July 11, 2008

1948 was the year the "Big Bang" theory was introduced, the game "Scrabble" was first played, and state of Israel was established. It was also the year that A. W. Tozer wrote The Pursuit of God—a small book, but one that has profoundly influenced Christians for the past 60 years. It has challenged me, and I hope this summer you give it a chance to challenge you.

Ken Boa, who features The Pursuit of God this month in his tremendous "Great Books Audio CD" series, says that Tozer was "a modern mystic who had given priority to the lost art of meditation." Tozer, a self-taught pastor in the Chicago area, was not known among those in his congregation as the most gregarious man. In fact, it was rumored that Tozer rarely visited his congregants unless they were deathly ill. But his aloofness was simply the product of a man relentlessly chasing after God.

Boa explains that when Tozer prayed, he would often put on a ragged pair of pants—what became known as his "prayer pants"—and spend hours in solitude with God. In fact, it was during one solitary train ride from Chicago to Texas that Tozer penned The Pursuit of God—all of it!

Tozer's behavior might seem a bit strange to us today, but his words offer timeless significance. In The Pursuit of God, Tozer tramples on mediocrity in the Christian life. He wrote: "The way to deeper knowledge of God is through the lonely valleys of soul poverty and abnegation of all things. The blessed ones who possess the kingdom are they who have repudiated every external thing and have rooted from their hearts all sense of possessing."

Here, Tozer confronts what he called the "tyranny of things"—in other words, the subtle way that materialism can take us captive. He asks readers to consider whether they are willing to walk through sadness, suffering, and solitude in order to know God deeply. This he calls "the blessedness of possessing nothing."

He explains that man can discover this blessedness only by wholeheartedly running after God. "The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One," he wrote. "Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness."

Much of what Tozer had to say slaps modern man in the face. He calls into question the materialism and idolatry that continue to infect our churches and our lives. He asks us to question why we have difficulty spending time in solitude. And, he gives us the opportunity to return to a place of "meekness and rest," where Christ becomes all that we need.

I highly recommend you pick up this book this summer and read it. It is quite short, but I guarantee you will be surprised by its depth and profundity. But also prepare to be challenged by what it truly means to pursue God.

Your Inheritance of Wealth and Riches

Creflo A. Dollar

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Poverty is not the will of God for any Believer. However, there are Christians who have taken a "vow of poverty" because they believe that poverty is a part of being holy and righteous. This is far from the truth. Poverty has nothing to do with godliness, or God—likeness. To be poor, or impoverished, means, "to be without; in lack; deprived." You and I don't serve a God of lack and insufficiency. He is the God of the exceeding and the abundant. In fact, He wants to lavish you with His goodness (Ephesians 3:20). I like what Dr. Leroy Thompson says: "You can't think any bigger than God can deliver!"

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible proves that poverty goes against everything God desires for Believers. Poverty is a spirit designed to keep Believers in financial bondage. The devil uses this spirit to hinder Christians from prospering and ultimately fulfilling their destiny of being a blessing to the entire world (Genesis 12:2, 3).

God favors prosperity. According to Psalm 35:27 and 3 John 2, He is pleased when you prosper in your spirit, soul and body. His desire is that you prosper economically, socially, emotionally, mentally and physically. That's total—life prosperity. If you truly want to live a life that is set apart for God (holy) and represents your right—standing in Him (righteous), renew your mind by studying God's Word concerning true prosperity.

Although God's perfect will is for you to succeed in all aspects of life, let's concentrate on your financial prosperity. Finances are a major dilemma for most people. Debt and insufficiency are common causes for divorce, depression, suicide, and murder. For this reason, I feel it is my duty to deal with this subject head—on.

As a Believer, you are a member of God's family and have a royal, spiritual birthright (John 1:12; Galatians 4:4—6; 1 Peter 2:9). Romans 8:17 in the Amplified Bible says, "… If we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]." Not only does the Earth and everything in it belong to Jesus, it also belongs to you and me as part of our divine inheritance (Psalm 24:1; Psalm 115:16)!

You were made wealthy and rich before you came into existence. You've been predestined to prosper financially. According to Ephesians 1:4—5, God chose to bless you before the foundation of the world as evidence of your right—standing with God, which was made available to you through Jesus' death and resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:21).

