no blessing from God unless we first trust Him to provide for our needs after we personally do the things that God demands.  This level of obedience shows that we trust God to provide for us and do not trust our own ability to provide.  Refusal to display this level of faith allows others to claim that we provided for ourselves.  Faith is an action word.  We must do the actions of faith before we get the results of faith.
    2. These widows did not tithe but gave an offering which went beyond the tithe.  The tithe belongs to God (Malachi 3:8).  When we deliver the tithe to God's church we are only obeying and have not done anything for God to reward.  God gives us the ability to get money but demands that we honor Him for doing so by delivering His tithe to His church testifying that God gave us the ability which provided the other 90%.  These widows gave more than 10% which shows their free-will offering to God and their faith that God would provide for their needs.
    3. They both acted in true Biblical faith.  In 1Kings 17:13-14 we read the promise that the widow of Zarephath put her faith in.  The widow with two mites put her faith in the promises of God's Word which we will read in a moment.
    4. They both did the action demanded of them in this world and based their actions upon a spiritual promise which might be fulfilled in this world but which might also be fulfilled in the spiritual reality.  They used the unrighteous mammon  to lay up treasure in Heaven.  God wants us to follow their example and do the same.  God wants us to know that He will reward our 'trusting and obeying' this example of Biblical faith  and will punish refusal to do the act of Biblical faith.
    5. Our God (Jesus) tells us to go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven: and come and follow me  in Matthew 19:21, Mark 10:21 and Luke 18:22.  This is not just a command but a promise that we will have treasure in Heaven  if we obey this command.  When we get saved we are promised to be in Heaven but many people will be homeless paupers in Heaven because they do not obey this command.  One reason that we are given this command is because we are weak humans and our 'love of Jesus' will fail at certain times in our life.  The 'hyper-spiritual' people will tell you that you should be only motivated by your love of Jesus.  But they do not give and go like you have seen me do.  I give and go more than they do because when my 'love of Jesus' isn't enough this promise and command from God keeps me going.  They tell you to not do more than they do because their pride keeps them from admitting that their 'love of Jesus' is not enough.
    6. This church needs to consider changing their song from 'I'm giving, I'm giving because I love Jesus' to be 'I'm investing I'm investing for eternity'.  True Biblical faith  requires us to find the promise of God, then do the requirement of God, then tell others how they also can have the promise of God.  I showed you that God's promise is treasure in Heaven.  I showed you that God's requirement is to use the unrighteous mammon  to do the work of God in order to lay up treasure in Heaven.  I have showed you that I have obeyed this command and that God has provided for my needs in addition to promising that I am laying up treasure in Heaven.  If you want to do the same then you must be motivated by God's promise and not by your 'love of Jesus'.  I suggest this change in your song as a way of encouraging God's people to act on God's promise.

The Bible Directly Teaches These Godly Aattitudes.

How you get money is more important than the amount that you have.  Pay attention to the following verses and realize that these are just a few places where the Bible teach the attitudes that God wants us to have about money.


While there are many more lessons in the Bible about Godly attitudes concerning money, these give us the basics.  Therefore, we will identify categories that these fit in and then move onto the Actions which prove that we have these Godly Attitudes.

How our Attitude on Giving Affects our Worship.

Below are 12 verses from the Bible which use the word worship  and some form of the word give.  While there are many more places in the Bible which teach us that giving is part of true Biblical worship,  the verses below will start us off on this subject.  However, before we get into those verses which attach giving to worship, we need to review a couple of other verses which state the general Attitude that we are to have. Specifically, John 4:24 says God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.  The Study called God is a Spirit provides a summary of three more detailed Word Studies on Worship, Spirit and Truth.

Since true Biblical worship  demands (must)  that we do it in Spirit,  we must make our spirit  be like God's Spirit.  As far as giving is concerned, that is best shown with John 3:16 which says For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  Consider what God and His Son gave up in order to save you.  You don't have a spirit  that's like God's Spirit  unless you are willing to give  all that you have for the salvation of others.  In addition, people tell us that 'worship  starts with worth ship'.  When we recognize God's true worth then we want to be like Him.  If we are not willing to be like Him, and are not willing to give like He gave, then we do not recognize His worth, which is why we start with our Attitudes.  If our Attitudes are right then we recognize God's true worth in our personal lives.  Once we recognize this truth, we will want to be like Him to avoid offending Him and losing those benefits and we will want to be like Him as a way to honor Him and His worth to us.

Having said that, we come to the requirement of truth  in our worship.  The Word Study on Truth defines truth  as: 'Truth  is what God says is truth for this physical reality, the spiritual reality and everything else that is, even if we don't know about it.  Truth  is personified in Jesus Christ  and anything less than absolute truth is a lie.  Something that is true  matches what God reveals in His unchanging Word'.  In God's unchanging Word Jesus  teaches us how to live in this flesh.  He died a pauper, He lived with no money nor physical possessions, yet He had all that He needed because of His faith in God the Father.  When we hold onto what God tells us to give then we prove that we are not like Jesus  and do not trust God the Father for our personal needs.  Our claim to have faith in God is proven to be a lie.

In God's unchanging Word Christ  teaches us how to spiritually mature after our initial profession.  A saved person who refuses to learn from Christ  and spiritually mature is refusing to accept all of the blessings that God wants to give him.  You do not let a baby wearing diapers take the motorcycle for a ride.  Likewise, God refuses to give most of His blessings to His children until they grow up spiritually.  Saved people who refuses to tithe and give offerings beyond the tithe is proving that they are a spiritual baby that is still in diapers, regardless of their physical age.

That said, we can see that God has a Spirit of giving and God wants us to make our spirit like His spirit.  That means we have to have a spirit that gives all or we prove ourselves to be a lying spiritually immature baby when we claim to have faith in God.  With that in mind, we can look at the verses which specifically link giving  to worship  by using the two words in the same verse.

  1. Deuteronomy 26:10 says: And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, of LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God.  This is part of a chapter that teaches the firstfruits  offering.  God told them to say out loud what their life was like before God saved them and provided for them.  He told them to recognize that God gave them the ability to make money, when He did not have to do so.  Recognize that God can take that ability away any time that He wants or God can cause circumstances to take away that ability or waste the results of that ability.  It is common for someone to pay another person who makes it possible for them to get a better paying job.  It is usual for the job broker to get paid from the wages earned.  In this case, God is saying that the firstfruits  are His pay for giving us the ability to earn money.  He wants us to acknowledge our need before He blessed us, acknowledge that our current abilities are due to His blessing and give  this offering as a physically visible recognition of what he did for us.  This offering is strictly to witness to others and tell them of God's blessings to us so that others will seek God and His blessings in their lives.
  2. Deuteronomy 29:26-28 says: Deuteronomy 29:26-28 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.  This is at the end of the chapter where Moses is telling the children of Israel about God's covenant after they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and are now ready to go in and poses the blessings that God gave them.  They had seen the destruction that God brought upon their parents for refusing to walk by faith in God.  God is warning them that future generations will again turn from God and suffer destruction.  God is saying that He took the promised land from the inhabitants because they turned to false gods and worshipped false gods.  God is warning His children against compromise and false worship that is the result of asking God for blessings and also seeking things from other sources.  Our verse tells us that God gives us all that we need and that if we seek more than God provides to us then we will get that additional provision but we will also bring eventual destruction upon our children.  One of the reasons that the Filipinos are so poor is because they followed the compromising religion that the Roman Catholic Church teaches.  Our verse is warning us about the dangers of accepting any religious compromise which promises blessings some way other than complete faith in God.
  3. 1Chronicles 16:29 says: Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.  This verse directly equates our giving an offering  to Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name.  It also says that this is how we worship.  (See the colon in the sentence which makes the two sides equivalent.)  People visit the buildings of false religions and talk about all of the glory  those people give to their false religion because the buildings are evidence of their giving.  The world understands that giving money is how we give glory  and that it is part of our worship.  God's people have no excuse for claiming that they can't understand what the natural man understands.
  4. Psalms 29:2 says: Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.  Here we learn that we are to give  more than money as part of our worship.  In this case we are to verbally acknowledge the protection and power of our God.  This verbal worship reminds us, and encourages others, to turn to the Lord in time of need instead of relying upon ourselves or someone else who can not do what only God can do.  This entire Psalm gives us details on how to Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name.
  5. Matthew 4:9 says: And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.  This is part of the temptation of Jesus by Satan.  At the time of this promise Satan controlled these things  and could keep this promise.  However, all these things  were / will be takes from Satan and he can not promise that we can keep what he offers to us.  We will be able to keep in eternity only the things that come from God.  So, no matter how good the offer from Satan might look, we will only have that temporarily.  Since this offer from Satan was based upon a requirement that Jesus worship  him, we can see that Satan does the same in his offerings to us.  Satan offers us riches, fame and other things but there is a hidden hook that pulls us into worship  and faith  in things as a replacement to our worship  and faith  in God.
  6. Acts 7:42 says: Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of Heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, of ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?  This is part of the preaching of Stephen just before he was martyred.  He used the Bible and the history of Israel to prove that God's people kept turning from true worship  and faith  in God into worship  and faith  in religion.  The people killed him for trying to turn people from their religion to true worship  and faith  in God.  Here we see that if we continue to seek error then God will give  us the way of destruction.  However, if we try to turn people to true worship  and faith  in God, then religious men may try to kill us and send us to our reward in Heaven.  As many preachers have said, threatening a true Christian with Heaven is no real threat.
  7. Acts 17:25 says: Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;  This is part of Paul's message in Athens to the lost Greeks.  Some people might have trouble with Paul saying Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing.  God does not need our money or the things that we do.  However, He has decided to work through men so that He has a reason to bless us and so that He can vary the blessings based upon our obedience even while He does not show favor (respect of men).  Remember that every time God tells us to do anything that it is not because God has a need but is the basis for His providing blessings and the basis for His deciding how much to bless us.
  8. Revelation 11:1-2 says: And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.  God makes a very clear difference between what His children do and what lost people do even though their actions are exactly the same actions.  In these verses we see that God separates the worship  of lost people from the worship  of His people.
  9. Revelation 13:4 says: And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?  Here we see lost people understand the proper way to worship,  even while they worship  the wrong being.  Since they understand that worship  requires giving,  and they understand it as natural men, God's people have no excuse for claiming ignorance of this fact.
  10. Revelation 13:15 says: And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.  This sentence follows the verse above.  Notice that power  is provided after the people worship  by giving.  God has more power  than Satan has but both follow the same principal.  People who refuse to worship  by giving  are rejecting the power  of God in their life.
  11. Revelation 14:7 says: Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made Heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.  This is our final instruction on how to worship  by giving.  It tells us why (for)  to obey this command, which is the hour of his judgment is come.  It tells us to give  more than money but we can not Fear God, and give glory to him  while we hold onto money.
  12. Revelation 20:4 says: And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  Here we see the reward of one group who obeyed this command to worship  God by giving.  If we obey we can expect a similar reward that is proportional to how much we truly worship  God by giving.

