About Paying Tithes And Missing Out On The Blessings Of God
Can You Be Abundantly Blessed Without Paying Tithes And Offerings
Lately I've had a few conversations about paying tithes and not receiving the blessings of God if you don't
give tithes and offerings.
By now you are all aware that yes tithing was in the Old Testament and that it is no longer a law that you have to
pay tithes. But I don't really think this is the question... I believe the question on everyone's mind is if you will
still receive blessings if you don't tithe.
As I've often stated before, the words and promises of God or binding for all of us and was the same yesterday... is
the same today and will be the same tomorrow.
So regardless if you pay your tithe or not, you still have access to those words and His promises, that basically say
He will always be there for you, He will always take care of you, you have nothing to fear, He loves you and all you
have to do is have faith that He will keep His words and trust that they will manifest in your life.
This is what I know about paying tithes... I know it is a form of showing faith and having trust, but you receiving
the blessings of God does not depend on you paying tithes. You will still receive these blessings, even if you don't
pay them.
Stop beating yourself up about paying tithes, if you have the money, and really want to make this part of your
spiritual life, then go for it! If you don't have the money and can't do this, then don't worry.
Receiving the blessings of God is more about faith and trust than it is about paying tithes. So rest assured that
you're not doing anything wrong if you don't pay tithes.
Christian Myth - You Have to Tithe to Receive the Blessing of God By Ray Matthews
You've heard it on Christian Television, when some Evangelist or Teacher came to town, and even in a Sunday morning
service at your local church.
It's the plea for your money - Most often associated with this powerful and urgent request for you to give sacrificially
is some scriptural and persuasive argument or even a 'word from God' - "If you do this today... then God will..." You've
heard this before so you can fill in the rest.
The Implication Is That If You Don't Give Today Then You Will Miss The Favor And Blessing Of God!
So what do you do? You get out your checkbook and spend the money you had put back to pay your electric bill, buy groceries,
or for something other necessity of life and you write the check. Then you deal with what you did later on after the
emotions are gone and you have to have the money.
Maybe you've never been as naive as I have about paying tithes, but I certainly have done this, many times over. And then
I prayed over my seed and studied the bible more -- I would seek God for hours just trying to get God to move and show me
some favor. I would think to myself," there must be something wrong with me!"
I Heard The Testimonies Of Others And Wondered Why It Wasn't Working For Me...
Now let me back up a little here and give you some perspective. Just a couple of years before this time of questioning and
seeking God, I was the owner of a successful software development company and it seemed that God's favor was everywhere I
turned! I gave and I received... In abundance!
I began to wonder what the difference was between the time that I was abundantly blessed and the time when it seemed like
the heavens were closed to me. Was it something I was doing wrong?
I want you to be completely free from performance based Christianity that is taught in most churches today. The myth goes
something like this, "If you perform well in the area of your finances (give your tithes and offerings), then God will bless
you with finances."
So like always, as I studied the bible the answer became very clear. This is what I want to share with you today. I was
told that my financial blessing and freedom was directly tied to me sacrificially giving to a church or ministry. So let's
take an honest look at the truth according to God as revealed in the bible by the Holy Spirit.
Let's Get Our Priorities In Order
We'll start with defining what giving is according to the bible. First of all there are basically three types of giving
mentioned in the bible. There is the tithe (mentioned only once by Jesus), and the word tithe means 'one tenth'. There is
offering (mentioned only once by Jesus), and there is alms giving (mentioned 6 times by Jesus, 13 times in the New Testament) -
Let's take a look first at the one time that Jesus talked about paying tithes in Matthew 23:23 - "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, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."
In this verse Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees, not giving instructions about paying tithes. Notice he said that they do
tithe of the smallest things like the mint leaf, but they left off the weightier or important matters of the law, judgment
(better interpreted justice), mercy and faith. These were of the greatest priority and tithing of the lesser priority.
His one reference to offerings was an observation in the temple of how people gave their offerings in Luke 21:4. There is no
instruction here, just His observing the crowd.
Now you'll notice in Matthew 23:23 that mercy was listed as one of the things that were of great importance. Giving alms is best
defined as compassionate giving to the poor. I would say that this falls under the category of mercy, wouldn't you? This was of
greater importance, according to Jesus in Matthews 23:23, than tithing! -- Imagine that...
I want you to notice also that when Jesus mentioned alms that it was instructional. Once He even told the disciples to sell
what they had and give alms (Luke 12:23). You won't hear many leaders in the church today giving instructions like that -
Think about it...
Now without going any deeper in our bible study here about paying tithes, I have observed that most Christians believe
that paying tithes is so important that they are under tremendous pressure not to miss their why do some affirmations
work and then suffer guilt when they do.
I Am Not Saying That You And I Shouldn't Give Tithes And Offerings
What I am saying is that most of us have felt the pressure to give by people who I believe are well intended for the
most part. But 100% of the external pressure we feel to give tithes or offerings is performance based religious pressure
that Jesus gave His life to set us free from!
Did you know that God was sickened at one time by the Old Testament sacrificial offerings in Israel because they didn't
come from the right place, the heart!
What I discovered about paying tithes was that when I received revelation of all that Jesus did and the power of the cross,
I began to develop a relationship with my Father who delivers me and gives me everything I need in life apart from my performance!
When you realize the great mercy you have been shown by God and His unconditional love for you, then giving to those
in need is a natural reaction to receiving everything you need without condition from your father! You will support
ministries and churches from a place of faith and great confidence!
Without Faith It Is Impossible To Please God
What you need to know about paying tithes is that you must have faith in the finished work of the cross which includes
provision without condition. Consider the birds, Jesus said in Matthew 6:26, you are better than they are and your
heavenly Father feeds them!
Another thing you need to know about paying tithes is that your blessing is in direct relation to the revelation of God the
Father and His unconditional love for you. Once you get this, you will do what Jesus said to do, never worry about anything!
And your giving will be from a place of great joy and confidence, not of religious pressure and guilt!
Most nights, when I lie down to go to sleep, I take a few minutes and cast every care on Jesus. I tell God how much I trust
Him with my health, my family, and my finances. That's what He wants to hear from you...
If you tell Him that you gave your tithe and offerings, and that you deserve something from Him, you're not only limiting your
faith in what God can do, you are demonstrating to Him that you are relying on your own righteousness for His favor, not His
love and righteousness...
God Will Speak To You About Tithing, Offerings And Alms
But in the meantime, don't give away the rent money without faith, no matter how emotional or guilty you may feel,
or you may not be able to pay your rent!
Let me say here that what I know about paying tithes is that I believe in giving as much as anyone I know.
And there have been times when God has spoken to me through a prophetic word, I obeyed and gave in a church service,
and God did exactly as He said He would.
There have also been times that I gave away the rent money and then didn't have the rent money when I needed. The
difference was where I was in my relationship with God.
You were not designed to be a beast of burden. You are a child of God - So what about paying tithes - trust
in His goodness, and give yourself a break from the pressure to give, especially when you don't have it to give. You
can't work God like a slot machine. He only responds to your trust in Him and in that place of trust He will
never disappoint you.
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