As the righteousness of God, your inheritance of wealth and riches is included in the "spiritual blessings" (or spiritual things) the apostle Paul spoke of in Ephesians 1:5. Based on Psalm 112:3, righteousness, wealth and riches go hand—in—hand. You have every right to possess material wealth—clothes, jewelry, houses, cars and money—in abundance. It is that wealth that not only meets your needs, but also spreads the Gospel message and meets the needs of others.

The Bible says that wealth is stored up for the righteous (Proverbs 13:22, New American Standard). However, it will remain stored up until you claim it. Therefore, claim it now! You possess the ability to seize and command wealth and riches to come to you (Deuteronomy 8:18). Exercise that power by speaking faith—filled words daily and taking practical steps to eradicate debt. Like God, you can speak spiritual blessings into existence (Romans 4:17). Remember, doubt keeps silent, but faith speaks!

For more information on how to obtain the wealth that has been stored up for you, purchase the single message "A Mandate for Prosperity" available now.

-Creflo Dollar

Scripture References

Ephesians 3:20

Genesis 12:2, 3

Psalm 35:27

3 John 2

Psalm 24:1

Psalm 125:16

Ephesians 1:4, 5

Psalm 112:3

Proverbs 13:22

Deuteronomy 8:18

Romans 4:17

Dressed and Equipped for Supernatural Living: Adopted Into the Royal Family

By Dr. Leroy Thompson Sr.

There are many promises in the Word of God that deal with wealth and prosperity. And God doesn’t intend for you, as a believer, to wait until you reach the “sweet by-and-by” before you can enjoy them. He wants you to live in wealth and prosperity while you’re here on this earth.

But if you’re going to walk in the fullness of what God has promised where natural wealth is concerned, there are some things you first need to know concerning your spiritual wealth. You’re going to have to understand what your position is as a member of the Body of Christ and the authority that position carries. And you are going to have to understand the kinship relationship you have with God.

Not only is God your Lord, but He is your Father. And as your Father, the Scripture says, He has blessed you with all spiritual blessings. We find that in Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”

Paul wrote these words to the church he had established at Ephesus. The people there were strong in the Word, but it was the unbelievers who had all the natural wealth. Paul saw that the church needed a better understanding of their position in Christ, and their rights and privileges, so they could obtain natural wealth. When you understand your inheritance as a child of God, you won’t have any problems believing God for the natural.

You’ll see that you’ve had a total change of status. You don’t have to wear your beggar’s clothes anymore. You’ve been prepared for something special. You’ve been dressed and equipped for supernatural living.

Establish an Intimate Relationship

Look at that verse again. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Notice it refers to God as Father. That means God is your Father. And how does a father treat his children? Jesus said, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11).

That’s a father’s heart. He wants nothing more than to give good things to his children. He wants that because of the intimate relationship the two of you share.

Seeing God as your Father brings you into the place of spiritual wealth, where there is an inheritance waiting for you. Once you reach that place, it’s no sweat getting those things you desire in the natural. Healing, long life, peace, houses, cars, land—they’re all yours to have because they have already been given to you in heavenly places.

Philippians 2:5-6 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” Well, the Bible says we are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). That means we are equal with Jesus in all that He has inherited from God the Father. If you are in the form of God, you should be thinking like God.

You can speak things out from a godly or spiritual standpoint and see them happen because your words carry power. If you are operating in faith and the knowledge and understanding of your inheritance in Christ Jesus, this earthly system has to obey you.

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises, of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

As believers, we have kinship with the Father. But the Body of Christ hasn’t much acted like it. We are supposed to be reigning now—on this earth! But that can only happen when we have spiritual knowledge of our position and the authority we possess—and act on it!

God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings, or privileges. Everything has been freely given to us, including wealth, health, peace and joy. Some people just don’t want to walk in the blessings. They would rather use their own limited resources and go their own way rather than depend on the God Who declares Himself their Father.

Don’t be like that, because you can easily find yourself in the position of a beggar—going to God and pleading your case rather than asking, as His child, and receiving.

I get a picture of that whenever I think about that story of the blind man who stopped Jesus on the way to Jericho. He wasn’t a believer, but the situation was the same. “And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging” (Luke 18:35).

That’s how I see Christians who don’t know their rights and privileges. They’re just like beggars. “Oh, God, please heal me.” “Oh, God, please pay my bills.” “Oh, God, my sister is going to hell if she doesn’t straighten up. Please save her.”