Financial Perceptions From Luke 12

  1. Luke 12:1 says: In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
    1. This is a message that Jesus gave to his disciples first of all.  Jesus did not give it to everyone but only to those people who had a disciplined life which caused them to mature spiritually.  People who don't understand the lesson or who reject it prove that they are not spiritually mature disciples.
    2. Jesus says that the lesson is about hypocrisy.  Lots of people claim to be a disciple of Jesus, but their actions and lifestyle proves them to be lying hypocrites.
    3. The next few verses tell us that people who fear physical consequences more than they fear spiritual consequences, while claiming to be disciples of Jesus, are lying hypocrites.  Thus, Jesus tells us the test that God will use and that we should apply within our own life.
  2. Luke 12:13-15 says: And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
    1. This is the next thing told within our chapter.  Therefore, what we have here is an example of a lying hypocrite.  Notice that he calls Jesus Master but has refused to consider the lesson just taught.  It's like he interrupted this lesson in order to prove that his concerns were the opposite of what Jesus told His disciples to have.
    2. Think about the response of Jesus which was Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?.  Can't you imagine His tone of voice being full of distain and sarcasm? Jesus calls him Man to identify him as a person who was concerned with the things of the flesh instead of spiritual things.  We also see this opinion with the warning which follows the question.
    3. Think of the question (who made me a judge or a divider over you?).  God made Jesus a judge or a divider over you, for spiritual and eternal matters but not for physical things of this life.
    4. We see this exact distinction in the warning.  If man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth, then it must consisteth of something else.  The th of the word consisteth speaks of ongoing consistency which lasts for the rest of our life.  Thus, since the ongoing consistency is not to be physical things (the things which he possesseth), we must conclude that Jesus is telling us that our true life consisteth of spiritual things.
    5. The first half of our warning is Take heed, and beware of covetousness.  It is separated from the second half by a colon, which makes the two halves equivalent.  The second half starts with the word for and tells us why the first half is true.  Our first half tells us to Take heed because if we don't take extra care to pay attention then we will fall into the trap.  The trap is covetousness and we need to beware or we will fall into this sin.  The second half of our sentence gives us the reason why we will fall into the sin of covetousness.  There we are warned against the wrong perspective of thinking our life consisteth in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.  Instead, we have the correct perspective that our life consisteth of spiritual things.
    6. One mote point is the use of the th suffix on several of these words.  Yes, there are times that we need to consider the physical with a high priority, but these times are short and few.  Out sentence uses the th suffix on several words to let us know that Jesus is speaking about lifestyle issues and not about short term responses to circumstances of life.
  3. Next we have the parable of the rich fool.  Luke 12:16-21 which says: And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
    1. There are lots of lessons taught about this parable and I am going to skip a lot of those lessons.  The main thing is that this parable is added to the prior lessons by the context and by it starting with the word And.  Therefore, this is an additional lesson on putting our long-term lifestyle motivation on the spiritual and not the physical.  What we see here is that the man was concerned with his soul, which is the summation of all of the short-term decisions of our heart.  That is: how we think and how we make decisions and how we react emotionally to the circumstances of life.
  4. Most people get the main lesson that we need to be concerned about laying up treasure in Heaven.  (Matthew 6:20; Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 12:33; Luke 18:22).  Notice that this includes our current chapter at a point which we have not reached yet.  However, the context applies it to our current section.  Most understand from Luke that we need to sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor (especially distribute to poor missionaries who are truly doing the work of God).  This is an important lesson, but I am not going to spend time on it like most people do.
    1. Instead, I want people to look at the question then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? God gives us physical things and uses them as a test.  We can do what we want with them but we will be judged according to the results of what we do.  If we leave a lot of money and possessions to others and they use those things to sin or to cause other people, like our grandchildren, to turn their back on God and seek a life of sin, then we are still responsible.  God gave those things to US and we will answer for the ultimate results which they produce.  It is much better to be sure that our possessions are used for the work of the Lord while we live.
    2. The world tells us to own lands and houses and bank accounts to that we won't be poor and starve in our old age.  Psalms 37:25 says: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. This and other places tell us to use everything we have to serve God and trust Him to provide for our needs.  Our parable says that this man was a fool because he thought to provide for a future in this world that was not promised to him.  He was a fool because he refused to obey God and distribute what he had to the poor while he lived.  We need to measure the level of foolishness a saved person has by the ratio of their giving to their savings when they die.
    3. Jesus provided for the daily needs of at least 13 men every day of his ministry and, yet, only owned the clothes on His back when He died.  He is our example of how to life in the flesh using the power of the Holy Ghost. Lots of people like to quote Luke 12:31 and Luke 12:34 and teach lessons on them.  However, I don't recall ever hearing anyone put their message within the context that these verses are given within.
    4. Luke 12:31 says: But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Notice that this sentence starts with the word But.  That means it is continuing the subject of the prior sentence while going in a different direction.  Therefore, we can not get the correct interpretation without considering the prior sentence which tells us: For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. This sentence also starts with a connecting word and we can follow the connections back, but to save time we will only consider this one sentence.  The all these things of this sentence is referring to what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink of the prior sentence.  Basically, the context is telling us that the world worries about basic physical needs but we are to have a testimony of not being a lying hypocrite by trusting God for even our daily food and not lay-up things of this physical world.  Instead, we are to seek ye the kingdom of God (God's character in our personal life).  Our sentence promised that all these things shall be added unto you, but God can not add these things until after we obey the first step of this sentence.  Therefore, God is looking at what percentage of your income goes to supporting the spread of the Gospel and what percentage goes to your own present and future physical needs and desires.
    5. Likewise, Luke 12:34 says: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  This sentence starts with the word For, which means it is giving the reason why the prior sentence is true.  Therefore, we can not properly interpret it without considering the prior sentence which says: Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the Heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.  Basically, become poor in this world in order to use the money to support God's work and get rich spiritually.
  5. We could continue with the rest of this chapter and show how everything is related to the error of saved people trying to provide for their physical needs while ignoring the spiritual needs.  However, the rest of the chapter is dealing with different ways that people do this which are different from the lessons already covered.  Also, we are out of time.  The bottom line is that we need to seriously consider the percentage of God's provision which we allocate to physical needs and the percentage that we allocate to spiritual needs.  The truly wise person has actions which prove that they emphasize spiritual results with what God gives to them.

Sowing and Reaping.

From Larry Goldsworthy

Lesson on Sowing and Reaping

2Corinthians 9 is one of the places where the Bible teaches the 'Law of Sowing and Reaping'.  We will deal with it on a moment but first, it is important to remember context that any Bible doctrine is presented within.  2Corinthians 9 follows 2Corinthians 8 where Paul tells about the financial giving of them of Macedonia.  While a separate message from the instructions given here, we need to remember what Paul said about them so that we have the same context in mind as these people in Corinth had when they read this letter.

In 2Corinthians 8:1-8 we read Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Praying us with much intreat that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.

These people were as poor or more poor than any third-world farmer, such as found in the mountains of the Philippines.  Yet they gave so much that God had Paul write about it in the Bible.  Further, 2Corinthians 13:14 tells us that some of these people moved to Corinth, which was a more expensive place to live, and took whatever jobs they could find so that they could provide for the physical needs of the people who went out preaching.  That was because, as Paul said in 2Corinthians 8:5: And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord.

Each of us will stand before God to be judged for what we do in this life.  If you start making excuses for not using the money that you have to promote God's work, God will call these dirt farmers from Macedonia to testify against you.  You will not be allowed to compare yourself to Americans but will be compared to people who lived in your circumstances and yet still produced results.

You cannot reap if you do not sow.  You cannot sow if you eat the seed that is intended to grow a crop.  You are calling God a liar if you say that you were not given any money to use as spiritual seed to grow a spiritual crop that can be reaped.

2Corinthians 9 is talking about giving money for the ministry of the gospel.  It is written in General terms, instead of using specific language, so that the truths here can be applied to more things than money.  However, the primary application of what this chapter teaches is how we use money to sow spiritual seed which will result in blessings that can be reaped in this life and for eternity.  However, we need to remember that that there is a good amount of time between when you sow seed and when you can reap a crop.

  1. Preparation: 2Corinthians 9:1-5.
    1. Knowledge of how ministry works.  2Corinthians 9:1.
    2. Intention to reap spiritual rewards. 2Corinthians 9:2.
    3. Danger of distraction. 2Corinthians 9:3.
    4. Shared shame from sin. 2Corinthians 9:4.
    5. Proper identification of bounty. 2Corinthians 9:5.
  2. Purpose: 2Corinthians 9:6-7.
    1. Law of sowing and reaping 2Corinthians 9:6.
    2. Attitude of sowing and reaping 2Corinthians 9:7.
  3. Plan: 2Corinthians 9:8-11.
    1. God provides with the plan that we do His work. 2Corinthians 9:8.
      1. God is able to give what we do not deserve.
      2. God gives it that each of us personally may abound to every good work.
      3. God first makes sure that we have sufficiency in all things,  not have the best available or have more than we actually need.
      4. If we take what God provided for us to use for His work and use it to give ourselves more than sufficiency  then we can lose God's grace and lose His providing sufficiency.
    2. Biblical basis of this promise: 2Corinthians 9:9-10.
      1. This is based upon Psalms 112 which describes God's blessings to the man who fears the consequences of sin and delights in the blessings of obedience.
      2. Obedience in giving gives us righteousness  and eternal rewards.
      3. Warning in 2Corinthians 9:10 - God gives us what we need to do His work and what we need for ourselves and multiplies our results.  Disobedience loses all of these things.
    3. What God gets from this: thanksgiving . 2Corinthians 9:11.  If we steal what God provides through us  and do not put God's bounty  into God's work then we rob God of His thanks.  We rob God and He stops providing bounty  to us.  We put God's bounty  into God's work and He increases His bounty  and what is available for our use.  However, all increases are to go to God first.
  4. Prayer: 2Corinthians 9:12-15 - God uses the giving of money (For the administration of this service)  to produce results.
    1. 2Corinthians 9:12 tells us that the first reaping is thanksgiving.
      1. Think of how hard it is to teach children to say thanks.  Think of Filipino beggars who shove their hand in your face and sag give me money  but do not say thanks.  God has to teach His people to say thanks and He does this by first making you realize that He gave you more than you need.  Until you learn to say thanks God will not increase your personal bounty. 
      2. In addition, to your learning to say thanks,  you will set an example for your children and teach them to say thanks.
      3. Thirdly, the people in the ministry who receive the funds will thank God for your giving, even if they don't say thanks  directly to you.  It is their saying thanks  to God which results in God giving blessings to you.
    2. 2Corinthians 9:13 uses the phrase the experiment of this ministration.  God keeps experimenting  to see if you will allow Him to use you to administer  funds to His people who are giving out the gospel.  When you let God use you this way the results include:
      1. they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ.  You have a testimony that backs your profession of salvation.  Until others testify that they can see the changes in your life people believe you only have religion and doubt your claim of true salvation.
      2. All of our service to God is about giving glory to God.  Until your testimony causes others to glorify God, you will not reap certain blessings from God.
      3. The phrase your liberal distribution unto them  tells us that we are to be liberal  in our giving.  The more liberal  we are in our giving the more glory is given to God and the more blessings that we will reap.  Remember 2Corinthians 9:6-7.
    3. 2Corinthians 9:14 tells us that our giving causes others to pray for us.  Their prayers make us more effective in the ministry and provide for our protection, especially from devils and devil motivated people.  I have personally realized this since I have been in the Philippines.
    4. 2Corinthians 9:15 says Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.  That is Christ in us and Christ working through our life to be a blessing to others.  When we use the money that God gives to us to support His work and wait for God to provide for our needs by some other means, then we prove our claim to faith.  When we spend the money on ourselves we prove that our faith is not in God but in the money.  When we refuse to give money in support of God's work we are refusing the sow the seed that God gives to us and our refusal is the reason that we cannot reap spiritual rewards.

