The Lord’s Tithe – Blessed to be a blessing

(Sent 15/4/2010)

“Honour the Lord with your capital and sufficiency (from righteous labours) and with the

first-fruits of all your income; So shall your storage places be filled with plenty, and your vats shall be overflowing with new wine.” – Proverbs 3:9&10

Dearest folks, insight from the wealthiest man who ever lived, King Solomon, son of David and King of Israel under God. He who built the greatest temple filled with such glory and splendour that it remains the stuff of legends... We the Body of Christ are now His living temples who are being built on the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets, Jesus Christ the Chief Corner Stone. Prophet Zechariah inspired by the Holy Spirit wrote the Lord’s strategy, plan and purpose in building “...Cry yet, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts; My cities

through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad...” Zechariah 1:17.

The primary reason the Lord made provision within salvation for every child of His to prosper financially is not only His desire for the best for us, a desire every father would understand, but also because He is more practical than many of His children try to portray Him to be... He knows it costs money to spread the gospel. Buildings, Equipment, Advertising, Publications & Materials, TV Air-time, Pay Pastors and Staff, support missionaries, partner with the 5-fold doing the same things, finance revival crusades where millions would be saved, healed, and delivered; help war-torn impoverished nations build schools, hospitals, infrastructure works, homes etc. The enemy does not want that to happen, so he will stop at nothing to try and convince us otherwise.

We may ask, “Is this financial prosperity for everyone, or just some special people?” It is for every single one of us friends, just as salvation has not been reserved for a privileged few but is available to everyone... It is purely down to individual choice as the Lord will not force His will on anyone but wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4)... Two primary requirements there to

walk in the fullness of His Blessing for our lives, we need to be saved... and then come to the knowledge of the truth... I have communicated

these emails primarily to us who are already saved, in other words have already made Jesus our personal Lord and saviour deliberately because of our individual and collective need to come to the full unabridged knowledge of the truth. If this salvation is not a present reality for you however, please stop reading now and ask the Lord into your heart... please discard all intellectual hindrances and come boldly to the Lord... He has been waiting for you... He will answer every question you have... this stuff is very real my friend, it’s not a theological debate... you... we all needed this salvation and it is made available to us now through Jesus Christ for He is the only way, the Truth, and the Life.

Say this prayer to the Lord, based on His promise to you in Romans 10:9, in faith’s sincerity and with a true heart: I confess it Jesus, I receive You as my Lord. Lord God I believe You raised Jesus from the dead, I repent of sin, I renounce the past and the devil, and everything he stands for, and I receive my forgiveness. I receive Jesus as the Lord of my life, and I receive the Mighty Holy Spirit of God to fill me to overflowing in Jesus Name, Amen.

Glory to God!!! ... you can be certain about this my friend, there’s a huge party going on right now in heaven because of you (Luke 15:7)... Your next step my friend is to plug into a good Bible believing church... sounds funny doesn’t it, `Bible believing church`, its true my friend, not all churches believe the Bible, some preach political correctness to try and remain relevant to the world, not realising that the world is preserved from destruction by their very existence as Salt and Light (Matthew 5:13&14). So you need to let the Lord lead you into a good place where the Word of God, the Bible; Genesis to Revelation is preached as it is... A place where you will know you should be, ultimately we the churches of the living God are all one and the same regardless of denomination, One Lord, One Faith, One Father over all, Who is in us all, and through us all...

The primary purpose of this issue however, is to further elucidate our covenant with God, with particular reference to our financial provision... Some in the church erroneously believe finances and financial standing to be irrelevant to our faith, but careful

study of the Gospels chronicling Jesus` life and teachings would help us

realise he spoke more about finances than anyone else in the Bible. Some have sadly also believed the first Apostles following Jesus meant a vow of poverty, but this is not so... Peter stated to the Lord saying that we have left all

and followed you... Mark records the Lord’s reply as receiving now in this time a hundredfold brothers, sisters, lands, houses, children etc not in heaven, not in the sweet by and by but now in this time, in the rotten here and now (Mark 10:29&30). John the beloved specifically indicates we are to prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers (3 John 1:2), and this guy was the closest to our Lord, he whom He even entrusted with the care of His mother Mary... Just mull this question over in your mind... see if this convinces you... Why would a Governor of a

