Whenever we talk about prosperity people are already hardening their hearts; because they think that God is after their money. Unfortunately, some preachers who have been labelled “prosperity preachers” have carried that prosperity message beyond its proper boundaries. There is a true and balanced prosperity preaching that lines up with the written word of God, and not the greed of some so called “ministers of god”. We will see in this teaching what God said about prosperity of His people, and we will learn how to avoid being manipulated by people. I want to let everybody know up front, that a person, who does not give his tithe or offering, will not go to hell. Let no one put fear into your hearts that not giving to God will send a person to hell. It is not in the bible.

 

1. Is God after my money? 

God created everything in this world. He created the sun, the moon, the stars, the light, the darkness, the day and the night, the heavens and the earth, the fowls of the air, the animals on the earth, the cattle, the herbs, the trees, and the fish in the sea (Genesis 1). God saw that all He created was good. After creating the entire world, God created mankind, the crown of His creation and He said it was very good. Before we got here, God made the provision for everything we will ever need. He gave it to us first, before asking us to offer Him something out of the abundance He gave us.

 

When the people of God were complaining about their giving, God reminded them, that He was not after their money, but He wanted to bless them. God said: I will neither take a bull from your house, nor goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills, I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and all its fullness (Psalm 50:9-12). The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein (Psalm 24:1). The heavens are the Lord’s, the earth also is His, as for the world and the fullness thereof He has founded them (Psalm 89:11). The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, says the Lord (Haggai 2:8).

 

In essence God is telling the world He is self-sufficient; He does not need anything. But it is for our own good that He asks us to give. When God says: you have robbed Me with your tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8). What God is truly saying is, that we have not given Him an opportunity to bless us. One may ask himself the question, what would happen to me, if I give nothing to God? How will He treat me?

 

2. What happens to me when I have nothing to give to God?

Our God is a good God, who causes the sun to rise on the good and evil, He causes the rain to fall on the just and on the unjust, He is the Most High God (Matthew 5:45). God has a welfare package for His children. If He feeds the unbelievers, how much more will He feed His own children? If He feeds the fowls of the air, how much more will he feed His own children? Therefore I, Jesus, say unto you. Take no thought for your life or do not worry about your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what shall you put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better or of more value than they (Matthew 6:25-26)?

 

Our fathers, when they were in the wilderness; they could not sow anything, yet God gave them manna every day. They ate until they were full. Never did they have to sleep with an empty stomach. They were on the welfare package of God. Jesus said, that we should be praying this prayer to our Father in heaven: give us day by day our daily bread (Luke 11:3). God promised not to allow the soul of the righteous to famish (Proverbs 10:3). David told us his experience, when he was running away from Saul, and had to even pretend madness before king Abimelech, so that his life would be spared. David, even in those difficult circumstances, hiding in caves, and in the wilderness, discovered that there is no lack, or want, to those who fear the Lord; the young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing (Psalm 34:9-10).

David could also boldly say in His old age, he had experienced God both in the caves and the wilderness, while running away from Saul, and in the palace as king over Israel. David could draw this conclusion based on his experience in life, saying: I was young and now I am old; I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread (Psalm 37:25). David knew that the Lord was his shepherd; therefore, he shall not want (Psalm 23:1). Brothers and sisters, we must rest on the revelation of the welfare package of God, God will feed us and our family everyday, even if we are in the wilderness phase of our life physically. Satan is persecuting us and shaking our finances. We must know that our God will provide for us. Spiritually we are always in green pastures since we are in Christ Jesus, soon our physical experience will line up with where we are spiritually (John 10).

 

The prodigal son knew that in his Father’s house, hired servants have bread enough and to spare, so why should he, as a son perish with hunger (Luke 15:17). Jesus then tells us: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened (Matthew 7:7-8). Your Father who is in heaven will give you good things, not a serpent if you asked for a fish, not a stone if you ask for bread, not a scorpion if you ask for an egg. Expect good things and perfect things from your Father in heaven; for every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights (James 1:17).

 

Therefore, brethren when we are going through difficult periods in our lives, we have no income at all; let us never feel condemned, let us ask our God, and He will give us day by day our daily bread. Even if a believer thinks God is after his money, therefore refuses to give anything back to God, when God has blessed him financially; God still gives that unfaithful believer the welfare package of the kingdom. Even when we are faithless or do not believe that He is not after our money, God remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself (2Timothy 2:13). He said He will not allow our soul to famish; He will be faithful to His word; for He watches over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12).

 

3. It is God’s will for us to prosper

God’s will is prosperity. He wants His children to live in prosperity in all things including spiritual, material, physical and intellectual prosperity. The prosperity God wants to see in our lives applies to the whole picture of human endeavour: Family life (provision for our children, spouses and relations), jobs, businesses, human relationships and all necessities of life. God, according to His divine power, has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him, who has called us to glory and virtue (2Peter 1:2).

 

Financial prosperity is included; for God says in 3John verse 2: “Beloved, I pray or I wish above all things that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers”- Amplified version. And also in Psalm 35:27: “Let them shout for joy and be glad who favour my righteous cause; And let them say continually, let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant”. God is pleased when you and I prosper; yet God does not want us to prosper at the expense of our spiritual life!

 

4. Why does God want me to prosper?

Solomon said wisdom is a defence and money is a defence (Ecclesiastes 7:12). Solomon also said money answers all things (Ecclesiastes 10:19). As Christians we are not to be slaves of money, but we must have dominion over money. Money and the love of money or greed should not become a god in our life. For the love of money is a root of all evils, of which some having lusted after, they were seduced from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness (1Timothy 6:10-11). No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon [the god of greed] (Matthew 6:24). Solomon through the wisdom given to him by God, sheds some light, as to why God wants His people to have wealth and prosperity.

 

Ecclesiastes 9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

Ecclesiastes 9:14 There was a little city and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks or snares against it:

Ecclesiastes 9:15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

Ecclesiastes 9:16 Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless, the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

Ecclesiastes 9:17 The words of wise men, spoken quietly, should be heard rather than the shout of the ruler of fools.

Ecclesiastes 9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroys much good.

Born again Christians are supposed to be full of wisdom, for Christ Jesus has been made wisdom unto us (1 Corinthians 1:30). If any believer lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5). Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him (Colossians 3:16-17).

 

 God is saying through Solomon, I know we are wise, but this is how the world will treat us if we are physically poor and needy. People in times of crises, will seek the counsel of God or the wisdom of God through believers. Unsaved people may have many devices or plans or thoughts in their hearts, about how to get out of that trouble; nevertheless, the counsel of God in us will stand, it will be the wisdom God gives us through the revelation of His word, that will help everybody to come out of trouble (Proverbs 19:21). 

 

We see that in the days of Joseph who, through his God given wisdom, delivered Egypt and the world from the famine.

Solomon noticed something, that as soon as the unsaved people or carnal believers get out of their trouble, they forget about that poor and needy wise man. They even despise him because he is physically poor and needy. The only time they listen to his word, is when they are in trouble. If believers do not get the understanding that God wants them to prosper and be wealthy, they will always be despised in the society and they will suffer great harm from their haters. Solomon says: The blessing of the LORD, it makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it (Proverbs 10:22). And Paul says: you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might be rich (2Corinthians 8:9).

 

In the days of Esther in the kingdom of Persia and Media, the enemies of the Jew, Haman, a rich man, decided to annihilate all the Jews. History tells us, that king Ahasuerus or Xerxes had suffered a great loss of soldiers in the Battle of Thermopylea when he fought king Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans. Xerxes came back to his home city, having lost a lot of money and soldiers in that unfruitful conquest. The kingdom was in financial down turn. Haman seized the opportunity to plot the annihilation of all the Jews. Xerxes, the king, had nothing against the Jews per se./; his only concern was the financial state of his kingdom.

Xerxes was concerned that if all the Jews were killed, he would no longer be receiving the tributes or tax money from the Jews. So Haman told Xerxes not to worry about the tax; he would pay the tax money or the tribute the Jews were supposed to pay into the king’s treasury (Esther 3:9). Mordecai the Jew, the uncle of Esther, though he was in some position of power, for he used to sit at the gate; he did not have the money Haman had.

 

Today it is the same thing that is happening in our society, what Haman was doing is simply called lobbying. Today in our society there are many groups of people, or other faith groups which are lobbying against born again believers. The government passes decrees that restrict the freedom of believers; decrees that removes God in the schools, in the hospital, in the work place, authorises homosexual marriage, homosexuals to adopt children. The government issues decrees which put those new faiths or groups of thoughts into the schools, hospitals and wherever God was evicted. It is simply because those people are lobbying like Haman did. The government is trying to please them, because they contribute a lot to the finances of the country: they control the media, the financial institutions, the show business, the cinema industry, etc.

 

The Jews learned the lesson of the days of Esther and understood the wisdom God gave Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes. The Jews are wealthy people, and their money lobbies on their behalf wherever they are in the world. We serve the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Many times, we suffer because we do not have someone inside to lobby for us. But thank God, God had an Esther in the palace of king Xerxes. Brothers and sisters, you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). You are there to overthrow the plots of the Haman of your generation, who wants to destroy other born again believers; you are in that position of power to silence our haters. Your promotion or exaltation into that office or business is not a coincidence; God has a strategic plan, that is why He prospered you.

 

God wants to prosper you in your business, in your career so that you will be like Esther in your generation. You will be able to plead the cause of many born again believers. Do not be deceived you are not where you are by your own power; for exaltation and promotion comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the Judge, He puts downs one and exalts another (Psalm 75:6-7). Just like He put down Haman the hater of the Jews and exalted Mordecai in his stead (Esther 8:1-2). Or put down Queen Vashti and exalted Esther in her stead. God did the same thing with Daniel and his three friends in the Babylonian kingdom. And God will do the same thing in your life, provided you are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

 

Esther, Mordecai, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not ashamed of their God and His good news; for whosoever therefore shall confess Me, Jesus, before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 10:32-33). God wants to promote people who will not be ashamed of Jesus and His word and stand on behalf of many other born again believers for their beliefs. God says: I sought for a man or woman among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none (Ezekiel 22:30). Just like God found Debora, Esther, Daniel, Mordecai, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, to stand in the gap before the Lord and before men for the cause of God and His people, God has also found you and me in our generation, to stand in the gap before him.

 

5. Avoiding financial manipulations

5.1 Teaching of Jesus about vows, pledges and oaths

Matthew 23:16 Woe unto you, you blind guides, who say, whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

Matthew 23:17 you fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

Matthew 23:18 And, Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

Matthew 23:19 you fools and blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

Matthew 23:20 therefore he who shall swear by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon.

Matthew 23:21 And he who shall swear by the temple, swears by it, and by him that dwells therein.

Matthew 23:22 And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him that sits thereon.

 

The scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, yoked people with vows, pledges and oaths; do not be deceived, it is the same thing: you swear that you will do something. But they came up with tricks, how not to pay their own vows, oaths or pledges. They would say, I only swore by the altar or by the temple; therefore, I am not obligated to redeem it. Since they were the leaders, the people could not question their words. There is nothing wrong with oaths, vows and pledges, it is biblical. But the Hypocrite leaders of the Jews, wanted to be seen by men, when they did their liberalities, therefore they would declare publicly, what they had pledged to give to the treasury of the house of God.

 

Thus, people would be praising them for that pledge, but when the time came to redeem the pledge, they would give these excuses: that they did not swear by the gift on the altar, or by the gold of the temple, so, they were not going to redeem it. Meanwhile, they had also yoked the people, by asking them to vow or pledge or make an oath publicly. But when the people were not be able to redeem it; they would not apply the same rules to the people, that they themselves had used, in order not to redeem their own pledges. They were being hypocrites and using double standards.

 

But what is the right teaching about the vow or pledge, or taking an oath? In the bible, we can see it is a personal thing between the individual and God, no one else knows that a vow or a pledge has been made by that individual. Only God, since it is only that person and God, who knows what was vowed or pledged, therefore only God can come and ask that person to redeem his or her vow or pledge.

 

We see that with Hannah, she vowed in her heart too, that if the Lord gave her a child, she would give it back to God. Eli the high priest did not even know what she was saying in her prayer, her lips were moving but no sound came out of her mouth. And when God gave her Samuel, she brought him back to the house of God, and had to explain to Eli that she vowed to bring that child to God. Eli did not know anything about the vow, from the time she made it to the time she redeemed it, Eli was clueless (1Samuel 1).

 

We also have the example of Jephthah, he made a vow to the Lord that if God deliver his enemies into his hands, he would give him whatever comes out of his house to meet him, when he returns from battle. Unfortunately for him it was his only daughter that came to welcome him, when he came back victorious from his enemies. He had to redeem his vow, and gave his daughter to God, she was a virgin her entire life (Judges 11). No one knew of the vow of Jephthah, neither the soldiers who went into battle with him, nor his daughter, nor the priests. It was between God and Jephthah.

Our father Jacob had an encounter with the Lord, and God made him a promise to give him the blessing of Abraham and Isaac, in return, Jacob made a vow, that if God did his part of the bargain, he would give God his tithe (Genesis 28). Jacob was fleeing for his life, for Esau wanted to kill him. Jacob was alone when he cried out to God for help and when he made that vow. God kept his part of the bargain, and when Jacob had come back at bethel, where he made that vow, he gave God his tithe.

 

Jesus gives us the true teaching about vows or pledges or oaths, to help us, so that no one will coerce us into making a pledge, that we cannot or do not want to redeem, to free us from the hypocrites, who are always asking us to vow or pledge publicly, so that they will be harassing us to redeem that pledge or vow. Do not get Jesus wrong, He is not telling us not to pledge at all, or to vow or take an oath at all. He is the God of Jacob, and Jacob vowed. But Jesus is helping to remove the burden and the yokes of pledges, and vowed, that we have been, or will be coerced, by the Hypocrites into taking them publicly. Your vows or pledges must be between you and God, no one must know about it, but God and yourself.

 

Therefore Jesus says: you have heard that it was said by those of old time, you shall not swear or pledge or make a vow falsely, but shall perform or redeem your oaths or pledges or vows to the Lord [Moses told you that in Numbers 30:2 saying: If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth]; but I, Jesus, say to you, do not swear at all, do not vow at all, do not pledge at all {either publicly when you are coerced or secretly} neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God nor by earth for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one (Matthew 5:33-37).

 

When we say, in the church setting, we will give something, it is enough; our word is enough, we have already said Yes we will do it. We do not need to pledge or vow. And when we have said we cannot give that money, our No is enough, people should not coerce us to go and borrow money, those methods are from the evil one, not from God, according to Jesus. Paul tells us: Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves another has fulfilled the Law (Romans 13:8). Solomon tells us: The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). It is not the will of God, according to the written word of God, to borrow money to bring to church, or use your credit card to give money to the church.

 

James will hammer the point home: above all my brethren do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your Yes be Yes, and your No, No, lest you fall into hypocrisy, hence receive the same judgment of the hypocrite (James 5:12). You do not have to act before men like the hypocrites; you do not have to say yes to please anybody. The Pharisees liked the recognition and the praises of men, rather than the praise of God. That is why they always raise their hands to pledge in churches, but they never redeem their pledges. Do not share in their hypocrisy. The fear of man brings a snare: but whosoever puts his trust in the LORD shall be safe (Proverbs 29:25). For now, do I persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ. And, brothers, I make known to you the gospel which was preached by me, that it is not according to man (Galatians 1:10-11). Christ Jesus is the one who told us not to vow or pledge at all!

 

God sees first our willing heart, we are willing to give to God, and He accepts our liberalities according to what we have, and not according to what we do not have (2Corinthians 8:12). You do not have to borrow to try to please men, for a borrower is a slave or bondservant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). Do not enter into financial debt because of a church! God does not want us to be in financial bondage to anybody or any credit card institution. He tells us: owe no one anything, except the love of God.

 

For the Lord warns us: alas or woe to him who increases what is not his. How long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges. His creditors will rise up suddenly, those who oppress him will awaken, and he will become their booty (Habakkuk 2:6-7). Do not be one of those who shake hands in a pledge, if you have nothing to pay, why should the creditor take away your bed from under you? (Proverbs 22:26-27). Do not pledge or vow money in church, according to the words of Jesus and James, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, give according to what you have, and never borrow to give, give willingly.

 

When Jesus told us, do not pledge or do not vow in Matthew 5:33-37, He was not just talking about financial pledges or vows, that we are coerced to make, by a church leader, but any vow or pledge. A sister came to church and said in her heart: God, if you solve my immigration problem within three months, I will open my house to the church bible study group, and I will be distributing the flyers of the church from door to door. Though she was saying all those things in her heart, and not a sound was coming out of her mouth, the Lord caused me to hear what she was praying in her heart. And I stopped the prayer and told everyone in the church, do not vow or pledge at all in this church. Do not pledge to give money, or to do something for this church in your heart, when God has delivered you from your predicament.

 

Then I explained the scriptures of Matthew 5:33-37 and James 5:12 to them. The reason people pledge or vow things, or to do things for God, is because deep inside them, they do not believe that God is willing to deliver them. They know that God is capable and all powerful, to solve the kind of predicament they are facing; but they doubt that God is willing to do it for someone like them. Many times it is because they know so many things against themselves, and they say to themselves, if I were God, I would not want to help someone like me. Their conscience is accusing them, and their heart is condemning them, because of what they did wrong (Romans 2:15, 1John 3:20-21).

 

In the case of Jacob in Genesis 28, God made him a promise to bless him with the blessing of Abraham and Isaac. Jacob whose name means supplanter; usurped the birth right of his brother Esau, deceived his father Isaac that he was Esau, thus stole the blessing of Abraham from his brother Esau. When God appeared to him in a vision, and made him such great promises, he was not confident that God would bring them to pass. He did not doubt the ability of God to bring the promises to come to pass; he doubted the willingness of God to do it speedily, or maybe God would change his mind altogether, and decide not to fulfil those promises in his life. That is why he pledged to tithe.

 

My friend’s God is a good God. It is the goodness of the Lord that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). God is a merciful God. many times, we do not command mountains to move, because we know so many things against us like Jacob. We need to pray for the mercy of God and his goodness, and genuinely purpose in our hearts to repent of those evil ways. God keeps His words and promises, not because of us, but for His own great name’s sake. Daniel prayed for Judah who was led to captivity in Babylon, because they forsook their God, saying: O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and do. Do not delay or defer (the deliverance of your people from their Babylonian captivity, as you promised to deliver your people after seventy years of captivity, by the mouth of your prophet Jeremiah), for Your own sake, O my God; for Your city and Your people are called by Your name (Daniel 9:19).

God says: For my sake, for My sake I will do it; for why should My name be defiled? And I will not give My glory to another. Listen to me, O Jacob and Israel, whom I called; I am He; I am the first, I also am the last. My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens. I called; they stood up together. Let all of you gather and hear; who among them has declared these things? Jehovah has loved him; He will do His pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be on the Chaldeans (Isaiah 48:11-14). It needs to start with repentance, if your ways are the ways of Jacob, the supplanter! We are in the New Covenant, under the Old Covenant Daniel repented for the sin of his people, and asked for forgiveness. But In the New Covenant, you are responsible for your sins, no one can ask forgiveness, or repent on your behalf, you need to do it for yourself. If we could repent and ask forgiveness on behalf of other people, it means that we can be born again on behalf of other people.

 

No, everybody has to repent towards God for himself. John tells us: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9). Once we have repented of our sin, then you ask for His mercy, and that he will deliver us for His own great name’s sake, that he will do His pleasure, on our enemies who captured us, by destroying them like he did the Babylonians, and set us free. Sometimes I go to prayer meetings, and I hear people praying on a particular subject, and they are binding and loosing at the top of their voices. They do not even realize, that what got them into that situation, was, because their ways were the ways of Jacob the trickster, the usurper and the deceiver. Even when I tell them, that what they did was sin according to the written word of God, they do not see anything wrong with what they did. Thus, they refuse to repent and ask for mercy and the goodness of God. That is why, in some churches that have people with immigration issues, they pledge money or they “sow” thousands of pounds to the church, or they fast for fourteen days, for God to solve their immigration issues, yet God does not solve it!

 

They think that their pledge of money or their sowing of thousands of pounds, or their pledge to work in one of the departments of the church or their fast for deliverance, of fourteen or twenty-one days will “move” God. A brother and sister came to me and told me, that they had an immigration issue for more than a decade, that they had travelled into London to one of the big churches, they had pledged and redeemed their pledge of thousands of pounds, they had gone twice for deliverance, fourteen days and fourteen nights each time, they had bought the most expensive “anointing” oil and the “anointed” handkerchief from the church; yet they did not receive their deliverance. 

