Tithes, First Fruits, and Offerings
I receive many prayer request each month. The number one request for
prayer is in the area of finances!
More people ask for prayer concerning financial needs than for physical
healing, more than for marriages, or even for lost loved ones!
Is God silent on this vital issue? Does He care? Does He know? Does He have a plan that includes help both for our soul and
for our financial well being?
There is Good News! He
does!
Because God wants to bless you and see you succeed in all things, He has
put a system into place based on the principle of “tithing, first-fruits, and
offerings (sowing seed.)”
Robert Morris, in his book The Blessed Life, penned a profound
truth in his statement, “It is all about the heart!” Jesus, our Lord, declared, “Where a man’s treasure is, there
is his heart also!”
Whatever you treasure is where you will center your life. Your treasure
is what you spend your time, energies, and money upon. If your treasure is God, He will be
where you deposit your time, talents and money-your treasure!
We need to treasure God with
our treasures! It benefits us to treasure God and what God treasures! What does God treasure and how what part does Right Finances
please the heart of God?
As we look at finances and issues with finances we need to be sure we
understand where we are financially.
Not many people have enough money to pay all of their bills in a timely
manner. This is because of lack of
discipline – how many of you know how much money is in your checking account
right now? Do you know what your
net worth is? Do you have any
money in savings? This is how we
are robbed in our finances. In
order for us to be good stewards and for God to bless our finances we must
first know what we have and what we need.
How much of your emotional time and energy do you spend pondering over
bills? How am I going to pay my
rent, my mortgage, my light bill, and of course my cell phone bill – not to
mention which credit card will I pay.
If you are truly struggling financially I encourage you first of all to
sit down and find out what your real financial snap shot looks like. My guess if you are not tithing,
because you do not have the money to tithe. So my question for you today is: Would you dedicate sometime over the next week to look at
your finances? Then begin thinking
and praying asking God to give you a plan to get out of debt. Yes OUT OF DEBT! Think about what you would be able to
do for your family and for the kingdom if you were out of debt. I promise you if you follow the plans
in God’s word about finances you can be DEBT FREE.
As we embark on this fast
to start out 2014, let your prayer be for God to assist you in getting your
finances in order. I challenge you
today to list all of your debt and all of your income. More than likely
you will find lots of monies spent on eating out and Walmart stops that
you did not know you were spending.
As you read Malachai 3:10
God challenges us to test him with our finances. So I would like for you to take God at
his word. Test him and see…..
How do you begin?
1.
List all of your expected income.
2.
List all of your debt
3.
Calculate what your tithe should be.
4.
Write your check or give your tithe to God.
5.
Pray for God’s blessings on your tithe.
6.
Record everything that you purchase or pay in a journal for the
remainder of the month.
7.
Pray daily for wisdom.
8.
Record in your journal how God is working in the area of finances in
your life.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father I thank
you today for the new words of wisdom I have received in regards to
Right Finances. I ask you Lord to
bless me and my household, help me to see all the blessings that you have given
me. I pray that as I have given my
tithe you will rebuke the devour in my life. Help me to be more conscience of my finances and to take
care of the things you have already provided for me and my family.
Journal:
Please journal your deepest thoughts on how you need God’s help to get
your financial house in order. Be
very honest with God. Ask him to
show you your strengths and weaknesses.
Pray for God to allow you and your spouse to be able to discuss finances
openly. Determine to let God show
you a Great Financial Plan for 2014,
No comments:
Post a Comment