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Trusting God Instead of Knucklehead Ideas — 23 Comments

  1. Wow! What a testimony William! I identify with you and thank you for allowing The Holy Spirit to inspire you to write your experience for my correction and instruction in righteousness.

    (11)
  2. Is tithe the result of personal choices or outside pressures? Read 2 Corinthians 9:7 and Matthew 6:21. Offering calls frequently quote Malachi 3:10.

    (4)
    • Paul, 2 Corinthians 9:7 is talking about offerings not tithe. Malachi 3:8-10 is talking about tithes and offerings. But we should always give cheerfully. Its not that God needs our money as much as we need a way to express our love for Him.

      (10)
    • Paul, that would depend on whether one believes in God and is seeking to know and follow His will(Eph 5:17, Matt 7:24) or not. If like Cain, one is bent to follow their own will, they will see the Word of God, however it may come to them, as "outside pressure", yet God is seeking to sanctify us through His Truth/Word, for this is His will(1 Thess 4:3), that all might become fit to dwell with Him forever.

      See also Rev 3:19, which tells us that the rebuke through Malachi was because the LORD loved those erring souls He would soon die to save.

      If the "reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness" of God is viewed as outside pressure, it is due to a corrupt heart isn't it?

      (1)
      • Thank God he can mend a corrupt heart, if that corrupt heart allows God to replace his/her heart with a heart no longer corrupt, it does not matter if it originated from outside pressure or not. Some call it out of fear. That initial outside pressure, or out of fear, if you will is converted by GOD. He has promised.
        Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
        Ezekiel 36:26.

        (2)
  3. Dear William, thank you for your post.
    I like the thought of finding a way to express out love to God by practical means. If you don't mind I will take your 'one liner' ("Its not that God needs our money as much as we need a way to express our love for Him."), and use it in my presentation in a fortnight in my local church on 'Offerings'
    Godbless today, Mrs A Stolz

    (4)
  4. A little humor: In Genesis 32:36 Jacob says, I will not let you go until you bless me. Years ago William says, I will not let my tithes go until you bless me (with a raise)! Just having a little fun. William, your writings are blessings. They are practical and your readers can easily identify with many of your experiences. Thank you for allowing God to use you in this way.

    (6)
  5. Last week i asked our SS class if Cain and Able were tithing or offering in Gen 4. We concluded it was not tithes. What a great reminder of the difference. God brought great conviction to Cain, which he a again denied, then killed his brother.
    Your story confirms that God still desires our heart and desires to bring us conviction rather than just a preference.

    (0)
    • Michel,Interesting question. The account of Cain and Able says they both brought an offering. Some, choose to think this was a tithe as understood per their own persuasions. In the class that I attended, we discussed the conversation between God and Cain. It is clear that The character of Cain was selfish, violent, and unloving. A characteristic that God did not accept.

      (1)
  6. I too wish to share a wonderful experience in faithful tithing. As a newly wed, l was living in another country and not yet working. My husband was self employed and income was to say the least sporadic. We rented a house. One month we only just had enough money to pay the four hundred dollars rent due next Monday. There was not enough to also return tithe. After some prayerful deliberation we decided that Friday to return the tithe the next day - Sabbath - and leave the consequences with GOD. The following day - Sunday my husband received an order. The client handed him a down payment of exactly four hundred dollars in cash. He had no idea of our financial predicament. Thus bright and early on Monday morning we were able to pay our rent due. What a wonderful blessing and assurance of our faithful promise keeping GOD.

    .

    (10)
  7. Then there was the case of my beloved mother. Widowed as a young woman she never remarried. She did a part time job so that to all intents and purposes she was to us children always at home when we left for and returned from school. Suffice it to say that while we never went hungry nor lacked suitable clothing money was tight. However all her (Adventist) life she was a regular and faithful tithe payer.
    When she passed away, the blessing of the LORD was such that she had more money in her will than we could account for from her meagre part time salary over the years. Truly GOD's mathematics is different to ours for the more we give away and return as tithe, the more there is multiplied to give like the loaves and fish.

    (9)
  8. Dear William I love your part of the story.

    This year am determined to do what is right as far as tithing is concerned. Not just bcoz i need blessings as in Malachi 3:10 but for Purposes of Honesty and doing what is RIGHT. TRUTH

    (4)
  9. How is returning a faithful title connected to serving in a church office? Why does the SDA church connect giving a consistent tithe and offering to fitness for ministry?

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    • Because when we trust our own works we reject the sacrifice Chtist has made on our behalf. When we tithe we show we trust Jesus instead of our works. A leader must trust Jesus, otherwise what is the point of being a leader? Also leaders must be consistently obedient or they are not true leaders.

      (5)
    • Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matt 6:21) Even if we did not have Christ's words, it's just common sense to only elect people to leadership who support the work they are to be leading in all possible ways they can, including finances.

      It seems to me that if our heart (Matt 6:21) isn't in the work, we are not suited to leading in any part of the work.

      (3)
  10. In 2004, I had received my salary, paid all the bills and had nothing left except the Tithe, I took the tithe, pray to God and returned the money to God on sabbath. i had nothing left,no food. The following Sunday, I received a friend, we talked for some time, and then he asked me if I had a wheelbarrow. I answered him that my neighbour has and I will borrow it for him. He said I must do that. He told me to go to his house, he took a 50Kg bag of maize and 25kg bag of groundnuts, put them in the wheelbarrow and we brought the food home. I had enough food for the month. God knows our needs.

    (7)
  11. I love every story you put up here to teach us lessons in God will. I remember years ago I was not paying the Tithe, and was on a fixed income at the time only getting SSDI. I was going broke, and barely paying my rent, and other bills. I knew I was no doing what god wanted me to do in paying my tithe. But after I prayed, and started to give my tithe. My financial situation improve after I started tithing. Also I got some money, and food from the church to tie me over until things inproved. I been faithful since then, and I am blessed how God provided for me all theses years since.

    (3)
  12. From young I was taught we return our tithe to God’s treasury since everything we own comes from Him. As I read several times where the author of the lesson says we pay tithe, it not only confuses me and makes me uncomfortable to think we are the ones paying into the treasury to support God’s work.

    (1)
  13. Tithes come in many sizes and shapes. The applications are multifaceted depending on where and how you live. One application is when and how we can bless others who are needful. It would be very unusual that there is never a need. Tithe is used for this purpose as noted in 2 Corinthians 11:7-10.

    (0)
    • It seems to me that 2 Cor 11:7-10 makes no reference to tithe at all. Paul is writing about not being a burden to the Corinthians because the Macedonians contributed to his living expenses. Whether or not they regarded their contributions to his ministry as tithe, he does not say.

      (2)

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