 

And I just said to them, repent of your evil ways, and we will ask for mercy and the goodness of the Lord, and He will do that for His own great name’s sake! I explained to each one of them, according to the scriptures, what they did, did not please God, and that is sin according to His written word. I told them, you will not even have to give me a dime, not even an offering, or a tithe, you will not even have to fast for a single day, you will need no anointed oil, no anointed handkerchief, yet God will deliver you. The sister decided to repent, and God delivered her of that decade of immigration troubles, in three months. The brother refused to repent, for in his eyes, what I had told him according to the scriptures was not a sin. He therefore did not repent. He called me and asked me: the sister had the same situation I had for the same number of years, why did God deliver her and not me?

 

He invited me into his house, tried to cook for me, and give me some money, but his motivations were not right, for he did not want to surrender his life to Christ. I went to his house, and the wife cooked for me, and we talked, and I again besought them to repent, but when we prayed, he did not even repent, but was binding and loosing. Amos says: Can two walk together unless they are agreed (Amos 3:3)? And God said to Cain, who was angry because the person of Abel and his sacrifice was accepted by God, and his person and his sacrifice was rejected by God: Why have you angrily glowed? And why did your face fall? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at the door; and its desire is for you, and you shall rule over it (Genesis 4:6-7). Repent and God will walk with you and deliver you! you do not need to suffer for decades, God wants to deliver you, but you need to agree with His word, and do what He requires from you.

 

Jacob had become expert at deceiving people; he could prosper by his craftiness. The blessing of Abraham was upon his life and God was willing to bring it to pass. But Jacob needed to repent, which means to be remorseful for what we have done, turn our back from our old ways and change our way of thinking and dealing in that same particular situation. As long as Jacob relied on his craftiness, he wasted 20 years of his life. He worked for his father-in-law Laban, who was craftier than he, who changed his wages ten times. Jesus gave us the parable of the unjust steward, and told us at the end of that parable: the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light (Luke 16:1-8). If you decide to adopt the strategy and deceits of the people of the world, you will lose because they are better at evil strategies, and are expert in deceits, that system belongs to their father the devil.

 

Jacob fell into the hands of an expert in deception and craftiness. And after twenty years, Jacob cried unto the Lord from his heart, not from his lips. And changed his ways, God gave him a vision of how to prosper. And in a year, Jacob so prospered, that the twenty years that he worked and had nothing to show for were forgotten. And God even spoke to his father-in-law, who was pursuing him, to do him harm and kill him; not to touch Jacob, his possessions and his household (Genesis 29, Genesis 30, Genesis 31). And in Genesis 32 God also touched the heart of Esau, who had purposed to kill Jacob because he stole his blessing of Abraham, Esau forgave Jacob and embraced him and they were reconciled.

 

Truly Solomon says: When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7). Why waste a decade or twenty years of your life, instead of just agreeing with God, when you have done what was wrong? He is willing to deliver you, and even make those who are after your life, be at peace with you. God is not after your pledge; He wants you and me to change our respective ways, as long as we are acting like the wicked, deceiving everybody, collecting bribes, etc. God says: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Jehovah, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways, says Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:7-9). You can pledge all the money in the world, or pledge to work in the church, pledge to open your house for bible study, God is not moved! Repent: change your ways and your thoughts, and God will be pleased, that is what faith is all about: pleasing God (Hebrews 11:6).

 

The other reason people pledge and vow to give things or do things for God, is because they do not believe that God is willing to do it for them. They do not doubt the ability or capability of the Almighty God to do what they are asking of Him. They are not like Jacob, whose conscience is accusing him and heart is condemning him. Yet in their heart they are asking, will God do this for me, I know He did it for other people and He promised it in his bible, but is He willing to do it for me? Such was the case the vow of Hannah in 1Samuel and the vow of Jephthah in Judges 11. People who doubt the willingness of God to perform a particular miracle in their life, think that by vowing something to God, or pledging something to God, they will get the attention of God and have Him “move” on their behalf!

 

God already promised through Moses, saying: You shall be blessed above all people. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your cattle (Deuteronomy 7:14). Nothing shall cast their young, nor be barren in your land. The number of your days I will fulfil (Exodus 23:26). Sarah and Abraham were barren, God promised them a child by Sarah. They did not have to pledge or vow saying: if you give us a child we will offer him to You! 

 

They simply believed God and took him at His word, that he was able, willing and faithful. By faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him who had promised to be faithful (Hebrews 11:11). People deep inside them do not believe that God is faithful to His word, and willing, so they use pledges to “move” Him.

 

By faith Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises, offered up his only-begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac your Seed shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from where he even received him, figuratively speaking (Hebrews 11:17-19). The bible says it was by faith that Abraham offered up Isaac, when God asked him to do so, it was not because Abraham made a vow or pledge, that if you give me a child, I will offer him up to you! God is faithful and He watches over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). Do not dedicate your son or daughter to the service in the house of God, because you made a vow like Jephthah and Hannah, rather let it come from your joyful heart, filled with faith like Abraham offered up Isaac!

 

God wants us to serve Him in spirit and in truth, not because we have yoked ourselves with a vow or pledge (John 4:24). When we yoke ourselves with pledges and vows, serving God becomes a burden to us, and at times self-inflicted bondage. For instance, if you pledge – God, if you deliver me, I will open my house for the church bible study group, and I will be distributing the flyers for the church. If one day, you are no longer happy with that church, and their doctrine has changed, you will feel guilty to leave them, because you yoked yourself with a pledge, so it has become self-inflicted bondage.

 

God said to Jeremiah: the burden of the LORD you shall mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God (Jeremiah 23:36); For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous or burdensome (1John 5:3). Going to church, serving God, opening your house for bible study, sharing the gospel with people around you, discipling people you lead to Christ, should not be a burden or a burdensome thing to you, but a delight. It should come from your heart. The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect or loyal toward Him (2Chronicles 16:9).

 

Do not just come for what you can get from God, but for who God is, some people, who pledge, especially money, once they get their miracle, they do not even want to serve God anymore, for in their eyes they have paid for their healing, for their prosperity, for their deliverance, for their child. You cannot pay for a miracle of God! That is why James says, that some of the pledges are actually made by the hypocrites, because their heart is not loyal to God, nor do they serve Him in spirit and in truth, they are trying to buy a miracle from God, and the moment they get their miracle, they go back to the world to practice sin! Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:22).

 

5.2 How should churches collect funds for a special need?

If Jesus and His Apostles do not want us to yoke believers with pledges or vows, there must of necessity be a way to get funds for the churches, which lines up with the scriptures. God is the one who instituted tithes and offerings in His temple. Why? Because God wants the people, who are ministering in His temple, to consecrate themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word of God (Acts 6:4). Why should a minister of God suffer hunger, because God called him or her to ministry? Being a son or daughter who serves God, does not mean they must be poor.

 

People, who minister in the temple of God, were fed by the tithes and offerings the people brought into the temple. God said He will satiate or fill to the full, the soul of the priests with fatness or abundance (Jeremiah 31:14). He certainly did not say that His priests or ministers, will suffer hunger to make them “holy”. That is a lie from the pit of hell, poverty is one of the curses of the law listed in Deuteronomy 28. Believers must understand, that ministers of the gospel, should not suffer because they have been called by God. Paul calls this kind of thinking, that ministers of the gospel should be poor, poorly dressed, suffer hunger to kind of make them holy in the eyes of men; self imposed religion, false humility and asceticism (Colossians 2:23).

 

It is not from God, it is self imposed religion, and asceticism. It is from the devil, to make people reject ministry or the call of God in their life. Young people will not want to go into ministry, because the devil has deceived Christian brothers and sisters, that ministry means abject poverty. In the tabernacle of David, where Levites sang 24/7, not only the priests were paid, but the singers were also paid (1Chronicles 9:33, Ezra 7:24). When the people of God stopped bringing their tithes and offerings into the temple of God, the priests and the Levites stopped ministering in the temple, because they had to work in the field to feed their families. God did not blame the priests and the Levites, but His people.

 

In the days of David and later in the days of Solomon, everybody working in the temple was paid; so that they can consecrate themselves to the work of the temple. And when Israel returned from their captivity of Babylon, they rebuilt the temple and they started to do what God commanded them, to bring their offering and tithes into the temple so that those who work there can be paid. From the gatekeeper to the singers, the Levites and the priests, everybody received his portion (Nehemiah 12:44-47).

 

Not only were the people who worked in the temple paid, through the tithes and offerings of the people, but the temple was also repaired with the same money. The widows and the orphans were also provided for, by the tithes and offerings of the people. God instituted those tithes and offerings, so that no one among His people will suffer hunger. Even the strangers were provided for by the tithes and offerings of the people of Israel (Deuteronomy 26:12-13). That is why today for instance, when the church has received the tithes and the offerings, they can pay the workers in the church, they can provide for the widows and the fatherless, and for the strangers. They can give some of those tithes and offerings to help the poor in the community etc.

 

When there is a special need or an urgent need to meet; the church can ask the people to give for that specific need. The church should not ask anybody to pledge or vow, but should just say the thing the way it is. In the bible we see the example in the wilderness, God wanted to build the tabernacle of meeting. Moses told the people things, the way they were. He told them why they needed that special offering, and gave the people the list of the things they needed for the construction of the tabernacle. Moses did not even use his authority to coerce so and so, to bring anything. He simply said things the way they were. For God told him, take from among you an offering to the Lord, whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, bronze (Exodus 35:5).

 

The result was: everyone came, whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments (Exodus 35:21). The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses (Exodus 35:29). The people brought much more than enough, for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded them to do. Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So, the people were restrained from bringing (Exodus 36:5-6).

 

Many times, even when we have enough money, we do not say to the people, stop bringing money, we have enough! During the inauguration of the New Covenant Church Glasgow in June 2011, we presented the need we had for that event. The church members contributed towards that event. A minister was to be lodged in a hotel, but at the last minute he decided to lodge at another minister’s house. The Church told the members not to bring the money any more, we had enough; for the accommodation of the minister was sorted out. We must abide by the word of God, and God will be faithful to establish his church.

 

But, what if nobody in the church is stirred in the heart, or everybody in the church has hardened his heart. They do not want to give towards our special need? It might mean that our special need is not from God, but it is just our good idea. If it is God who spoke to the ministers of God, like He did to Moses, to build His tabernacle, God will be the one stirring the hearts of the people, and making their spirit willing to give and to work in the house of God. There is no need to coerce them, to pledge or vow or use any gimmicks, to have them give toward that need. We must abide by God’s precept and not human precepts.

 

When Zerubbabel was rebuilding the temple of Solomon that was destroyed, the bible says: Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Jehovah their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God had sent him. And the people feared before Jehovah. Then Haggai, Jehovah’s messenger, spoke the message of Jehovah to the people, saying, I am with you, says Jehovah. And The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of Hosts, their God (Haggai 1:12-14). If the work is from the Lord, you do not need to manipulate anybody or to coerce anybody to pledge, or to come and help with the work, God will stir up the hearts of His people, to give generously and to come and help with the work.

 

Jesus said: I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Even if no believer decides to give towards the vision of God, or to come and help with the work; God will send help from somewhere else. What believers fail to grasp is, the big plan of God for their life. Who knows whether they have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? For if they remain completely silent at this time; relief and deliverance will arise from another place (Esther 4:14). God will even use pagans to build his temple. God commanded Cyrus, a pagan king, to build His temple that was destroyed in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:23). He used King Artaxerxes to give Nehemiah all the things the Jews needed to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2).

 

When God is the one who gave the vision to the leaders, He will give the provision. The provision might come from His people like with Moses, in the construction of the tabernacle, but it can also come from the gentiles. God blessed Cyrus for building His temple. May God never pass us by, to go and use a gentile, to carry out His vision. Ministers of the Gospel must have faith that God will provide for His vision; it is His church after all! The ministers of God must remove their eyes from the pockets of members, and lift their eyes to the Lord from whence comes their help (Psalm 121:1-2).

 

A dear brother in the Lord, whom I deeply respect and esteem, told me that God spoke to him that He wanted to collect a certain amount of money, for the new building of the church. I have no doubt that God spoke to him! But the brother, in order to implement God’s vision, asked the people to pledge, and to the elders of the church he asked them to pledge a certain amount of money. When I told him that vows or pledges were supposed to be personal, and nobody should impose on someone else to pledge any amount, or to tell him the amount to give, it is according to what one has, and not according to what one does not have. But the brother told me: “Moses did it in the wilderness, when he built the tabernacle of meeting, he commanded the elders to pledge a specific amount according to their riches”.

 

I did not want to argue with the brother because he wanted to intimidate me. Since God spoke to him; it also meant that the manner he used was the way of God. So, I went home and prayed about it, and God asked me to read the book of Numbers. The collection of articles for the tabernacle that was detailed in Exodus 35, is also detailed in Numbers 7. The bible says: it happened on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it, and all the vessels of it, both the altar and all its vessels, and had anointed them and sanctified them, and the rulers of Israel offered, the head men of their fathers’ house, the rulers of the tribes; these were they who stood over the numbered ones. And they brought their offerings before Jehovah: six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for two of the rulers, an ox for each one. And they brought them before the tabernacle. And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying: Take it from them so that they may be used in doing the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. And you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service (Numbers 7:1-5).

 

The brother was standing on this scripture, but as you can read for yourself, the elders and the rulers of the tribes, brought their offerings, not their pledges or their vows. And we have seen in length, that an offering was a willing thing according to what one has, and not according to what one does not have. If you read the entire Numbers 7, you will discover that each tribe gave the same offering: the offering was one silver dish, and its weight a hundred and thirty shekels; one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a food offering; one golden pan of ten shekels full of incense; one young bull, one ram, one lamb of the first year for a burnt offering; one male of the goats for a sin offering; and for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five lambs of the first year (Numbers 7:13-17).

 

But when you read from Numbers chapter one, you will realize that they took the census, of those who were able to go to war from twenty years old and above. Reuben had 46,500, Simeon had 59,300, Gad had 45,650, Judah had 74,600, Issachar had 54,400, Zebulun had 57,400, Ephraim had 40,500, Manasseh had 32,200, Benjamin had 35,400, Dan had 62,700, Asher had 41,500 and Naphtali had 53,400. Even though the rulers of the tribes of Judah and Dan had more soldiers than the other tribes, they brought the same offering. Moses did not impose a bigger offering on them, because it was a willing thing! Small tribes like Manasseh and Benjamin, willingly brought the same offering. We should not dictate to people how much they should bring.

 

In 2Samuel 6, David wanted to transport the Ark of the covenant of God from the house of Obed-Edom to Jerusalem. At his first attempt David’s heart was right, his thoughts and intents were noble and pure; but the way he carried the Arc of the Covenant was wrong. David’s heart was truly moved by God, to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, but he was ignorant of the ways of God to transport the Ark. Had Uzzah not touched the Ark and been struck dead, the Ark would have reached Jerusalem without incident, and nobody would had known that the way they carried it was the wrong way. But After Uzzah was struck dead, David was fearful, and read the book of the Law, and found out that only the Levites were to carry the Ark, and they must purify themselves before carrying it.

 

Paul tells us: Truly, then, God overlooking the times of ignorance, now He strictly commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day in which He is going to judge the world in righteousness by a Man (Jesus) whom He appointed, having given proof to all, by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:30-31). We have the same example of Moses with the Rock, the first time the people in the wilderness asked for water, God asked Moses to strike the Rock, and water came out of the Rock, Moses did so and the miracle happened (Exodus 17:6).

 

The second time when the people asked for water, God said to Moses: only speak to the Rock, and it will bring forth water for the people. But Moses struck the Rock, instead of speaking to the Rock. The miracle happened because God pitied the people; they had water but God judged Moses. It cost Moses the entrance to the promised land (Numbers 20:8-13). You see, God made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel (Psalm 103:7). The people wanted the miracle at any cost, but Moses knew the way God wanted him to perform that miracle in His name. Moses was honest enough to tell us, that his way of bringing forth water out of the Rock the second time, was not the way of God, though the miracle was performed in the name of the Lord. Let us learn from Moses and David, God used to overlook our ignorance, but now He commands us to repent of our ways, that are not His ways. It does not apply only to money, but also to all aspects of the Christian walk.

 

Jesus tells us: that servant who knew his lord’s will, and did not prepare, nor did according to His will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he not knowing, and doing things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For to whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required. And to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more (Luke 12:47-48). 

 

Let us learn the thoughts and the ways of God, and become doers of them, for the Lord tells us: My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways, says Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). So let us read the bible to find out what are the thoughts and the ways of God and then repent and renew our mind according to the written word of God. For God promised: as the rain comes down, and the snow from the heavens, and does not return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring out and bud, and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My Word be, which goes out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall certainly do what I sent it to do (Isaiah 55:10-11).

 

5.3 Common financial manipulations

Many people are genuine ministers of God, but they simply have not studied the word of God to show themselves approved to God (2Timothy 2:15). We are to believe the best about other believers, so we assume they did not know the proper context of those scriptures. We assume that they only heard them from another minister, and plagiarized that minister’s sermon. But as for you and I, we will abide by the written Word of God, because we are the disciples of Jesus, and we will know the truth and the truth will make us free (John 8: 31-32).

 

Sometimes in a religious meeting we hear: you shall not appear before God the Lord, empty-handed. In those religious meetings they add, David said, I will not offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing. So, some believers will feel guilty and condemned, because they do not have anything to give. Remember: guilt and condemnation are not from God, but from the devil. Those religious people will tell the people: what you give must cost you something, you must feel it, and it must be a sacrifice. If you used to give £10 make it now £100, if you used to give £100 give £1,000 even use your credit card or a cheque, and if you do not have the money with you now, write an I-owe-you note in which you promise to pay them the £1,000. Brethren, I can boldly say: this is not from God!

 

Then, what is the truth about those two scriptures that have been twisted? We have seen the way Moses collected things for the construction of the tabernacle. He did not use any of those two sentences. It was willingly, that people gave, no one forced them, no one told them how much they must give, and no one told them it must cost them something. When we go to church, let us prepare our offering and tithes at home, and pray over them. Every man as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

This is what Moses said to the people of Israel,

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God, in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

 

Deuteronomy 16:17 Every man shall give, as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you.

In the Old Testament God commanded them not to appear before Him empty-handed, only three times a year. It was not every time that they came into the house of God, that they had to bring something. If people want to use that scripture, they must read it in its entirety. And even in those days, every man gave as he was able, and according to the blessing of God in his life. Let no one dictate to you the amount of money you must give. If God has not given anything to you, you have nothing to give, it is okay. Never feel guilty or condemned when you have nothing to give. God loves you and is not after your money.

 

A sister came to church, and I did not collect the offering that Sunday, she came the next Sunday, and I did not collect the offering. And the third Sunday she came she asked me: do you not collect tithes and offerings? I said to her in the third person singular. Some people will be earning £200 a month, so their tithe will be £20. So because they have been wrongly taught, that you should not come to the house of God empty handed, they break their £20 in four notes of £5, so that every Sunday people will see them putting money into the offering basket. They fear, if they do not put money into the offering basket one Sunday, some sisters or brothers will think that they are stingy. And also, when the pastor takes a “special” offering on a Sunday, they do want to be the only one who does not put something into the offering basket. But the truth is, from the beginning of the month, one has purposed to only give £20.

 

And she told me: how do you know that I earn £200 a month? I said: in Acts 5, the Holy Spirit told Peter about the amount of money that Ananias and Sapphira sold their land for, they thought they were deceiving Peter, but they were lying to the Holy Spirit. I said to her, tithes are just an offering that is 10% of your income, so if you want to give your tithe, God already knows how much it is. Why don’t you put it in an envelope, and give it at the end of the month, or at the beginning of the month. If you do not want to give, or cannot give anything, it is okay, God is not after anybody’s money. She was freed from that bondage, and at the end of the month she was putting her £20 into an envelope, some months, she put nothing in, because she had not worked. You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.

 

I was talking to friends of mine, who are not Christians, and they told me, that one of their friends came the day before, asking them for 50p, for he had £4.5 and, in their church, not only can you not come to church empty handed, but the pastor insisted that nobody should give coins to God. So the minimum amount to give is a £5 note. The pastor was the one collecting the offering himself, and watched what people were putting into the plate. My unsaved friends told him, is that from God that you should come to borrow 50p, so that you can have a £5 note? What if you do not have even £1, or you have nothing at all, will you not go to church? It looks like they are only after your money, and not after your soul! My unsaved friends refused to give him 50p. That is the Balaam spirit in operation in that church, not God! Even unsaved people spotted that it was not of God!