Don’t Beg for What’s Already Yours

You don’t have to beg God for what He has already provided for you. He’s your Father! You have a covenant with Him that is sealed by the blood of Jesus. Healing is your right under that covenant. You shouldn’t be poor and struggling to pay your bills. Not when prosperity is promised to you in the covenant.

But let me add that living under the covenant is part of that intimate relationship you share with God. If you have faith in your relationship with Him, then you will have faith in the covenant. The Bible says, “the just shall live by faith.” Another way of saying that is: “He who hath entered into the covenant shall live by faith.”

I want to repeat something I said earlier: God is not going to let you have natural wealth until you understand your spiritual wealth. You are not someone trying to be blessed, or trying to get healed. You are already blessed. Healing already belongs to you! Prosperity belongs to you! You don’t have to pay for anything. You already have cash for it—it’s called faith.

Your problem is that you don’t know how to take hold of it.

Faith in your covenant with God the Father will make a demand on what rightfully belongs to you. You are already dressed for spiritual wealth and supernatural living, because you are a child of God. Can you see that?

Don’t go to the Father like you’re trying to make Him do something. Just give Him enough passwords—through the Word—so He can legally enter into your life and bring the blessings. That’s why He gave us His Word. It’s a map around Satan’s power to control us.

You need to stop right here and say this: “I am blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, now. I have a right to be blessed in every area of my life. And from this day forward, I will not accept anything less. I have it now! I claim it now! It’s paid for. My name is on it. Now! In Jesus’ Name.”

Supernatural and Natural Wealth—It’s Yours!

In Ephesians 1:4, we read, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” That verse says God chooses us. In another scripture, Jesus says: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16).

Do you see that? That’s talking about your natural wealth. Whatever you ask the Father in the Name of Jesus, He will give it to you. You probably thought that promise was there just for preachers. No, it’s part of the spiritual blessings that come with your covenant with the Father.

Jesus said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). Now, listen, just because they’re called “spiritual blessings in heavenly places” does not mean they are in the heavenlies. No, they’re not out there in the sweet by-and-by. That’s where the transformer is located. The blessings are manifested right here in the earth!

Look at that verse in 1 Peter again. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood…” (1 Peter 2:9). Did you get that? He said you are a “royal priesthood.” You are royalty. That’s kingship! That’s why Paul said in Romans 12:2, “Be not conformed to this world.” Don’t take the shape of this world. Have a transformation “by the renewing of your mind” with the Word of God. You have to get this settled in your mind that you are a child of God, and you have rights and privileges.

You cannot go by your feelings—you have to go by your faith and the revelation you have from the Word. Say what God says about your situation. Even if the physical evidence changes for the worse, keep saying what God says. Confessing what God says about a situation will cause it to manifest. I’m not talking about parroting words that have no substance behind them. I’m talking about speaking words that are backed by God’s Word.

If you’ve ever been fishing, you can understand what I’m talking about. You’ve got your line out in the water, and that little stopper, that float, is just sitting there waiting to go under. That’s a sign that you’ve got a fish on the line, you know?

Well, that’s not always the case. Some of those fish are pretty sharp. And just because that little float goes under doesn’t mean the fish has taken the bait. No, that fish is just checking you out. You think he’s hooked, and he’s just checking you out.

That’s the way the devil operates. You’ve got your faith out on the line and all of a sudden the physical evidence changes for the worse and you take your eyes off God and start looking at the circumstances. Wham! The devil’s got you hooked.

Well, don’t take the bait! Don’t fall for that trick! Flip the devil out of the water and tell him, “No, I’m not falling for that. I’m not taking that bait. I’m standing on God’s Word because I know who I am. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I am royalty. I am blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, and those blessing are for me now!”

Listen, you have a Father who rules, reigns, regulates and calls all the shots. Don’t let anybody talk you out of your rights and privileges as His son or daughter. If He is your Lord, and He is Lord over everything, then that means you reign with Him.

You are dressed and equipped for supernatural living, because you have been adopted into the royal family. Realize who you are, and take what rightfully belongs to you. God shouldn’t have to come and hit you over the head and say, “I have blessed you.” He has told you over and over in His Word that you are blessed with all spiritual blessings.

Take what is rightfully yours.