Each of us is given a choice.  God gives us seed money  as an experiment to see if you will spend it on yourself or if you will sow it into God's work with the faith in God that it will result in blessings that you can reap in the future.

Please also see the notes for Galatians 6:7-10.  Those notes provide details such as a more detailed analysis of the verses and context involved, links to several other places where the Bible also teaches 'The Law of Sowing and Reaping'.  It also presents this entire concept from a different perspective.

How to become a cheerful giver
2Corinthians 9:6-11

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

Lots of people preach that God loveth a cheerful giver.  However, I've never heard anyone preach how we are to become a cheerful giver.  It goes against our basic nature.  Most of us work hard for our money and we don't like someone telling us that we have to give  away what we worked so hard for.  In addition, even the saved still have a sin nature that works on us even when we don't realize it.  But, saved people are supposed to be Godly and therefore, we need to know how to do this so that we get God's love.  That said, within our sentence we find two Equivalent Sections with one telling us God loveth a cheerful giver  and the other telling us how to be that cheerful giver.  Within our Equivalent Section, which tells us how to be that cheerful giver,  we find two Steps:

  1. according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give
  2. not grudgingly, or of necessity

We will deal with the Second Step first because there is less details involved in understanding these phrases which describe the correct attitudes for the type of giving  which makes someone a cheerful giver.

Within this phrase we find not...of necessity.  Necessity  means 'That which must be and cannot be otherwise, or the cause of that which cannot be otherwise'.  The tithe  is a necessity.  The giving  in our sentence is not the tithe  but is what we give  that goes beyond the tithe.  In addition, if a preacher lays a large 'guilt trip' on someone and effectively forces them to participate in an offering, they have created a necessity.  Yes, there may be times when such may be necessary, but our sentence is not talking about such circumstances for someone to be a cheerful giver.  In fact, our sentence says not grudgingly,  and someone who is forced to give,  due to a 'guilt trip', will often resent it later.  That means they will grudge  their giving.

With the restrictions that are necessary to have a Godly attitude about giving,  we can now look at the First Step which tells us how to do this.  The most important thing to notice is that our Step says purposeth in his HEART.  It takes God to move a 'head belief' to our heart.  This is a spiritual action and when we purpose in (our) heart  we must make this a spiritual purpose.  Thus we see that if we are going to accept a spiritual purpose in our heart  which lets us be a cheerful giver,  then we must have a heart based understanding that the spiritual is far more valuable than the physical.  Without this type of understanding we will never be cheerful  about giving up the present physical in order to get the eternal spiritual.  And this is where our context comes in because the context of these sentences / verses give us the reasons why we should value the eternal spiritual far above the present physical.

In order to purpose in our heart  to do what God commands, God gives us three general types of reasons which always apply to any type of obedience.  They are:

  1. OBEY THE COMMAND:  When God gives us a command, it is not just to order us around.  Every command of God is for our Good.  Related to giving,  we see Malachi 3:8 says Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.  Everybody uses this to preach about the tithes,  but it also says offerings.  Without going into all of the supporting verses, I will tell you that the Bible says that even the poor have much  but that it is destroyed for want of judgment.  God provides enough for us to give  an offering  that goes beyond the tithe.  God then tells us to give  so that He has an excuse to bless us in many ways including giving us good judgment.  However, when God's people refuse to give,  they do not receive judgment.  In addition, the Bible warns us about the danger to our heart  when riches increase  (Psalms 49:16; Psalms 62:10; Psalms 73:12; Proverbs 22:16; Ezekiel 28:5; Revelation 3:17).  God's command to give  is designed to save us from this danger.  Thus we have seen two reasons to obey the command to give  and while there are more, we will move on.
  2. REWARD:  Simply put, God promises to bless us when we obey and, especially in this application, when we give.  In particular, we are told to Lay Up Treasure in Heaven by serving the kingdom of God  ()Mark 12:34-LJC; Romans C14S23; 1Corinthians C4S20; 1Corinthians C15S46; Galatians C5S20; Revelation 12:10-LJC instead of seeking unrighteous mammon  (Luke 16).  Simply put: God tells us to spend this life working for eternal rewards because out 'love of God' is human and will fail where a promise of reward will keep us going.  In addition, we are to be like Jesus  and Hebrews 12:2 tells us Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame...  Jesus  used the promise of eternal reward (for the joy that was set before him)  to keep Himself going and we are to follow His example (Jesus the author and finisher of our faith).
  3. PROVE OUR LOVE:  The true saying goes: 'You can give without loving but you can not love without giving'.  John 3:16 says For God so loved the world, that he gave..  All Bible believers know that there are many more verses which tell us that God gave,  the Son of God gave,  and we are to give.  (Please see 2Corinthians 9:8-11; 2Corinthians 9:7 for links.)  As James 2 tells us: faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.  That chapter explains the relationship that is just as true when it comes to love  and giving.  Simply put: if we won't give for the work of God our claim of loving God is weak or a lie.

2Corinthians 8 and 9 actually deal with a single subject and the chapter division should be ignored.  2Corinthians 8:1 starts with Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.  This chapter starts with the testimony of how God blessed people who first gave themselves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.  It tells us how God blessed them because they devoted their life to God's service and then proved they were faithful to His service.  God could give to them and know that they would use what God gave for His service and not for self.  It also says that they gave themselves..unto us by the will of God.  They submitted to their God given authority.  Now, I can give personal testimony of this being true.  After I gave (my) own self to the Lord,  by giving away almost everything I owned and moved to the mission field, God's blessed my finances.  The year I moved I gave 75% of my regular income to the Lord's work and ended the year with more money than I had at the start of the year.  The next year I gave 133% of my regular income to the Lord's work and ended the year with more money than I had at the start of the year.  This testimony has a lot more to it than I am writing here and it is not to say that I am better than others but it is to show that what God did for these people in Macedonia He will still do today if people pass God's test for being faithful  and they are willing to give their own selves to the Lord.

That said, I am going to give a set of Steps on how to become a cheerful giver.  These steps come from 2Corinthians 8 and 9 but I am not going to show the verses for each step.  That can be done by prayerfully studying those chapters and looking for these steps or even by looking at my Book Study on 2Corinthians.

To become a cheerful giver:

  1. Purpose in your heart, not head, that you are going to obey God's Word for the three reasons given: obedience for your own heart's good, personal rewards based upon God's promise, prove your love for God.
  2. Make the 'law of sowing and reaping' a heart based law of your life.  KNOW that your eternal rewards are proportional to your serving the kingdom of God in this world.  KNOW that be giving unrighteous mammon  for eternal rewards you are trading what you can't keep for what you can't lose.
  3. KNOW that God will make you sufficient for the work that He gives you but not for selfish reasons.
  4. Know that God enriches  you so that you can help the work of God and cause others to thank God for what He does through your life.
  5. KNOW that what you do is based upon scripture and, therefore, is an act of faith.
  6. KNOW that your righteousness remaineth for ever  because it is recorded in Heaven when you help build the kingdom of God.
  7. KNOW that when you go beyond tithe and support the ministry of Godly men and missions that you are multiplying seed  and getting multiplied eternal rewards.

If you really consider these things in your heart then you can not help but be cheerful about giving to the work of God.

Godly Actions: Three Action Verbs for Money.

Many people preach about giving  when it comes to using money for the work of the Lord.  However, that particular verb is accurate only 1/3 of the time.  When people hear the correction that is here, many 'Good Godly Bible Believing Fundamental Christians' are going to object for a multitude of reasons.  While they are different on the surface, they will all be variants of 'That goes against my traditions and while you have Bible to back your position, and I don't, I don't think there is enough difference to justify changing my traditions.'  Of course, that's the exact same position as Catholics take about their doctrinal differences.

1Corinthians 11:1 says Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.  John 5:36, John 10:25 and John 14:12 all tell us that when Jesus was challenged by religious leaders about His doctrine He answered with I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.  Jesus had undeniable evidence of God working in and through His physical life and Paul did also have that evidence.  The first verse quoted is a God given command for us to do the same (even as).  That is: we are to have evidence of God working in and through our life.  We are to take special care to have this evidence before we get into a doctrinal disagreement with someone else.  Please consider what will be presented and do not reject it without Bible to back your position along with evidence of God's blessings upon your position.

At this point in my life I have financial records which have passed 18 audits by the IRS and state agencies with no error found on my part except for the very first audit.  Twice I forced them to change their procedures even though it probably cost them millions of dollars to do so.  Twice they decided to quit the fight / audit since it was obvious that I would force similar costly changes on their government.  The evidence which backs these claims is independent of me and will pass the requirements to be accepted in a court of law.  Therefore, my procedures for keeping accurate financial records, and the reports which are generated from those records, are reliable enough to back my claims.