 

1Chronicles 21:24 And King David said to Ornan, No; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

David here was not talking about the amount it would cost him, or how big his offering was. But here Ornan wanted to give the king his land and the oxen that were threshing the grains for free. Had he done it, it would not be David’s offering, but Ornan’s offering. And David was the one who sinned, by taking the census of the people. According to the Law, when you offer a sin offering or a burnt offering, it must come from your flock, and if you are not a shepherd, you buy the animal with your money. David bought the land and the oxen at their full price, nothing more. And he offered those few oxen, as sacrifice to God. What was six hundred shekels of gold, the price of Ornan’s threshing floor to David

(1Chronicles 21:25)?

 

It was nothing to David, his son Solomon made 200 shields of beaten gold, weighing six hundred shekels each (1Kings 10:16). It was nothing to King David. David defeated King Hadadezer, and took the circular shields of gold that were on his servants, and David built a tower in Jerusalem, where he hung those one thousand shields of gold (2Samuel 8:7, Songs 4:4). So, in the light of that revelation of the wealth of David, the 600 shekels of gold he gave to Ornan, was only 1/1000 of the weight of gold he put into the tower of shields, just to show off. Let no one use this scripture to make you feel guilty, that you must give a large amount of money, for that was not what David meant.

 

One shekel weighs about 6 grams, so the 600 shekels of gold is3.6 kg of gold that David gave Ornan. But let us look at the treasures David prepared for his son Solomon to build the temple of God. David said: Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD one hundred thousand talents of gold, and one million talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and you may add thereto (1Chronicles 22:14). One talent weighs about 27.7 kg. Therefore, David prepared for the construction of the temple 2,770,000 kg of gold and 27,700,000 kg of silver. 3.6 kg of gold that David gave to Ornan was not a big deal to him, compared to what he stored up for the temple, not to talk about his personal wealth, which he passed down mainly to Solomon and to his other children.

 

People will say, they are raising a special offering for the feasts of Israel: the feast of tabernacle, the feast of Passover, the feast of weeks, all the seven feasts of Israel. Brethren, no matter how they present it; do not fall for that. Paul tells us: O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth (Galatians 3:1)? How is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have laboured for you in vain (Galatians 4:9-11). In the New Covenant, we do not observe the Sabbaths, days and years of rest of Israel, we do not observe any of the feasts of Israel. They were shadows and Jesus is the substance. We are not married to Jesus under the Law, but we are married to the resurrected Jesus, who fulfilled the law, we became dead to the law by the body of Christ (Romans 7:4).

 

Let nobody use any of the feasts of Israel to try and force you to give money. There is no special window or portal as some say, during those feasts, when God pours out a “special blessing”. It is contrary to the teaching of the Holy Spirit through Paul. I do not need that special window of the Jewish feasts, when Jesus, who is the substance of those feasts, has already come. He is not opening a window, but He says I am the door; as I go in through Christ, I will find my green pastures (John 10: 9). Jesus will open a door for me that no one will shut, and shut a door that no one can open (Revelation 3:7). And the truth is: since I am born again, I have entered that door, I am in Christ Jesus and I have found green pastures, He has blessed me with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

 

The other thing they come up with is, the first fruit offering. They will ask you to give your whole salary, or at least something significant $1,000 or $10,000. My dear brethren you will know the truth today and the truth will make you free from those gimmicks. What is that first-fruits offering according to the bible?

Exodus 22:29 You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe fruits, and of your liquors: the firstborn of your sons you shall give unto me.

 

This is what Moses instructed the people. The first-fruits offering was not given every day or every month. Depending on your profession, some will give it once a year or twice a year. People will give it when they harvest their field. The first-fruits offering, was supposed to be given before the tithe and offering. But it was certainly not your whole harvest or a percentage bigger than that of your tithe or offering. What was it then? I am glad you asked. Picture a mango tree, when summer comes and the mangoes start ripening. You only have few mangoes that ripen before the rest. It is an insignificant number compared to the other mangoes that have not yet ripened. So, you bring those first ripe mangoes to God as a token of appreciation for the harvest to come, so that you dedicate that harvest to the Lord!

 

Whenever people were blessed with a new business or a harvest or a new job, or a new source of income, their first male child; to express their gratitude towards God, they gave Him a percentage of that harvest, or new income, or the first ripe fruits of the season. People who were generous or according to the Jews: had a good eye (a bountiful man) would give 1/40 of that harvest which is 2.5% of their profit, apart from their tithe. A middling person (one who is neither liberal nor niggardly) would bring 1/50 of that harvest, which is 2% of their profit apart from their tithe. And the other people would only bring 1/60 that is 1.67% of their profit, apart from the tithe. So, if there is no new harvest or new business or new job, they were not asked to give anything, but the normal tithes and offerings. They were not paying that on their monthly salary, no, and they were certainly not giving all their money!

 

In the New Testament we do not observe all these Jewish feasts, we give our tithe and offering. As for the first-fruits offering; when God has blessed you with a new job or a new business, a new airplane, a new boat, a new house, a new property. Give to the Lord according to your heart. There is a powerful blessing attached to it. The Lord said: honour the LORD with your substance, and with the first-fruits of all your increase: So shall your barns be filled with plenty, and your presses shall burst out with new wine (Proverbs 3: 9-10). Now that we know what the first-fruits offering is all about, it is up to us to give to God what our heart tells us.

 

Anybody who compels or coerces you to give a specific amount of money, discard him. Even when God has given you a harvest, it is up to you and only you, to give Him what you have proposed in your heart, apart from your tithe and offering. Let each one be free to give as he or she proposes in his or her heart. Man always takes a genuine blessing of the Lord, such as first-fruits offering, and tries to twist it for their own gain. Having got rid of the dead flies, that spoil the ointment of the prosperity message of God, let us look closely at what God says about our prosperity.

 

6. Covenant of prosperity

A covenant is a formal agreement between two or more people. This agreement is legally binding. A covenant is a vow which cannot be broken without severe consequences. The Lord says: My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips (Psalm 89:34). And in Jeremiah 33:20-21 the Lord says: Thus says the LORD; If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with my servant David, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. God does not break His own covenant.

 

The blessing of Abraham belongs to believers through Christ and we have become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ; Galatians 3:7-9,13-14,16-17, 26-29; Galatians 4:1-7; Romans 8:14-17; John 1:12. There is one thing that is very important about a covenant. It is a two way thing; if we do our part of the bargain, God will do His part. God has bestowed the blessing of Abraham upon us, but to be able to enjoy it physically, we must do the same thing father Abraham did. Paul tells us: Abraham became the father of circumcision to them, who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had, being yet uncircumcised (Romans 4:12). We, as gentiles, must walk in the same steps of faith of our father Abraham, which he had, being yet uncircumcised. We must try to find out the things Abraham did, while uncircumcised, and do the same, to receive the same blessing.

 

Our Lord Jesus, who is the Seed of Abraham, was made poor, that we may be rich. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through his poverty might be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). 

 

God is the one who gives us power to get wealth, that he may establish His covenant which He swore to our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as it is this day (Deuteronomy 8:18). The grace of God for prosperity, has been made available for the believers. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8). God, according as His divine power has given to us all things, that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue (2Peter 1:3). And the blessing of the Lord, it makes rich and He adds no sorrow with it (Proverbs 10:22).

 

When we look at the life of our fathers, in Egypt before they came out of the house of bondage; God transferred the wealth of the Egyptians into their hands. The Lord said to Moses: Speak now in the ears of the people of Israel, and let every man borrow of his (Egyptian) neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold. And the LORD gave the people of Israel favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people (Exodus 11:2-3). The experience of our fathers in Egypt, how God delivered them, is an antitype of our salvation. Since God prospered them when He saved them it should be our experience too.

 

We have received this covenant of prosperity by grace though faith. Paul says: for by grace you are saved [saved in your spirit and soul, delivered, prospered, and healed] through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God [Jesus needed to die for you and I, to receive that free gift of God], not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). If Christ Jesus did not die according to the scriptures, and rise on the third day from the dead, according to the scriptures, you and I could not be part of the Covenant of God! It is not just for some Christians to prosper and others to be poor. The grace to prosper is available to all Christians; for the grace of God that brings salvation [salvation of spirit and soul, healing, deliverance and prosperity] has appeared to all men and all women (Titus 2:11). Therefore, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved [saved in his spirit and soul, delivered, healed and prospered] (Romans 10:13). For Peter opened his mouth and said: Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he who fears Him, and works righteousness, is accepted with Him (Acts 10:34-35).

 

God does not prosper us so that we can pile things up for ourselves. God sees us as His stewards. Let us re-read the blessing of Abraham, that we have inherited by grace through faith in Christ Jesus: Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, unto a land that I will show you: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing: And I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you: and in you, shall all families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). The Lord blesses us including financially, so that we can be a source of blessing for many people, even many nations. We are stewards of the resources of God. God wants us to administer His riches. And all the parables of Jesus on the kingdom of God, concerning money, have to do with a steward or stewards or servants administering the riches of their Lord or Master!

 

7. Have a dominion mentality

God gave mankind a dominion mentality. A dominion mentality does not include a poverty mentality. God created everything before creating mankind, and God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth (Genesis 1:28). Develop a wealth mentality. Having money is not evil; loving money is what is evil. The love of money or greed is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). The prosperity that God promised is conditional on obedience.

 

Note the steps of blessing in Genesis. Genesis 1:27-28:- Fruitfulness; multiplication; expansion; mastery and dominion are important attitudes in the dominion mandate. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth; over the cattle, over all the earth. These scriptures should be continually in our mind: The LORD shall open unto you his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto your land in his season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend unto many nations, and you shall not borrow (Deuteronomy 28:12). And the LORD shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you hearken unto the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them (Deuteronomy 28:13). The prosperity of God is conditional.

 

8. Examples of the prosperity of people of God

Noah was a prosperous man. He found favour with God (Genesis 6: 14-22; Genesis.9:1-3, 7). Noah inherited the whole earth and the fullness thereof after the flood. We see this promise operational in the lives of the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God said Abraham, I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and curse he who curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis.12:2-3). And Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. (Genesis 13:2). So let no one deceive you that blessing of Abraham was not just a spiritual blessing but also a physical blessing, he was very rich after God blessed him. Furthermore, the Lord said to Abraham that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies (Genesis 22:17).

 

In the life of Isaac God also prospered him.

Genesis 26:1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

Genesis 26:2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell you of:

Genesis 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for unto you, and unto your seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore unto Abraham your father;

Genesis 26:4 And I will make your seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto your seed all these countries; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Genesis 26:5 Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Since we know that the prosperity of God is conditional, if we walk in the steps of our father Abraham we will have the manifestations of the blessing of Abraham. After Isaac had obeyed God and walk before Him as his father did; God prospered him likewise.

Genesis 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.

Genesis 26:13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

Genesis 26:14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

Genesis 26:15 For all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

 

In the life of Jacob, Isaac his father pronounced the blessing of Abraham upon him.

Genesis 28:3 And God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a multitude of people;

Genesis 28:4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, to you, and to your seed with you; that you may inherit the land wherein you are a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

And later on, God Himself confirmed that promise on Jacob’s life.

Genesis 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to you seed;

Genesis 28:14 And you seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in you and in you seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

 

We have already established that though one might have the blessing of Abraham pronounced over his life. The manifestations in the physical of that blessing of Abraham are not automatic but conditional to us walking in the steps of Abraham. If we walk in the same steps of father Abraham, we will have the manifestations of the blessing. As long as Jacob had his own ways, he never prospered; he worked for fourteen years to pay the dowry of his two wives, after all those years he had nothing to show for all those years. Laban, his employer/ uncle/ father-in-law changed his wages ten times; he wasted 20 years of his life. Only when Jacob cried out to the Lord and decided to walk in the steps of his father Abraham; that his life changed. The bible tells us in Genesis 30:43 And the man (Jacob) increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

 

We can talk about many other people, whom God prospered in the bible, or how God prosper the nation of Israel and His own church. How some of the disciples and followers of Jesus were prominent people in the society and very wealthy people. Abraham had servants who had families, Isaac inherited the servants of his father Abraham and their families, Jacob had servants. The blessing that God bestowed upon them was not just for themselves; but many families were directly being fed through them. E.g….

 

• Joseph: Gen.39:2-5, &23; Gen 42:6; Gen 45:20; Gen 50:21
• Job: Job1:3; Job 42:10-12;
• David: 1Chron. 22:14-16; Psalm 89:25;
• Solomon: 1Kings 3:13; 1Kings 10:1-29
• Lazarus and his sisters (Jn.11:1-45; 12:1-11)
• Joseph of Arimathea: Matt.27:57
• Nicodemus: Jn.3:1;
• Philemon: Philemon 1:22
• Israel: Exodus 11:2-3; Exodus 12:31-36;
• Exodus 25:10-22 (the ark);
• Chapters 26 and 36 (Tabernacle);
• Chapter 39 (Priestly garments); Numbers 13:1-2, &27; Lev.26:3-10; Gen.28:1-14
• The Church: Acts 4:34-35; 2Cor. 8:13-15
• The New Jerusalem: Rev. 21:18-21

 

9. Spiritual evidence for total prosperity

Even after all these examples many believers are still not convinced that God wants them to prosper. John prays for us saying: beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers (3John 1:2). Some believers still ask themselves questions such as: was God or Jesus talking a lot about money or rarely? What is the answer to this legitimate question? There are no less than 700 direct references to finance in the Bible. Two-thirds of the parables of Jesus, relate to the right and wrong use of material possessions – approximately one out of every six verses in the Gospels. God’s names, reveal His nature: El-Shaddai or the Almighty God, the one who has the ability to do anything (Genesis.17:1); Jehovah Jireh or the Lord our provider (Gen.22:14); Jehovah Ra-ah or the Lord our shepherd who provides for His sheep and cares for them (Psalm 23; John 10:10-11).

The earth is the Lord’s: Exod.19:5; Lev.25:23; Psalm 50:10-12; 24:1-2; Haggai 2:6-8; Col.1:16; 1Cor.10:26; 1Chron.29:10-12

Biblical promises for the righteous and obedient are many and some of these include:

 

• Deut.28:1-13; 8:18; 15:6; 32:13-14;
• Lev. 26:3-13;
• Psalm 112:1-3; 105:37-45; 103:1-5; 35:27; 34:8-10; 37:19, &25; 1:1-3; 2:8; 5:12; 23:1-6; 33:19; 36:8; 65:4-13; 68:10, &19; 84:11; 107:35-38; 111:5; 144:12-15; 145:15-16; 146:7
• Job 36-11; 42:10-11; 22-24;
• Prov.10:22; 13:22; 19:17;
• Eccl.5:19;
• Gen.12:2-3;
• Zech.1:17;
• 3John 2;
• John10:10;
• Phil.1:19;
• Matthew 6:33;
• Rom.5:17; 8:32; & 2:4;
• 1Cor.3:21-22;
• 2Cor.8:9; 9:8.
• Galatians 3:13-14 (Redemption from the curse of the law)
• Heirs of God and Joint Heirs with Christ (Rom.8:17; Gal.3:29; Gal.4:4-7)
• Jesus was made poor so that you through His poverty might become rich (2Cor.8:9; Luke 12:44; Luke 23:50-53; Matt.27:29, Mark.15:17; John 19:2, &23, & 38; Heb.12:2)

 

Let each one read his bible and start finding out what the promises of God for the righteous are, and what he must do to receive them. Believe God, even for houses and businesses freely given to you! It shall be when Jehovah your God, has brought you into the land which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you great and good cities, which you did not build, and houses full of every good thing, which you did not fill, and wells which are dug, which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you shall eat and be full (Deuteronomy 6:10-11).

 

10. Secrets of Biblical prosperity

Abraham became the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised (Romans 4:12). It is the key to getting the same blessing of Abraham in the physical.

 

10.1 Be born into the Kingdom of God. Be a citizen

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 1:12-13 But as many as received him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on his name: Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. We become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Jesus is the Seed of Abraham, if we are not in Christ the blessing of Abraham cannot come to us.

 

10.2 Make Kingdom issues your priority

Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is; there will your heart be also. If your treasure is on earth in this worldly system, your heart will also be there. Matthew 6:33 But you seek first the kingdom of God; and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. It did not say subtracted but added unto you.

 

10.3 Align your mindset to Kingdom principles

Proverbs 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with your substance and with the first-fruits of all your increase; so shall your barns be filled with plenty, and your presses shall burst out with new wine. Psalm.1:1-3 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law he meditates day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper. It is all about honouring the Lord and His Word. If we honour God, we will value what He says and we will be kingdom minded.

 

Joshua 1:7-8 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you: turn not from it to the right hand, or to the left, that you may prosper whithersoever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all, that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. As we renew our mind, and become kingdom minded, and act on the word of God, we make our way prosperous and have good success.

 

Mark10:29-30 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that has left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. There is nothing that we have left for God, that He will not restore it hundredfold to us. Peter who was a fisherman, asked Jesus this question. I am glad that he asked. Many of us would be so overly spiritual and not dare ask: what about us? Everything that pertains to you, that you committed for the kingdom of God, God will give back to you a hundredfold, now in this time. Not when we go to heaven. Unless God specifically tells you otherwise, keep fighting until you get the victory.

 

10.4 Be willing and obedient 

(Deut 28:1-14; Lev 26:3-10; Job 36: 11; Isa 1:19)

Deuteronomy 28:16 And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD your God, to ob0serve and to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that the LORD your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth:

Deuteronomy 28:2 And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall hearken unto the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 28:3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.

Deuteronomy 28:4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep.

Deuteronomy 28:5 Blessed shall be your basket and your store.

Deuteronomy 28:6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

Deuteronomy 28:7 The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be smitten before your face: they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways.

Deuteronomy 28:8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouses, and in all that you set your hand unto; and he shall bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

Deuteronomy 28:9 The LORD shall establish you a holy people unto himself, as he has sworn unto you, if you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and walk in his ways.

Deuteronomy 28:10 And all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of you.

Deuteronomy 28:11 And the LORD shall make you plenteous in goods, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers to give you.

Deuteronomy 28:12 The LORD shall open unto you his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto your land in his season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend unto many nations, and you shall not borrow.

Deuteronomy 28:13 And the LORD shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you hearken unto the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them:

Deuteronomy 28:14 And you shall not go aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

 

10.5 Be a giver

10.5-A It is more blessed to give than to receive 

(Acts.20:35)

 

Many people only want to receive and never give. God himself is a giver. He created the world and then gave the dominion to mankind. He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins (John 3:16). God always gives, it is who He is. Let us be like our Father God.

 

There is a book of remembrance in Heaven, where records are kept. Paul tells the church of Macedonia about “giving and receiving” in Philippians 4:15. This phrase “giving and receiving” is an old banking term used by the Jews for trading and commerce. The allusion here is to the keeping of account by men in business, by debtor and creditor; in the book they will put down in one column what is delivered out and in the other column what is received; whereby accounts are kept clear.

 

Paul is letting them know that God is a businessman and a fair God. If one only receives, the heavenly accounts are not balanced. One has not made any deposit in heaven. It will be unfair of a just God to give the same manifestation of the blessing to the one who has not been making any deposit with the one who has been doing so. God will be violating His own word for righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne (Psalm 89:14). If the foundations of our faith in God are destroyed what can the righteous man do (Psalm 11:3)? That is why Paul will tell the Galatians, do not be deceived, whatever a person sows that he will reap, for God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7). Basically, we determine the level of the manifestation of the blessing in our life; God is not to be blamed.

 

If one deposits nothing in the heavenly account, then he should not be blaming God, but God is a good God, mercy and truth go before His face, he will have mercy and still feed that person, for he is His child (Psalm 89:14). The prophet Malachi had the same revelation of God about the book of remembrance. He said the book of remembrance was written before the Lord, for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name (Malachi 3:16). One day God will open that book and bring to pass the manifestations of the blessing of Abraham, in each one of us according to what we have sown.

 

We give out of a heart of gratitude, for truly, we cannot buy anything from the Lord, we cannot buy any manifestation of His blessing in our life. Our prosperity is by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, as we have seen in the perfect redemption plan of God, Christ died for us to receive every aspect of the salvation package (Ephesians 2:8-9). Even though we give out of gratitude and honour, yet it is good that our heart should be established with grace (Hebrews 13:9).

 

The only strong reasoning we have for our prosperity, is that Jesus paid for it in full by His death, burial and resurrection. Please read the series of the perfect redemption plan, and see your giving as a sign of gratitude and honour to your God, but let your heart be established in the area of prosperity, by the grace of God who gave His Son Jesus, to ransom you in full by His death, burial and resurrection, and put your faith for your prosperity, in that finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who received the nails through His hands, so that whatever you lay your hands to, shall prosper. Jesus is the one who received the nails through His feet, so that every place the soles of your feet shall tread, God will give it to you.