Dr. Leroy Thompson Sr. is pastor and founder of Word of Life Christian Center in Darrow, La. For more information or ministry materials, write to Word of Life Christian Center, PO Box 7, 40066 Hwy 22, Darrow, LA 70725, or call 1-225-473-8874.

Prepare to Prosper

by Gloria Copeland

Never try to build a house without first laying a foundation.

I don’t care how eager you are to get it finished, how excited you are about filling it with furniture and decorating it all just right—take the time to put down a solid foundation first. If you don’t, that house will be so unstable it will soon come tumbling down.

That’s simple advice, isn’t it? Everyone with any sense at all knows it. Yet in the spiritual realm, people make that mistake all the time. They see a blessing God has promised them in His Word, and they are so eager to have it, they ignore the foundational basics of godly living and pursue just that one thing.

That’s especially true in the area of prosperity. Often, people are so desperate for a quick financial fix, they just pull a few prosperity promises out of the Bible and try to believe them—without allowing God to change anything else in their lives. Of course, it doesn’t work and those people end up disappointed. Sometimes they even come to the conclusion that it wasn’t God’s will for them to prosper after all.

But I can tell you today, from the Word of God and from personal experience: It is definitely God’s will for all of His children to prosper!

That’s why He inspired the Apostle John to write, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 2).

Notice there, however, that John didn’t just say, “I want you to prosper.” He said, “I want you to prosper as your soul prospers.” He tied financial prosperity to the prosperity of our mind, will and emotions.

God’s plan is for us to grow financially as we grow spiritually. He knows it is dangerous to put great wealth into the hands of someone who is too spiritually immature to handle it. You can see dramatic evidence of that fact in the lives of people who have acquired financial riches through this world’s system, apart from God. In most cases, such riches just help people to die younger and in more misery than they would have if they’d been poorer.

That’s because they use their wealth to sin in greater measure. They use it to buy all the cocaine they want and drink all the alcohol they want. They use it to pay for an immoral lifestyle that eventually destroys them.

The wages of sin is death. That is an inescapable fact. So, when people get money and use it to sin, it does them more harm than good. As Proverbs 1:32 says, “…the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.”

Seek First Things First

In light of that truth, it’s easy to see why God wants us to increase financially at the same rate we increase spiritually. He wants us to outgrow our fleshly foolishness so our prosperity will bring us blessing and not harm.

“But Gloria,” you say, “I need financial help fast!”

Then get busy growing. Get busy building your foundation for prosperity.

How? By finding out what God says in His Word and doing it.

You see, the foundation of prosperity is a continual lifestyle built on the Word of God. It is doing whatever God tells you to do, thinking whatever He tells you to think, and saying whatever He tells you to say.

Godly prosperity is the result of putting God’s Word—all of it, not just the parts about financial prosperity—first place in your life. It comes when you apply His principles on a continual basis—not just because you want money, but because Jesus is your Lord and you want to follow Him. It comes when you start obeying the instructions Jesus gave us in Matthew 6:

I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more then they? And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure [cubit] to his stature or to the span of his life? And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his magnificence (excellence, dignity and grace) was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or What are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right], and then all these things taken together will be given you besides (verses 25-33, The Amplified Bible).

I remember back before Ken and I knew we could trust God to take care of us financially, I thought it was my job to worry about how we were going to pay our bills. I spent a great deal of my time thinking things like, What am I going to do about this light bill? How am I going to keep the electricity from being shut off? To me it would have been irresponsible not to worry about such things!

Then I found out it wasn’t God’s will for me to worry. It was His will for us to believe Him to care for us. I also learned that as believers, we’re not to seek after material riches. We’re not to pursue money like people do who are without God. They have to pursue it. They don’t have a covenant with God, so if they don’t seek material goods, they won’t get them!

But we’re not like those people. We’re not in the world without God and without a covenant (Ephesians 2:12-13). We have God’s promise of provision. He has assured us in His Word that He will not only meet our needs, but give us an abundance.

It’s important for us to remember, however, that a covenant is always between two parties. It has two sides to it. A covenant says, If you do this, then I’ll do that.

God’s part of the covenant is to prosper us—spirit, soul and body as well as financially. What is our part of the covenant? It’s not to seek after that prosperity. If we do that, we’ll get sidetracked. Our part of the covenant is to seek first His kingdom, His way of doing and being right!

Our part is to say, “Lord, I’ll do whatever You tell me to do. I’ll obey Your Word and do what is right in Your sight—even if it looks like it will cost me.”

