Giving

Mark 12:30-31 ~ “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
• God looks at our HEART when we give
• BEFORE we see the blessing of God, we give the tithe in FAITH
• Tithing is the primary way that we acknowledge that God is FIRST

**Judge a tree by its fruit**
Romans 11:16 ~ “And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their descendants will also be holy – just as an entire batch of dough is holy because the portion given as an offering is holy.”

Whatever I give to God, I keep. Whatever I keep, I lose.
• God will ALWAYS give us what we need, not what we want!
• Why does it take faith to give? (It is not natural!)
• Our giving IMPACTS the Kingdom of God

2 Corinthians 9:7 ~ “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly OR in response to pressure. For the Lord loves a person who gives cheerfully.” WHY DO WE GIVE:
• Proves we are saved
• Needs of the believers get met
• Gives glory to God
• Furthers the Kingdom; proves we are Kingdom-minded

God DOES NOT need our money – we need to be BLESSED! Blessed means empowered to prosper. Don’t live under a curse by stealing from God.

Malachi 3:8-10 ~ “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you, I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”
• WOW! What a promise…a blessing that I can’t even contain!
• He almost dares us…He says TEST ME!
• The House of the Lord (the Church) is the proper place to tithe.
• Consecrated or cursed???

Malachi 3:6 ~ “I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.”
• The one who says ‘I can’t afford to tithe’ is a nonbeliever. (Lack of faith)
• We can not argue that we are “under grace now”. If we were commanded under the law, then how can we justify doing any less under grace? He says here…I do not change.


Acts 20:35 ~ And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’
• Be faithful with a little so He can bless you with a lot
• It is an expression of thanksgiving for our salvation
• Human- I breathe. Christian – I give.
• How we give often reflects our understanding of our salvation

**Let’s stop seeing all we can get and comparing it with the world. We should give all we can in order to CHANGE the world!**
Whatever we have that we give back to God, the devil can not touch it. It is a treasure stored up in heaven and he has been thrown out!

God will NOT bless a mess! If we did not ask His guidance and direction before we bought it, spent it, or blew it then we can not expect Him to bless the mess we have gotten ourselves in to. Moving forward…now we know that obedience brings the blessing and God’s Word tells us to tithe our first portion, not our tenth or twentieth portion…our FIRST TENTH. PRAY before you PAY!