Tithing Our Tithes

While reading through Believer’s Voice of Victory Magazine, Kenneth Copeland , explains to us that tithing is more than the tithe itself. Tithing is not complete without a corresponding action of the heart and mouth.

The 10 percent is the tithe. “Tithing” is done with words -what we do by confession of the mouth in praise and honor.

In Deuteronomy 26:12-15, we can see that tithing our words of thanksgiving and praise enables us to receive from God much more than we could ever receive from our own labor and sweat.

For those Christians that say they tithe and SEE NO RESULTS-they need to grasp this understanding tightly. Tithing is an opportunity for God's people to remind themselves they have been delivered from a system of bondage and financial slavery.

This was an absolutely amazing revelation that should take every Christian to a new level of understanding of the importance of obeying Gods commandment in Malachi 3:10.

The article further states that the Tithe is THE BLESSING- it keeps us connected with God as our only source. The BLESSING will also manifest as Gods wisdom in every situation of our lives. Tithing enables us to remember what God has done for us, and honoring what he continually gives to us- which positions us to live as givers and not takers.

Let us all rise up and become the ones whom God can pour out a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive!

Is Your Heart’s Dream A Godly Vision?

 1.     A vision leads to helping others

If you desire to improve upon a product or service, and the end result will be a benefit to others, this could be an authentic Godly vison.

    2. A vision glorifies God

Who gets the credit when the vision is fullfilled?  Will your name be the hanging banner  that flies over the finished product or will it be the name of God who enabled you to complete it?

3 .    A vision is future orientated

 A vison must be built.   A divine vision brings confidence in the future.  Just because it has not happpened yet-does not mean it will not happen.  It may call for resources or skills you don’t yet have.

4 .    A vision defeats the work of the destruction(the devil)

Jesus said He came to destroy the works  of the devil.  If we are working side by side with Jesus, in what ever industry we are in- we will be doing the same.  God will guide us to break through the devil’s schemes towards a broken world-so Jesus’s love can shine through our hands and hearts.

5.    A vision requires the power of the Holy Spirit

 Real visions given by God require God’s power, expressed in our lives through the Holy Spirit to be completed.  Remember in this world we deal with wickedness in high places  that we could never imagine existed.  If we can bring our dreams to pass without  Gods help, its too small.

6.    A vision advances God’s Kingdom

In spite of everything, that is what we are to be about.  When our visions and dreams line up with Scripture, and they promote the Kingdom of God, we can move ahead with unshakable confidence.

Excerpts  taken from  the book Entreprenuerial FAITH                                                                          

By Kirbyjon Caldwell & Walt Kallestand with Paul Sorensen 

Paid in Full

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.  He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house.  However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young women opened the door.  Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water.  She thought he looked hungry and so she brought him a large glass of milk.

He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?” “You don’t owe me anything,” she replied.  “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”

As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strengthened also.  He had been ready to give up and quit.

Year’s later, that young women became critically ill.   The local doctors were baffled.  They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation.  When he heard the name of the town she came from, he went down the hall of the hospital to her room.  Dressed in his doctor’s gown, he went in to see her.  He recognized her at once.  He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life.  From that day, he gave special attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won.  Dr. Kelly requested from the business office to pass the final billing to him for approval.  He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge, and the bill was sent to her room.  She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all.  Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill.

She read these words:

“PAID IN FULL WITH ONE GLASS OF MILK………

(Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.”

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed:  “Thank you, God, that your love is shed abroad through human hearts and hands.“

Can God Trust You With The Scars?

So many of us have been blemished with physical scars and scars from the pain of  Betrayal, Disappointment, Horrible Hairdressers, Jail, Denial, Injury, Shame, Poverty, Accidents, Family hurt, Religious damage, Abuse, Trouble, Sickness, etc.

We have wondered does God really exist and if he does why would he allow us to experience such horrific and painstaking tribulations.

Well God didn’t do it to you but ….He didn’t stop it from happening either!

God did not prevent the trials and troubles from occurring in your life, because he knew he could trust you with the scars to help bring others out and through the pain of recovery.

God knew he could trust you when so many other people have given up on him and committed suicide.

God knew he could trust you to help heal those their broken and stony hearts towards people and God.

God knew he could trust you to help others to trust God again, not to hate anymore or seek revenge.

God knew he could trust you to bring others back to the Love of Christ-so that they could be made whole.

God knew he could trust you to bring others to trust in his Word in Psalm 147:3(Amplified)  “ He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows].”  And in Psalm 46:7-8(Amplified) “Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry, The Lord sets free the prisoners, The Lord opens the eyes of the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down…….”

Spiritual Principles Of Wealth In The Holy Bible Are Shared By The Holy Quran

Both the Bible and Quran emphatically emphasize that “righteous will be rewarded.”  In the Quran(Surah 21:105-A. Yussuf Ali translation) says “ My servants, The righteous, shall inherit the earth.” The Bible(Psalms 37:29--Amplified) says “[Then] the [consistently] righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.

Islam means the submission to the Will of God.  As a Muslim(one who practices Islam) they are obliged under the Five Pillars of Islam to perform charity-it is considered an act of worship and a form of social investment.  