Of course, obeying God’s Word never costs in the long run. It pays! You always put yourself in a position for increase when you seek after God and do things His way.

I’ll be honest with you though, there will be times when you can’t see how that increase is going to come. Ken and I know about those times. We’ve been through them.

When we saw in the Word of God that we were to “Keep out of debt and owe no man anything, except to love one another...” (Romans 13:8, The Amplified Bible), we weren’t too excited about it. At that time in our lives, it looked to us like we’d never be able to do anything financially without borrowing money.

We thought, How will we ever get a car? How will we get a home? How will we finance our ministry? We’re doomed!

But we had already decided to obey God no matter what the cost, so we committed to Him to get out of debt even though we thought it would be to our disadvantage. Of course, that decision has since turned out to be one of the wisest financial decisions we’ve ever made.

That’s the way it always is. Obeying God always works to your advantage in the end!

Become a Candidate for Increase

It’s easy to see how following God’s instructions to get out of debt affected our prosperity. But the fact is, our decision to obey other, seemingly unrelated commands we saw in the Word also had an impact on our finances.

That’s because you can’t separate God’s financial principles from the rest of His principles. They all work together. So you have to take the whole Bible to have a good foundation for godly prosperity.

The primary commandment Jesus gave us, for example, is to “love one another” (John 15:12). To the casual observer that commandment may seem to have nothing to do with money, yet to have true prosperity love must be the guiding force of your life. You must be quick to apply scriptural principles for living like these found in 1 Peter 3:

Finally, all [of you] should be of one and the same mind (united in spirit), sympathizing [with one another], loving [each other] as brethren (of one household), compassionate and courteous (tenderhearted and humble). Never return evil for evil or insult for insult (scolding, tongue-lashing, berating), but on the contrary blessing [praying for their welfare, happiness and protection, and truly pitying and loving them]. For know that to this you have been called, that you may yourselves inherit a blessing...For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days...keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from guile (treachery, deceit). Let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right … (verses 8-11, The Amplified Bible).

Think of it this way. Every right action you take, every godly decision you make, every time you go love’s way instead of the selfish way, you’re putting another block on your foundation of prosperity.

When you pray for your enemies instead of hating them, you become a candidate for increase. When you turn away from immorality, you’re turning toward blessing. When you see things in your life that you know aren’t right and you correct them according to the Word of God, you’re preparing yourself to handle greater financial abundance.

The book of Proverbs is full of God’s wisdom about everyday things and decisions. It will help you learn how to handle your affairs in a way that is pleasing to God. And since it has 31 chapters, by reading a chapter a day along with your other Bible reading, you can finish it in just a month. It will increase you to read Proverbs over and over.

In Proverbs you’ll find out, for example, that the quality of faithfulness and the blessing of prosperity are tied together very closely. Wherever you find one, you’ll find the other. For as Proverbs 28:20 says, “A faithful man shall abound with blessings … ” According to Webster’s dictionary, a faithful man is one who “adheres to duty, of true fidelity, loyal, true to allegiance, and constant in the performance of duties or services.”

Luke 16:10 says, “He who is faithful in a very little [thing], is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing], is dishonest and unjust also in much” (The Amplified Bible). So if you want to be trusted with more and be promoted to a better job, be faithful and honest in the job you have right now.

You may think Christian people don’t need to hear about honesty and faithfulness, but they do. I know personally of cases where Christians have stolen money from their employers.

They may not have intended to “steal” anything. They may have just thought, Well, I’ll borrow this money for a couple of weeks and then I’ll put it back and no harm will be done. The problem is, you can’t borrow something from someone without their permission. That’s stealing and you can’t be blessed and steal.

Taking that money may have seemed all right to those people when they did it. They may have made excuses and justified it in their own mind. But if they’d been studying and obeying the Word of God, they wouldn’t have fallen for those excuses. That’s because the Word discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). It teaches you what is right and what isn’t.

It reveals not man’s way, but God’s way of doing and being right. It enables you to lay a firm foundation for godly prosperity.

Build the Whole House

With that foundation laid, you’ll be ready to step out in faith and receive the abundance God has in store for you.

Many people who have lived godly lives have failed to do that so they’ve missed out on God’s financial blessings. Although they’ve continually applied the principles of God’s Word and become prime candidates for great prosperity, they’ve unwittingly passed it by because religious tradition has taught them that God wants them in poverty. Christians like that have great wealth in their spiritual bank account, but because they don’t realize it’s there, they never tap into it!