As of this writing, I have been on the mission field for more than 40 months and my average annual giving, during that time, has been over 134% of my regular income.  In other words, I've given 1/3 more than I've received in normal income and have done so for several years and what is considered to be God's length of time for judgment.  Yet my money in the bank is more than it was when I went to the mission field even after I've paid all of my bills and spent all that I desired to spend without checking my finances before spending.  This is evidence of God's blessing my finances just as Paul and Jesus had evidence of God's blessing what they did.  Therefore, if someone wants to criticize what I am about to say, or disagree with it, let them first provide independent evidence of God's blessing their own finances in a way that is equal to or greater than my blessings.  If someone criticizes without providing such evidence, they prove before God and man that they reject God's command for people to show the power of God to back their claims that they speak for God.  The people who crucified our Lord also rejected evidence of the power of God and insisted that people follow them because of their man-given credentials.  They also reacted in anger when Jesus showed people that they claimed to be speaking for God based upon the wrong evidence.  Anger is the reaction of someone who finds they are wrong but is not willing to change and follow the right way to get God's blessings.

I expect that some people will get angry about my saying that their traditional beliefs do not get the best blessings from God.  In addition, many people miss out on God's blessings, even though they don't disagree, because they fail to act upon what is taught here.  While they don't disagree and don't fight against the truth they also don't obey.  God's blessings are not when we agree in our mind but when we obey.  The Bible warns about the fool,  the hasty,  the lazy,  the unbeliever,  and other types of people who miss out on God's blessings.  They have different motivations and attitudes, and you may have a motivation or attitude than these but you will miss God's blessings if you procrastinate for any reason.  Please prayerfully consider what is presented and be more noble  (Acts 17:11) by receiving the word with all readiness of mind, and searching the scriptures daily, (to see) whether these things are so..

What I have always heard preached, over the last 34 years, is that we are to give our tithes, our offerings and our 'Faith Promise Mission Giving'.  What I have found is that while we are to give offerings, we are to actually deliver God's tithe, give offerings and invest in 'Faith Promise Mission'.  So far within these lessons, we have been dealing with attitudes about money because God always deals with attitudes and actions but God always deals with attitudes first.  This is the first lesson on the actions about money and the difference in these verbs shows different attitudes that we are to have while we put money into the ministry of God.

  1. Deliver God's Tithe.  Most people believe that they are familiar with Malachi 3, but there are a few things there that most people probably missed.  Consider:
    1. Malachi 3:8 says Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.  Then Malachi 3:10 starts with Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse.  Notice that it does not say anything about offerings  after 3:8.  If God's people do not bring offerings  then they are still robbing  God but the remainder of this section within Malachi is only talking about tithes.
    2. When we rob  we 'take by force what belongs to someone else'.  Therefore, it is not our tithe but is God's.  Notice that God uses the personal pronoun of ye  when He says who is to bring the tithe  but God does not call it our tithe  but uses the non-personal preposition of the  when God says Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse.
    3. When you give  something it must be yours to give.  Since the tithe  is not ours, we can not give  it.  We deliver God's tithe just like the mail person delivers a check which someone else sends to you through the mail.
    4. We have no more right to say what God does with His tithe  within the church than the mailman has a right to tell you how to spend a check which he just delivered.
    5. Next notice that God says that He will pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.  I've heard many people claim that they tithe and yet do not have enough.  However, the Biblical truth is that they are spending their money foolishly and have not done what is required to get God's wisdom  about spending money.  The main problem here is identified by Proverbs 13:23 which says: Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.  The problem is that after God's people deliver His tithe, usually with a wrong attitude, they then fail to ask God to give them good judgment  about handling the money that is theirs.  When God gives us more than we need and we then waste it through poor judgment,  the problem is not God's lack of supply but our own poor judgment.  In addition, these people are not waiting for God's time but are trying to tell God when to give the blessing.  They are effectively calling their God a liar when He said 'Wait' and they ignore that command but claim that God failed to deliver His promise.  It takes time to gain wisdom and it takes a willing heart to learn.  Therefore, it is not a failure on God's part but a failure on the person's part to receive the Godly wisdom which will help them to stop wasting money.
    6. Next, please notice that our verse says that God will pour you out a blessing.  The word you  is used for the group.  It is not the personal word ye.  God wants each of us active within the church.  He gives blessings to the church and tells people within the church to help others within the church.  That is part of being the family of God.  God gives what one person needs to another person within the church so that when that other person helps the first then God has an excuse for blessing the first, the first and the second increase their care for each other and God is supposed receives thanks from each of them.  We may not understand all that God is doing but we need to obey and God brings the desired results even when we don't understand.
    7. Finally (for now) notice that Malachi 3:11 starts with And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes.  God stops our losses and we fail to recognize it because it isn't as obvious as receiving more money to spend.  I have given away suits that were 25years old and still good even though I wore them weekly for the first 15years and monthly after that.  My current suits are at least 25years old.  Many people waste the protection of God just because they want something new and don't want to use something for that long.  However, when you hold onto these things and thank God for them, your perspective changes.  The truth is that you are better off to have a decrease in spending than to have an increase in income, but most people don't believe this truth.

  2. Give Offerings:
    1. Our reference in Malachi said that we rob God  if we do not give offerings.  Simply put: there are times that God gives us something extra and puts in our heart for us to give  it to the ministry.  Since God gave it to us, it really belongs to God.  He gives it to us so that He can bless us when we obey Him and deliver His money where he wants it to go.  However, Satan puts a temptation before us so that we will spend the money on our own fleshly lusts.  God allows this as test.  If we give  as God leads us then we get a blessing.  If we spend the money on our own lusts then we lose the blessing and reap the consequences of lustful sin.
    2. The purpose of giving  is to help the family of God, the church.  Just like our physical families, there are times that we help others and there are times that others help us.  When we help, or are helped, it builds the love and care that we have for each other.  This is one of the purposes that God has for our giving.  Another is that the giver is supposed to thank God for God giving him the opportunity and ability to give and the person receiving help is to thank God for the help.  Our giving thanks increases our blessing from God and it helps us to point others to God for help.  That witnessing so that others will turn to God for help is what God gets out of this whole thing.  We get increased love within the church and help in our own time of need and, as we will see, this is how God provides an abundance to us within this world.
    3. Luke 6:38 says: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.  Forms of the word give  occur 1662 times in 1516 verses of the Bible.  These numbers show us how important this subject is by how often God mentions it within the Bible.  The main thing for us to realize about giving  is that when we give  something it is to be with 'no strings attached'.  Once given to the person intended to receive it, we have no more say about what they do with our gift.  There may be a later judgment, based upon what we do with the gift, which results in our receiving more gifts or not receiving more.  However, the giver can not tell the receiver how to use the gift unless the receiver asks for instruction.  This is how God treats the spiritual gifts which He gives to us.
    4. This is where we get an abundance from God for use within this world.  Notice that our verse says: good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over.  Delivering God's tithe provides for our basic needs within this world.  Giving offerings gets us the abundance.  Offerings are given to the church, which is God's family.  Each offering is a one-time thing that we do to show our love for God by showing our love for the family of God.  Just as a loving parent appreciates youmore for helping their child even more than you helping them, even so does God react.  God will bless you more, in this world, for helping His family than for doing some 'great work for God' that some religion tells you to do but which is not backed by the Bible.
    5. One thing to keep in mind here is James 4:3 which says Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.  There are people who do not ask God for judgment  and handle their money a wrong way.  Then they hear of this verse, or another similar verse, and think that if they give a big offering then God is required to pay off their bills and remove the consequence of their error.  God will not do that because He wants us to correct our error and stop handling our money the wrong way.  Notice that our verse says it shall be given unto you...shall men give into your bosom.  The word you  is used for a group.  When our verse says give into your bosom  it is indicating people close enough to you for you to hug on a regular basis.  Quite often this is our immediate family.  When we give  God may have someone give  to a family member who knows how to handle money properly.  God may also delay giving  to us until after we learn how to handle money properly.  God may also give  us something other than money, such as an education.  However God does it, God will keep His promise but He will not allow someone to give  an offering on the basis that the offering will force God to pay off bills which are the result of wrong handling of the money which God already provided.
    6. Notice that our verse says good measure, pressed down, and shaken together.  People will often find some way to insert a 'filler' into packaging in order to make it appear as if they are delivering more 'product' than what they are actually providing.  Our verse says that God will keep people from 'shorting' us.  This might be simply God making us aware of this practice so that we consider how much 'product' we actually receive for our money instead of looking at the fancy packaging which often entices people to buy.  Regardless of how God does it, our verse is actually promising to reduce our costs, which leaves us more money to spend.  Reduced costs are better than increased income for many reasons including the fact that increased income increases the leaches attacking our income such as tax or people who want us to pay their bills.
    7. There are a lot more details here but we are only taking a 'high level view' to compare these three action verbs.  The only other thing to mention about this verse is the sentence of: For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.  We see this precept applied many different ways within the Bible.  If you want your loved ones to receive a lot then give a lot.

  3. Invest in Missions:
    1. Many messages have been preached on 'Faith Promise Mission Giving'.  These messages would be perfect if they used the verb 'invest' instead of give.  Instead of the verb 'invest' the Bible uses the phrase lay up for yourselves treasures.  In both cases (the verb of 'invest' and the phrase of lay up for yourselves treasures)  we are putting valuables into the trust of another person with the expectation that they will keep that treasure safe and will also increase the value of that treasure.  We are also going to check with that person periodically and check on the safety of our treasure and the job they are doing to increase it.  This is a totally different attitude than when we give  and then leave the recipient alone.  With our investing in missions, we are to be regularly praying for the missionaries that they are protected and effective in their work for the Lord.  If they are not doing the work of the Lord we are to stop investing in them.  Where giving  is a one-time event, this is to be regular and continuous.  We are also to be faithful  in it even if it makes us not fulfill our own desires.  Whereas giving  is usually provided from our abundance, 'investing' is continued even when there is no abundance.
    2. John 6:27 says: Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.  In this chapter Jesus  is teaching lessons which must be understood spiritually and uses the word meat  for 'the basic substance that our body is made from'.  Here we are literally commanded to not work for even the most basic needs of life but to depend on God providing those needs while we work for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.  This is another way to say work to lay up treasure in Heaven.  We do this by obeying the 'Great Commission' and by supporting missions.
    3. Matthew 6:19-21 says: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  Here we are ordered to not have a lot of things in this world.  Having these worldly things makes it far more difficult to bring forth multiple spiritual fruit  (Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:3-20; Luke 8:5-15).  Our parable was given specifically to teach us that worldly things will steal our heart  from God and Heavenly things.  It specifically tells us to put our heart  and our treasure  in Heaven.
    4. An important part of this is the requirement to verify the claims of missionaries who are supposed to be doing the work which we are investing in.  This is a separate lesson and is covered in the Study called Non-preacher Missionaries.  The truth is that there are 'Moochanaries' who take support for doing mission work but are not really doing it.  They get away with this because people are taught to give to missions and believe that they are laying up for yourselves treasures in Heaven  simply because they are giving.  However, our verse specifically warns us about the thief.  If the people we are supporting are not producing actual spiritual fruit,  then we are giving our money to a thief  and are not lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven.  We must pray for God to watch over our investment, pray for God to bless the missionary and his work, read the reports sent back from the missionary and pray for his specific needs and visit the work, or send a reliable witness to visit the work, so that we have the God-required second witness.
    5. Philippians 4:15-17 says: Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.  For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.  Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.  Notice that Paul is talking about their financial support to him as a missionary.  Now notice that he says that the result of supporting the missionary is fruit that may abound to your account.  The account  is in Heaven and controlled by God.  The fruit  is spiritual fruit  which lasts forever.  There is no place in the Bible that promises that our giving  will produce spiritual fruit  and, in fact as already shown, the results of giving  are received here in this physical life.
    6. There, obviously, is much more in the Bible that can be said about this subject.  Just look at all of the messages and books that are available on the subject of Faith Promise Giving.  However, without going into all of the details, the main message of this point is that when it comes to missions support, we are to treat it like an investment.  We are to monitor and regularly check on how our 'investment' is doing.  This is opposed to how we treat the tithe  and to giving.  Most people do the opposite of what God's Word tells us to do because the wisdom of this world  tells us the do the opposite of the wisdom of God  (1Corinthians).  Instead of checking on what is close and easy while we trust what is far away, God tells us to put our faith in Him for what is close but to verify claims from men who are far away.