 

Jesus is the one who received the crown of thorns on his head, and prayed in agony, so that the drops of sweat on His brow, were drops of blood, so that the curse pronounced over the ground, at the fall of mankind, will not apply to you anymore. You will no longer eat by the sweat of your brow, but tend and keep the garden of the Lord. The ground will no longer yield thorns and thistles for you. Jesus was the one who was pierced with a spear in His side, and water and blood came out of His body, to the last drop, so that your sins can be washed away, and make you as white as snow by His blood. Then your mind is renewed, and your life is transformed, by the washing of the water, by the word of God.

 

Jesus’ flesh was the veil that separated you from the presence of God, into the Holy of Holies, when He was pierced with the spear, the veil in the temple was torn in two, so that you and I, who have believed in Him, can enter in, for in Christ are found all the blessings of God including the blessing of Abraham, and we can stand in the very presence of God. No flesh can glory in the presence of God, you cannot glory for your giving in the presence of God (1Corinthians 1:29)! Then where is the boasting [about our giving]? It is excluded. Through what law? Of works? No, but through the law of faith [in the finished work of Jesus at Calvary]. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith [in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ] without the works of the Law [any work we do, including our giving is a sign of gratitude and honour to our God for ransoming us in full] (Romans 3:27-28).

 

10.5-B Give acceptably

Genesis 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain

brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

Genesis 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Genesis 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had no respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

 

Many people think because they just drop money in the offering, that God has accepted it. It is the person of Abel that was accepted first before his offering. For instance, if a person has stolen the money or received a bribe and he wants to pay his tithe from that money, God does not receive it, man does but not God. If a husband is dealing treacherously with the wife of his youth, and brings his tithe and offering, God does not receive it, though man does receive it (Malachi 2:13-16).

 

David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband; the Lord had no respect unto the person of David and to his offering. David acknowledged it and said: Psalm 51:16 For You do not desire sacrifice; else would I give it: You do not delight in burnt offering. Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, these you will not despise. David had to repent first for his person to be accepted, and his offering likewise.

 

10.5-C Give generously

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you mete, withal it shall be measured to you again.

Proverbs 11:24 There is one who scatters, and yet increases; and there is one who withholds more than is meet, but it tends to poverty.

Proverbs 11:25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he who waters shall be watered also himself.

 

2Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He who sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

2Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver.

2Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

2Corinthians 9:9 (As it is written, He has dispersed abroad; he has given to the poor: his righteousness remains forever.

2Corinthians 9:10 Now he that ministers seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

2Corinthians 9:11 Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causes through us thanksgiving to God.

2Corinthians 9:12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;

2Corinthians 9:13 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration, they glorify God for your professed subjection, unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;

Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap.

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

 

10.5-D Give willingly

Exodus 35:5 Take from among you an offering unto the LORD: whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,

Exodus 35:21 And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.

Exodus 35:29 The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

 

1Chronicles 29:6 Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king’s work, offered willingly,

1Chronicles 29:7 And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron.

1Chronicles 29:8 And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.

1Chronicles 29:9 Then the people rejoiced, for they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

 

Both for the building of the tabernacle of meeting by Moses or for the building of the temple; Moses and David asked the people to give willingly. People actually rejoice when they give willingly, because it is with a perfect heart that they have offered that willing offering to the Lord. Let no one force you or coerce you to give something that you are not comfortable to give. Let it come from your heart, not from the people who are putting pressure on you.

 

10.5-E Give cheerfully

2Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver.

 

Many times, the reasons why people are not cheerfully giving to God, are because, either they feel that they are being forced, or they think God is after their money. If we flee from all the financial manipulations; we will be giving cheerfully most of the time.

 

10.5-F Give sacrificially

Sometimes giving sacrificially is also twisted in some religious settings. It is between you and God. Nobody else is in the confidentiality of that sacrificial giving. It has nothing to do with the amount of money but the percentage God is asking the person to give. I said: God is asking you to give, not man! God must tell you, or lay it on your heart, to do that, even if a so-called minister of God comes to you, and asks you to give him something sacrificially, if God did not speak to you, let the person know that you will go and pray about it, and come back to him with what God instructs you; but if that minister does not allow you to ask God about it, straight away say no!

 

People will say: but what if the man of God truly heard from the Lord to ask me for that money, and I said no to him. Have I not sinned against God? I told you to tell that man of God, you will pray about it and come back to him, with what God says to you. The only reason you had to say no straight away, is because he was not allowing you to ask God for yourself. Jesus told us: what do you think? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Which of the two did the will of his father? They said unto him, The first (Matthew 21:28-31).

 

So, you see Jesus himself gives you the opportunity to change your mind, even after you have said no. So, if you went to God and prayed about it, and God told you to give that man of God that money, then, go and see that man of God and tell him: I apologize for the delay in obeying the voice of God, God has also confirmed it to me, so here is the money. You have done the will of God according to Jesus in (Matthew 21:28-31). That man of God might be angry with you, but you have just obeyed the word of God! Now if someone needs £5 or £10 and you have more than £1000 in your savings, you do not need to go and pray for that!

 

Mark 12:41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

Mark 12:42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

Mark 12:43 And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow has cast more in, than all those who have cast into the treasury:

Mark 12:44 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.

 

People were moved by the amount of money those rich people were putting into the treasury, but God was not. He knew what percentage they put in. Let us say, God gives a rich man an income or increase of £1,000,000 and he comes and puts £1,000 into the treasury of the church. People will be clapping for him, but the truth is, he has only given 0.1% not even 1% of what God gave him. But this poor widow had only 2 pennies and she gave it, she gave 100% God was moved by her sacrificial giving. That is why we should never compare our giving with other believers, God knows who has given the greatest percentage and who has been deceiving people, but God was not deceived.

 

2Corinthians 8:1 Moreover, brethren, we made known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;

2Corinthians 8:2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.

2Corinthians 8:3 For I bear them witness that according to their ability, yes and beyond their ability, they were freely willing,

2Corinthians 8:4 Imploring us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

 

The Macedonian church was not a rich church, they were a poor church. But God used them to meet the needs of the ministry of Paul. Wherever Paul went they sent aid, not just for Paul but for the other saints too. They gave beyond their ability. No one asked them to do that, not even Paul. They did it of their own free will, Paul looking at their deep poverty, and did not want to take their money; but they implored the apostle to take their money, because they understood that the way to get out of poverty, is to give. And sometimes, when God moves upon our heart, and asks us to give sacrificially, it is because He wants to get us out of our deep poverty. Paul prays a powerful prayer over that Macedonian church, who freely and willingly gave sacrificially. My God shall supply all your need, employment, business, demand, want according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

 

Now you realize that Paul prayed that God would supply all their needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, not according to the giving of the people, though they had been faithful in their giving even sacrificial giving. Why? Because if God prospers us according to our giving, then, though we ought to be faithful in our giving out of a heart of gratitude and honour, we will limit the Holy One of Israel. The truth is, when you are a son of God, all things that God has are yours. The Father said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours (Luke 15:31). So if you truly based what you get from God on your giving, you will limit what God can do in your life. God wants to channel the manifestations of His many blessings through you as you put in, you receive them by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

 

We see the same example with the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17). She gave sacrificially to Elijah. God said to Elijah: Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain you (1 Kings 17:9). We clearly see that God said He had commanded that widow to provide for Elijah. So when Elijah came to her, she already knew what God had commanded her. God must speak to your heart first, before giving that sacrificial offering. And we see the result of her sacrificial giving. Though she was in deep poverty, and was about to eat her last meal with her son and die. As she obeyed God and gave sacrificially, the Lord said through Elijah. Thus says the Lord God of Israel. The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth (1 Kings 17:14).

 

Genesis 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.

Genesis 26:13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

Genesis 26:14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

Isaac was facing a famine in that land yet he sowed, it can be likened to a sacrificial sowing or sacrificial giving. For he could have eaten those seeds; but he decided to sow them and he reaped a hundredfold and waxed great and become very great.

 

Psalm 126:4 bring back our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.

Psalm 126:5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Sometimes when God asks us to sacrificially give, we give it in tears like a widow; for it is our last meal or our livelihood that we put into that treasury, but God says we will reap in joy, whatever financial captivity we were in, the Lord will bring us out of it.

 

1Kings 3:3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

1Kings 3:4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

1Kings 3:5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give you

1Kings 3:13 And I (the Lord) have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto you, all your days.

 

Many times, people think: it is only because Solomon asked for wisdom that God gave him riches and honour also. It is partly true. But Solomon also gave sacrificially, gave generously, gave willingly and gave cheerfully. When a king was anointed in those days, it took only one burnt offering and the pouring of oil on the head of the king. Samuel did it for Saul in 1 Samuel chapter 9 and chapter 10. When Samuel anointed David as king he also went to the house of Jesse and offered a sacrifice and then anointed David in 1 Samuel 16. But here we see Solomon instead of just giving one offering; he gave a thousand burnt offerings. He knew that God needed just one offering but he gave sacrificially, willingly, generously and cheerfully a thousand burnt offerings. It deeply moved God. God appeared to him and told him to ask anything he wanted. Though Solomon only asked for wisdom but God also gave him both riches and honour. Note here nobody put that idea into Solomon’s head, he simply loved the Lord.

 

God is after our heart, He said He loves a cheerful giver. Saul and David were also kings in Israel, they could have given hundreds of offerings to the Lord but they did not. Solomon did it from his heart, because he simply loved God. All the priests of the temple must have informed him that God only requires one burnt offering for your anointing as king. He gave it from his heart.

Sacrificial giving breaks the back of poverty, and prospers the people of God. I said God loves a cheerful giver. Many times, we think that if God needs to support His ministry, He will use rich people. Yes, sometimes but not always. Some rich people, when God asks them to give, are grumpy and they grumble (murmur with discontent). They think they are doing God a favour. God will just by pass them, and instruct a poor person or a poor church, because he wants to make them rich to help carry out His plan on earth. Jesus tells us:

Luke 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;

Luke 4:26 But unto none of them was Elijah sent, except unto Zarephath, a city of Sidon, unto a woman who was a widow.

 

That widow was willing; she was not even a Jew but a gentile, not in the covenant of Israel. God spoke to her and she believed God, and God prospered her in the midst of the famine. While other Israelites were starving to death, this gentile widow was enjoying prosperity in the midst of famine. That widow could never be proud, because she knew her prosperity came from God. The church of Corinth was richer than the church of Macedonia, but their attitude to giving was not right. In their hearts they thought that Paul was after their money when he came to them. Therefore Paul, whenever he went there, never took anything from them.

1Corinthians 9:14 Even so has the Lord ordained that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 9:15 But I (Paul) have used none of these things (when I was among you Corinthians): neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it would be better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying or boasting void.

 

Paul was teaching the churches about giving and receiving, not because he wanted these things to be done to him, but because he wanted the people of God to prosper. But this Corinthian church did not believe Paul, they thought he was after their money, so He kept teaching them the word of God and took nothing from them. He would rather die than allow the Corinthian church to boast about the ministry of Paul.

 

Some church members if they give you money, they will always remind you that 10 years ago they gave you £30, and your life or ministry would not be where it is, without their £30. From such church members, who think like the Corinthians, they want to take the glory in your life or ministry, Paul refused to take anything from them, lest they should take the glory or boast. Paul did not say to the Corinthian church that they were cursed, because they did not give their tithes and offerings, and Paul did not tell them that they were going to hell because they did not give their tithes and offerings. Let no one put fear in your heart!

 

Paul is only boasting in the power of God, that it is God who gave him what he had. Though God can use humans, but the eyes of Paul were on God, his boasting and glorying was in God. For Paul said: But God forbid that I (Paul) should glory or boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Galatians 6:14). Brethren let us learn from Paul, do not receive from people who will want to share the glory with God, who will yoke you, your entire life because they gave you £30 ten years ago. Your God will provide for you, He has genuine people who will give to you from their heart, like the widow of Zarephath for Elijah or the Macedonian brethren for Paul.

2 Corinthians 11:7 Have I (Paul) committed an offence in abasing myself that you might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God free of charge?

2 Corinthians 11:8 I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you.

 

When Paul said he had robbed other churches, it was a hyperbolical speech. He simply meant other churches such as the Macedonian churches, gave for his ministry and he used their gifts to be ministering to those Corinthians. It was not fair on the other churches. For all churches were supposed to be giving. It was not fair that the other churches should be burdened by being the sole contributor of the ministry of Christ Jesus, entrusted to Paul, and the Corinthians, who were also enjoying the ministry of Christ Jesus entrusted to Paul, should be eased (2 Corinthians 8:13).

2 Corinthians 11:9 And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.

Philippians 4:12 I (Paul) know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Philippians 4:13 I (Paul) can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 

2 Corinthians 12:14 Behold, now for the third time I (Paul) am ready to come to you (Corinthians); and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you [in other words I am not after your possessions and what you have or do not have, but I am after your spirit, soul and body, that you be born again in your spirit, that your mind which is part of your soul be renewed to the word of God, so that you are no longer conformed to this perishing world, but transformed, and that you present your body holy unto God and be made perfectly whole and perfectly sound in your body, from all manner of sickness and all manner of disease]: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

 

Let us become the Macedonian church not the Corinthian church. God is a Just God. He sees our heart before anything else. It is the person of Abel that was accepted before his gift. God respected the Macedonian church and their offering like He did Abel; and Paul testified of it. He said, but I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you (Macedonians), a sweet smelling aroma, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God (Philippians 4:18).

 

Let me tell you one of my stories. I still remember it as if it were yesterday. We were getting close to the Christmas period, and one morning when I was praying, I heard a voice telling me to buy gifts for all the children in the church. My response was straight: get behind me Satan! I forgot about the thing and the next day I had a dream, and in the dream, I was told to buy a gift for all the children of the church, I said: Satan I bind you in Jesus’ name. And then I heard the voice of the Lord. He said: son, you cannot bind Me, it is I, and you know my voice!

 

I said to the Lord, Lord, I have already given you my tithe, and my offering for this month; why are You asking me for more? I said: look Jesus, you have many children who have more money than I, why don’t You go and ask them? Besides you know that I have just enough for myself, this is Christmas money from my parents sent to me to enjoy that season, it is not Your money Lord, it is my money! If You give me some money then I will give it to You, but this money no way! It is mine. I think I argued a lot with God that day and I did not obey him.

 

The next day in the morning as I woke up, the Lord gave me a scripture to read, John 6. As I read it, I was in tears, the Lord told me: you see son, the lad that had the five loaves of barley bread and the two little fish, gave it to Jesus and with that Jesus fed thousands of people. The parents of the lad had prepared that nice lunch pack for him, it was just enough for him, the barley bread was the bread that poor people used to eat, since they could not afford wheat bread. But that lad gave the five loaves of barley bread, that everybody might have despised, and Jesus fed the whole multitude with that little lunch pack. I jumped out of my bed and ran to the supermarket and bought gifts for all the children in the church, it was a small gift, insignificant gift; people might even have despised my gift because of its smallness.

 

As far as God was concerned, I had given him my five loaves of barley bread and my two fish. I came home rejoicing, I had no money left, but I was joyful. The next morning, as I woke up, the Lord spoke to me, and gave me the scripture in Genesis 4:4; the Lord was telling me He had respect for my person and my offering like he did Abel. I cannot explain how joyful I was that day. Tears ran down my cheeks, tears of joy, the joy of knowing that my Father in heaven thought of me in that way. Yes, it was a sacrificial offering, no one asked me to do it, but God. People in that church did not know from whom the insignificant gifts came.

 

10.5-G Give secretly

Matthew 6:1 Take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise, you have no reward of your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 6:2 Therefore when you do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

Matthew 6:3 But when you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does:

Matthew 6:4 That your alms may be in secret: and your Father who sees in secret himself shall reward you openly.

 

What are alms? Anything given gratuitously to relieve the poor, as money, food, or clothing, otherwise called charity. You see, our God respects people, their dignity, and He never humiliates the down-casts, the outcast, poor and needy. He still wants them to have their dignity. If a brother or a sister is in need, and comes to you for help, you do not need to go before the entire church, and testify that so and so was in need and I gave him £5. And you do not need to keep reminding that sister or brother that you gave him or her £5.

 

Let the brother or the sister testify before the church if she wants to. Many times, also, we only give to people in positions of authority in church, pastor, apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and elders. There is nothing wrong with that giving, it is biblical. But God sees our heart, our motive. If we give to those people to have their favour, we miss the point, if we give to those people so that they will come and praise us in church and say: that brother gave pastor a new TV. God is saying: we already have our reward and it is not from Him, but from man. They will give us a little tap on the back and congratulate us. God will give us nothing, because our motive was wrong.

 

People will ask a question: why did Jesus say, He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward (Matthew 10:41)? And Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe His prophets, so shall you prosper (2Chronicles 20:20). Religious people will use these two bits of scriptures to tell you: “I am a prophet, you need to give me money and you will prosper”. It is because people have twisted these two scriptures, that everybody wants to be called prophet or prophetess, so that people will give them money. Religion always puts a veil on your eyes; you just need to read the scriptures for yourself! Jesus did not say: he who gives to the prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; but He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And Jehoshaphat did not say: give to His prophets, so shall you prosper; but believe His prophets, so shall you prosper.

 

The prophet is a messenger of God, he comes with a message directly from God for your life, and instructions from the Lord to deliver you, save you, prosper you, etc. So, if you receive him with his message from the Lord, and believe that he has no reason to lie to you, and choose to act on his message; you will receive the reward of the manifestation of the message that the prophet brought to you. In the case of Jehoshaphat and the kingdom of Judah, that was attacked by their enemies, the prophet Jahaziel told them to praise the Lord as they go to battle, and God will fight for them and give them the victory. They believed God, who was speaking through the prophet Jahaziel, and they also received with an open heart Jahaziel and his message from the Lord. As a reward for doing so, they prospered in their military conquest. As you re-read 2Chronicles 20, you will never see Jehoshaphat giving money to prophet Jahaziel to give them a prophecy, or so that they could prosper.

 

For many years when I was reading those two scriptures of Matthew 10:41 and 2Chronicles 20:20, I was reading them with religious contact lenses. I was reading: He who gives to a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; give to His prophets, so shall you prosper. Religion is of the devil! It twists scriptures to take advantage of people, even financial advantage! 

 

People in church now only give to pastors, prophets, apostles, evangelists, teachers, because they have been brainwashed into believing that, if they give to these people, they will prosper and will receive a reward. In a way it has become about a man [a pastor, a teacher, an evangelist, a prophet or an apostle], whereas it ought always to be about The Man – Christ Jesus and He dwells in every born again Christian. And now you see, believers will not even give to another believer in need; because they think if they give to that simple believer, who has no office, they will not have the same kind of reward or prosperity they would have had, if they had given it to a prophet or anybody in the fivefold ministry!

 

Jesus says: He who receives you receives Me [Jesus], and he who receives Me receives Him [Father God] who sent Me [Jesus]. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a just one in the name of a just one will receive a just one’s reward. And whoever shall give to one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink, only in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, He shall in no way lose his reward (Matthew 10:40-42). Prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers, evangelists, are believers and just ones or righteous people like you and me. Paul tells us: whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men; knowing that from the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For you serve the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:23-24). So when you are giving to a believer or a righteous person, you are giving it to the Lord Jesus and it is the Lord Jesus, who rewards you. You are not giving to a man per-se; not to a prophet, not to an apostle, not to an evangelist, not to a teacher, not to a pastor, not to a believer, not to an unsaved person; but to the Lord Jesus.

 

If people understood it, they would treat their fellow humans better, even the homeless people. They will see Jesus in that homeless person. And when they feed those homeless people, they will see themselves feeding Jesus! When people think they are giving to a pastor or an evangelist, their giving of offerings and tithes will be based on their relationship with the pastor or evangelist. If they are offended by the pastor or the evangelist, they will stop giving. If the evangelist or the pastor does not visit them or call them, they will stop giving. It is because in their mind they were giving to a man, and doing that to a man not as unto the Lord. We must teach people that they are giving to God, and doing everything as unto the Lord, and they will also receive their reward from the Lord, not from the minister per se.

 

Paul tells us: let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:9-10). Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine (1Timothy 5:17). Do you not know that those who minister about holy things, live of the things of the temple? And those attending the altar are partakers with the altar. Even so, the Lord ordained those announcing the gospel to live from the gospel. But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for it is good for me rather to die than that anyone nullify my glorying (1Corinthians 9:13-15). So, in doing everything as to the Lord Jesus, doing good to everybody, we should emphasize born again Christians, without neglecting unsaved people.