Don’t let that happen to you. Don’t just build the foundation for prosperity and stop there. Go on and build the whole house. Dare to believe that if you’ll seek first God’s kingdom, His way of doing and being right, all other things (the food, the clothes, the cars, the houses, everything!) will be added to you as well.

Build your foundation, then dare to believe—and you will surely prosper!

I Want You to Prosper: Tithing in Faith, Love and Righteousness

by Kenneth Copeland

What does it mean to tithe according to the Word? Let me refresh your thinking concerning the statement Jesus made on this subject. He said;"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment (righteousness), mercy (love), and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone (Matt. 23:23)."

Addressing the religious people of the day, Jesus said that they tithed their money but they neglected the important matters of the heart. With this thought in mind, we can expand our definition and say that tithing is bringing the first tenth to Jesus, according to His Word, by faith, in love, through righteousness.

Righteousness, love and faith are directly related to one another. Faith works by love (Gal. 5:6), and righteousness is by faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:22). Therefore, these three cannot be separated. When we tithe, we need to be mindful of all these areas.

Tithing by Faith

Let’s look at tithing from the level of “faith first” by studying Genesis 4:1-8; "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

"And in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." (vs. 3)

"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

This incident in Genesis, chapter four occurred at the time of harvest which also coincided with the birth of the lambs. For years, I heard that God would not receive Cain’s offering because he didn’t bring a lamb. But, that isn’t so. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground unto the Lord. It wasn’t the offering that was the problem. It is impossible to please God without faith. Notice verse three, God had no respect for Cain. When God rebuked him, instead of changing, he got mad and his countenance fell. Cain was out of line with the Word. A man and his offering are one. The offering is nothing without the man.

Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice by faith. Faith is a product of the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). Obviously, both Cain and Abel had heard the Word. Their own father received it personally from the Creator Himself. I’m satisfied that the revelation which they received was the knowledge that the whole earth belonged to God and they (who were given the use of the earth) were to tithe a tenth of it back to God (Lev. 27:30; Ps. 24:1; Hag. 2:8). Abel was eager to see that God received His. Cain was not. That’s why God couldn’t accept Cain and his offering.

The New King James Version says it much more plainly;"But (God) did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

How could he do well? By staying with the Word. Satan was at the door, lying in wait to steal the Word from his heart. Cain only needed to resist the devil so that his faith would not fail.

Do you remember what Jesus told Peter? He said, “Satan has tried to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not.” Sin was at Cain’s door. The King James Version calls sin “him.” Sin and Satan are the same.

The scripture tells us to give Satan “no place.” Cain would have done well not to have given the devil place through his disobedience and anger. But he did and the result was the death of his brother. No wonder the church has fought over the tithe--the first murder was committed over it.

As the New Testament church, we cannot afford disobedience either. But sin and the hundredfold blessing of God lie at the door. We are the only ones with the authority to let one or the other in. This is one of the reasons that we have been robbed financially.

Tithing Righteously

The next illustration is tithing with judgment or justice. The story is from Genesis, chapter 14.

A group of kings joined forces and trapped the king of Sodom to exploit him, his goods and the goods of all of his subjects. Among the people who were taken captive was Abram’s nephew.

When Abram heard the news, he armed 318 trained servants and pursued the kings’ armies to the death. They slaughtered them and took the spoils. The first thing Abram did was tithe the spoils. Melchizedek, the priest, blessed Abram and said; "Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all."

The king whose goods had been stolen greedily watched Abram, thinking that he was going to keep all of the spoil. He wanted some of it back. After all, it belonged to him before those armies came in and stole it.

He went to Abram and said; "Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up mind hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth. That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich."

What was Abram saying? Permit me to paraphrase it to make it easier to understand. I believe he was saying, “I’ve lifted my hand to God; I have made a covenant with Him. I promised when I tithed the spoils that I wouldn’t even take one of your shoestrings, lest you say that you are the one that made me rich.” Abram judged himself according to his covenant with God. He made sure he did “the right thing”--not just the easy or convenient thing.

The next time you approach the tithing altar, realize that Jesus your High Priest is standing there. Judge yourself according to the Word of God. Test your heart and your motives. Don’t just tithe and neglect the weightier matter of justice. Abram did what was right and just. He tithed righteously, not selfishly. Abram is our example.