      Pray for your missionaries on a regular basis, read their reports, but also send a second witness to the field to verify the claims within those reports.

  4. Our attitude of heart:
    5. The primary attitude of heart that a saved person is to have is: 'We are here to please God'.  If something pleases God then we should do it.  If something does not please God then we should not do it.
    1. Matthew 13:44 says Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.  This is one of the places in the Bible where we get the instruction to deny our fleshly desires and to even sell all in order to have treasure in Heaven.  Notice that the man receives joy,  but that joy  comes after he acts to purchase the field.  The Bible teaches that our future joy  will be in proportion to how much glory  that God gets from our presently life in this world.  Thus, this parable is teaching us to do whatever we can to increase our future joy  by increasing how much glory  that God gets from our presently life in this world.  We find this same lesson in Matthew 19:21, Mark 10:21 and Luke 18:22.
    2. Matthew 6:19-21 says: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  Once more we see the words lay up for yourselves,  which speaks of 'savings and investing' and not of giving.  Next, notice the phrase: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  This tells us why (for)  we should lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven.  By obeying this command we turn our heart  towards Heaven  and away from the lusts of this life.  God is more concerned about your heart  than He is about anything in this world because your heart  is part of what you take to Heaven  and your heart  can only be changed while you are in this world.
    3. Philippians 4:18-19 adds to the prior reference in Philippians with: But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  Notice that Paul now says that their supporting missions was: an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.  This literally tells us that supporting missions pleases God, which is our primary job in this life.  Please also notice that Paul now says my God shall supply all your need.  Pay attention to the fact that this promise is only given to the people who supported the missionary.  Further, he did not promise that all of their desires would be met because that would go against God's effort to only reward the obedient.  If God gave their desires, people would support missions to get lustful desires met and not just do it out of obedience.  Thus, once more, we see that, while our need  is met in this life, our reward is not given until we get to Heaven where we can not lose it.

Godly Actions: Tithing or Robbing God.

  1. Many people believe doctrinal error about what parts of the Bible apply to them.  If we ignore a commandment of God, on the basis of a wrong belief that it does not apply to us, we will lose out on the blessings and may receive punishment.  Therefore, the first thing that we need to know is how to see if a command in the Bible applies to us.
    1. Hebrews 9:15-17 teaches us why the Bible has an Old Testament and a New Testament.  It says And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.  For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.  For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.  These verses are in the middle of a section which is explaining how the application of Old Testament Mosaic Law and Covenant was changed under the New Testament.  What follows is within the context of that part of Hebrews and we will proceed without further consideration of the context.
      1. There is a legal document called a 'Last Will and Testament'.  It has two parts, the 'Will' and the 'Testament'.  The section for the 'Will' says what to do with the stuff we leave behind and the section for the 'Testament' has our last words for the people we leave behind.  Most people don't really care what 'the old man' has to say and, therefore, men dropped the section for the 'Testament'.  God doesn't care about the stuff He left behind and, therefore, dropped the section for the 'Will'.  However, the legal principals are the same for what men consider being a 'Will' and what God calls a 'Testament'.

      2. We can only have one 'Last Will and Testament' in effect at a time.  When we write a new 'Last Will and Testament', it replaces the old one.  The only 'Last Will and Testament' that really matters is the one in effect at the time of death ( For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth).  The basic problem with the 'Book of Mormon' is that they claim that the 'Book of Mormon' is another testament  which sits beside the New Testament and such a claim is legally impossible.  They are fools according to the Bible.

      3. You can not replace my 'Last Will and Testament' and I can not replace yours.  One basic problem with so-called 'new translations' is that men are trying to replace the 'Last Will and Testament' that Jesus Christ died to put into effect and that he rose from the dead to become the mediator  of ( 1Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24).  Further, they will come into His court ( Acts 17:31; Romans 2:16) to try to tell Him that He can not use the 'Last Will and Testament' that He died for.  They are also fools.

    2. Hebrews 9:18-22 tells us that the first testament  was the Mosaic Law.  Therefore, what was replaced is NOT Genesis through Malachi but is limited to the Mosaic Law.

    3. The Mosaic Law has 3 divisions interwoven throughout it.  One division contains the Civil Law for the country of Israel.  That Civil Law is no longer used and God has always told us to obey the law of the land we are in ( Titus 3:1; 1Peter 2:13).  However, 1Corinthians 10:11 tells us that even those parts off the Mosaic law which do not directly apply to us under the New Testament are still to be used for our admonition.  Therefore, we have places in the New Testament, such as the epistle to the Hebrews, which use the spiritual aspects of the Mosaic Law to teach us lessons which still apply in the New Testament.

    4. A second division is the Religious Law that had the ordinances for sacrifices which is what Hebrews 9 tells us was replaced.  That is why we no longer bring blood sacrifices.  However, as mentioned above, those sections are still to be used for our admonition  and we can still use the spiritual aspects of them.

    5. The third division is the Moral Law and tells us how we are to deal with God on a personal level.  It was never revoked.  In Acts 15:19-20, 28-29 we are told parts of the Mosaic Law that we are to keep.  (Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood..For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well).  All of the things listed (as examples) are matters of our personal relationship with God.  For example, usually the only people that know about fornication  are God and the people committing the fornication.  The matters of our personal moral obligations, which are in the Mosaic Law, still apply today under the New Testament.

    6. In addition, to the verses in Acts 15:19-20, Galatians 3:17 states a principal that 'the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.  Therefore, neither the coming of the Mosaic Law nor the passing of the religious part of the Mosaic Law can disannul  personal moral responsibilities that God instituted before giving the Mosaic Law.  As a result, we are still required to most of what is called the Old Testament.

  2. All the blessings of salvation are based upon a promise of God to Abraham.

    1. Galatians 3:15-18 tells us that our salvation is by faith in the promises and covenant that God made to Abraham.  As already discussed, the coming and going of the Law does not affect this promise and covenant.

    2. Galatians 3:22 tells us 'the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.  So we are looking for the promise  and receive it, not by our faith but by faith of Jesus Christ.

    3. Galatians 3:26 tells us For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.  Therefore, the same thing that gives us our salvation (ye are all the children of God) also gives us the promise.

    4. Galatians 3:29 tells us And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.  Therefore, everything is tied into the promise.  We receive the blessings of God when we believe the promise  and act upon it by faith.

  3. Abraham made the Sodomites tithe to honor the provision and protection that came from God.

    1. Hebrews 7:4-8 tells us that the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.  Abraham acted upon a promises from God that God would provide if we honor Him for that provision.  Tithing is based upon a promise of God.  Abraham tithed out of the goods that came from Sodom and made even the lost Sodomites recognize the provision and protection that comes from God.

    2. Genesis 14 tells the story which resulted in Abraham giving tithes.  I will not go into the details here but the tithe actually came from the goods out of Sodom.  According to Genesis 14:21, the King of Sodom was willing to give all in gratitude for the deliverance that came from God through Abraham.  This is the first mention of tithe  in the Bible and gives us our basic definition of tithe.  It is what we give in testimony about Gods provision in our lives.  Someone who claims one thing and does another is a liar and following the doctrine of the devil, who is the father of lies (John 8:44).  When we claim to trust God for His provision but put our trust in money so much that we don't even recognize Gods provision with the tithe we prove ourselves to be a liar.

    3. Malachi 3:10 gives us the promise that God will open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it  if we bring in the tithe and offerings.  While we might not find in the Bible where it directly says that Abraham knew this promise, we can see by his actions that he knew it.

    4. God promised to bless Abraham and his children for living by faith.  We are the children of God by living the same faith that Abraham had (Romans 4 especially 4:16).  Abraham tithed to honor God for His provision.  If we refuse to tithe we are not living by faith and can not expect to receive the promise which is based upon our life of faith.  When we refuse to tithe we are actually refusing to live by faith and, therefore, are demanding that God remove His provision from our lives.

  4. The tithe belongs to God, not us.

    1. Leviticus 27:30, 32; Numbers 18:26; Deuteronomy 14:23; 2Chronicles 31:6 all tell us that the tithe  belongs to the Lord.  We already saw that the moral part of the Mosaic Law still applies directly to us and tithing is definitely part of our personal moral relationship with God.

    2. Malachi 3:8-12 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me.  But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye 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, saith 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.  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.  And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts I can not rob  God by keeping what is mine.  The first way that I can rob  God by taking what is His and putting it in my pocket.  God gives us the ability to get wealth but says that the first tenth that comes to us belongs to Him and He expects us to deliver His part to His warehouse for His ministry on this Earth.  When we rob  God we are assuring that it is only time before God takes away our ability to get wealth.  Look at what happened to the Jews.  Look at what is happening in the U.S.