Why? Because when we are born again, we are of the household of God, we all dwell under the same roof with the Godhead, so we have a brotherly covenant, cut in the blood of Jesus. Just like when you have some extra money, you will first of all prioritize helping your physical brother or sister, before helping a total stranger. Likewise, when we are born again, we should first prioritize helping our flesh and blood: our mother, our father, our sister, our brother when they are in trouble. We should not hide from our flesh (Isaiah 58:7). Then in second position we should help our born again brothers and sisters. In helping those born again brothers and sisters, God wants us to notice those who are working for the furtherance of the kingdom of God and are not compromising the truth of the Word of God. They should be counted worthy of a double honour. Some of them have to reduce their secular work so that they can preach the gospel; some even have become full time in the sharing of the gospel. So God is the one who commands the church to provide for them. Jesus mentioned specifically prophets because prophets travel a lot to deliver the message of God.

 

Apostles, prophets, evangelists do not stay in a local church for long, as most of the time they are on the road planting churches and delivering God’s message. But pastors and teachers stay in the same local church most of the time. So believers, who are not properly taught to do everything, as to the Lord and from the Lord will receive their reward, do not support apostles, prophets and evangelists financially; because they don’t often see them in their local church, nor hear them preach, so they think they will not receive any reward from that apostle, evangelist or prophet since he has not preached to them or prayed for them directly. Your reward is not from men but from God! Many evangelists, prophets and apostles have succumbed to the pressure of carnal believers, to stay in a local church forever, because the congregation was not supporting their prophetic, apostolic or evangelistic calling.

 

Many times, God will ask us to give to one of the brethren in the church, or even someone who does not attend our church. We do not want to do it, because that brother or sister has no position or influence, so they cannot favour us. The person who does not attend my church; because nobody knows him, he cannot come and praise me before the brethren in the church. Whenever our motive of giving is to be seen and praised by men, we have no reward from God. Brethren, the entire church can praise us, but at the end of the day that is all we have. If we do our alms in secret, not to be praised by men but by God, then He will reward us. For God said: he that has pity upon the poor or gives alms lends to the Lord and what he has given, God will pay him again (Proverbs 19:17).

 

When Jesus says let not your left hand know what your right hand does (Matthew 6:3). He is using a proverbial and hyperbolical phrase, the Jews in His day understood what He meant. They were allowed to make their giving in public known if they gave a gift to a friend out of love. For example, it is my brother’s birthday; I gave him an Ipad 2 as a gift. It is out of love and I can tell people what I gave. Or it is their wedding anniversary or their baby shower, or baby dedication, etc. But if a brother or a sister was in financial trouble or destitute, and came to me for help, and I gave him something, I was supposed to keep it between the two of us. I was not to expose the weakness of my brother or sister to others. 

 

Sometimes when we are in financial trouble, we are already down and feel embarrassed to ask for help. If the people who help us, are also humiliating us, by letting everybody know, how incapable we are to provide for our own people, it really hurts. So when the Jews were helping others, they did not even tell their friend who sat at their right hand, what they gave to the friend in need on the left.

 

10.5-H Give regularly

1Corinthians 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so you must do also.

1Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of the week let every one of you lay something aside, storing up as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

 

That is why offerings and tithes are collected every Sunday, or any other day believers have decided to meet, as their day of divine worship. We believe that all scriptures are given by inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Paul through the Holy Ghost said everyone should give as God has prospered him. Nobody should dictate the amount I should give, because the way God has prospered me is not the way God has prospered the other brother. If my prosperity is that of the widow who had only two mites (two pennies); I will give out of those two pennies willingly as the Spirit tells me to give. I still can remember as if it were yesterday, I had only 20 pennies in my pocket and worse than that it was 10 coins of 2 pennies. Deep inside me I felt ashamed to give them. Then the Lord spoke into my heart, and reminded me of the widow with the 2 mites (2 pennies).

 

The Lord told me I had given more than all who had put into that offering basket. I danced like a madman in that church during the collection offering. And people were maybe thinking that God had blessed me financially, and I had dropped thousands into that offering basket. The truth was, I only dropped 10 coins of 2 pennies. I knew I gave my entire livelihood. That was my level of prosperity in those days. Oh, I tell you, that day I praised the Lord like David did. A sister walked up to me and despised my dancing like Michal did David’s. She told me I was too happy, even if God has blessed me I should not show it like that for there are other people who have not been blessed like me. Brethren I ignored her and went to the back of the church and kept on dancing like a madman. If only she knew I had only given 20 pennies!

 

Why am I telling you my testimony, to shut up the voice of Satan in your head; for we overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). Never feel condemned or guilty, if I had 20 pennies my tithe was 2 pennies. Even if I had dropped 2 pennies in the eyes of God, I have given my 10%. And he would have received it. Man may have despised my 10 coins of 2 pennies when they opened the offering envelop but God had received my offering. If our giving is to impress men, then we will be ashamed if we have nothing or just a little. But if we know we are giving to God not to man, we simply do not care about man’s opinion.

 

Paul also asked them to collect their offerings and tithes before he got there. In the beginning I did not understand why Paul did not want them to prepare their offerings while he was present. I have been invited to preach in some churches in the past, and the pastor used my presence to put pressure on the congregation to give more than they ought to. Most of the time the pastor will say: let us sow into this “anointing” and the pastor himself takes the offering baskets and goes around like a beggar, asking people to give to “bless” the ministry of the mighty man of God, that has poured into our life. If things are done in the presence of the invited man of God, the man of God, if he does not have any integrity, he will try to preach or teach a message that will please the congregation, so that they will give more money after his sermon, and the congregation also can be emotionally manipulated to give more because of the preaching of the man of God. Prepare your tithes and offerings at home and pray over them at home, so that whatever happens in the church, will not change your stand: whether the message that was preached was a corrective message to you, or a praise message for you.

 

10.5-I Give to your parents and family

Deuteronomy 5:16 Honour your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

Honouring our parents is not only respecting them and revering them. It is also giving them of our substances.

Proverbs 3:9 Honour the LORD with your substance, and with the first-fruits of all your increase:

 

When we honour a person according to the bible not only do we revere him or her but we give him or her gifts. We read how God associated honouring Him with the Israelites giving Him offerings. Bless your parents, give them something. Of all the Ten Commandments Moses received, it is the only one that has a reward. That your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you. The Lord tells the people not to hide from their own flesh (Isaiah 58:7). If members of your family are hungry, feed them, if they are poorly clothed clothe them. God is not telling us to be lending them huge amounts of money, no. But if they are facing challenges to feed themselves, warm themselves in winter, if their children have nothing to eat, feed them.

1Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

 

Our number one priority is to provide for our own house, our children, our spouse and everybody under our roof. To honour also people in your house, in other words bless them with gifts, and give gifts to your spouse, to your brothers and sisters and to the children.

 

Jacob was not on good terms with his brother Esau, because twenty years ago, Jacob stole his birth-right and the blessing of Abraham. Murder was in the heart of Esau. He was coming with his four hundred men to deal with his brother Jacob (Genesis 32:6). Jacob knew that a man’s gift makes room for him (Proverbs 18:16). He knew, if he only gave his brother Esau a gift, it would appease him. So Jacob said: I will appease Esau with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face, perhaps he will accept me (Genesis 32:20). And we see the result, the present of Jacob appeased the twenty years of hatred in the heart of Esau. When Esau saw Jacob from afar, he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and they wept (Genesis 33:4).

 

Gifts to family members who hate us, or do not like us or are angry, will make room for us in their heart: room for forgiveness, room for reconciliation and room for peace. Why is it important to try to reconcile with Esau? Esau was living in the land of Canaan, the promised land of Jacob. Militarily speaking Esau was stronger than Jacob. He could not only have killed Jacob and his family, but also decide to occupy the promised land of Jacob permanently, just because of that old hatred. But when they reconciled, Esau went to live in the mountain or Seir and left the promised land to Jacob. There are some enemies you do not have to fight, just with a gift you will make room in their heart, and they will give you your promised land.

 

We are talking about a gift not a bribe, God hates bribery and no born again Christian should give or receive any bribe, whether they live in developing countries, or in developed countries, the standard of the word of God does not change based on your geographic location. You shall take no bribe, for the bribe blinds the wise and perverts the words of the righteous (Exodus 23:8). For Jehovah your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, the mighty, and a terrible God, who does not respect persons nor take a bribe (Deuteronomy 10:17). Job never received or gave a bribe, he says: Did I say, Give to me? or, Offer a bribe for me from your wealth (Job 6:22). A wicked man takes a bribe out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment (Proverbs 17:23). If you are taking bribes, you are a wicked man according to the word of God!

 

The church had a lot of money in the early days, for people sold their possessions, and brought the proceeds to the apostles. When Paul was arrested after he had come back to Jerusalem, he stayed in prison for two years, because he refused to bribe Felix, and did not accept that the church should bribe Felix for his release. As it is written: Then, after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and the Judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, Go for this time, but taking time later, I will call for you. He also hoped that silver would be given him by Paul, that he might free him. Therefore, he also frequently sent for him and talked with him. But after two years, Felix welcomed a successor, Porcius Festus, wishing to show a favour to the Jews, Felix left Paul bound (Acts 24:24-27).

 

Jesus said: Moses said, “Honour your father and your mother.” And, “Whoever curses father or mother, let him die the death.” But you say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, Corban! (That is, A gift to God, whatever you may profit by me) and you no longer allow him to do anything toward his father or mother, making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have delivered. And you do many such things (Mark 7:10-13). The word Corban is the same Hebrew word used in Exodus 35 and Numbers 7 when the people, elders of the tribes of Israel brought their offerings for the tabernacle Moses built. Sometimes we need to tell people give gifts to your father or your mother, or your brother who is in need, instead of bringing it to church or giving it to the man or the woman of God, some believers would lavish their Christian leaders with gifts and money, but will not even help their own relatives, because they think their relatives are evil, or witches.

 

The Pharisees were lovers of money, so they were not telling people the whole truth, because they knew people believed, that if you give to a man or woman of God, you will be rewarded by God, and it is true, but God does not want us to neglect our own flesh and blood. I was in a family, doing a bible study, and they had cooked a nice meal, there were a lot of children in the house, and they wanted to give me food as a man of God, I refused that food and told them to feed the children. They thought I was robbing them of their reward that Jesus promised when they feed a man of God. I told them of Mark 7:10-13, and if I took that food and let the children starve, I was like those Pharisees, who were making the word of God of no effect. Another day when I went there for a bible study, and there was enough food for everybody, I ate with them.

 

If we revisit the subject of hiding from our flesh, Jesus says: Do you do well to set aside the commandment of God, so that you may keep your own tradition? For Moses said, “Honour your father and your mother.” And, “Whoever curses father or mother, let him die the death.” But you say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, Corban! (That is, A gift to God, whatever you may profit by me) and you no longer allow him to do anything toward his father or mother, making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you have delivered. And you do many such things (Mark 7:9-13). When your mother, father, brother or sister are in deep financial trouble, cannot pay their rent, do not have food in the house, or have medical bills to pay; do not tell them, when they ask you for financial help, that you need to give your tithe to the church first, so you do not have money for them!

 

You are hiding from your flesh, by so doing you are making God look bad. Some people will not even be able to feed their children or clothe their children, because they cannot miss paying their tithe to their local church. They do not even buy a cooker or microwave or pay for their electricity and gas, because they have to bring that tithe to church. Children grow up hating God, because they think that God is after their money! Feed your family, clothe your children. God knows your heart, that you are a giver; it is not every time that you will miss paying your tithe, but there are times that your financial situation is so bad, so with the little that you have, provide for your family and your brothers, sisters, mother and father who are in trouble. Paul tells us: if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel (1Timothy 5:8). God wants us to provide for our own, especially our family.

 

Should we give our tithes and offering? The answer is yes! Jesus says: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and you have left undone the weightier matters of the Law, judgment or justice, mercy, and faith. You ought to have done these and not to leave the other undone (Matthew 23:23). The Pharisees and scribes were applying the word of God blindly, and were not considering the situation of people. James tells us that mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13). So, when you apply the judgment of the Law, remember the mercy of God; consider people’s situation, family situations, financial situations. My prayer is: when people come to you, they will not think that you and the “God” whom you serve are after their money rather than their souls. Let us remember the weightier matters of the Law: judgment or justice, mercy and faith in God, not in our good deeds of the Law.

 

10.5-J Give to your future

10.5-J1 Investments

Matthew 25:14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

Matthew 25:15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

 

As we have already seen one talent is 27.7Kgs. Thus God gave 138.5Kgs of gold to the first, 55.4Kgs to the other and 27.7Kgs to the last one. The exchange rate of gold varies every year. Our God is not a stingy God, he wants to entrust you with a great sum of Money, so that you will administer it on His behalf. One will say, can He only entrust me with five talents. The answer to that is no, God wants to entrust you with much more. In Matthew 18:24 God entrusted one of His servants with 10,000 talents that is 277,000Kgs of gold. We are stewards of God’s wealth, we need to have that mind-set when it comes to divine prosperity. For from our examples of David and Solomon, God entrusted them with more than 10,000 talents of gold. It is recorded in the days of Solomon that gold and silver were as plenteous in Jerusalem as stones (2 Chronicles 1:15). It is time for us to change our concept of who God is.

 

God will never give us something that He has not equipped us to manage, we are stewards of His riches. Jesus said, God gave to every man according to his several ability or own ability. God knew that the one who received 5 talents was equipped to handle them, the one who received 2 talents, was equipped to handle them, so was the one who received 1 talent. It would be unfair of a Just God to give us something that we cannot handle. Bear in mind that whatever God ask us to do, He has equipped us for that task. All the abilities we will ever need are already in us. Let us go out there, and act on our God-given task. God is asking each one of us: do business until I (Jesus) come, do trading until I come, occupy your God-given territory until I come (Luke 19:13).

Matthew 25:16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

Matthew 25:17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

 

The two first servants were wise servants; they heard the word of their master and acted upon it. God was expecting each of them to just give 100% of their effort. The one who had two talents, invested his master’s money and had a 100% profit. The one who had the 5 talents invested his master’s money, and made 100% profit. Make good investments, do business; it is God’s plan for your life to do business.

 

Matthew 25:18 But he who had received one went and dug in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

If one does not make an investment, the money will never multiply. God wants us to make an investment, because it is one of the ways that He multiplies our silver and gold (Deuteronomy 8:13).

Matthew 25:19 After a long time the lord of those servants came, and reckoned with them.

Matthew 25:20 And so he who had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, you delivered unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, well done, you good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your lord.

Matthew 25:22 He also who had received two talents came and said, Lord, you delivered unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

Matthew 25:23 His lord said unto him, well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your lord.

 

When God has entrusted us with money, there will be a day of reckoning, God will settle accounts with each of his servants. God is a good businessman. He does not like making bad investments. He entrusts each one of us with some money and expects us to make investments, to trade with the money, to do business with that money. The two servants received the same praise of their Lord: Well done good and faithful servant! In the eyes of God, if you gave your best to what he asked you to do, you will have the same praise; whether you received 5 talents or 2 talents.

 

Never be intimidated by other people’s abilities, or how much they started with. The one, who had 2 talents, was found faithful and now had 4 talents. If he keeps doing what he has been doing, he will also have 5 talents and then 10 talents. If we are found faithful in the little that God committed to our trust, He will entrust us with greater riches than one talent or two talents. Do not hide your talent, but make investments, and God will be faithful in multiplying your silver and gold.

 

Matthew 25:24 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew that you are a hard man or austere person, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed:

Matthew 25:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the earth: lo, there you have what is yours.

 

Many people have a wrong perception of God. They believe God just wants to use them. That God is a hard man, an austere person. If one has a wrong image or opinion of God in his mind, it will hinder him. As a man thinks in his heart so is he. If we think God is an austere person, we will not be willing to obey Him, because we think he just wants to use us. But if we believe God is good and He does good (Nahum 1:7, Psalm 119:68), that He is not trying to use us, but to be our partner in life, in business for our own good, that He wants to prosper us. Our attitude will drastically change, when He is asking us to do something, because we know it is for our own good.

 

Many people will tell themselves, I do not want to help God, why should I work for the kingdom, invest money for the kingdom? I do not want to give anything to God; I do not want to do anything for the kingdom. It is the wrong attitude. They will say I was afraid, to blow it. God will not blame us when we obey Him, in fact He will help us. Our attitude should be: God you told us to trade, to do business, to invest our money, but where do you want me to invest this money? God will tell us where we should make our investment, what kind of business we should be involved with, so that we do not lose that money. If we ask God He will give us direction in all our investments.

 

Matthew 25:26 His lord answered and said unto him, you wicked and slothful or lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not scattered seed:

Matthew 25:27 you ought therefore to have put my money to the exchangers or bankers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury or interest.

 

God knew that the servant was just making something up; in his heart he already did not want to work for the king. Even when we do not know what to do in business or where to invest our money, God is telling us to go to the bankers and give them that money; they are used to making investments. Even if I do not have 100% but at least I will still make a profit, even if it is only 5% every year, it is better than burying the money. There are safe packages banks offer, which do not have any risk, every 3 months or six months or year, they give you your shares or small interest. Either the bank loses money or makes profit, it is not your problem, they will always give you the percentage they promised for the package you signed for.

 

There are many investments like that with banks or assurance companies. One can make a small payment every month when his children are young, and when they are 18 years old, the children can collect that money with interest to pay for their studies when they enter university. God is telling us, even if we are not good at making investments; there are people out there who are paid for that, and we can make safe investments for our children, our old age, etc. But even when we go to those bankers or professionals, let us always ask God, should I invest in that Bank, in that insurance, should I buy that package. No matter how safe it appears to be on paper, always ask God.

 

We have seen banks closing, assurance funds being wiped out. God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). So, if He does not tell us to be involved in it, we do not put a dime into it, no matter what the experts say. And even if one investment has been giving us a lot of profit for years, and all of a sudden God tells us to withdraw all our money, let us be prompt to obey, for God knows that very soon, that investment will not be profitable, and we will start losing money. God wants to help us, in all our investments, if only we allow Him to direct us. If we do not use the talent God gave us, He will give it to someone else who is willing to do business or invest it. Thus the Lord said:

 

Matthew 25:28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him who has ten talents.

Matthew 25:29 For unto everyone who has shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him who has not shall be taken away even that which he has.

Matthew 25:30 And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

God is teaching us another lesson of business: increasing the capital of your company or business. Many times people will start with 5 talents as their capital, at the end of the fiscal years, when accounts are settled, they take the profit and leave the capital. But here we see the Lord reinvesting the profit into the company, to increase the capital of the company or the business. The bigger the capital of the company is the greater its buying power is. If a company buys a large quantity of items, it is cheaper for them, than if they were to buy a small quantity. By increasing their capital, they have better deals with providers of those items, and increase their profit.

 

Jesus says something also very important: to him who has more, more will be given. Companies will be able to give you more contracts if they know that your capital is big, they know even if they are to pay you every 3 months for your services, you will have enough cash flow to pay your employees for those 3 months that you have not been paid. If your capital is big, you can employ people for 6 months up to a year, even if you have no new contracts, it gives your employees a feeling of safety, and they know their jobs are secure. The best employees will always apply for a company, that gives them that kind of safety or job security. Banks are willing to give money to companies or businesses which have a big capital. They know if they have a big capital, it is a serious business. To him that has, much will be given. Your providers will give you special discounts, because they know you buy large quantities of their items.

 

10.5-J2 Savings

We have already seen the Lord telling the one, who was afraid to trade with his master’s money, that he should have saved the money in a bank. They know how to handle money. Matthew 25:27 you ought therefore to have put my money to the exchangers or bankers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury or interest.

Deuteronomy 28:8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouses, and in all that you set your hand unto; and he shall bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

 

The Lord promised to command a blessing upon your storehouses. The Lord wants us to have savings, different storehouses; savings for different things, for our retirement, or children’s education, our mortgages, etc. The Lord promised to command a blessing on those savings; we will not lose our savings, no matter how bad the economy is, we must stand on that promise that the Lord has commanded a blessing upon our storehouses.

 

In Genesis Chapters 41 to 48, we see the entire kingdom of Egypt saving 20% of their harvest each year for seven years, before the years of famine. Savings will help a person or a kingdom to face the years of famine. It does something very important too; it gives one a strong buying power. The majority of wealth transfers happen during times of famines. Because Egypt stored up 20% of their harvest for 7 years, it gave them strong buying power during the seven years of famine that followed the seven years of abundance.

 

All the nations about them came to buy food from their storehouses, hence the wealth of the world was transferred to Egypt. When people experience famine, they are ready to sell their businesses, their lands and their houses at very low prices. That is what happened in Egypt, they sold their lands and businesses to Joseph, who was over the Storehouses of Egypt. Start saving today and you will have a strong buying power in times of famine in the land. God wants us to lend to many nations and not borrow (Deuteronomy 28:12). How can we lend to nations if we have no savings?