The Matter of Mercy

Mercy is the last area that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 23:23 concerning how we ought to tithe. The word translated “mercy” is sometimes translated “love.” The believer who says that he cannot afford to tithe is not only operating without faith, he is out of line with judgement because he has forsaken the house of God.

Read Nehemiah 10:38,39 and you will see what I mean; "And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, unto the treasure house. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the corn, of the new wine, and the oil, unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.

To attend church every Sunday and always be on the receiving end and never on the giving end is selfish. The person who does this has forgotten the weightier matter of mercy and love. Love gives. To withhold the tithe is to forsake the household of God.

Who Receives the Tithe?

Jesus is the High Priest over the house of God in the New Testament. In the spirit, He receives our tithes and presents them to the Father in heaven. But who receives them here on earth?

Second Chronicles 31:4,5 says that the priests and Levites, or the ministry, received the tithe that they might be encouraged. This is not an issue that we can handle lightly. As the Head of the church, Jesus is the One who should be directing where the tithe should go. The proper way to handle it is to pray and ask Him where to put it.

Under the Old Covenant, the tithe was brought mainly into the temple in Jerusalem and the local synagogue. In the New Testament, the local church is the backbone of the body of Christ. Malachi 3:10 tells us, 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. Meat is spiritual revelation. Wherever you are receiving revelation, that is where your tithe should go. You receive mostly from your own church, that is, if it is preaching the uncompromised Word.

But let us also notice that Paul said that the church at Philippi supported him. As an apostle, he traveled extensively ministering the Word. If there is a ministry which has fed you spiritual meat and you want part of your tithe to go there, you ought to be able to make note of that when you bring your tithe check into the local church.

I received a check from a church in Houston, Texas, one day and I thought, “I wonder why they’re sending me a check?” Later, I found out that the pastor had told the congregation, “If you are bringing your tithe today and there is a specific ministry which has fed you spiritually outside this church, just make a note of it and we will see that they receive a check.” That pastor is receiving the tithe in love and faith and righteousness. The people are giving it that way as well.

God is looking for a people who will handle their tithing as holy. He is seeking those who will ask Jesus where He wants His money to go. Are you one whom the Father can trust? Will you allow Jesus to direct your giving? If you are, God will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so rich, so abundant that you will not be able to contain it!

Let me provide you with a sample confession for your tithe based on Deuteronomy 26. First read that entire chapter. Then relate it to the New Testament and hold your tithe before the Lord as you say out loud:

"We profess this day unto the Lord God that we have come into the inheritance which the Lord swore to give us. We are in the land which You have provided for us in Jesus Christ, the kingdom of Almighty God (Col. 1:13). We were sinners serving Satan; he was our god, but we called upon the name of Jesus and You heard our cry and delivered us from the power and authority of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of Your dear Son."

"Jesus, as our Lord and High Priest, we bring the firstfruits of our income to You and worship the Lord our God with it. We rejoice in all the good which You have given to us and our household. We have hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God and have done according to all that He has commanded us. Now look down from Your holy habitation from heaven and bless us as You said in Deuteronomy 26:14,15 and Malachi 3:10,11."

Useful Scriptures pertaining to Money Management !

Budgeting

"But let all things be done properly and in an orderly manner" (1 Corinthians 14:40)

"For God is not a God of confusion" (1 Corinthians 14:33)

"Prepare plans by consultation" (Proverbs 20:18)

"The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage" (Proverbs 21:5)

"Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts" (Proverbs 24:3-4, TLB)

  Children

"Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons" (Deuteronomy 4:9)

"These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

"You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)

"Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it"
(Proverbs 22:6)

Contentment

"Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, 'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,' so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid" (Hebrews 13:5-6)

"If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content" (1 Timothy 6:8)

"Besides You, I desire nothing on earth" (Psalm 73:25)

"But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment" 
(1 Timothy 6:6)

Counsel

"A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel" (Proverbs 1:5)

"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel" (Proverbs 12:15)

"O great and mighty God. The Lord of hosts is His name; great in counsel and mighty in deed" (Jeremiah 32:18-19)

"All the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart" (2 Chronicles 9:23)

"He who walks with wise men will be wise" (Proverbs 13:20)

"For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:8)

Coveting

"You shall not covet you neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:17)