    3. The next way that I can rob  God is by claiming that what is His came from me.  If I give money to one person to give to another and my messenger claims that the money was from himself then he has robbed me of credit for giving the money.  2Corinthians 9:6-11 teaches the 'law of sowing and reaping'.  As one preacher pointed out, this does not say that 'God loves cheerful giving' but it says God loveth a cheerful giver.  God doesn't want us to be cheerful  only when we are giving but wants us to be cheerful  all of the time because all of the tithes and offerings  are 'seed money' that will reap us the blessings promised in  Malachi 3:8-12.  We aren't to be worrying about the little bit which is the tithe but are to be cheerful  about Gods promise to meet our needs and magnify what we give to His ministry.

    4. The next way that I can rob  God is by keeping part of the tithe and only bringing in part of it.  Leviticus 27:30 tells us And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD.  The land  is where the Jew received all of the provisions for his family.  We receive provisions from our employers.  People who preach that we are to tithe upon our gross income are Biblically wrong because that does not include all  that comes from our source of provision.  We also receive benefits.  I learned this lesson by losing my medical insurance when my ongoing medical costs were over $30,000.00 per year.  God is trying to get His peoples attention by slowly increasing their co-pay for benefits before He has to take them away.  True Biblical tithe  is on all  that comes from our source of provision.  True Biblical tithe  is on gross pay plus all benefits and gifts.

10% of what

  1. The tithe is due on all that we receive.
  2. Tithe is due even on what is paid in taxes and on what we do not personally use but which is provided to another through us.
  3. The blessing of tithing properly and proving, with the tithe, that we really trust God for our provision.
  4. The curse from cheating on our tithe.

Godly Actions: Firstfuit Offering.

Deuteronomy 26:10-11 says And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, of LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God: And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.

These verses explain the purpose of a firstfruits  offering.  The chapter that it is in explains that God had blessed them even though they did nothing to earn such a blessing.  God has shown that He wants to bless them an will bless them more, but they must first show their faith  by bringing a firstfruits  offering which goes beyond the tithe and shows thanks  for how God has already blessed them and faith  in how He will bless them because of this offering.  Within this chapter we see the requirement for God's people to accompany this offering with testimony and thanksgiving for past blessings.  This is to help us get our attitude right about this offering.

In addition, to recognizing and thanking God for past blessings, we are to demonstrate our faith  that God will give further blessings.  The word first  implies more to follow it.  2Corinthians 9:6 says But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.  The size of our firstfruit  offering shows how much fruit  we expect God to give us based upon our faith in Him.

2Kings 4:42-44 says And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

Here we see one of the miracles of the Old Testament done by Elisha at Gilgal to provide for the sons of the prophets.  Out text says that an hundred men  were fed with twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk.  Thus, we see a miracle similar to what was done by Jesus  in the Gospels only this is done in the Old Testament.  We also see that the need was met from a firstfruits  offering.  Thus, the results of your firstfruits  offering is not limited by what can be provided within this physical world but by what God can do with the faith  which you display.

2Chronicles 31:4-5 says Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD. And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.

These verses show us that the firstfruits  offering is meant to provide for the needs of the pastor who teaches you the things of God.  Without his instruction, you would not know how to do things God's way and you would not then have the blessings of God.  But, in order for him to spend time studying God's Word to find the things which will get you blessings, someone else must provide his physical needs.  There is not enough time in the day for him to do both: study the Bible for your good and provide for his physical needs.

Nehemiah 13:31 says And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, of my God, for good.

Firstfruits  are mentioned three times in the book of Nehemiah.  The people had gone into captivity because of their disobedience to God.  Upon being restored to the land, they were instructed to bring the firstfruits  offering so that God could bless them.  In our verse we see that we can pray Remember me, of my God, for good  after we bring the firstfruits  offering.  The disobedient children of God, who were still in captivity, could not pray this prayer and expect God to answer it.

Proverbs 3:9-10 says Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

This Proverb is the instruction of a wise father to a son with the intention of instructing the son in how to get the blessings of God.  Notice that it says to do two things (and)  in order for thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine..  The first is to Honour the LORD with thy substance,  which is speaking of our tithe.  The second is added to it by the use of the word and.  The phrase and with the firstfruits of all thine increase  speaks about bringing an offering and specifically means the entire amount of a raise in the first check when we receive it.

Jeremiah 2:3 says Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

Simply put: we offend...the Lord  and are promised evil shall come upon them  if we devour...the firstfruits of his increase.

Ezekiel 20:39-40 says As for you, of house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols. For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.

These verses basically warn that God will not accept an offering of firstfruits  in order for the person to receive a blessing if they are involved in false religion or sin.  Every promise that we have seen was made to obedient children of God and does not extend to the disobedient.

Romans 8:23 says And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Here we see that God regards firstfruits  to be spiritual in nature (the firstfruits of the Spirit)  while the resulting blessing is physical in nature (the redemption of our body).  We must remember that a firstfruits  offering is spiritual, and therefore does not follow the rules of our flesh or this world, even though it results in physical blessings.

Romans 16:5 says Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

Salvation (the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ)  is spiritual in nature which results in changing the physical life of the saved.  This matches everything else that we have seen with the Biblical use of the word firstfruits.  If someone has claimed to be saved for some time and there is not evident change to their physical life then their life does not match the Biblical use of the word firstfruits.  There is a good chance that they have believed in vain,  they have deceived themselves  and are still lost in their sin.

1Corinthians 15:20, 23 says But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept...But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Since Christ is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept,  we are guaranteed of our own physical resurrection.

We see here many details about how the Bible uses the word firstfruits.  However, some things are consistent.

  1. Firstfruits  are spiritual but result in physical blessings.
  2. Firstfruits  require us to act in faith.  We must give something that has a physical value with the faith  that God will see us acting spiritually.
  3. Firstfruits  provide for the physical needs of those people who provide us spiritual truths.
  4. Firstfruits  go beyond the tithe.  Saved people who do not bring the tithe and a firstfruits  offering may see their physical provision diminished while saved people who bring both can see physical blessings which can only be explained as 'God did it!'.
  5. Bringing a firstfruits  offering does not replace our requirement to stop following false religions, and to stop our sinning.

Godly Actions: Entering God's rest.

  1. God created His Rest  to provide additional blessings.

    1. Hebrews 3:7-11 teaches us that the Jews were not allowed to enter Gods rest  because of their unbelief that is recorded in Numbers 13 and 14 and in Deuteronomy 1:19-46.  Gods Rest  was a land that floweth with milk and honey.  This is the life more abundantly  promised in John 10:10.  This is not just meeting our needs but providing things that we enjoy but do not necessarily 'need'.

    2. Matthew 11:28-30 tells us that Gods rest  is unto your souls.  Our soul  is our mind, our will and our emotions.  While God will meet our physical needs, God's rest  is not about physical needs or lusts.

  2. Very few of God people enter His Rest.

    1. Hebrews 3:17-19 tells us that 'them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness  should not enter into his rest because of unbelief.  Only Caleb and Joshua entered. 

    2. Hebrews 4:1 says Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.  This makes it clear that some / many of Gods people will not enter (seem to come short) Gods rest.  The rest of Hebrews 4 tells us about Gods rest to the people of God  and how to enter it.  It also warns that we can fail to enter into that rest  if we follow after the same example of unbelief.

    3. Caleb and Joshua entered Gods rest  by faith.  Where other saw giants and were afraid, Caleb and Joshua saw Giants and an opportunity to prove that God will do the 'impossible' through His people if they believe.

  3. The requirements to enter God Rest.

    1. The walk of faith that we see in Caleb and Joshua was the same in both of them because they believed when faced with the 'impossible'.  Others believed for what was 'hard' such as crossing the Red Sea and following Joshua into battle.  However, the level of faith for doing what is 'hard' wasn't sufficient to enter Gods rest.  Only the faith that truly understands I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me  (Philippians 4:13) and gets rid of all provision other than God and then charges into the 'impossible' (because that is the ONLY way to prove that it was God doing it) is sufficient to enter Gods rest.

    2. Caleb and Joshua had a personal walk with God and it was proven by God leading each differently.  Joshua led the nation and left a testimony of Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.  (Joshua 24:14-15).

    3. Caleb showed his faith by being a faithful warrior and when everyone else was taking a rest, he demanded another mountain full off the biggest giants to take on with only his own household (Joshua 14).

    4. Gods people can enter Gods rest  only if they meet Gods requirements.

      1. Gods people must be spiritually mature enough to be a warrior who can stand in opposition to all of Gods people when Gods people are wrong (such as Joshua and Caleb did).

      2. They must be willing to follow and support Gods appointed authority even when personally suffering for it.  God tells us to submit with a Godly attitude and we only have to submit when we are sure that the leader is wrong.

      3. They have to have the spiritual maturity to stay faithful while God kills off all of the doubters and creates circumstances which make it clear that what is done was done by God and not done in the flesh.

      4. They must have the spiritual maturity to have a personal walk with Christ  and know when He is leading them personally in ways which He does not lead others but which will bring God greater glory.

      5. They must be spiritually mature enough to get rid on all fleshly provision so that Christ  can do the 'impossible' through their lives and there be no question as to Who really did what was done.

      6. Finally, they must look for that 'impossible' thing that God wants to do through their personal life which is different than what he is doing through the lives of others.

Godly Actions: Getting Money the Right Way

How you get money is more important than the amount that you have.  Pay attention to the following verses and realize that many more places in the Bible also teach the same things.

In the Gospel of John we see Jesus presented as the Son of God.  In that Gospel, Jesus refused to answer any challenge to His authority but answered every demand that he provide witnesses to back His doctrine.  One of His witnesses was John the Baptist and we should avoid following the doctrine of men who our God given authority (pastor, etc) will not approved.  The second witness of Jesus was God the Father.  God the Father gave us His Word and we should be sure that any doctrine which we receive has at least two witnesses from the word of God unless it comes from our God given authority (pastor, etc).  (Several places in the word of God tell us to submit to our God given authority and do not require that authority to have any witness from the word of God because they often must deal with situations where there is not a literal verse to quote.)  The last witness of Jesus was the works  (miracles) that God did through Him.

The Bible tells us to have two or three witnesses ( Matthew 18:16, 20; 1Corinthians 14:29; 2Corinthians 13:1; 1Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28).  Below are the witnesses from the word of God.  In addition, I have a witness of God working in my life in a way that I may not have again, but wish to use for His glory while I can.

