A friend of mine recently asked me for some financial advice. I pointed him to Malachi 3:8-12 and then I shared with him my standard pitch on Godly finance; which boils down to answering four questions.
Kingdom Finance 101 | Malachi 3:8-12
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. (9) You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. (10) Bring all the tithes into the 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 for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. (11) “And 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; (12) “And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the LORD of hosts.
Four Key Questions
The answers to these questions should be very simple, but they elude the large majority of God's people.
Do you want to be accused by God of robbing Him and cursed by Him for doing so?
Do you want The Lord to open for you the windows of Heaven and pour out such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it?
Do you want The Lord to rebuke satan and protect you from those who desire to devour you, your reputation, and your possessions?
Do you want all the nations to call you blessed and to be a delightful land?
The Lord often teaches us Kingdom principles of cause and effect, but I am not aware of any other place in His Scripture where He exhorts us to test Him - other than in the principle of tithes and offerings. (Tithes literally means the required ten percent. I have always believed that offerings were generous gifts unto God's purposes beyond the required tithe.) The test seems to depict only two financial scenarios - cursed and devoured OR overwhelming abundant to that point that nations call us blessed and a delight. When people are struggling financially, I try to kindly remind them of the Kingdom principles of tithes and offerings. Nearly always, the struggles they face can be tied back to "robbing God". I'm not saying it's easy; but the principle is a simple one.
The $150 Suit
When I was a student in college I received a very generous academic performance scholarship for $1,500.00. Though I grew up in a family that withheld the tithe and was not generous, The Lord had impressed upon me at an early age the obedience principle of tithing and generosity. With that Spirit-led impetus, I knew I needed to tithe the scholarship into a Christ-centered ministry. "It just so happened that" a young guest preacher delivered the sermon in our church that Sunday. The Lord impressed upon me to gift him the $150.00 tithe. I put that designated check in the offering that morning.
The next Sunday, that same young pastor delivered the sermon. At the end of his message he asked for the person who had gifted him $150.00 the previous Sunday to meet him after the service in the foyer of the church. I met him there and he shared a story I hope I will never forget.... The young pastor shared that he was nearly broke, and that his "preaching suit" was wearing out. He was afraid that he would not be able to preach any longer unless he could buy a new suit. He had been looking at suits the Saturday before his first sermon. He found a suit that he really liked, but couldn't afford. Guess how much it cost? $150.00. I started crying. He started crying. These are tears of joy shed for the privilege of experiencing God's Hand in our lives.
The Seminar Sum
A few years ago I taught a business seminar in Latin America. The seminar was well attended and quite lucrative. The morning after the seminar the seminar's sponsor and I were having breakfast. He handed me my honorarium in cash in an envelope. The Lord impressed upon me to take a large portion of the fee and hand it back to the sponsor as an offering to his church. As soon as he saw the amount he started crying. I asked him why he was crying. He said that his church was launching a building campaign that night. They believed they could grow their church if they could move from the parking lot they were meeting in to a building under roof. They were praying for a specific amount of seed money, 10% of the building cost, to begin their campaign. Guess how much I handed him? You guessed it. The sponsor asked me if I would come to the campaign's prayer kickoff meeting that night, and to share this testimony with his church the following morning. I had the privilege and blessing to do so to the glory of God. Also to the glory of God is now a thriving church blessed from a parking lot into a beautiful church facility and platform for Christ-centered growth in faith and numbers.
The Power of Experience and Encounter
God used these experiences to impress upon me very early on His power in tithes and offerings. Even though tithing and generosity continue to be a test of faith and obedience, my wife and I have been faithful to God on this front. And as He always does, He has kept His Word and overwhelmed us with financial blessing and provision in the face of overwhelming odds. We have been called blessed by people from many nations, and many say that we live in delightful places. We pray that we may steward the blessings for His Glory.
PRAYER
Abba Father. Thank You for Your faithfulness to Your Word. Please forgive me and my family anytime we have withheld tithes or offerings. Please Lord stir up the faith and obedience inside me to obey You in tithes and offerings, especially when it seems extremely difficult or even unreasonable to do so. Please help and lead me into a lifestyle of tithes and offerings; investing wisely in Christ-centered ministries with a leaning to supporting Your people as opposed to general, unvetted charity. As the blessing comes from Your Hand, and as we become known by people of other nations as blessed, and as our lands become known as delightful, help us to steward the blessing, recognition, and reputation for Your Glory. Amen in The Name of Jesus.
