MY MONEY

 MY MONEY:

“Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭5:19).

I have heard people say “It is my money: I can do whatever I want with it. I need to save. I have bills to pay. I don't have to tithe, or I don’t have to help if I don't want to”. They may THINK they are right by saying this but according to the Bible, actually is not our money. Who provided you with the job? There are verses in the Bible that talk about money. I guess to remind us it is a blessing from God when we give and that we have to give and not be greedy. “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity” ‭‭(Ecclesiastes‬ ‭5:10‬).

 In the Old Testament we see when God gave His people laws about tithes and offering. You may say those offerings are not the same! They were food offerings. That’s correct but they were not only food offerings they were also gold, silver, brass, cattle, birds, and seeds, everything was for the same purpose; “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass” (‭‭Exodus‬ ‭25:2-3‬). “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (‭‭Malachi‬ ‭3:10‬).

Did you know we become thieves when we don’t tithe, give offerings, or help in church? That is a strong word, a THIEF. That means we are criminals. “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation” (‭‭Malachi‬ ‭3:8-9‬). You can say Jesus forgives me for this. What if I dont have money, how am I going to tithe? What about my bills? What if I have to save for something special? I have to feed my family first. Any excuse you may come up with, God knows them already. No matter your excuse, you are bringing a curse to yourself. "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things." (Acts 5:1‭-‬11 KJV) Remember, the widow that gave everything she had, she knew God’s command and was willing to lose all she had because she knew; God was not going to leave her. I am sure she wasn't expecting anything in return. Remember, God blesses greatly if we give willingly. “And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living” (‭‭Mark‬ ‭12:43-44). 

We become greedy when we protect money instead of following what the Bible says. We are greedy when we get bothered when this subject is being taught. Why do you think we get bothered when we talk about money? When we should know, God blesses us when we tithe? Some people may have questions about what happens to the tithes or offering or may want something in return. I am sorry to say but God said there has to be meat in His house meaning we have to help support our Pastors, our churches. It is not our job to find out what happens to the tithes or offerings, our job is to give. God takes care of everything else. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy‬ ‭6:10).

God gave us amounts on tithing and offerings. He knows our heart. He knows we don’t like to give, so He made it easier for us. He said, it does not matter if you are rich or poor, the amount will be the same. He also gave us the will to help in addition to tithing. I understand some people like to use their TITHINGS for something else, but God says NO. He says and very clearly, we have to bring it to His house “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (‭‭Malachi‬ ‭3:10).  “The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls” (‭‭Exodus‬ ‭30:15). “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 unto the LORD” (‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭27:30‬).

Many may disagree with my thoughts about money. Remember what God says when we give. “Prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (‭‭Malachi‬ ‭3:10‬). 

Likhi Roush