For over 25years I have put over 25% of my gross income into the Lords work.  In the last couple of years I have tried to increase that percentage by seeking personal guidance from Christ.  I started last year praying that God would enable me to put 40% into His work.  This was only possible by my personally seeking what Gods Word says about finances and obeying those instructions by faith.  If any disagree that it takes faithful obedience then let them provide proof of any person who has given that percentage or more for at least a full year and claims that they did it in the flesh.  During the year I had medical costs over 10% of my gross income.  My rental property was damaged and I lost over 1/3of my gross income.  I was in an accident and out of work (with lost income) for 3months.  When I did my taxes 1/3of my giving to the Lords work could not be claimed because it was over the IRS limit of 50%.  I hope that people can see that this is only possible by Christ working through my life.  I also expect to exceed the IRS limit again this year.  Anyone who knows anything about IRS audits knows that this type of claim is always kicked out for human verification.  I have not been called in for an audit and the only reason that the IRS would not do so, with such an unusual claim, is because I have already established a pattern of high percentage giving.  That is, the lack of an IRS audit is evidence supporting my initial claim of giving over 25% for more than 25years and steadily increasing that percentage in recent years.

While I was increasing my giving, I went through an accident that caused non-believing medical people to say my survival and recovery were both miraculous.  So if you had a choice between being rich and dead or crippled or being poor and functional, which would you really choose?  If the people of God will listen, I believe the following doctrine can help them receive the blessings of God in their personal lives.

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Godly Actions: Getting money the wrong way brings a curse.

Going to the world to finance God's work brings a curse.  Many churches and saved people have financial problems because they borrowed money from banks.

  1. Proverbs 11:15 says He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure.  What the Bible calls suretiship  is what the world calls 'credit'.  Credit companies make credit easy for people to get when they have steady income.  This is a trap.  People borrow instead of saving.  They make foolish purchases.  They would realize that many of these purchases are foolish if they only waited until they had saved enough money to pay cash.  In addition, to spending their money foolishly, they also pay extra by paying interest for the credit instead of getting interest on their savings.  Avoid loans and credit cards which let you buy now and pay later.  The only way to use a credit card is for convenience which means you must pay it off before any interest is charged.  Some things like car rental and some airline tickets require a credit card so that the government can track you.  If you do this type of travel or do other things which demand a credit card then get one and never charge any amount unless you already have that much cash in the bank.  If you don't absolutely need a credit card then don't get one.

  2. Companies that make payday loans  and pensioner loans make a lot of money.  They are not in business to help people out.  If you go without until you can save for what you want you will find out that you don't really need things that you think you need.  In addition, you will learn how to get the things that you really need by using a cheaper method.  Mainly, you will avoid paying fees and interest which means that you get to keep more of your money.

  3. The Bible teaches us to ask God for what we need, especially to do the work of God, and to wait for God to provide.  Instead, churches in America borrowed money from worldly banks based upon the offerings that they were receiving during good times.  Then bad times came and offerings dropped.  In some cases, the banks then told some churches that they could not preach things that upset people because that would drop offerings and the church would not be able to pay their mortgage.  When you take out a loan and put up something like the church building as collateral, you make the bank your partner and they have a legal right to control what is said and done in the church or done in your home.  2Corinthians 6:14 says Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

  4. Proverbs 22:1 says A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.  Ecclesiastes 7:1 says A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.  In America, saved people bought houses when the cost of houses was rising.  They were sure that they could make a profit.  Then the crash came and the value of their house dropped below what they owed on it and they could not sell because they couldn't pay what was still owed after they sold.  Many then lost their jobs.  Many saved people 'mailing in the keys', told the bank to take the house because they were no longer paying the mortgage.  They declared bankruptcy to get out of debt but destroyed their name (testimony) before God and man.  Yes they got out of the mortgage but lost the blessings of God.  No matter what circumstances we get into, God expects us to keep our vows.  That means that God wants us to avoid vows, such as taking out loans, as much as possible.

  5. Psalms 15 starts our with LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?  Psalms 15:4 says He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.  If you do not keep your vows and pay your debts even when that debt is to your own hurt,  then you will not be allowed to dwell in (God's) holy hill.  You will give up the eternal blessings of God in order to have an easier time on this earth.


God's Program

God always deals with attitudes before dealing with actions.  Below are some of the attitudes that God wants us to have about money.  These are just a few of the things in God's program with the verses mentioned above, and other related verses, providing much more.  Thus, below is just a highlight.

  1. Proverbs 13:22 says A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.  You cannot do this unless you are what God calls just  and you save that inheritance that you will leave.

  2. Proverbs 24:27 says Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.  Live on what you have and learn how to get God's supply before growing family / ministry which gives greater responsibility.  Make sure that you want to stay in a job for several years before buying a house and property.  Rent until then.

  3. 1Corinthians 10:21 says ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.  The table  is talking about provision.  God wants His people to get their needs met by Him and His people.  1Corinthians 10:23 says All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.  Yes, we can get loans from banks and the provision of the world, but doing so does not edify  the ministry of God.  Look to God and not the world.  If you have to borrow money, borrow it from God's people God's way and don't go to the world.

  4. Proverbs 13:23 says Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.  Learn God's way to use what you have and realize that most of the people that you know will say that you are being foolish to not do what they think will make them rich or at least preserves the culture that you were raised in.  A simple example is the typical Filipino diet which causes a large percentage of Filipinos to end up as diabetics.

  5. Psalms 37:7 says Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.  Do without things that you want for now, or buy cheaper versions and do all that you can to build a reserve savings.  However, unless God tells you to personally do otherwise, do not put more than 10% of your income into this reserve savings.  Allow it to build through steady additions instead of a quick method.  In addition, to providing for emergencies, this builds self-control and reduces the control of fleshly lusts upon you.  Reserve savings are because 'life happens'.  This reserve is only used for emergencies such as an accident that puts someone in the hospital.  If used for other things then it will not be there when it is needed.  When your reserve level is met, put money into other things.  When your reserve is used, replenish it first by reducing money to items after this.  Use this fund also for a special offering such as for missions or camp.  This is also where you get the money for glasses or some other rarely bought physical support item.  Keep this separate from other savings funds or you will not have anything available when the need arises.

  6. 1Corinthians 11:1 says Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.  Find someone who actually served God while providing for their retirement and who are actually retired but still serving God to the best of their abilities.  Ask them how they provided for their retirement and do the same.  Many people don't ever have much saved for retirement but if you are truly dedicating your life to serving the Lord then He will provide.  However, beware that many people claim to trust the Lord but are not truly serving Him now.  Those people are fools who will not have their needs supplied by God in the time of their need.


Those who reject Godly attitudes about giving.

While each of these Attitudes often require several messages by pastors for people to start adopting them, only a little additional information will be given here.  The idea is not to explain but to provide the basis for others to study more on their own.  In addition, it needs to be noted that these Attitudes are not the only ones which affect our finances but only the most basic  The world provides several different doctorates for handling money and each of those doctorates require at least 8 years of full time study.  Therefore, the following is only a high-level of the most basic attitudes about money.

  1. The Fool:  Most poor people come from poor families.  Their families have been poor for several generations.  They have been taught to do things which keep them poor and to think that God's way to stop being poor is foolishness.  If you really want to stop being poor and if you want to keep your children from being poor then you have to stop doing some of the things that your parents taught you and you have to replace them with things that God's Word tells us to do.  Psalms 14:1 and Psalms 53:1 both start with The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.  and then go on to explain more about how men prove their belief with their action.  Notice that these verses say that the fool  said this in his heart.  When a person claims one belief from their mouth and lives a different belief, they prove themselves to be a liar and a child of Satan (John 8:44).

    How we live, over an extended period of time, proves what we believe in our heart.  The poor, who claims to believe God and yet holds onto traditions which go against the Bible and keep people poor generation after generation, proves that he is a Biblical fool.  He is a Biblical fool  because he holds onto what 'makes sense' even when it goes against what the Bible literally says.  This is only one example, of many, where God's people claim to believe the Bible yet prove that they are Biblical fools  because they do not obey God and receive the promises of God.  1Corinthians chapters 1-3 teach us that the wisdom of this world / man  are opposite of the wisdom of God.  Thus, we have a choice: we can abandon what 'makes sense' and obey what the Bible literally says and, thereby prove that we are acting in faith,  or we can hold onto our traditions, which 'make sense', and remain poor and wondering why God won't bless us while we insist upon acting like Biblical fools.  Disobedience to the word of God is saying in our heart, There is no God.  Disobedience to the word of God makes us Biblical fools.

  2. The Hasty:  The lessons before this one provided verses which teach that God will reward people who are faithful, consistent and seek to earn money in a Godly way.  God curses people who use wrong means.  As such, the Bible says that the person who is hasty  reaps the reward of a such a person.

    Many hasty  people gamble in order to 'get rich quick'.  The Bible makes it clear that all 'get rich quick schemes' are of the flesh, are not of God, and result in loss to anyone who follows them.  Just look at the increased number and size of governments run lotteries.  Fools look at the amount of the prize and ignore the fact that their chance to win is less than that 1 in 100 million.  Fools also ignore the fact that governments run these to get rich and that most of the money comes from the poor.

    The Lotto has been accurately called a tax on the poor.  These games are designed to take money from the players.  They only take a little from each player but with lots of players the total amount taken is a lot of money.  The majority of the money goes to the people running the game and while the prize given to one or two winners seems to be a lot, it is a small part of the amount taken in.  Governments tell people that they tax people who make more money than the poor and claim that they provide for the poor.  However, they deceive poor people about the Lotto and make them think their hope is in winning the lotto.  The money that poor put into the Lotto is often a higher percentage than the tax paid by people who make more money.  Further, playing the Lotto stops God from blessing you because you playing the Lotto proves that your true hope is not in God but in the Lotto which uses the way of the world instead of faith in God.

    Think of a water reservoir.  A slow flow of water fills it at a fairly constant rate.  When someone opens a faucet they get water a lot faster than the rate at which the tank is filled, so long as there is water in the tank.  Almost always, the use of a tank allows collecting more water than is used.  This is the principal of Lotto and all gambling.  The people running the gambling house / Lotto are like the tank.  They take in a lot of small gains over an extended period of time and tell everyone to look at the great outflow that happens rarely and people fail to realize that they are actually collecting much more than they pay out and are getting rich.  This is the principal that God tells people to use.  Think of Joseph.  He could not have saved grain, and saved the world while making Pharaoh the richest man in the world, if he did not have and use warehouses.  Yet many saved people insist that they have no need of a bank account because they don't have enough to put money into the bank.  In reality, they are not seeking God's judgment  when spending money and they fail to understand that a lifetime of small deposits will fill their account and make them rich just like the small water flow fills the tank.

    Proverbs 21:5-7 warns that the hasty  have thoughts only to want.  That means that people who follow 'get rich' schemes only have thoughts which will make them poor.  Most Lotto winners are bankrupt within a year, even though every one of them is sure that they will be the exception and hold onto their winnings.  God tells His children to avoid all get rich schemes and to work a job for wages while trusting God to teach them how to handle their money so that they can keep more of what they earn.  Most of the other verses which use the word hasty  teach similar lessons.  The reader can look these up, pray about them and study them within their context to have several points to a message, or just better personal understanding, if they want more Bible on this point.

