Dear One,

The challenge of teaching on tithing and God’s economics for me is to avoid being, and appearing to be, self-serving because our ministry receives the offerings and tithes of others. We seek to steward every cent we are given, and honor the givers with faith and love, but still to teach on it can come across as self-serving. So please, bear with me. Give where you are led to give, tithe where you are led to tithe, and do it joyfully and faithfully, and you will get blessed. If you are enjoying these articles, please forward them to all your friends!

Love you! KRP

GOD’S ECONOMICS

Owe no one anything…Rom 13:8 NKJV

Over one trillion dollars in credit card debt, currently, which works out to about $3100 for every man, woman and child in America! The most recent statistics say 18% of Americans have had a past due payment of over thirty days in the last year. Assuming 30-40% of the population of the country as a whole is born again that must mean many born again ones are in serious debt as well as the unsaved. The country is over thirty-five trillion dollars in debt, which works out to over $100,000 per person. There is a way out, to financial freedom and soundness, both for individuals as well as for the country, but we must be willing to go God’s way with our finances.

By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. Prov 22:4 NKJV

RM and I have been tithers from day one. I never recommend tithing except in light of a comprehensive financial plan that’s carried out with wisdom and love, a plan that I’ll lay out for you later in the article. You can tithe, but if you keep spending like a drunken sailor you are going to be destroyed financially. You cannot spend your way into prosperity! I’ve heard every argument against tithing, but they have mostly come from those with a broken heart, and that indicates a much deeper situation. Nothing in the NT invalidates or replaces the promises in the OT regarding the tithes and offerings. Jesus, said, Give, and you shall receive!

And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Deut 6:24-25 NKJV

One basic tenet of Scripture, and this is so contrary to human nature that it is hard to assimilate, is that everything God commands us to do is for our benefit. Everything!  Every command, every warning, every responsibility, every divine challenge is meant to make us better, not bitter. Better! Happier! Stronger! More secure! Oh my goodness, every time I have heeded His instruction I have been blessed, and every time I haven’t…well, I’m still alive and blessed by His mercy. When I stopped fighting God about prayer, miracles took off. When I stopped fighting God about finances, money ceased to be a problem. As I am learning to stop fighting Him about time, days are becoming more productive and less stressful. Hallelujah!

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house… Mal 3:10 NKJV

Food for who? Food here represented not only the support of the Levites but also the animals and grains for the sacrifices. The Levites were the one tribe out of the twelve that served the Lord in fulltime ministry. They weren’t to own any land, or to make their living by farming or trade. Their whole means of support was the tithes and offerings of the other eleven tribes, and in turn they were to serve the Lord and the people spiritually. They led the worship; they did the teaching. They were challenged to infuse the centrality of the true God into all of the culture, not by edict but by the sweetness of spiritual leaven. When they did that and succeeded, all of Israel rejoiced with blessings. When they failed, Israel turned unto depravity, immorality and destitution. Tithing was a serious and effective means that allowed the whole body of Israel to flourish. Same truth today, in essence!

“Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting. Num 18:21-22 NKJV

Who are the ‘Levites’ of today? Those who are truly called to serve the Lord in full time ministry. You recognize this calling by your own operation of the Spirit of God, truly an operation of discerning of spirits. The Lord said there would be those who sought the priest’s office to eat a piece of bread. These are false ministers, or perhaps ministers whose ministry season hasn’t come, or had it but were disqualified. You must discern who is a true Levite.

What about a storehouse? A storehouse is a place from which you get fed. In the OT, the storehouse was the Temple in Jerusalem, and its surrogates throughout Israel. Today the storehouse is where you find it. Where are you getting fed? If I leave a church service with LESS FAITH than I came in with, have I been fed? If someone buys a building, am I responsible to pay for it? Only if I agreed to pay for it! Without my agreement to pay for it, prior to its being bought, I have no obligation. The Body of Christ is responsible to support its Levites, and the Levites are responsible to lead the Body and the culture around the Body even the unbelievers to Christ. Someone has to make the sacrifices to lead, to bring success to the Body!

There are two kinds of bad teaching: wrong teaching, and incomplete teaching. Wrong teaching says the word of God is wrong, while incomplete teaching says the Word of God is right but doesn’t truly get you to the finish line. For instance, concerning prayer and the promises of God, wrong teaching will say the promises aren’t available anymore. Incomplete teaching, which is the more heart breaking, will say the promises are available but doesn’t show you how to truly, effectively receive them. You try but fail because of incomplete instruction. On this subject of financial wholeness, incomplete teaching has caused more heartbreak than perhaps any other reason.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 2 NKJV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. Ps 1:1-3 NKJV

First, lets establish the will of God. Do those verses give you a picture of the will of God? Does God want you to prosper, to live comfortably well, with abounding fruitfulness? The Word says so! I learned more about the heart of the Father God when I became a father than almost any other experience. I would do anything for my children. My purpose for them is that they all succeed beyond anything I have achieved, and they have! The heart of our heavenly Father is so much greater than mine, and it’s just as practical, if not more so. How you perceive the heart of God for you is key to all of your faith for His goodness. Do you perceive Him as a loving, personal Father, or do you perceive Him as cold, aloof, uncaring, even merciless? If you do perceive Him badly, then you may be under an orphan curse. So, BEFORE YOU START TITHING, do a real, honest evaluation of your perception of the Father. If you perceive Him negatively, you may need help. Call me – 503-302-5381- I can help!

Lets dive into Malachi 3. As we do, let’s set the context!

