# 1 Does God want you to have an abundant supply? Yes! Lets look at the scriptures.
2 Cor 9:8-9 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.NKJV
Abundance: abundance 1 a very large quantity. 2 the state of having a very large quantity; plentifulness: vines grew in abundance.3 the amount of something present in a particular area, volume, or sample. -ORIGIN Latin abundantia, from abundare 'overflow'.
God wants us to have a overflow of resources for every good work! Not just some good works, but every good work! Many people I've met over the years have said : All I want is enough to get by. Our focus has to shift to Gods plan, which is an overflowing supply to help others! Now lets take this scripture and put it in context and see what the full principle is to receive this abundant supply of resources.
2 Cor 9:6-9 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. NKJV
Sowing bountifully is the principle of reaping bountifully. If you find yourself in lack today start giving! You may say I don't have anything to give.Well start with your heart and develop an attitude of cheerfulness and believe for seed to sow!
#2 What if I have nothing to give? First of all He supplies seed to the sower. We have to understand the principle of Seed time & Harvest. If we expect to receive a harvest, we must plant seeds in the proper season. If a farmer decided to plant seeds in the summer that were supposed to be planted in spring, he would not have a harvest at the proper time. However if you would plant in the proper time and season you would have an abundant harvest. Here is the follow up to this principle. When you do get to the harvest, do you extract the seeds from the fruit? This is a key to getting on the cycle of Gods economy. What many people do is wait until they need something, or are desperate and then start planting. Now there's a lot of grace and God is merciful, but at some point you will have to get in the cycle of Gods economy.
2 Cor 9:10-11 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, NKJV
This passage says: He will multiply the seed you have sown. If we want to see our seed multiply, we will have to sow seeds. We will increase the fruits of righteousness and be enriched with more to give! This principle works in every area of life not just economics. If you want love, you will have to plant love. If you want forgiveness, start forgiving. If you want respect, plant respect. Remember to give in every area and watch your harvest come in! Take those seeds and start sowing for your next harvest!
#3 Stewardship: What does stewardship mean according to Gods word?
Steward : manager or overseer.
It is very important to be a good manager. Look at whats going on in our nations economy right now! The whole situation can be traced back to miss-management of the funds that were entrusted to those financial corps. Many people knew what was going on, but no one made any corrections and eventually these banks, investment institutions failed. This is a wakeup call to us to get our financial houses in order. Now our United States economy is in trouble! This is all about the stewardship of whats been given. Now our government is at the brink because of bad stewardship and lack of leadership in doing the right things. They must act very quickly or we will pay a severe price with dire consequences. Remember sowing seed produces your next harvest which in turns gives you much more seed to sow. We also need to become wise with the resources that have already been entrusted to us.
Luke 16:10-13 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.NKJV
I just want to touch base on a couple of areas in regards to stewardship.
1. Don't spend more then you have!
2. If you can't afford it, cut it out of your budget.
3. Try to stay as debt free as you can.
4. Develop a realistic budget on paper and stick with it.
There are many more practical things that you can do that will keep you out of crises situations. The Lord told me a long time ago that I would start a bank. At first I was flabbergasted because I did not really know anything about the banking industry. As I was meditating on this I mentioned it to a friend of mine. He said to its not about money, its about the resources that money can buy. Money is a middle man and can be eliminated if you had direct access to the resource you were trying to purchase with the money.
Example: Lets say you needed a computer. If somehow a computer was given to you, would you still need the money to get it? The answer of course is no. A missionary friend of ours called me a few years ago and we were talking about support for their ministry. He said he was short in the support that they really needed. I told him about this principle. I asked him if there was anything that he needed in tangible resources. He said he needed a laptop computer, a cell phone, and a PDA. We prayed about those items. This was on a Tuesday. He came to town on Friday. By Sunday night someone had bought him a brand new laptop. Someone else gave him an almost brand new PDA and he had raised enough support to take a step of faith and get a cell phone. God wants to meet all of our needs! He loves each one of us and wants to bless us! Start expecting the end result. The resource that you need , may not take money to get it if someone were to give the resource!
1 Kings 17:14 For 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.'" NKJV
#4 The Tithe: What is The Tithe? Is the Tithe Old testament or New?
These are both good questions and I will try to answer them according to scripture. First of all lets define the word Tithe
Tithe: OT :4643 HEBREW ma`aser (mah-as-ayr'); or ma`asar (mah-as-ar'); and (in plural) feminine ma`asrah (mah-as-raw'); from OT:6240; a tenth; specially a tithe:KJV - tenth (part), tithe (-ing).
So the word means a tenth. Now lets look at what Gods word has to say about it. It is first mentioned before the Law was given, so it was not established as a law, but a principle.
Gen 14:18-20 And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. 19 Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you." Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.
Now it is somewhat of a mystery as to who Melchizedek was, but we do know that he was a King and a Priest of the most high God. This Priest blessed Abram with a spoken blessing. Then Abram gave him a tenth of all the goods he recovered. This was before the law was given, so in reality we need to look at this as a principle first. However in Leviticus it is established as part of the Law. So it is a principle and part of the law.
Lev 27:30-31 30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's. It is holy to the Lord. NKJV
I wanted to show you that this was a principle first because this sheds a little more light on the scripture in Malachi.
Mal 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. NKJV
Let me say this again even though the tithe was established as part of the Law, it was first established as a principle. Now this is very important because if you apply the principle, you will reap the benefits of it. According to this scripture there is a promise of the windows of heaven opening up and a blessing poured out that we will not have enough room to receive it, if we bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. The Lord even said to test Him in this! God makes this a promise to us and lets us know how to access the windows of heaven and watch blessings pour out on us! This principle is in the old and new testament and is established. He backs It up with a promise of overflowing blessings! Then he goes on to say that He will rebuke the devourer for us. Then the promise goes on to say that our vine will bear fruit and our land will produce and not be devoured! Then He tells us that all nations will call us blessed and we will be a delightful land! Don't get caught up in a debate with someone about the tithe being old testament and part of the law. It is a principle that will reap the benefits of Gods blessings to us! If you don't believe in the tithe, or your not convinced it's for today then my suggestion is give more! After all the more you sow, the more you reap! God wants us to get on His economy, so he can bless us!
As I finish this article on "Gods Economy" I want to talk about Alms First let's define it:
Alms: NT:1654 Greek eleemosune (el-eh-ay-mos-oo'-nay); from NT:1656; compassionateness, i.e. (as exercised towards the poor) beneficence, or (concretely) a benefaction: KJV - alms (-deeds).
The Alms is mainly an offering to the poor.
Acts 10:1-3 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. NKJV
This passage goes on to say that an Angel of the Lord appeared to him and that his giving of Alms and prayer had come up before God as a memorial and an angel appeared to him and told him to send for a man called Peter and he will tell you what do. In context this mans giving led to an angelic visitation and supernatural experiences as well as salvation for him and his family. The bottom line in giving is: It is Gods system of bringing blessing in our lives. Just before our economy went into this current storm. The Lord began speaking to me concerning my laid back passive attitude concerning taking up offerings. He told me this was His avenue of getting His people on His economy. Needless to say I needed to repent for my passive attitude. Remember God loves a cheerful giver! The kingdoms of this worlds economy can be shaken, but "Gods Economy" cannot be!
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. NKJV
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