 

10.5-J3 Real Estate

God promises to bring us into the land which He swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of abundance. We will have houses in that land, full of all good things which we did not fill (Deuteronomy 6:11). It is God’s plan to give us houses, not just a house but houses. Even today; when a house is built properly, it can last for a hundred years. It means even three generations can enjoy that house. Our children, when they start working, they do not have to worry about paying any rent, for they are living in one of the houses the parents built. When they go to university, we do not have to invest much, we put tenants in one of the houses and the money is given to the child to feed himself. The bible tells us, a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children (Proverbs 13:22). Houses are the kind of inheritance that children’s children can enjoy.

 

People can be involved in the real estate business, just to secure accommodation for their children, because the price of houses always goes up; or they can do it as a business, not just for their children but also for themselves. But whenever we want to make real estate our main business, not just to secure accommodation for our children, we must ask God to direct us, because many people, entered the real estate business and lost lots of money, and are ruined today. It is just like any other business; we must ask God.

 

10.5-J4 Education

We should invest in our own education and the education of our children. Sometimes what is hindering us from a promotion or a contract is simply a qualification. Depending on what we want to achieve in life, we must try as much as possible to get the education required for that promotion or that contract. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, though they were filled with the Spirit of God, they went for three years to the schools of the Babylonians. If they had not been instructed in the ways of the Babylonians, they would not have been placed over the provinces of Babylon, they would not have served in the Palace of the King.

 

There are positions in life that we can access, simply with a certificate or a diploma or a degree. Let us not overly spiritualize things. If people require those qualifications from us, and we ask God, should we take those courses, if God says yes, we need to take those courses. Let’s say a person wants to be a surgeon, he must go and study, no one will allow him to operate on a patient, if he does not graduate from a medical school, in fact he will be jailed if he attempts to do so without the qualification. Let us not despise education; there is nothing wrong with getting some education.

 

10.5-K Fulfil your vows and pledges

We have already talked in length about vows and pledges, being a personal thing and how God would rather our yes be yes and our no be no, that we serve Him from our heart, not because we have yoked ourselves with a vow or pledge. Only God and the person know about it. Sometimes we want something from God, and we swear to him that if he does it for us, we will do something in return. It is not always about money. Some people will vow to God – if you promote me into my place of work, and I achieve the highest position in my career, then I will take an early retirement to be in full-time ministry.

 

Some people will say to God, if you deliver me from my competitors and I get the contract, I will give you x% of my first month’s profit. And God moves on their behalf and gets them that contract. Some women would say, Lord if you give me a husband, I will join the prayer group in church, and be more active in ministry. Vows and pledges are still for today, but please let it be a personal thing, as the bible instructs us and always know that God would rather that you serve Him with your heart, than because you yoked yourself with a vow or pledge. Whatever one has vowed or pledged, let him fulfil it when the Lord has brought it to pass.

 

Numbers 30:2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Deuteronomy 23:21 when you shall vow a vow unto the LORD your God, you shall not slack to pay it: for the LORD your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin to you.

Deuteronomy 23:22 But if you shall forbear or abstain from vowing, it shall be no sin to you.

Deuteronomy 23:23 That which is gone out of your lips you shall keep and perform; for you voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God, what you have promised with your mouth.

 

You see even Moses advised them to abstain from vowing or pledging. And if they vowed or pledged it ought to be voluntarily and secretly between God and them. As we have already explained in length. And we have explained what some of the motives behind people’s vows and pledges are. Jesus says: Again, you have heard that it has been said to the ancients, “You shall not swear falsely, but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord.” But I say to you, Do not swear at all! Not by Heaven, because it is God’s throne; not by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; not by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King; nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your word be, Yes, yes; No, no. For whatever is more than these comes from evil (Matthew 5:33-37). James says: But above all things, my brethren, swear not, or take no oath, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yes be yes; and your no, no; lest you fall into condemnation or be like the hypocrites (James 5:12).

 

Ecclesiastes 5:4 When you vow a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools: pay that which you have vowed.

Numbers 30:6 And if indeed she takes a husband, when she vowed, or by a rash utterance from her lips, by which she bound her soul;

Numbers 30:7 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds by which she bound her soul shall stand.

Numbers 30:8 But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall forgive her.

 

Women must not vow or pledge or swear or take an oath rashly. If a woman while she is still single, vows to the Lord, if you give me a husband, I will join the 6am prayer meeting and the Friday night vigil. But when she gets the husband, the husband has the God given authority and power to cancel that vow. He wants to enjoy the presence of his wife in the morning and in the night. The pastors, the apostles, the evangelists, the prophets or the teachers are not the head of your home, your husband is. They have no power or authority to cancel your vow but your husband has.

 

If a sister is married, and she vowed, God if you give us, let us say, a new house. I will give our family car to the church, or I will give £10,000. Sister whatever you vow, you must clear it with your husband. Many homes have been destroyed because the sisters did not respect the authority God gave to their husband. Even if the husband is unsaved, he still has the power and authority to cancel the vow. Do not vow anything of your home or that would affect the balance of your home. In fact, it is better to ask your husband what you, as a couple, can vow to God.

 

If a sister who is married donates what she vowed, an amount of money or something to the church or to a minister of God; the wisdom of that church or that minister is to ask the sister; has your husband approved of your donation? If he did not, the church or the minister should not take that vowed donation. And if she lied about having the approval of her husband, and then the husband comes and asks that vowed donation back, the church or the minister ought to immediately restore it to the husband.

 

10.5-L Continue skill acquisition

 

Develop and improve your gifting Proverbs 18:16 A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

David was developing his musical instrument skills for himself. What he did not know was that people were watching him, and in their mind they were saying one day if we need someone in the palace to play, we will call this young boy. And as soon as the Spirit of the Lord left Saul, and a distressing spirit came to trouble him; they started looking for someone to play for King Saul, so that the distressing spirit would depart from him (1 Samuel 16:14). Then one of the servants answered and said, look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilful in playing, a mighty man of valour, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person, and the Lord is with him (1 Samuel 16:18).

 

The playing skill of David brought him into the palace to stand before King Saul. Keep developing your skills, but also your character. It was not just the skill of David but also his character. Your speech matters, your valour matters, and your presentation matters too. The aspects of the fruit of the spirit must be evident in your life. Practice all these and you will be standing before kings.

 

The same David was practicing the throwing of stones with his sling as a shepherd boy. And one day, while the entire army of Saul was caving in, David defeated Goliath with the sling and a stone (1 Samuel 17). From that day Saul did not allow David to go back to his father Jesse, but asked that he should eat every day at the table of the king. Not only if you practice your skills, will you stand before kings, but you will also sit at the same table and dine like royalty. Practicing the skills can make a shepherd boy, who used to be clothed with rags, not just to sit at the king’s table; but to be arrayed with royal garments and royal armour; for Jonathan, the son of Saul, gave his royal robe and royal armour to David (1 Samuel 18:2-4).

 

10.5-M Tithes: – 10:10:80 principle

What is tithe? It is the tenth part of any thing; but appropriately, the tenth part of the increase, annually arising from the profits of land and stock (Webster’s dictionary 1828). In our time, it is the tenth part of our wage if we are an employee, if we are a business owner it is the tenth part of the salary, we pay ourselves, and the tenth part of the increase annually arising from the profits made that year. In other words, as a business owner, we pay our monthly tithe from our salary, but we wait until the end of the fiscal year before paying the tithe on the business. If our business has made a profit, we give the tithe out of that profit, if someone’s business has made no profit that year, he does not give. As business owners do not touch their capital.

 

We are born again believers, so God has already pronounced the blessing of Abraham over us, when we received Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham, into our life. The blessing of the firstborn is upon our life, Jesus Christ being the firstborn among many brethren. Being born again is actually receiving the blessing of the firstborn. We see in Genesis, Abraham pronouncing the blessing of Abraham over his son Isaac, and giving him the firstborn blessing in the stead of Ishmael. We also see in Genesis Isaac pronouncing the blessing of Abraham over Jacob, and Jacob taking the firstborn right from Esau his brother. You cannot have the firstborn blessing, without the firstborn right, which is having Jesus in your life. When we have Jesus in our life, the blessing of Abraham belongs to us.

 

God said something very important to Isaac. Though he had received the firstborn right and the blessing of Abraham, God said to him, your father Abraham was blessed because he obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My statutes, My commandments and My law (Genesis 26:5). So, if we read that entire chapter of Genesis 26, Isaac walks in the steps of His father Abraham, and he too prospers beyond measure. Many people think it is just about claiming and confessing the scriptures, yes part of it, but it is about walking in the same steps of our father Abraham, if we want to enjoy the blessing of Abraham. God tells us: if we are willing and obedient, we will eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19).

 

Paul through the Holy Spirit tells us: Abraham became the father of circumcision to them, who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had, being yet uncircumcised (Romans 4:12). We must walk in the steps of the faith of Abraham, when he was still uncircumcised. What does Paul mean? You and I are not natural Israel, we are spiritual Israel. If God made the promises to Abraham when he was circumcised, it would not apply to us. But God made all those promises to him while he was still uncircumcised, so that you and I through the same faith in Jesus, might enjoy the blessing.

 

10.5-M1 Tithe was before the Law

God pronounced the blessing over Abram in Genesis 12:1-3, and God prospered him. Abram became very rich in livestock, silver and gold (Genesis 13:2). One day, after Abram and his nephew Lot had parted, a confederacy of four kings, led by king Chedorlaomer of Elam, battled the confederacy of five kings, led by the king of Sodom. The confederacy led by the king of Sodom, was defeated, and Chedorlaomer took captives among whom were Lot. Abram took his three hundred men and went to fight against the confederacy of the four kings, to rescue Lot. He knew he was outnumbered physically, and if the five kings and their armies were not able to defeat Chedorlaomer, his 300 men were not enough, he needed God to fight his battle.

 

When God fought on Abram’s behalf, and won against those four kings led by Chedorlaomer. Abram rescued Lot, and took all the spoil. Abraham gave his tithe to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20). He gave it because God gave him the victory over his enemies, and he delivered his kindred from their captors. This is the blessing Melchizedek pronounced over Abram: blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. Abram tithed out of a heart of gratitude and honour to God, who had prospered his conquest, and delivered all his enemies into the palm of his hand!

 

Now the writer of Hebrews, will tell us that Melchizedek is our Lord Jesus Christ in His pre-incarnated form. He met Abram, and blessed him. Melchizedek the king of Salem means king of righteousness and king of peace. Jesus is the Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6); He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Abram gave his tithe to Jesus and Jesus blessed him. Abram was not circumcised yet; he had not begotten either Ishmael or Isaac. So, when we give our tithes on earth, though, here mortal men receive them, but in heaven Jesus our High Priest of the order of Melchizedek, receives them (Hebrews 5:5-6; Hebrews 7:17,20). Tithes are not just for Jewish believers in Christ Jesus, or in the Old Testament, but it is for all believers in Christ Jesus, both of the circumcision and those who are not of the circumcision; for father Abraham tithed while uncircumcised.

 

The writer of Hebrews explains something very important about the tithe, that Abram gave to Jesus, our Melchizedek. Even the Levites, and all of us, who were still in the loins of Abram, tithed through Abram (Hebrews 7:5; 10). That is why the blessing of Abraham is upon each one of us, because, a long time before we were born, father Abram tithed and we tithed through him. When we tithe, our children also enjoy the same blessing. It is passed down from one generation to the other. Jesus said: for in this saying is true: “one sows and another reaps”. I sent you to reap that for which you have not laboured or sowed; others have laboured or sowed, and you have entered into their labours (John4:37-38).

 

Our father Abram sowed and generations after, we are still reaping the same blessing, if we walk in the same steps of Abram. When we tithe or give, our children also enter into our harvest, though they are yet in our loins. Some people were still doubting, whether they were the ones blessing God with their tithe, or God was the One blessing them. The writer of Hebrews says: now, beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better (Hebrews 7:7). Meaning, it was not Abram that was blessing God, for Abram is the lesser; but it was God, the better, who was blessing Abram. And when we read the account in Genesis 14:18-20, it is Jesus our Melchizedek who is blessing Abram not the other way around.

 

Our father Jacob received the firstborn right and the blessing of Abraham. Since he knew that for him to have the manifestations of the blessing of Abraham in the physical, he needed to walk in the same steps of Abraham. So Jacob vowed saying, if God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me, I will surely give a tenth to You (Genesis 28:20-22).

 

Jacob vowed to pay a tithe to God if God did some things for him and we will see those things Jacob asked in vow. But we have already explained in the section of vows and pledges, that God wants us to give and serve Him, out of a heart of gratitude and honour. Jacob was a deceiver and a trickster, and he had just deceived and tricked his father Isaac and his brother Esau. He knew his ways were not right before the Lord, and vowed to tithe on the certain conditions. But had he truly known the heart of God, he would have realized that God did all those things for His Fathers Isaac and Abraham. And they gave their tithe to God, not because they vowed, but out of a heart of gratitude and honour.

 

When we read Genesis 12, God instructs Abraham to leave everything behind, and go to the land that He will show him, and as he obeys, God, in return will bless him, and make Him a blessing, make his name great, bless those who bless him, and curse those who curse him; in other words, God will fight those who fight him, and God will protect him. As Abraham obeyed the voice of God, and left everything behind we see in Genesis 13, how God prospered him, and Abraham was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. And in Genesis 15 the Lord promises Abraham to be His shield, and his exceedingly great reward, and that he should not be afraid. In other words, God promised Abraham security, protection and victory in all his conquests.

 

Full of these wonderful promises of God, Abraham attacks the confederation of kings, to rescue his nephew Lot, and all his possessions. And Abraham has the victory over those kings. Out of a heart of gratitude and honour to God, who has been so good to him by prospering him, and fighting for him, Abraham gave his tithe to Melchizedek. Jacob vowed to give his tithe as a deal with the Lord, and not truly out of a heart of gratitude and honour! So, in his deal that he makes with the Lord, he lists the benefits he saw his father Abraham and Isaac enjoy from the Lord!

 

People will say there is no difference between the tithe that Abraham and Isaac gave, and the tithe Jacob vowed to give. On the contrary, there is a big difference. And my prayer is, that you will see it today through the eyes of God. God says: Jehovah said, Because this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honour Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the command of men (Isaiah 29:13). It is a heart thing: Abraham and Isaac gave their tithe out of a heart of gratitude, and honour, for the benefits they enjoyed from serving the Lord God, whereas Jacob vowed to tithe, as a deal made with God, to have the benefits Abraham and Isaac enjoyed, for serving the Lord God. If you do not see the difference yet between the two motives of tithing, you will not know the heart of God in giving. Let us take the famous scripture used for tithing.

 

Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, In what have we robbed You? In the tithe and the offering!

Malachi 3:9 You are cursed with a curse; for you are robbing Me, the nation, all of it.

Malachi 3:10 Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. And test Me now with this, says Jehovah of Hosts, to see if I will not open the windows of Heaven for you, and pour out a blessing for you, until there is not enough room.

Malachi 3:11 And I will rebuke your devourer, and he shall not decay the fruit of your ground against you; nor shall your vine miscarry against you in the field, says Jehovah of Hosts.

 

Unwittingly some Christians have in their religious mind, that God is like a godfather in the mafia, just like the godfather in the mafia collects a percentage of all the businesses in his territory for health, safety and protection. Thus, unwittingly in the mind of those Christians, they are giving their tithe to “a spiritual godfather of the mafia” who will rebuke the devourer for them, rebuke sickness for them, allow them to do business at peace, bless them, prevent accidents from happening to them, etc. But if they miss a payment, or delay the payment of their tithe, that “spiritual godfather of the mafia” will curse them, their business will suffer, accidents might happen to them or their loved ones, for they are no longer protected, the devourer will destroy what is theirs, and the godfather of the mafia, will allow it because they missed or delayed the payment of the tithe.

 

And some pastors, will even reinforce that idea, of God being likened to the godfather of the mafia, by telling people, if you delay paying your tithe, when you bring it, you must add 20% onto that initial tithe, as the mafia does if you are behind with your payment, they punish you. Let us see where these pastors came up with their 20% on top of that initial tithe. Let us say, your tithe was £100, and you used it for something else, so when you come up with the money, you must bring £120. Where did they get that 20% on top of the initial tithe? I am glad you asked, you will know the truth and the truth shall make you free!

 

Leviticus 6:1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Leviticus 6:2 If a soul sins, and acts unfaithfully against Jehovah, and lies to his neighbour as to a deposit—or as to security, or a pledge or by robbery, or has extorted his neighbour,

Leviticus 6:3 or has found that which was lost and lies concerning it and swears falsely—in any of all these that a man does, sinning in it,

Leviticus 6:4 then, it shall be, because he sinned and is guilty, he shall pay back that which he got by robbery, if he robbed; or the thing extorted which he extorted; or the deposit which had been deposited with him; or the lost thing which he had found;

Leviticus 6:5 or all that which he swore about falsely, —he shall even repay it in its principal, and the fifth part he shall add to it, to whomever it belongs. He shall give it on the day of his guilt offering.

So, they used this scripture of Leviticus 6 to bring that 1/5 or 20% of the initial tithe that you did not pay. It is because they see tithe as a pledge, like Jacob saw tithe as a pledge. But you and I walk in the steps of father Abraham, not in the steps of Jacob, we see tithe as a token of our gratitude and honour from our heart, to the benefits that we enjoy for serving the Lord God. And even if they bring that scripture of Leviticus 6 to you, tell them that Christ Jesus is your trespass offering. As it is written: He was wounded for our transgressions or trespasses; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

 

If they tell you: you are cursed for not giving your tithe, tell them: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone having been hanged on a tree”); so that the blessing of Abraham might be to the nations in Jesus Christ, and that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:13-14). I give my tithe, not because I am afraid of the curse or what the enemy can do to me, but out of a heart of gratitude and honour toward God, for all the benefits I enjoy, because I serve Him. Even Balaam the diviner says: How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom Jehovah has not defied (Numbers 23:8)? God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good? Behold, I have received word to bless. And He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. He has not seen iniquity in Jacob, neither has He seen perverseness in Israel. Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a king among them. God brought them out of Egypt. He has, as it were, the strength of an ox. Surely, there is no spell against Jacob, nor any fortune-telling against Israel. According to this time, it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What God has worked (Numbers 23:19-23)!

 

When God says in Malachi 3:8-11 that we have robbed him, He means that we have robbed Him of the opportunity to manifest His blessings in our life. For Paul tells us: I say this, He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully (2Corinthians 9:6). Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he also will reap (Galatians 6:7). There are Christians who want to give, but they do not have, God knows their heart as Paul says: now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it, may be matched to your completion of it, according to your means; for if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have (2Corinthians 8:11-12). you know that you are willing to give your tithe, as a token of your gratitude and honour toward God, for the benefits you enjoy for serving Him; but you do not have the money, and genuinely in your heart, you have purposed to give your tithe, as soon as your finances are changed by God. So meanwhile if you want to give, give what you can 1%, 2%, 3%, and if you have nothing, give nothing, God knows your heart.

 

I remember a time in my life, I had nothing to give and, in my heart, I wanted to help so many people. I felt condemned that I could not give, though I wanted to give and was willing to give. Though I knew the scriptures above, I still felt condemned, and though I also know condemnation is never from God, but from the devil (Romans 8:1). And God spoke to me on April 4th, 2012 saying: now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you Gery; because I, the Lord your God, know the willingness of your heart about which I boast of you, you were ready a year ago and your zeal has stirred up the faith of the majority (2Corinthians 9:1-2). You and I know what is in our heart. There were months I had nothing to give, so I did not give, and other months I had something, but I could not afford to give my tithe, for I had bills to pay, so I gave 1% or 2%. But the moment I could pay my tithe I did it faithfully.

 

In the New Covenant since you are in Christ Jesus, you belong to the household of God. Jesus Christ is the door to the house of God, when you entered into Jesus Christ the day you became born again; you found green pastures (John 10:7-9). In the Old Testament they were not in the house, that is why God had to open the window of heaven, and pour out a blessing for them. But in the New Covenant, you are in the house, you entered by The door Christ Jesus, you are seated in heavenly places at the right hand of God in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1 and Ephesians 2). You are a son or daughter of God, heir of God and joint heir with Christ Jesus (Romans 8:17). All that God the Father has is yours (Luke 15:31). And since you are in the house, Jesus has given you the keys of the kingdom, you can open doors in the house of your Father and take as much as you want. Being a doer of what Jesus commands us in a particular area, is the key to opening a particular door in our life. Please read the series of the Perfect Redemption Plan to know what took place at your new birth!