    If someone is a child of God then God will make sure that they do not win the Lotto or that they have a disaster afterwards.  God wants us to trust Him for our needs and not the world.  God tells us to be steady, faithful and consistent workers.  Don't worry about the person getting ahead of you because they will 'crash and burn' if they are using the wrong methods.  Definitely, avoid anything that promises quick and easy money.

  3. The Lazy:  The Bible does not use the word 'lazy" but uses the word slouth.  This word only appears 17times and each of these verses teach us an important lesson.  These verses are:
    • Judges 18:9 says: And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.  This is part of when God brought His people to the promised land the first time.  They accepted the bad report at first and then tried to go up later and were rejected by God.  Procrastination is a form of sloth  and the price of it can be terrible.
    • Proverbs 12:24 says: The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.  Basically, the slothful  is always going to have someone telling him what to do and taking part of his money so that he remains poor.  Our verse also tells us that the cure is to become diligent.
    • Proverbs 12:27 says: The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.  It takes diligence  to be a successful hunter or fisher.  While I am neither, my brother is both.  The slothful man  has to accept scraps and lesser quality of food, which also means a poorer quality of health and life.
    • Proverbs 15:19 says: The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.  It's painful to get scratched up by thorns.  Our verse tells us that the slothful man  keeps running into painful problems with no apparent way to avoid the pain while the righteous  is shown a clear way to go which avoids all of the thorns.
    • Proverbs 18:9 says: He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.  That is, the slothful in his work  wastes a lot, if not a great  amount, and he has less to use for himself.
    • Proverbs 19:15 says: Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.  The more that a person lays around the harder it is to get motivated.  Yet, the people who fail to get motivated enough to provide the basic necessities are going to go hungry.
    • Proverbs 19:24 says: A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.  This is the person who says 'I can't! You do for me' and finds that people not only won't do what he can do for himself, but that people don't even want to help him with what he really needs help on.
    • Proverbs 21:25 says: The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.  People that are extremely over weight die earlier than the average person because excess weight puts extra strain on body parts.  Also, people with joint problems, such as a bad back, find that the best way to reduce pain is the work the joint in a proper manner.  Likewise, the slothful  refuses to work their body enough to maintain proper health and their laying around causes excess strain on body parts when they finally do move.  The combination killeth him,  as our verse says.
    • Proverbs 22:13 says: The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.  The slothful man  finds any excuse to avoid work and, in the process, misses out on many other good things in life.
    • Proverbs 24:30-34 says: I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.  This person feels that it doesn't matter if they maintain things like a wall because that doesn't grow crops.  But, as the conclusion says, So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.  We look out and see one that travelleth  and he seems a long way away.  So we stop looking for some time and then when we next look, he is right on top of us.  Likewise, you're not going to stop an armed man.  Our verses are telling us that when you're too lazy to do proper maintenance of what you have, you will lose it in a way that you can't stop and it will seem as if the destruction comes suddenly while the truth is that you could have avoided the destruction if you were diligent with your maintenance.
    • Proverbs 26:13 says: The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.  See Proverbs 22:13, above.
    • Proverbs 26:14 says: As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.  Instead of getting up and going to work, he rolls over for more sleep.  When he's late then he complains about not having any opportunity when the reality is that another person took the opportunity while he slept in late.
    • Proverbs 26:15 says: The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth.  As we have already seen, the slothful  grieves over even providing the basics of life for themselves.  They feel that someone else owes them their living.  This belief is the basis of all communistic and socialistic systems.
    • Ecclesiastes 10:18 says: By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.  There are many cultures, such as the Philippines, where people maintain personal cleanliness and, to some extent, will clean their buildings but rarely do quality construction or maintenance.  A cement building lasting only 50 years is considered normal while wood buildings in snow regions of the U.S. and Canada are expected to last over 100 years.  As our verse tells us, this difference in rates of decay  and   are directly due to the level of maintenance which is controlled by the level of slothfulness  which is accepted as normal within the respective cultures.  Don't get me wrong, there is plenty to criticize in the cultures of the U.S. and Canada, but slothfulness  is not one of them.  Further, we can not correct error and sin while we deny the existence of the same.  If we continue to deny the truth, we will reap the results of our sin and error.
    • Matthew 25:26 says: His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:  This is part of the parable about the talents.  The details are too much to go into here, and are covered elsewhere, but this person went to Heaven but also received over 1,000 yearss of tears.  Satan and his ministers want us to believe that this warning is a lie so that we will ignore it and suffer these consequences.
    • Romans 12:11 says: Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;  As explained in the note for this sentence within the Book Study on Romans, the sentence that this verse is part of is also part of the progressive steps of spiritually maturing which is given within this chapter of Romans.  Basically, we must stop being slothful  in order to mature spiritually.
    • Hebrews 6:12 says: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.  Simply put: if we personally (ye)  are slothful  then we are not followers of them  whom we should be following, we have not faith and patience  and we do not inherit the promises.  This is God's final word to His children who are slothful.

    Another way that God helps His people is to teach them to look at the total cost of something over the life of that thing.  However, doing so requires diligent research after we learn how to get this information and how to verify it and how to analyze it.  Lazy people claim that this is too much work.  Cons know this and use this human trait to steal from lazy foolish people.  For example, the world tells us to focus only on the immediate costs and ignore the long term costs.  Doing things the world's way is quicker and easier.  However, following the world's way also makes us trapped into using something with small initial costs and high long-term costs.  While there are many examples that I could give, people who are guilty of such errors tend to get anger when their foolishness is exposed.  Therefore, I will let the reader pray and ask God to show them examples from the culture that they live in.

  4. The Unbeliever:  The Bible has a lot to say about unbelievers,  and uses many words beyond this one to warn us about the consequences of being this type of person.  For example, Revelation 21:8 says that the unbeliever...shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.  The problem is that many saved people focus on the lost when they hear about unbelievers,  but refuse to consider that saved also fit into this category and suffer the consequences of it.  A simple example is that we have all heard warnings about smoking, and yet saved people still do it.  They are unbelievers.  A lot of the reason is because it has a low cost when just started, but high life-time costs.  I don't have to tell you all of the things wrong with smoking because that information is everywhere.  People prove that they are fools by doing this type of action which has been proven to be self-destructive.  While it might seem as if they don't know the facts, if you talk to such people you will find that they know what is said but refuse to believe the published facts.  Many of these people have personal experiences which cause them to not trust authority figures.  However, they need to learn how to separate trustworthy authorities, such as the Bible, from untrustworthy authorities, such as selfish man.  They also need to realize that always doing the opposite of what an authority says still lets that authority control your behaviour.  Once this is realized, they need to learn how to doubt and do their own analysis instead of just doing the opposite of what an authority says.
    There is a simple test that anyone can do.  Find all of the old people that you can and see if they smoke or not and what their health, especially their breathing, is like.  Also find a source for statistical data that (generally) opposes the message of 'the establishment'.  Once you figure up the cost for yourself, then sit down and write out the benefits.  When you add in the benefits of your social group, take a serious look at their ability to help you have a happy life and compare that to the happiness of truly Godly people.  If you are truly honest you will find that the truly Godly have the best life.  However, to be like them you have to start believing, and obeying, the word of God.
    Count how many cigarettes you smoke in a month.  Multiply that by 12.  Also add up how much you spend on cigarettes each month including going to buy them and the cost for things like lighters.  Multiply that by 12.  Then confess to God that you are wasting this much money on a sinful self-destructive habit and ask God to explain why you don't have more money, after considering the cost of this sin.  See if God doesn't tell you that He loves you too much to give you the means to start an even more self-destructive sinful habit.

God's Plan

God always starts with out attitudes because after our attitudes are right, there is no problem correcting our actions.  God's basic plan to correct our attitudes is to show us His love, grace and mercy and then let us know it really is best for us if we accept His attitudes and actions about all things that affect our life.  After we get our attitudes right, we must then act upon those attitudes by doing God's actions.  The blessings do not come until after we do God's actions.

  1. Learn the character of God and realize that the more we become like Him the more He will bless us but the more we turn from Him the more He will have to punish us.  Learn to love what God loves and hate what God hates.

  2. Realize that the more we walk by faith and have a life that demonstrates dependence upon God and a lack of dependence on the flesh, the more God will bless us.

  3. Study the Bible to find the promises of God and the requirements that God has in order for us to receive those promises.  Do the actions required to receive the promises and witness about how you expect to receive the promise and also witness every time that a promise is received.

  4. Go to work as God's plan for men.  Look for the job that you can learn how to do and that pays the highest wage available of those jobs which you can get.  Avoid anything that promises to make you rich quickly.  Get the education required for the better jobs so that God can use you to provide for His ministry.

  5. No matter how we get money, the first thing that we are to do is pay God's tithes.  These are not ours and keeping them will bring the judgment of God.  The tithe is to honor God and show the world that you believe that God provided what you have even if it was only by letting you get a job.

  6. Second comes basic food, clothing and shelter.  The emphasis is on the word 'basic' and this comes after our tithe.

  7. Next: start doing some offering on a regular basis.  This is beyond the tithe and is to say 'thank you God'.  This attitude is required to get God's teachings and blessings in this world.

  8. Next: do without things that you want for now and do all that you can to build a reserve savings.  Start saving with what you can even if it is only one peso a week.  Increase how much you save as quickly as you can until you are saving 10% of what you make.  Then stay at 10% until you have at least enough to live 6 months with no other income.

  9. Change your diet to one that produces long-term health instead of the diet that you were raised on.  Change other things that you were taught which do not match God's Word and which provide short-term gratification while increasing long-term costs.  This requires God teaching you personal wisdom.

  10. Avoid buying what everyone else is getting and stop comparing yourself to other people.  Realize that unless your spending is different than those around you, you will remain poor just like most people around you are going to remain poor.

  11. Once you have some reserve savings, but before you have all that is recommended, start spiritual investments such as regular missions support.  This is to be your investment in eternity so that you have something beyond basic food, shelter and clothing in Heaven.  Your doing some of the things mentioned above should free up some of your income for this type of eternal investing.

  12. Next make small savings for small 'splurges' such as ice cream.  We all need regular encouragements but try to make them inexpensive.  The important thing with this savings is to keep it small.  This is where you get the funds for gifts such as those given on Christmas.  Something that is thought out and hand-made is better than something expensive and that had little thought before it was purchased.

  13. Now is when you put money into retirement savings.

  14. The final savings category is for physical desires such as car or your own house.
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