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This website has been developed to help you understand the Word of God, the Holy Bible. We believe that the Word of God holds the keys to a peaceful, fruitful, joyful life. Jesus said that the "truth shall make you free." As you walk with Jesus and learn what the Word of God teaches you will find a new found freedom in your life.

Some of the teachings on this website may be unlike any you have ever heard. Let me encourage you to keep an open mind and also to search out what is being taught here to see if it lines up with the Bible or not. If you have problems with any of the lessons and don't agree. Send me scriptures and we can discuss your differences. Many of the lessons contained in this website will step on the toes of traditional Christianity. Jesus said that the "tradition of man makes the commandment of God of no effect." It is time to get rid of tradition and believe what the Word of God really says!

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Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:16

 

Can't Make Ends Meet?

Have you ever robbed anyone? I would have to say that most of my friends have never robbed anyone. But, I would venture to say that most of my friends have robbed God! “How do you rob God?”, you may ask? Well, the Bible is very clear.

Malachi 3:8,9 New International Version

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.

Some of you may not even know what a tithe is. Tithe literally means one-tenth. All blessings come from God and God wants us to give back a small portion of what He has given us.

The economy in the United States is in a deep recession right now. You see it on the news every day. People are taking pay cuts and losing jobs. Because of this, they are losing their homes and aren’t able to provide for their families. Let me tell you some good news. If you are a Christian, your financial state does not have to be ruled or dictated by the world’s economy! Even when everyone around you is struggling financially, you can be prosperous!

God never wants to hurt you. He always wants you to be blessed. There are times He will allow you to go through difficulties in life so that you may grow spiritually and learn to trust in Him. But God does not ask you to give ten percent of what you make to make life difficult. He wants you to give so He can bless you with more.

I lived in Utah for 15 years. As you may know, the Great Salt Lake lies west of Salt Lake City. The Great Salt Lake is a “dead sea”, meaning that it has no fish and no life, other than some small brine shrimp. The reason the lake is “dead” is because, even though fresh water pours into the lake, it never flows out. All the minerals in the water that flow into the lake stay there even when much of the water evaporates. Any normal lake that is “alive” has water that feeds into the lake and also flows out of the lake.

Our spiritual lives are much the same. If we continue to take in and never give out, we become stagnant and unfruitful. God wants us to give, not only financially but in every area of our lives.

God really isn’t worried about money but He knows that our lives depend upon it. That is just the way our world system is set up. God wants us to give so His word can go throughout the earth and He also wants us to give so He can bless us.

Let’s look at the rest of that passage in Malachi.

Malachi 3:10 – 12

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

I want you to pay close attention to what God says. He says “Test me in this”. I have never found another place in the Bible where God says to put Him to the test. This is exciting to me! God is so serious about this that He actually invites us to test Him to see if He will do what He says He will. Let’s look at what He says He will do if you give ten percent of your income.

1.      He will throw open the floodgates of Heaven

2.      He will pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough for you to store it.

3.      He will prevent pests from devouring your crops.

4.      The vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe.

5.      All the nations will call you blessed.

6.      You will be a delightful land.

Number three is stated a little bit differently in the King James version of the Bible. It says “I will rebuke the devourer for your sake.” When you tithe, you absolutely can’t lose! It is a win/win situation for you and the Kingdom of God! God Himself will rebuke the devourer in your life. The devourer may be a bad job situation, a bad boss, Satan or any other thing that would try to eat you up.

3 John 1:2 New American Standard

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

I have been asked if I believe in the “prosperity doctrine” sometimes better known as “Name it and Claim it” or “Blab it and Grab it”.  Sometimes I answer sarcastically and say, “No way! I think God wants all of us to be poor and humble!”

The reason this is so controversial is that some preachers have taught it wrongly. First of all, God wants your heart to be right. He wants your soul to prosper. Once your heart is right and your soul prospers, then you can be blessed in every area of your life. There have been and are now, ministers that come as “angels of light” but they are evil, seeking only to get rich off of your money and possessions. I have seen many of them. I have seen them tell people that if they give $10 today, God will drop $1000 in their lap tomorrow! Can God do that? Absolutely He can but it is pretty likely that He won’t. But, as you get in to a pattern of giving back to God, He  WILL make sure that your needs are met and even give you the desires of your heart!

If you are not a tither, let me encourage you to do what God says. Test Him! God is not a liar and He will prove that to you if you will do what He says.

This may be a big step of faith for you. You may not make enough money to pay all of your bills in the first place and you don’t know how in the world you will be able to pay ten percent. Just do it! Take the ten percent right off the top before you pay anything else. If you wait and pay everything else first, you won’t have it. If you do pay your tithe, first thing, you will be surprised how God will make up the difference.

How many of you who have children want to see your children suffer and lose their jobs and not be able to pay their bills? I don’t know of any good parent that would wish those things on their children. God is a better father than any father on earth. How much more does God want His children to prosper?

I know a man whose father passed away when he was around ten years old. His mother was left penniless and worked in a small grocery store in a town of about one thousand people. She struggled to support her three sons. As the one son grew, he would mow lawns and do other things to have some money. When he got out of high school, he would work on drilling rigs in the summer to save money for college in the fall and spring. Finally he graduated and got a good job in the oil industry. He began to buy a small oil or gas well here and there and before long he was an extremely wealthy man, owning his own oil company. One day we were talking after he had just bought several million dollars worth of oil wells all with cash. He told me, “Jay, the only reason I have what I have is because I have always tithed.”

Do I believe in the prosperity doctrine? You bet I do and so does God. God wants to bless you even as your soul prospers. If you need some “prospering” in your life, test God. You will see that He is not a liar and He will bless you as you do what He requires!

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