Moving Beyond Trust
Thank you to all of the people who took the time to read my last post and comment on it. I appreciate the comments, even if its not positive. At least I know people are reading it. Alright!
In my last blog I wrote about trusting God for all of our situations and circumstances especially in the area of finances. Finances is probably one of the most difficult areas in our life to manage, more for me cause I stay half pake (pronounced pah-kay, means chinese). We always worry about money!
One of the ways to be blessed in tough times is what we call “tithing”. The word tithe means “tenth”. We are challenged to give 10% of our gross income and live on the remaining 90%. One of the purposes for doing this is to honor God with the understanding that it is He who gives us the ability to produce wealth, so we give back to God 10% of what we earn.
There is also a promise attached to tithing:
Malachi 3:10-12
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. NIV
Some questions some people may have regarding tithing:
1. Do I tithe off of my gross income or net income?
What we tell people is net tithe, net blessings. God says bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. It’s the whole, not the partial. You should tithe off of your Gross income to get the full blessings.
2. Who should tithe?
Everybody. Everyone has the opportunity to participate in the work to helping the people in our community. Whether it be faith based or community based.
1 Corinthians 16:2:
2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
3. What happens with my tithe? What is it used for?
All monies collected goes into maintaining the church and its ministries like Facilities, Salaries, Materials and Supplies, Community Events, Savings, Equipment Rentals, Missionaries, Church Planting, Resources & Training, Charitable Work, Giving to the Less Fortunate, Assisting People in Crisis.
Here are some actionable steps to take to be blessed in tough times:
1. Start a real (not religious) relationship with Jesus. Ask someone you know and trust.
2. Find a local church that you’re comfortable with and start attending on a regular basis, even if its just once a month for now.
3. Make a commitment to tithe for 3 months, if it doesn’t work, go back to what you were doing.
4. Start a journal of your new journey with Jesus to track your progress. Read a passage, Pray, Write in your journal.
Your life will transform beyond your wildest imagination!
A great Psalm to read is Psalm 121
If anyone is interested in checking out any of our services during the week, feel free to email me. I will send you the information of our services. We also have journals that we can send to you as our gift to you. Inside it explains how to get started and how to use it.
Till next time, Aloha!
July 25, 2008 at 3:12 pm
i would have to say that your right about finances. right now i am on the job hunt and i have some med bills to pay. and even worse than that my friends mom just passed and now he is some serious debt. and it is really hard to just trust that god will provide the way. but all things are possible with the grace of god!
Dane Tokushige Says:July 25, 2008 at 6:18 pm
been reading your blogs….
really good to see you blogging…. “a rich deposit” that phrase still sticks in my head…
keep them coming.
Thomas Kim Says:July 27, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I just woke up a little while ago and was getting ready an hour and a half early to prepare for my new training at work. For some reason I did not feel prepared even though we had a great service today. Then I remembered Matthew chapter 5 from our service, So I started reading and started to renew my mind with Gods promises. After that I started to check my emails and remembered to check your blog. Reading through it helped me further the renewal of my mind. I then ended off reading Psalm 121 and that chapter will be the one Ill be meditating on during work. Thank You PD for being you and know that every word you say or write or even type is an encouragement to me and everyone who knows you, and those who will come to know you. God bless you.
Deedee Says:July 31, 2008 at 8:19 am
Very encouraging & great reminder, can never hear this topic too much. =)
Tharshish Johnson Says:July 31, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Thank you for blogging this great wealth of info.
Keep it coming
Alex Says:August 12, 2008 at 3:48 am
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!