As in Christianity we have Tithes, Offerings, Sowing of Seeds, and First Fruits; Islam also has different types of giving Zakat, Sadaqah, Ata(giving) and Da’wah. One of the most important principles of Islam is that all things belong to God and that wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust. 

Zakat  means grow (in goodness) or ‘increase’, ‘purifying’ or ‘making pure’.  According to Islam the act of giving zakat means purifying ones’ wealth to gain God’s blessings to make it grow in goodness. Zakat is the major economic means for establishing social justice and leading the Muslim society to prosperity and security.

Giving the Zakat is considered an act of worship because it is a form of offering thanks to God for the means of material well-being one has acquired.  It is obligatory upon all Muslims to 2.5% of wealth, savings,  and assets each year.  It is one of the five pillars of Islam.  

Sadaqah is a voluntary act of giving alms for the cause of God.  It is for Muslims that want to contribute more than their obligatory Zakah payment.  It may be given in periods of sadness or happiness as a sign of gratitude

Da’wah is also another form of charitable giving to the poor and needy.

Covenant With God

The basis for understanding the spiritual principles of wealth is first understanding that we have a covenant with God.  And it is the love, respect ,obedience  and desire to uphold this covenant with God that enables us to practice covenant principles.

All men who come to God are under a spiritual obligation-an implied covenant that is wholly based on the love God has for us.  “And call in remembrance the favor of God unto you, and his covenant which he ratified with you, when ye said: ‘We hear and we obey’….”(Surah 5:8--A. Yussuf Ali translation) 

In Genesis 9:9-12, God told Noah that “Behold , I establish My covenant or pledge with you and with your descendants after you….” In Genesis 17:7, God told Abraham that “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting, solemn pledge, to be a God to you and to your posterity after you.” 

In the book of John 6 of  the Bible and  Surah 5 of the Quran Jesus tells the people to have faith; especially when Jesus shows them that God can send manna(bread) from heaven.

The Quran states that “…..The hand of God is over their hands:  then anyone who violates his oath, does so to the harm of his own  Soul, and any one who Fulfils what he has Covenanted with God, God will soon grant him a great reward.”(Surah 48:10-A. Yussuf Ali translation) 

Giving

The Bible consistently tells Christians to give especially since it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom.  2^nd Corinthians 9:7(Amplified), explicitly states that “Let each one give as he has made up his own mind……..for God loves (he takes pleasure in , prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving].”

The Quran indisputably gives so much of the same guidance.  In (Surah 2:195-A. Yussuf Ali translation)  says “ And spend of your substance in the cause of God, And make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction…….”

(Surah 2:245-A. Yussuf Ali translation)says “Who is he that will loan to God a beautiful loan, which God will double unto his credit and multiply many times?  It is God that giveth (you) Want or Plenty and to him shall  be your return.”  

(Surah 2:265-A. Yussuf Ali translation) says “ And the likeness of those Who spend their substance, seeking to please God and to strengthen their souls, is as a garden, high and fertile:  heavy rain falls on it but makes it yield a double increase of harvest, and if it receives not heavy rain, light moisture sufficieth it.  

God seeth well whatever ye do.”  

Sowing Seed

In the Bible, (1^st Corint 3:7-Amplified) says “So neither he who plants is anything now he who waters, but [only] God who makes it grow and become greater.”

(Surah 56:63-64-A. Yussuf Ali translation)  says “ See ye the seed that ye sow in the ground? Is it ye that cause it to grow, or are we the cause?”

Both holy books speak on making vows to God.  (Surah 2:270)-King Fahd Cmplx translation)  says “…..or whatever vow you make, be sure God knows it all……..”  , (Psalms 61:5-Amplified) says “For You, O God, have heard my vows;………” 

Wealth is a Promise

God wants us to be wealthy.  In fact in Deuteronomy 28, he tells us that blessings will come upon us and overtake us.  He will command blessings in all we undertake.  He wants our wealth to be a sign to all people.  In Genesis 12, God tells us that he will make our names famous and distinguished and we will be blessings (dispensing good to others).  

In the Quran-Surah 48:20 says “God has promised you many gains that ye shall acquire and he has given you these beforehand and he has restrained the hands of men from you; that it may be a sign for the believers……”

God has infinite resources available to us.  In the Bible in in (Isaiah 45:3-Amplified ), God says “And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places that you may know that it is I the Lord, the God……..” 

This  is interrelated to the Quran in Surah 48:21--King Fahd Cmplx translation) which states  “And (other victories and much booty he promises you)which are not yet within your power; indeed God compasses them and God is Ever Able to do all things.”

Rain of Abundance

Throughout the Bible we are told that we can have the rain of abundance, in Deuterononmy 11:14,  God tells us he will give us the early and  latter rain so we many gather in our grain, new wine and oil. 

 This blessing from God is also consistent in the Quran(Surah 71:11-12--A. Yussuf Ali translation) says  “ He will send  rain to you in abudance; Give you increase in wealth and sons; and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers(of flowing water).”

True charity is like a field with good soil that catches good showers of rain, and supposing the rain is not abundant, it catches dew that is sufficient for it- therefore a man of true charity is spiritually healthy. ( A Yussuf Ali)