 

There is another category of believers; they do not want to give their tithe from their heart out of gratitude and honour to God. They believe that they do not owe it to God but to their skills, education, smartness, family background. God also knows their heart, and even if they become millionaires, they will not give their tithe. Some of them will tell me: pray for me, and when God prospers me, increases my salary, I will still not tithe, but when He makes me a millionaire, then I will tithe. I tell them, it is written: He who is faithful in the least, is also faithful in much, and he who is unjust in the least, is also unjust in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who shall give you that which is your own (Luke 16:10-12)? Please read the series of the perfect redemption plan, to know the things that have been freely given to you, because you are in Christ.

 

All the things that Jacob asked God to do for him, God was already willing to do them, Jacob said in his heart to the Lord:

 

• I want You (God) to be with me, to be involved in everything that pertains to me. I do not want to do something and you are not backing me up, I want You to come along in all my endeavours.
•  I want You (God) to keep me in all my ways. When I turn to the left or to the right, I want You to keep me. I am going into a foreign land, I have no one there. I want you to keep me from people who will try to kill me, from wild beasts, from wrong business partners, from wrong relationships. I want You to keep me in all my ways.
•  I want You (God) to give me and my family bread to eat and clothing to put on. I will never suffer hunger and I will never be clothed with rags.
• I want you (God) to bring me back into Peace (Shalom which includes: peace, wholeness, prosperity, health, safety). In other words, I want you to give me prosperity, to give me health. That I should enjoy wholeness in my family and in all my endeavours, nothing missing and nothing broken. I want to be at peace with people around me, I want safety or protection from my enemies like You did for father Abram.

 

God fulfilled His covenant of tithing with Jacob. He prospered him the bible records that the man Jacob became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys (Genesis 30:43). God was with him in his business, God gave him a dream, what he must do in business in order to prosper (Genesis 30). God brought him out of the house of Laban safely, though Laban had purposed to harm him. God made Esau his brother who wanted to kill him, to be at peace with him (Genesis 33). We serve a covenant keeping God, tithing is a covenant, and God will do His part, if we do our part. When Jacob came back to the house of his father, he did what he vowed to the Lord (Genesis 35:7, 14).

 

10.5-M2 Tithe continued under the dispensation of the Law

Israel after the flesh inherited the blessing of Abraham through their father Jacob; God was the one who changed the name of Jacob to Israel. Therefore, the blessing of Abraham, that was on the life of the individual, Jacob, was not bestowed on the entire nation of Israel. Israel as a nation, and each Israelite, had to walk in the same steps of father Abraham, if they wanted to enjoy the blessing of Abraham physically.

 

The Lord always wants to bless His people on earth as it is in heaven, for we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places according to Ephesians 1:3; but the manifestations on earth of some of the blessings of God, are conditional to our obedience. The Lord said to His people, you have robbed me, robbed Me of an opportunity to bless you, by disobeying Me, by tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8). The Lord said to his people: bring all the tithes into my storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the windows or floodgates of heaven, and pour out such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it (Malachi 3:10). Tithing is powerful, God says try Him now, and see if what he said is the truth or a lie. The credibility of the Lord of Hosts is at stake when we give our tithes.

 

David throughout the books of Samuel, will always refer to God as the Lord of Hosts, Commander of the armies of Angels, and the armies of Israel. The Lord who will fight your battles; like He did for Abraham and David, and for Joshua; who will bring you from the wilderness of your life, and going round in circles around the same mountain, to your promised land. It is your land of abundance, flowing with milk and honey. The Lord of Hosts will cause you to come out of your hideouts, from your caves like David, or from your dungeon like Joseph to the palace. The Lord of Hosts is throwing you a challenge, try Me now!

 

This is what Lord of Hosts says if we give our tithes: I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of Hosts. And all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of Hosts (Malachi 3:11-12). The Lord of Hosts promised to rebuke the devourer that has been stealing from you, to cause your fruit to reach maturation. In other words, you will start a business and it will not fail, you will have a profit out of it, and not lose your money. God himself will see to it. We have already explained that God is not likened to a godfather of the mafia, that collects payments for protection. So, what is He saying then? People who think that they do not owe anything to the Lord for their prosperity, will not give honour to God with their substance either. They will think that tithing is too much; they will only give God 1% or 2%.

 

The gospel is free but it takes money to spread it! Train tickets, bus tickets, airplane tickets and petrol to fill up the tank of your car are not free. Clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, building orphanages, giving bibles to new converts and printing bible studies for every disciple, are not free of charge either! The Lord says: you shall remember Jehovah your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, so that He may confirm His covenant which He has sworn to your fathers, as it is today (Deuteronomy 8:18). So, when you as an individual believe God, and decide to give your tithe, God will be able to do all those things listed above and much more for the furtherance of His kingdom and gospel on earth.  God considers your business as His business, your career as His career, and He will jealously protect what is yours, from the attack of the enemy.

 

After Israel returned from the captivity of Babylon, Nehemiah saw something that displeased him and said to the people. I perceived that the portions of the Levites, had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, had fled everyone to his field. Then I contended with the rulers, and said, why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place. Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries (Nehemiah 13:10-13).

 

If the people who work in church are not paid, they will flee into the field; find a job to provide for themselves. The house of God will be forsaken, no repairs can be made or utility bills paid, for God ordained the tithes and offerings to sustain his church. If the minister of God is ploughing more in the field, or in his secular job, than in the word of God, it is to the detriment of the believers. For when they come to that minister for counsel, he will be giving them worldly counsel. To have God’s counsel, the minister needs to spend time in prayer and reading the word of God.

 

We can read more about tithing under the dispensation of the Law in Deuteronomy 12:5-26; Deuteronomy 14: 22-29; Deuteronomy 26:12-15. Everybody in the kingdom of God ought to give tithes, no one is exempted. The Levites in the temple who were supposed to receive the tithe, themselves had to pay a tithe of that tithe (Nehemiah10:38; Numbers 18:26). In other words, the workers in the church who are paid by the tithes and offerings of believers, themselves must also pay tithes. We must teach our children very early to be givers. If we give them £1 let’s teach them to give 10 pennies back to God.

 

10.5-M3 Tithe continues under the dispensation of Grace

What is the definition of dispensation? The Greek word is Oikonomia, it is the administration of a household or estate; especially a religious economy: stewardship, dispensation. In other words, the way God is administering his household, since we are members of his household as sons and daughters of God; the way God is administering the economy of the kingdom of Heaven. From Moses to the death of Jesus the people of God were under the dispensation of the Law. The Law had His blessings, and its curses. If one did not do exactly what the Law said, he received the curse written in the Law. It was about rules and regulations.

 

You and I are under the dispensation of Grace (Ephesians 3:2). Since we have established what dispensation means, then what is grace? The Greek word Charis, which is translated grace, is the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life of the individual; including gratitude. There are no rules and regulations like under the dispensation of the Law. We were redeemed from all the curses of the Law, when Christ hung on the cross (Galatians 3:13-14).

 

Let no one put fear into your heart using any curse of the Law. So under grace God moves upon our heart and we willingly obey Him. We act like our father Abraham. Nobody threatened him with a curse to give to God, but he gave willingly from his heart of gratitude and honour to God. That is why Paul tells us to walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham. Paul tells us that if we do things willingly, we will have a reward, for this is the dispensation of the gospel of grace that is committed to us (1 Corinthians 9:17). In the dispensation of grace, we tell people, what the reward God has promised is, if they obey Him. We do not put fear in their hearts, for that is not the Spirit we have received. We speak the truth in love, and they decide to willingly obey the word of God or to disobey it.

 

It is the role of the Holy Spirit to move on the hearts of the people, to obey God’s word, and make them willing; for it is God who works in people both to will and do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). People may say: what if they do not want to obey? Should we instil some fear into their heart to get them do God’s will? The answer is no! God has not given us or His people the Spirit of fear, but of power, love and sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Let the Spirit move upon the people and make them willing. For God said if the people are willing and obedient, they shall eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19). God certainly did not say, if the people are forced to obey, or threatened so that they will obey; but be willing and obedient.

 

What did Jesus say about tithe?

Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier Matters of the law, judgment or justice, mercy, and faith: these you ought to have done, and not to leave the other undone. See also Luke 11:42.

Jesus was not telling them not to pay their tithe, in fact Jesus told them: these you ought to have done. To ought to – is to be held or bound in duty or moral obligation. We have seen that God spoke the blessing of Abraham and Isaac to Jacob and Jacob paid his tithe, Abraham their Father also paid his tithe to Melchizedek the pre-incarnated Jesus (Hebrews 7:1).

 

Since they were enjoying the blessing of Abraham their father, because while they were still in the loins of Abraham, they gave their tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham (Hebrews 7:10). And it was long before the law was given to Moses. Almost five hundred years before the law was given to Moses. It was their moral duty and moral obligation to give all these tithes.

 

You and I have received the firstborn right, when we became born again, and the blessing of Abraham our father has come upon us, through the Seed of Abraham, who is Jesus. Jesus is telling us the same thing He said to the Jews: these (paying tithes) you ought to have done. Let us walk in the same steps of the faith of our father Abraham, which he had when he was still uncircumcised.

 

10.5-M4 10:10:80 Principle and Budgeting

BUDGET

• Tithe 10%
• Save 10%
• Expenditure 80%
• Debt – 5-10%
• Offering between 1% and 10%

 

God was so tired of all their gimmicks that he had to fix the offering too; so that those priests would not manipulate the people financially. So the Lord spoke to Ezekiel: This is the oblation or offering that you shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah of a homer of wheat, and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah of a homer of barley: Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, you shall offer the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is an homer of ten baths; for ten baths are a homer: And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, says the Lord GOD (Ezekiel 45:13-15).

 

The ephah was the measure for grains and the bath was the measure for liquids, God therefore fixed the offerings of grain to be 1/60 of the produce of the field, which is 1.67%; the oil offering to be 1% and the meat offering to be 0.5%. The reason why God asked them to bring more grain was because bread was the staple food in Israel. They ate more bread than meat. That is why when you go through our “biblical prosperity” bible study, you notice that all your tithes, alms, offerings, first-fruits [People who were generous or according to the Jews: had a good eye (a bountiful man) would give 1/40 of that harvest, that is 2.5% of their profit apart from their tithe. A middling person (one who is neither liberal nor niggardly) would bring 1/50 of that harvest that is 2% of their profit apart from their tithe. And the other people would only bring 1/60 that is 1.67% of their profit apart from the tithe]. You have all the percentages so that no one could manipulate you financially.

• Expenses 60-70%
• INCREASE YOUR ASSETS AND REDUCE YOUR LIABILITIES

 

10.5-M5 To whom goes the tithe?

The tithe belongs to God, having said that it does not help a lot. We must tell people the tithe belongs to God first of all. Abraham gave his tithe to Melchizedek our Lord Jesus; Jacob gave his tithe to God. So, the tithe belongs to God. If one is attending a local church, or a fellowship, when God has not specifically instructed the person to do otherwise, he should pay his tithe to that church or fellowship. The people there are ministering the word of God to him, and praying for him, so he should be giving his tithe there. As a principle, give your tithe where you are spiritually being fed!

 

Can God instruct a believer to do something different with his tithe? The answer is yes. Let it be clear, God must be the one who instructs the believer to do so. Many carnal Christians, because they have fallen out with members of their church, or their pastors, decide to give their tithe elsewhere, to kind of punish that church. Brethren it is the work of the flesh. The thing to do is to keep paying your tithe to that church, or where you are being spiritually fed, and ask God to help you in your relationship with that church and its members.

 

I said the tithe belongs to God, even under the Law, the people were instructed in the third year not to bring their tithes to the temple. But to give it to the Levites, the strangers, the widows and the fatherless, so that they may eat and be filled (Deuteronomy 26:12). In the dispensation of Grace, we are led by the Spirit, if God speaks to us to give our tithe elsewhere, we obey Him. I said God must speak to that individual clearly not his feelings or emotions. Also let us not be offended when a ministry or a person does not take our tithe. God might have spoken to that person not to take that tithe for reasons that only God knows.

 

10.5-M6 God wants you debt free and able to lend to nations

It is not the will of God for born again believers to be in debt. Paul says: Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he who loves another has fulfilled the law (Romans 13:8). Even between believers, we have already explained, that if a person wants to keep you in financial bondage, or to have you eternally grateful to them, for lending you some money, it is not worth it. 

 

Even in churches some people will use money to yoke you, you cannot leave their churches, for they gave you a job, or they lent you some money, you have to call them and visit them regularly, because they gave you some money! We have already seen how Paul refused to take money from the church in Corinth! There are people, who it is not worth collecting money from, and Paul would rather die than collect money from them. Many times, I made that stand, and had to suffer hunger and sleep on the streets, for the sake of preaching the gospel, than collecting money from some Christian brothers, or churches that thought like the Corinthian Church. I would rather die of hunger and cold sleeping on the streets during winter, for the preaching of the gospel, than collect a dime from them.

 

And some of them who promised to give to the ministry, but on the condition that I visited them in their house and call them every week. When I did not call or visit them, they did not refund my money for sometimes up to two months, hoping that because I had no money for two months, I would call them or visit them in their house. In a way they want you to beg for that money! I refused to call them, and I refused to visit them, for the bible says owe no man or woman anything, except the love of God (Romans 13:8). 

Paul says: Let love be without dissimulation or hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cleave to what is good (Romans 12:9). If I call them or visit them, while they are holding back on the money that they owe me for the ministry, my love for them or friendship with them, will be with dissimulation or hypocrisy, for my visit and phone call has an ulterior motive behind it, it is not genuine. And Jesus does not like hypocrites, countless times He says: woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites (Matthew 23:13)!

 

I said to the church members, when brother Gery calls you, he has no ulterior motives, he is not calling you to get your tithe or offering! If you do not want to give your tithe and offering to the Lord Jesus, keep it! You must understand you’re giving to God and not to man! You must give from your heart, and not try to manipulate people before giving; manipulation is based in the spirit of witchcraft! 

 

If people want to give; let them give from the bottom of their heart! Paul, who refused to take money from the church in Corinth, did not tell them that they are cursed because they gave neither tithe nor offering to him! They just robbed themselves of an opportunity for God to bless them, for do not be deceived, whatsoever a man or woman sows that he will receive! I will not beg for anybody’s money! David says: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread (Psalm 37:25). My heavenly Father says: For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof (Psalm 50:10-12). So, I brother Gery, the apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 50 European nations would never tell you when I am hungry; for all that My Father in heaven has is mine (Luke 15:31). As Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ to the gentiles taught me, saying: Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

 

The will of God is for us to relate to people with a free conscience, a pure heart and without hypocrisy or ulterior motive. When you are indebted to a person or an institution, it makes it hard for you to relate that way, with that person or the people in that institution. Solomon says: The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant or slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). God does not want you to be a slave to your creditors or lenders, so if you are in debt, have a plan to come out of that debt. Learn how to live within your means! Moses told us: The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto your land in his season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend unto many nations, and you shall not borrow. And the LORD shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if that you hearken unto the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them (Deuteronomy 28:12-13). The manifestations of the blessing of the Lord are conditional to our obedience, if a person deliberately refuses to observe the commands of the Lord in the area of finances, he is robbing the Lord of the opportunity to bless him back, and the works of his hand!

 

God is not forbidding any Christian to borrow money, but He wants you to be debt free! There will always be poor in our midst, that is why God instituted the tithes and offerings to take care of the poor and needy in our midst! So that we can cancel their debts, or lend them money without interest, help them start a micro project to be financially independent! Christians are not to charge interest when they lend money to a born again believer, but they can charge interest when they lend to unbelievers. You shall not lend for interest to your brother, interest of silver, interest of food, interest of anything that is loaned on interest. You may lend on interest to a stranger, but you shall not lend on interest to your brother, so that Jehovah your God may bless you in all that you set your hand to, in the land where you go to possess it (Deuteronomy 23:19-20). Borrowing is not sin, but God wants us to be financially free, yet if you have no other choice, borrow. Jesus says: Give to him that asks you, and from him that would borrow of you, do not turn away (Matthew 5:42).

 

God wants to prosper you, so that you will be that person, who will lend to nations. When you read the book of Acts of the Apostles, people did not just bring tithes and offerings, some sold their extra land and brought the whole money to the apostles. So, in return the church used that money to feed the poor, feed the orphans and widows. Sometimes when people are born again, they have a criminal record and nobody wants to employ a criminal! Or sometimes they are single mothers, or have no qualification to get a job. When the church prospers you as an individual, you can take even £500 and give it to a brother, so that he can get training to get a job.

 

I remember in 2009 I was in a church and a dear brother with his wife and children were without jobs. They went to the church to give them some money, but the church said they had no money to give them, not even £50. I was running a Romanian ministry with about 200 children. And as I was receiving funds from the Manchester council to organize activities for those Roma children, so I decided to employ that sister and pay her for supervising those activities. Her husband came to me and told me that he wanted to do a training that is required to get the job he wanted; but the training cost about £600 and he had asked the church and the pastors but they said the church has no money and the pastor could only give him £50 from his own pocket.

 

So, when I went home, I withdrew £600 and, on the Wednesday, prayer meeting I handed him an envelope with the £600 in it. He opened it, saw the money and hugged me! He said to me I will repay you the money! I said to him: I have given it to you free of charge you do not have to pay me back anything! Yet when God has prospered you, do the same thing for someone in the same situation that you have found yourself to be in today. As it is written: all things, whatever you desire that men should do to you, do even so to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12). Some people only want to be on the receiving end, but Paul tells us: I have shown you all things, how that labouring in this way you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).

 

Today the brother is working and feeding his family and his wife and has found a good job. You can become a lender to nations; you do not need to wait until you have millions! I remember in February 2014, I was given an envelope containing £650, I took some of that money, gave it freely to two pastors who were struggling financially, and the remaining £400 I walked into a church that had a program for feeding children and put the £400 into their donation chest box! As it is written: He who has pity upon the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward his dealing to him (Proverbs 19:17). So, I am even lending to God! The truth is, Jesus tells us: His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your Lord (Matthew25:23). He who is faithful in the least is also faithful in much. And he who is unjust in the least is also unjust in much. 

 

Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who shall give you that which is your own (Luke 16:10-12)? My heart’s desire is to lend, not just interest free, but even freely give to the weak in the kingdom of God! May the Lord entrust you and me with true riches, not just hundreds of pounds sterling; but millions and even billions as His stewards!

 

On April 24th, 2014, some people, who owed me money for transportation, gave me £400 they owed me for two months. When I received that £400, in my heart I did not want to be struggling with those people about transportation money, having to wait for them, when they feel like giving back the money, they owe me for transportation. The Holy Spirit impressed on my heart to give the £400 away. On April 27th, 2014 I had purposed to give that money to a pastor in Glasgow, who was my friend, he was facing a financial situation. I was so happy to give it to him. The Lord said to me: do not give it to your pastor friend, but give that money to another pastor in Glasgow that is struggling to pay the rent of the church. 

 

Now the other pastor, who is struggling with the church rent, resents me, envies me and thinks that I am a threat to his church that his people will leave his church to follow me!

So, I did not truly want to walk into his church to give him that money, because when he sees me in his church, he will think that I am after something! God said to me 1Kings 13: put that money in an envelope and write on it “from Jesus to his beloved church”. Give it to the pastor and walk away, do not even sit for a second to attend their Sunday service! Yet I was not willing to face that pastor, for I do not like it when people give me a cold shoulder! I said to God, after all I am giving that money to you, not to man; I can give it to my pastor friend who has financial problems and You will receive it! God said to me Matthew 5!  I read it and it says: you have heard that it has been said, you shall love your neighbour, and hate your enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; so that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:43-48).

 

When I read it, I said: Lord Jesus, indeed I am the son of my Father who is in heaven; therefore, I will be perfect even as my Father who is in heaven is perfect! I will not just give to my friends, but also to those who think I am their enemy even though in my heart I have nothing against them! On that Sunday I went to the pastor’s church and put £435 into that envelope. I wrote on that envelope: from Jesus to His beloved church! I walked into that church and hugged the pastor and gave him the envelope, saying: Jesus told me to give you this! And I walked out of that church, I did not even allow myself to sit or listen to that church service, according to the command of the Lord (1Kings 13). I was left with nothing in my bank account only £4 in my pocket to take the bus!

 

As I walked out of that church I found another church near that area, and it was open to the public after their Sunday service. I walked into that church and sat down to pray. I thanked God and I reminded Him of His promises, of how when He commanded the widow of Zarephath to provide for the prophet Elijah, though she was poor and it was her last meal, and the prophet worked a miracle in her house (1Kings 17:8-16). I reminded the Lord how he had compassion on the multitude that followed him, they were hungry. The little boy put into the hands of Jesus, his small lunch: five loaves of barley and two fish and Jesus blessed that small lunch, and fed 5,000 men besides women and children and they had twelve small baskets of leftovers (John 6:1-14). And I also reminded Jesus of the other instance when the multitude were following him and were hungry. The disciples put a small lunch into the hands of Jesus: seven loaves of barley and some fish! Jesus blessed that lunch and a miracle happened, they fed 4,000 men besides women and children and they had seven large baskets of leftovers (Matthew 15:29-39).