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.  And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;

20 And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all. Gen 14:18-20 NKJV

First usage of the concept of tithing in the Word and two HUGE righteous personalities are in involved: Abraham who is the father of the children of Israel and called the father of faith, and Melchizedek who has a direct relationship with Jesus as Jesus was said to be of the priestly order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek blesses Abraham, foreshadowing the work of the Levites in ministry and Abraham honors him with a tithe. Clearly tithing is related to the operation of faith and to the priestly ministry of worship and service!

And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord. Lev 27:30-31 NKJV

Let’s be clear…you are not tithing unto a ministry, your tithe is to the Lord. Your tithe is holy unto the Lord. Today’s Levites only steward that tithe, and if they fail to steward it properly they bring a curse upon themselves. When you see churches close and ministries fail, this is a MAJOR reason.

7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’ 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.

In verse nine, the original text reads, ‘You have cursed Me with a curse…’ When you and I withhold the tithe, which is holy unto the Lord, we are cursing God, we are cursing His provision, we are cursing His work. We are robbing Him. Job’s wife told him to curse God and die. To curse God is to reject all that He has done with prejudice. People curse God, the God of love and mercy and a thousand graces, and so they position themselves for righteous judgment. Serious business, huh?

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the Lord of hosts; 12 And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

The Lord says to put Him to the test, to prove Him. Have you tested the Lord? The Word says you are supposed to test Him. How do we set up a test?

First of all, record accurately all of your indebtedness, your health and personal issues, every liability in your life right now., dated from today. I am going to recommend a test and I want you to apply it for three months, ninety days, and tell me of the results, good or bad. Our test will address personal habits and the spending of your income. You perhaps will be making major lifestyle changes. You can do this! People do it all the time with smoking addictions and other situations. For best results, have a partner who will hold you accountable daily.

HERE IS THE TEST:

PERSONAL HABITS:

Start your day with one hour of prayer and reading the Word. As you start that hour, praise Him out loud. David said that he awoken the dawn with his praise of the Lord. Praise, prayer and reading the Word for the FIRST HOUR of your day. End the day with prayer, confessing any sins you committed that day, and praise Him and thank Him for the day, regardless of what happened.

FINANCIAL PLAN FOR THE TEST:

Once you are convinced of the will of God, then let’s put together a plan for your finances. Jesus is Lord of our lives. This is a very simple way to allow Him to be Lord of our finances. There are three categories of your financial plan: TITHING/SAVINGS, FIXED EXPENSES, DISCRETIONARY SPENDING.

Let’s say you make 100 shekels a month. Pay your tithing/savings FIRST.

Your tithe would be 10% – ten shekels.

Your savings would be 10% – ten shekels

Why do you do this even if you are in debt? The tithe is holy unto the Lord, honoring Him, and positions you for Malachi 3:10-11 blessings. Savings accumulate to allow you not to have to go into debt for situations in the future.

Next, plan for and pay your fixed expenses.

This would include rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, vehicle maintenance and fuel costs, other monthly expenses. List them and break them down by monthly averages.

What about debts? Pay your smallest debts FIRST! On big debts, contact your creditors and work out a payment plan that works within your budget. If you carry a balance on your credit cards, STOP USING THEM IMMEDIATELY. Only use them once your balance is paid down to where you completely pay it off each month.

So, with our illustration of 100 shekels:

20 shekels goes to tithing/savings.

70 shekels or more goes to fixed expenses, especially in the beginning.

10 shekels or less go to discretionary spending.

Discretionary spending is what you have left when the first two categories are completely funded monthly. This is what you may spend on things you don’t absolutely need. Usually, in the beginning, you have VERY LITTLE discretionary spending because you are paying off debt. Maybe you owe some of that trillion dollars in credit card debt. Get it paid off! Eliminate wasteful spending like $5 coffee drinks unless you are completely out of debt. DO NOT commit sinful financial practices like gambling, purchasing pornography, cheating on taxes or other things of which the Lord will convict you, at any time regardless of whether you are in debt. Ignorance is forgivable, sin is stupid. Stupid brings judgment.

Try this out for three months, both the personal habits side and the financial habits side. Work this plan with detail.  Let me know about it and I will pray with you. The Lord wants you to be blessed. In God’s economy, you must be blessed, you must prosper, you must succeed, you must overcome. Amen? Love you!

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…

HOW TO GET A GREAT JOB

For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 2 Thess 3:10-11 NKJV

I left home before I was eighteen, and in fifty years of life since then I have never been unemployed not even one day, when I wanted to be employed. I have moved several dozen times, especially in the early years, gotten jobs, started businesses and never spent a day unemployed. Here is the secret: Until someone employs you, employ yourself, or work for yourself and be your own boss. It also helps to have a wife and children who ARE NOT HAPPY if you are not working!

So, here is your plan to get a great job:

Get up before 5am

5am – 7am: Pray in tongues out loud for two hours.

7am – 8am: Read the Word out loud for an hour.

8am – 9am: Prepare to go to work, meaning breakfast and getting dressed.

9am – 5pm: You are working, searching for a job.

Listen, the devil will find you a job just to get you to stop praying in tongues for two hours. He hates that! So, you will have the Lord and the devil working effectively to get you a great job. TAKE THE FIRST JOB YOU ARE OFFERED, and keep working to find the better job, while doing the first job. A mans gift makes room for him and brings him before great men. When you do a job, you are solving a problem for someone else, and they are paying you to solve that problem. The world will pay you more and more money to solve bigger and bigger problems if you can solve them. If you have ability and persistence, there is a job for you. Go get it, my brother or sister!