The Tithe: Giving Back To God What Is God's Series

MONEY IN HD: THE TITHE-GIVING BACK TO GOD WHAT IS GOD’S

ME: Share about Jennifer doing up our financial plan, and what it looks like, that we will be out of debt probably within three years, but our original plan was five years. And we decided to increase the amount that we give back to God. The reason that we increased our tithe was because we believe that we can never out give God. Matthew 6:8 in your notes says, “This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need.”

WE: Do you believe that God really knows what you need? That is a very important question to ask because believing God knows what we truly need makes it much easier to give back to God what is God’s. You see, tithing or not tithing makes it very clear who we trust. And when we choose not to tithe, what we are really saying is that we don’t trust God. So we put our trust in the uncertainty of money. And right now, we are truly seeing the uncertainty of money in our Country.

I mean, the stock market has plunged like 2,000 points in the past few months. The current unemployment rate is 6%, up from 4.7% last November. Our banks are failing all around us, and now the automotive industry is in trouble. 1 Timothy 6:17 says, “Command those who are rich with things of this world not to be proud. Tell them to hope in God, not in their uncertain riches.” So what about you? How are you doing financially? Are you in trouble as well? Are you struggling to pay your bills? Are you at the end of your rope, and thinking somehow things have got to get better? Have you considered putting your trust in God? Are you giving back to God what is God’s? You need to remember this important truth today. God wants to bless your life. He wants to give you good things. But to receive God’s blessing in our finances, there are a few things we must do. To have God’s blessing financially I must…

BRING MY FIRST TO GOD

Would you circle the word bring there in your notes. What we must understand is that everything we have was given to us by God, so we don’t take things to God, we bring back to God what He has given to us. Matthew 25:14-15 says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was going to another place for a visit. Before he left, he called for his servants and told them to take care of his things while he was gone. He gave one servant five bags of gold, another servant two bags of gold, and a third servant one bag of gold, to each one as much as he could handle.”

You see, we are managers, we can’t give it to God, it already belongs to God. But what we can do is bring our first to God. And what we need to grasp is that God does not ask for our leftovers, God wants the first part, He wants the best. So if you desire to have God’s blessing in your finances, and in other areas of your life, it is of great importance that we give Him the best of all He has given us to take care of. It is important that we give back to God the first part of our week, that is why we come to church, to praise God His work in our life. We should give God the first part of our day to connect with Him through prayer and Bible reading, and we should also give God the best part of our finances. That is how we receive some of the blessings that God wants to give to us.

Talk about Cain and Abel. Cain was a farmer, Abel a Shepherd. They each brought offerings to God, but the Bible says that God accepted

Abel’s offering and rejected Cain’s. And the reason God rejected Cain’s offering is contained in Genesis 4:3-4. It says, “One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the LORD, and Abel also gave an offering to the LORD. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the LORD the best parts of it. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering.”

So to have God’s blessing financially I must bring my first to God. I must also…

BRING MY FIRST 10% TO GOD

You see, when it comes to our money, God doesn’t just say—bring me the first part. He’s more specific than that. He says—bring Me the first ten percent. Look at what God says in Malachi 3:8-9. It says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing Me.”