 

Jesus is The Prophet and it is into His hands that I placed my small lunch and I am expecting a miracle that feeds thousands of people (Deuteronomy 18:15)! For by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word must be established that this is the will of God, when we are physically poor and we want to have a breakthrough (Genesis 41:32, Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, 2Corinthians 13:1)! I was praying in the spirit, which means praying in tongues, and the Lord said to me: Romans 15! So I read it and it says: whatever things were written before were written for our learning, so that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. And may the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one mind and one mouth you may glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 15:4-6).

 

I know that just like the widow of Zarephath and in the two instances in the gospel, where Jesus multiplied the food to feed multitudes, they gave the little they had, even all they had at the command of Jesus, and Jesus performed the miracle. Those things were written for Gery’s learning, so that he might know that if God commands him to give, even in his poverty, it is because God wants to perform a miracle in his house, and even for the multitudes that are following the teaching of Christ Jesus, by the mouth and writings of Gery the apostle of Jesus Christ, to the fifty European nations! Your bank account can be empty, but it does not mean that you as a Christian are poor! Poverty is one of the curses listed in the Law in Deuteronomy 28. Christ has redeemed you from The curse of the Law, or from being under the Law, so that the curses listed in the Law including poverty, do not operate in your life (Galatians 3:13-14).

 

And the Lord said again, For it has pleased those of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints in Jerusalem. Truly it has pleased them, and they are their debtors. For if the nations have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in fleshly things. Therefore, when I have completed this, and have sealed this fruit to them, I will come by you into Spain (Romans 15:26-28). I understood what the Lord said: I did not just think about giving my small lunch to Jesus Christ The Prophet; but I have acted on my thoughts and completed it; and the God of heaven has sealed my small lunch to me, by the seal of the spirit who is the person of the Holy Ghost (Ephesians1:13). The Lord referred to me as the church of Macedonia and Achaia. And the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance what the Lord said about those two churches and every believer who is like minded. Of the Church and believer in Achaia, God says through Paul: For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; For I know the forwardness or eagerness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has provoked very many [to good works and to obedience] (2Corinthians 9:1-2).

 

Philippi was a city in eastern Macedonia, established by Philip II in 356 BC. And to the church and believers of Macedonia, God says through Paul: I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me has flourished again. Although you indeed did think; but you lacked opportunity (Philippians 4:10). Now you Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me, as regards giving and receiving, except you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to my necessity. I do not say this because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all, and abound. I have been filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things which you sent, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:15-19).

 

Now as a born again Christian, even if our bank account is in the red, John tells us: These things says the first and the last, who was dead, and is alive; I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty; but you are rich (Revelation 2:8-9). For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich (2Corinthians 8:9). Poverty for a Christian is a mindset not a curse anymore! We need to renew our mind according to the written word of God. A person who sees himself poor, will never give, for he thinks that others have more money than he, that is why they give! Which is not true! Read the series of the Perfect Redemption Plan and the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan to renew your mind and see yourself in the light of the scriptures!

 

10.5-N Give to the poor, widow, fatherless

Romans 15:25 But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.

Romans 15:26 For it has pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints who are in Jerusalem.

 

The brethren of Macedonia and Achaia, made a contribution for the poor saints in Jerusalem, they sent it through Paul. We have already talked about the deep poverty of the Macedonian church, but see how their heart was; they were willing to give to people that were poorer than them. The Macedonian church was poor, but they did not have a poverty mind-set. As long as a person sees himself as poor, he will never give to anybody and always be on the receiving end. Even if you are poor physically, you need to see yourself as a rich person who is facing a time of famine in the land, and you need to sow your way out of that time of famine! This is the promise of the Lord for those who do so:

 

Proverbs 19:17 He who has pity upon the poor lends unto the LORD; and that which he has given will he pay him again.

Proverbs 28:27 He who gives unto the poor shall not lack: but he who hides his eyes shall have many a curse.

Proverbs 21:13 Whoever stops his ear at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

Psalm 41:1 Blessed is he who considers the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

Psalm 41:2 The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and You will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

Psalm 41:3 The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing or illness: You will restore him on his sickness

Whenever we give to the poor, widows, fatherless or anybody that is destitute, let us have in mind that we are doing that to Jesus, not to man, and Jesus will bless us with the blessings listed above. For Jesus Himself said:

 

Matthew 25:32 And before him (Jesus) shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:

Matthew 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in:

Matthew 25:36 Naked and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came unto me.

Matthew 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, In as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto Me.

 

The early church understood the giving to the poor. They helped the brethren in Judea who were facing a severe famine.

Acts 11:29 Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren who dwelt in Judea:

Acts 11:30 Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

 

10.5-O Forgiving people’s debts voluntarily not compulsorily

When we come into Christendom, we meet all kinds of Christians unfortunately. Some are not faithful when it comes to the area of finance. A lot of godly friendships are destroyed, because one brother or sister borrowed money and does not want to pay that money back. In the church of Corinth, some brethren were acting that way. They would borrow money, but they would not pay back. Even after they have been reported to the eldership of the church, they would not give the money back. And in some cases it is even the pastor or the apostle or the bishop, who does not want to give back the money that he or she borrowed. What do you do in that case? To whom do you report the apostle, the pastor, or the bishop? When I was growing up, my parents trusted a man of God; they even donated a SUV to that man of God. And during the war in my country, my parents gave that man of God tens of thousands of pounds to keep for them until things were better.

 

But when things became better, the man of God did not want to give the money back for years, and finally we went to see the bishop, but the bishop was not willing to confront his assistant. So we decided to sue that man of God, who was the Bishop’s assistant. Because the bishop did not want the name of the church to be in the newspapers, he arranged for us to withdraw the law suit, and the church paid back my parents’ money in many instalments. It was not that man of God who paid it, but the church. My parents still attend that church, but they know that some people are not faithful when it comes to money.

 

In my own case, a church owed me some money. The leader called me and asked me to give him the receipts, to give to the finance department of that church, so they could refund my money. After many months, nothing was done, so I asked the people in the finance department, and they said they have never heard of that case, and had never received any receipt. I went back to the leader and asked him again, and he told me to bring a new receipt, but I had already given him the originals, thank God I had the copies, so I brought the copies to him. After some months I asked the people in the finance department again, and they said they had never heard of the case, and had never received any receipts. Deep inside me I was frustrated and very angry. I told one of the people in the finance department: if the church wanted me to donate those things, they should have come clean, and I would have made up my mind whether I wanted to donate them or not; but they said they wanted me to buy them on their behalf, and they would give me the money back.

 

I let go of that money, because it was pointless, as after more than two years, they had not even refunded me a penny of that money! I released them of that debt. Brethren do not be fooled; even some men of God are not men of their words, when it comes to money. Still in the church, when some people ask me to lend them some money, my answer is no straight away. But I tell them the amount I am willing to give them for free, and they can go to someone else to borrow the rest of the money. I simply do not want money to come and destroy that brotherly love between us. I know some churches or church members; they would tell me: do this work for us and we will pay you this amount of money; buy this equipment for us and we will give you your money when you come back. And when I have done the work, or bought the equipment they asked me to buy for them, they say nothing about the money anymore. They are hoping that I will forget to ask for my money. And when I ask, they say: we do not have it right now, but next month, and next month they still do not give it to me.

 

They should have asked me straight away: can you do this for us for free? Or can you donate these things because we do not have the money now? And I would have made up my mind whether I wanted to work for free or to donate those things? I have learned my lessons over the years with some Christians, I love them; yet I do not trust a single word that proceeds out of their mouth, when it comes to money. When they now ask me to go somewhere for them, I need to see, first of all the money, I do not advance my money; because I know they will not give it back to me if I do that. When they ask me to buy equipment, and they give me the money, I tell them: when you give me the money, I will buy it; and for one year they have not given me the money, so I say to myself, if I bought that equipment, I would never have seen the colour of my money back. I would lie to you, if I did not tell you that these things exist in the church, and happen between brethren.

 

There is nothing new under the sun, Solomon said (Ecclesiastes 1:90). In the Old Testament God told the Jews to lend to each other without interest. If you lend money to any of My people that is poor by you, you shall not be to him as an usurer, neither shall you lay upon him usury (Exodus 22:25). Christians must abide by the same word of God when it comes to lending brethren money. But Israel was facing a problem, when they lent the money, some people were not willing to pay back. They would make all kinds of excuses, so the people had to bring the case to the priest, who would judge if the person was truly not able to pay, or was just a dishonest person. If He was not truly able to pay: the priest would tell the lender to wait until the years of release, or the year of Jubilee, and if until that year, the person could not pay, he had to release him from his debts, and restore his properties. But if the person was able to pay, but was just a dishonest person, that person was committing a trespass so he had to pay 20% interest on the money that was lent to him (Leviticus 6:1-5).

 

But those dishonest Jews, after they have been found guilty would not even pay the initial money lent to them, not to talk of the 20% interest. They found another way for not paying, they would wait for the seventh year which is the year of the release of the Lord or Shemittah (Deuteronomy 15; Deuteronomy 31). On that seventh year, Jews were commanded by God to forgive the debts of the people who owed them, and they should not harvest their fields, so that foreigners, poor, needy, widows and orphans could reap their fields. But God gave them a promise, that if they observe that year of release, He would bless their business and give them, on the sixth year, the income of two years. So basically, they were not losing anything, for on the sixth year, God would give them the increase of the sixth year and of the seventh years, so they had doubled their profits in the sixth year. But it takes faith to obey that year of release. Just like in the wilderness for forty years: on the sixth day, God gave them manna for two days (Exodus 16:5).

 

God told them also, after they have observed seven Sabbath years, or seven years of release, which is forty nine years, on the fiftieth year they must observe the year of Jubilee or the acceptable year of the Lord (Leviticus 25). On that year of Jubilee or the acceptable year of the Lord, not only shall they forgive people their debts, but they shall also restore their properties, and set all their slaves free. Nobody wanted to do that! The people asked: what shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: God answered: I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years (Leviticus 25:20-21). In other words, on the forty eighth year, God gave them a profit or increase of three years: the forty eighth, the forty ninth and the fiftieth.

 

Dishonest people used the year of release and the year of jubilee for not paying their debts, so when they were coming close to those years, they would slow down their payments (Deuteronomy 15). The Jews did not want to lend money to anybody any more, or they were now lending money with interest, even high interest, they were tired of being abused by people, who were using the word of God to justify their financial dishonesty. And today we have many people who use the word of God to justify their financial dishonesty. They will tell you: just forgive me, the bible tells you to forgive! No, the truth is they are thieves! The same thing that was happening with the Jews, is now also happening in the church of Christ. Some brethren borrow money, and do not like to pay it back. Some brethren employ believers, and do not give them the proper wage, or even do not pay them at all, and they say: it was for the Lord that you were doing that, no! I was working for you, and you were supposed to pay me!

 

God has nothing to do with it; they are just dishonest people, thieves, using the word of God to justify their bad conduct. James says to such brethren: go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (the Lord of the harvest). You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed the just; and he does not resist you (James 5:1-6).

 

But to the believers who have been victimized, James says: be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. You, be also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest you be condemned: behold the judge stands before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience (James 5:7-10).

 

God is not blind, He has seen what those dishonest brethren are doing, and He will move on your behalf. So Paul now tells the church at Corinth: Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints (1Corinthians 6:1)? I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because you go to law one with another. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded or cheated? No, you do wrong, and defraud or cheat, and you do these things to your brethren (1Corinthians 6:5-8)! Thieves shall not inherit the kingdom of God (1Corinthians 6:10).

 

 Paul is telling us, when you have been defrauded or cheated, do not go first to the unbeliever in the court of law; but to the church, to the elders of the church. Now there are two parties: the one who has been defrauded and the one who is defrauding. When you are the one who is defrauding: Paul tells you to accept that you are wrong, and do what is right by restoring the money, do not try to justify yourself. To the one who has been wronged, Paul says: you must put your eyes on God, if the person gives a genuine reason why he cannot restore that money at a certain point, you will have to let go of that money, because your, brother is so poor, that he cannot pay it back to you. Why is Paul telling us that? He is using the Levitical law of the year of release, and the year of Jubilee which I have explained earlier. If that brother or sister is dishonest and still refuses to give the money, Paul advises you to accept being wronged, and release that brother or sister. The agape love or unconditional love is, doing to others what we want people to do to us (Matthew 7:12).

 

You must put your eyes on Jesus, who is your jubilee, your acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4:19). In the Old Testament when people could not pay off their debts, they were sold as slaves, even their entire family, and in the year of jubilee they were freed from their slavery, and their properties and inheritance was restored to them. Jesus is our jubilee; He came to set all the slaves free, and to expunge our debts. He wants us to release people who genuinely cannot pay off their debts, and even some dishonest brethren; He tells us, if it is possible, as much as it depends on us, we should accept being wronged, and believe that Jesus, who is our Jubilee, will restore many times what we have forgiven people. Having said that, do not accept even for a second, unsaved people defrauding you financially, fight them back, get your money back, because it is of the devil. But for brethren in the church, use what Jesus tells us.

 

Jesus told us in Matthew 18:23-35 what the kingdom of God is like. The King who is God wanted to take account of His servants, you and me. So one came who owed God a thousand talents of gold which is about 27,700Kg of gold, since one talent weighs about 27.7kg. The servant could not pay, so the King asked that He should be sold to slavery himself and his family, but as he pleaded for the mercy of the King, the King had mercy on Him and forgave Him all his debts. But this servant, as soon as he walked out of the presence of God the King, he met one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii or hundred pence; now one shekel weighs about 6 grams and the weight of nine pence is equal to that of one shekel, so a hundred pence is about 66.67 grams or 0.06667Kg. It is almost 415,479 times lesser than what God the King has forgiven him. But that servant could not forgive his fellow servant, who told him to have mercy on him, the same words he himself used to the King, and the King forgave him his debts.

 

You see, Jesus is your Jubilee, and He will restore to you many times, even 415,479 times, what you have forgiven people. It is better than the Jubilee the Jew had, for God only gave them three times their increase in the year of Jubilee; but Jesus our Jubilee tells us, God our King has greater things in store for us, when we learn to forgive people’s debts and put our trust in God. Nobody should force you to forgive people’s debts, it must come from your heart, no pastor, no apostle, no, prophet, no evangelist, no teacher should, they can only present the truth to you, and you make up your own mind. Philemon had a slave called Onesimus, that slave defrauded him and fled to Rome. Now according to the law, Onesimus was Philemon’s property, and if a slave runs away from his master, when he is captured, he is put to death. But while Onesimus was in Rome, he was converted by listening to Paul, who at that time was in prison in Rome. So Paul, knowing the scriptures, sent Onesimus back to his master Philemon.

Philemon had the freedom to prosecute Onesimus to the full extent of the law, to get back what his slave stole from him, and put him to death for running away; or he could decide to forgive Onesimus and set him free. We have already explained, that in the year of Jubilee, Jews were to free all their slaves: so since Jesus is now our Jubilee, no Christian is supposed to have a slave, including modern slavery. Those who have slaves, must now have them as hired servants, no longer as slaves (Leviticus 25:38-40). That is why Paul tells us when we are Christians: there is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

 

 Paul says to Philemon: you know all the teaching of the Gospel, and you know that I am an apostle; though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting according to the scriptures, yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you, for Onesimus (Philemon 1:8-10). Paul said to Philemon: without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary (Philemon 1:14). Paul said to Philemon if you are not willing to forgive Onesimus his debt and free him from slavery, when I come, I will pay you the money he owes you, and also the money to free him as a slave; which was thirty shekels of silver in those days (Exodus 21:32). Our Lord Jesus was sold to death by Judas, for the price of a slave, thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 27:3). So that all the slaves, when they are in Christ might be made free. Brethren, it is our right to prosecute people who owe us money to the full extent of the law, but for love’s sake, and voluntarily we decide not to, and we put our trust in Jesus our Jubilee. Now when unbelievers steal our money, we go after them to the full extent of the law, to get our money back unless God specifically tells us not to.

 

Brethren, there is no virtue if you do not have a choice with many options. That is why Peter tells us: you have been given exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature of God, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness Love. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you, that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Peter 1:4-8). Therefore, all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you; you do even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets (Matthew 7:12).

 

I have noticed that God is always asking me to accept to be wronged by dishonest brethren. In the beginning I would say to God: why me? Why do You not talk to them, and tell them that what they are doing is not right. But with time I have learned that God had even 415,479 times more in store for me, than what they had stolen from me. The more they steal from me the more God blesses me, I am always a winner and those who are defrauding me, will never be able to impoverish me. For we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ our jubilee, that, though He was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich (2Corinthians 8:9).

 

I used to stand on the scripture which says: Men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house (Proverbs 6:30-31). Now fold is the same quantity added, so for instance two fold is twice as much the same quantity, four fold is four times the same quantity as much, and seven fold is seven times the same quantity as much. When I discovered that God wanted to give me almost 415,479 times as much the quantity that these brethren stole from me, it put a smile on my face, and a hallelujah song in my mouth! Jesus tells us: behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: you, therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15).

 

Now I must give you the full counsel of the scriptures; for not everybody who is in church is a true born again Christian, and not every born again Christian is obedient to the word of God. Jesus tells us: Moreover, if your brother shall trespass against you [for instance borrowed money from you and he does not want to pay back], go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: if he shall hear you [and pay back your money], you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more [one or two leaders of the church or mature Christians who know the written word of God], that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglects to hear the church, let him be unto you as a heathen man and a publican (Matthew 18:15-17).

 

You will meet people like that in church, who even if they are confronted by the church, they will refuse to change. Love them but consider them as heathen or tax collectors, who are only after people’s money. And you can decide to sue that brother to get back your money but if he decides to pay, then withdraw your complaint. Jesus says: Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him; that the opponent not deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, You shall by no means come out from there until you have paid the last farthing (kodrantes) (Matthew 5:25-26). 

 

Going to a court of law should be the last option, after we have tried everything according to the scriptures, to reason with that brother or sister, who deliberately refuses to pay what he or she owes. Jesus says again: why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? For as you go with your adversary to the judge, give pains in the way to be set free from him, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer cast you into prison. I tell you; you shall not depart from there until you have paid the very last penny (lepton) (Luke 12:57-59).

 

10.5-P Give to Ministers of the Gospel

When it comes to giving to the ministers of God, it must come from the heart of the believers. The minister should not be asking believers to give to him, unless God says to him that He has already spoken to that believer like He did with the widow who fed Elijah. It is scriptural to give to ministers of the gospel. Jesus Christ Himself, when He ministered the gospel on earth, received support for his ministry. The bible says: and certain women, who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, And Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered unto Him of their substance (Luke 8:2-3).

 

We must allow the minister of God, to be able to receive our gift or to refuse it. We already talked in length about Paul who would rather die than take anything from the Corinthian church. The minister is free to say yes or no. We have also talked in length of the giving of the Macedonian church to Paul, and how he gladly received their gifts (Philippians 4:10-19). Paul says: let him, who is taught in the word, communicate unto him that teaches in all good things (Galatians 6:6). Mary and her company of women understood it, so did the Macedonian church.

 

Paul tells the church, it is even the Lord who has so ordained, that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14). When the Macedonians and the Achaians were taught the gospel, it pleased them indeed; and they are their debtors, for if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in material things (Romans 15:27). The giving to ministers of the gospel, must be done willingly, and let no minister force you to bless him or her financially. It must come from the heart of believers and not because the minister is asking them to give him something. Now that we know a lot about what God says about our prosperity, let us act on the word of God. Jesus tells us if we hear His sayings and do them, we are likened to wise people. Through wisdom the house is built, by understanding it is established, and by knowledge its chambers shall be filled with all precious and pleasant riches (Proverbs 24:3-4). We have received the knowledge of the financial principals of our God, may the chambers of our house be filled with all precious and pleasant riches in Jesus’ name!

 

Brethren my prayer and my wish above all things are, that you prosper and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3John 1:2). And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart (Galatians 6:9). I, Gery, have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for it is good for me rather to die than that anyone nullify my glorying. For though I preach the gospel, no glory is to me. For necessity is laid on me; yea, woe is to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I am entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That when I preach the gospel I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel (1Corinthians 9:15-18). Brothers and sisters pray for me! Remain blessed.

God Bless you, 

Gery Malanda