"You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Deuteronomy 5:21)

"You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them [graven images], nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God"  (Deuteronomy 7:25)

"Now these things [Lord’s discipline of Israel] happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved" (1 Corinthians 10:6)

"Do not be deceived; neither fornicators... nor the covetous... shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Debt

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave"
(Proverbs 22:7)

"Let the creditor seize all that he [the wicked] has; and let strangers plunder the product of his hand" (Psalm 109:11)

"Thus says the Lord... 'To whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities' " (Isaiah 50:1)
                       
"The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives"
(Psalm 37:21)

"Woe to me, my mother, that you have born me as a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have neither lent, nor have men lent money to me, yet every one curses me" (Jeremiah 15:10)

Giving

"But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 John 3:17)

"If I give all my possessions to feed the poor... but do not have love, it profits me nothing"
(1 Corinthians 13:3)

"God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7)

"Go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasures in heaven" (Matthew 19:21)

"If any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family, and to make some return to their parents" (1 Timothy 5:4)

Greed

"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to ...greed, which amounts to idolatry" (Colossians 3:5)

"He said to them, 'Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions' " (Luke 12:15)

"Besides You, I desire nothing on earth" (Psalm 73:25)

"The greedy man curses and spurns the Lord" (Psalm 10:3-4)

"The treacherous will be caught by their own greed" (Proverbs 11:6)

Honesty

"The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9)

"It is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth" (1 John 5:7)

"Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit" (Psalm 34:13)

"A truthful witness saves lives, but he who speaks lies is treacherous" (Proverbs 14:25)

"Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, than he who is crooked though he be rich"
(Proverbs 28:6)

Idolatry

"You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves" (Exodus 20:23)

"Their idols are silver and gold, the work of man’s hands" (Psalm 115:4)

"The idols of the nations are but silver and gold, the work of man’s hands" (Psalm 135:15)

"All of her [Israel] idols will be smashed, all of her earnings will be burned with fire, and all of her images I [the Lord] will make desolate" (Micah 1:7)

"And you [God’s people] will defile your graven images, overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold.  You will scatter them as an impure thing; and say to them, 'Be gone!'  Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture" (Isaiah 30:22-23)

Riches

"He [the wicked man] will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure" (Job 15:29)

"Surely every man walks about as a phantom; surely they make an uproar for nothing; he amasses riches, and does not know who will gather them" (Psalm 39:6)

"Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death"
(Proverbs 11:4)

"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?  For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37)

"Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God" (1 Timothy 6:17)

Saving and Investing

"But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Timothy 5:8)

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children" (Proverbs 13:22)

"A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully, and will share in the inheritance among brothers" (Proverbs 17:2)

"The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets"
(Proverbs 21:20, LB)

"Steady plodding bring prosperity" (Proverbs 21:5, LB)

Taxes/Tribute

"Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection (to the government), not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.  For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.  Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due" (Romans 13:5-7)

"The king will enrich the man who kills him [Goliath] with great riches... and make his father’s house free in Israel" (1 Samuel 17:25)

"It is not allowed to impose tax, tribute or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God" (Ezra 7:24)

"Then the king of Egypt deposed him [Joahaz] at Jerusalem, and imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold" (2 Chronicles 36:3)

"Mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the provinces beyond the River, and that tribute, custom, and toll were paid to them" (Ezra 4:20)

The Poor

"[The wicked] caused the cry of the poor to come to Him, and that He might hear the cry of the afflicted [judgment result]" (Job 34:28)

"A poor man who oppresses the lowly is like a driving rain which leaves no food" (Proverbs 28:3)

"Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people" (Proverbs 28:15)

"He who oppresses the poor to make much for himself or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty" (Proverbs 22:16)

"The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor, the wicked does not understand such concern" (Proverbs 29:7)

Work

"Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it" (Genesis 2:15)

"Six days you shall labor and do all your work" (Exodus 20:9)

"Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening" (Psalm 104:23)

"Whether, then, you eat of drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God"  
(1 Corinthians 10:31)

"Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established" (Proverbs 16:3)

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Here at Jim Wilson Ministries we welcome your input on finances and would welcome any suggestions or articles that you would like to submit.  Please send your submissions for review and consideration to be published to:  customer-service@jimwilsonministries.com and we look forward to having you contribute to our site.  God Bless - Rev. J Wilson