To tithe or not to tithe
Tithing has always been a subject of concern for people, me included. People feeling guilty for not giving enough' or not giving at all etc.
I know a lot of the churches preach that "the more you give, the more God will give you back and the richer you will become!" I am not comfortable with that statement.
I know that God blesses you, especially when you give with a good, pure heart. But I don't want to tithe just because I want something in return. I want to give to my Lord as much as I can because of all He does for me, all He has given me so freely and because just of whom He is.
But I just want to give a testimony on how God really does provide for those He loves and blesses you when you give back to Him with a pure heart.
Moving provinces last year was really a stupid thing to do - it messed up our finances and placed us into a heap of trouble. Everyday we faced a new financial burden. We still are, but as hard as it is, God is showing me that the more I obey Him and trust Him, the more freely He is able to work in our lives, especially in terms of finances.
When we sold our house, we had trouble from the municipality concerning the monies owed to us on the municipal rates. I prayed. Little did I know, but God said no. For months we battled to get the money back and no one could provide us with an explanation. I prayed. God said no.
10 months go by, and it is now October when my husband's car engine decides that it's tired of doing its job and another engine had to take over!
This was NOT the time for this at all! We just did not have the money and were worried about what to do. I prayed for answers and for help. My husband found a second hand engine, with only 2000km on the clock that we could buy for R1200. That did not help me because we just did not have any money. I continued to pray.
The following day we received a cheque in the mail for R1200 from the municipality! The exact amount we needed for the other engine!
God knew way ahead of time that someday in the future we would need R1200 for another engine, so by His mercy, held back the money from the municipality in due time!
The other day, I was driving home from work and nearing a red traffic light noticed an elderly man, unemployed, begging for money. I have always had a very soft spot for the elderly, so I thought, "Oh no Lord - I wish I had something to give him!"
God said immediately, "Yes you do! You have that R20 you stuck in the inner pocket of your bag the other day! Give him that!"
I scratched around in there and I sure did have the R20 in there I forgot all about!
So I said, "Goodness, Lord, that's quite a bit! I need some gas, and bread and milk today. For the financial trouble we're going through right now, R20 is quite a lot for me to give away."
"Quickly, give him the R20 before the light turns green! Now!" He said with urgency.
So I obeyed and never complained but prayed that God blessed Him greatly with what I gave and thanked Him for the opportunity to help that old man.
About 2 weeks after that a lady came to my house, also unemployed, begging for money. I was, at first, a bit irritated because she by-passed every single house on the street and came straight to mine! Gees, why me, when I'm probably the least well off in the neighbourhood', I thought. Then the verse "Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels." (Hebrews 13:2). I'm not sure why that verse all of a sudden popped into my head. Again, I only had R20 on me and I immediately gave it to her as I just felt God trusted me enough to send her to my house to help her out, and I certainly did not want to let Him down! I suppose its His R20 after all if you think about it!
So the end of the month comes round and we managed to pay all our bills, except for R1000 short on our bond and R500 short on our internet account.
I had just started a new job and was here for only 3 weeks when my boss unexpectedly came up to me and handed me R500 just "for doing a good job!" For such a corporate company with strict rules, that is unheard of, but I know the money came from my Lord and I thanked Him the whole day through!
The next day the bank for my home loan called to tell me that they had debited the money off an account for the month's home loan payment. Knowing there was not enough in my account I asked them which account it was, and they told me which turned out to be my mother in law's account which she had already closed down a few months back! The debit order was not returned.
That is a mystery that still has not been resolved today, but I know that my Lord made a plan for me. Through His precious grace, my bond is no longer in arrears!
The Lord truly loves those who serve Him. And I am so grateful that He is and is to come.
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Author: laminin
Location: Johannesburg Massachusetts South Africa
Gender: Female
Age: 31
Blog Entries: 4 (archive)
Blog Comments: 20
south african female and in love with jesus christ our lord i was raised in a baptist family and especially admire christians such as rebecca brown, md, creflo dollar and joyce meyer etc jesus once brought me to my knees, and i don't want to get up without him......
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i was brought up in a baptist home. well, my mom's side of the family was baptist and my dad's side catholic. when i was 9 i went throught the whole catholic cathecism thing, but even at that age was never happy with being catholic. i never believed in pryaing...
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