whole Roman province (Acts 24:26) seek a bribe off a poor little ol’ Christian if

you think Paul by saying he knows how to abound and be abased in Philippians 4:12 meant it is ok to be poor and suffer lack... a close study of the apostle’s statement in this verse and it’s discursive context would help us realise that he is not helpless in the face of circumstances but He knows how... he is instructed... furthermore, would you wish lack for your own children, why in a million heavens would we think God our Father could possibly wish the same for us? ...”I know why you’re following God Temisan... you are just seeking God for money...” ...it would be interesting to find out if this is what you tell your children... This poverty mentality my friend is closer to sacrilege than you think I’ve gotten, and it is the very mindset that robbed the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son, as well as the servant who hid his talent because he thought the master was a hard man reaping where he hasn’t sown. God our Father has sown and sacrificed much to give every single one of us the good life, the abundant life in all its completeness and joyful bounty but it is down to personal choice to accept or reject it, exactly the same as your salvation from spiritual death... in actual fact, it is actually one and the same

package because the first consequence of separation from God for man (Adam) was toil... hard bondage... poverty and lack, from a state of abundant provision. It stands to reason that if God loves me as much as He loves Jesus, and He has restored me to a living loving relationship with Him through Jesus, then He has restored me to the state of abundant provision I had prior to the fall of man. If you attain your salvation by confessing, saying out Loud in faith that you now accept Jesus as your personal Lord and saviour and believe He is now exactly what you have said, then its stands to reason that you also get everything inclusive in much the same way.

As regarding the Tithe, we are instructed to say certain things when we bring our Tithe to the Lord as outlined in Deuteronomy 26:12. The confession actually begins in verse 5.

I would like to add however, that we give no man our Tithe, we give our Tithe to Jesus, our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and put it where He has chosen to place His Name, His Presence, His Church where He has chosen to feed you from. His church is tasked with caring for the

downtrodden outlined there, who will no longer remain downtrodden as soon

as they come to the knowledge of the truth... please note that we are not Kingdom of God tax payers... what the church does with the actual physical money is and should not be our concern as Jesus directly judges church authorities on how they administer His tithe...

His Blessing described in the promise is the supernatural ability to prosper when everyone else is failing, it would often manifest in a million dollar idea (Proverbs 8:12) like Joseph’s to save the world at that time from starvation through famine, and under Joseph’s stewardship the Pharaohs became the most financially powerful people in the world... They became land owners of all the whole land mass of Egypt which was not true prior to this time... What would an employer recognizing this in you be willing to compensate you? Further, what would be your financial net worth as a brand, I mean you as an individual be when the world recognizes this Blessing in you that makes you turn every economic dross to gold. Think about David, from having nothing running and hiding in caves with only cash-strapped and debt-ridden and discontented guys for company, he became extremely wealthy and powerful in the space of just a few years, and those formerly broke, in-debt, and discontented guys became known as the mighty men of David, whose exploits we can read about... Think about all the souls that will be saved, healed and delivered, all the families that will be rescued, all the joy your decision to follow God all the way on this would bring to millions... You will be fulfilling God’s mandate to father Abraham, Blessed to be a blessing...

I would like to end this issue by sharing with you my New Testament adaptation of this confession of faith the Lord asks us to make when we bring our Tithe to Him. It is all the Word of God, not a single opinion of mine, and God is no respecter of persons so it will work just fine for you as it is working for me. I got one from Kenneth Copeland’s website, adapted it a bit with some extra scriptures and other translations of the Bible I particularly like e.g. Message & New Living Translation. Do with it what you would like for your benefit, but together with the Spirit of God.

OUR TITHE CONFESSION OF LOVE

I confess this day to You, Lord God, that I have come into the inheritance which You swore to give me. I am in the land which You have provided for me in Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of Almighty God. I was a sinner serving satan-he was my god. But I called upon the Name of Jesus and You heard my cry and delivered me from the power and authority of darkness and translated me into the Kingdom of Your dear Son.

Jesus, as my Lord and High Priest, I bring the first-fruits of my income to You and worship God with it. I rejoice in all the good which You have given to me

and my household. I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God and have done according to all that You have commanded me. Now I believe You will look down from Your holy habitation in heaven and bless me as You said in Your Word. And I receive Your blessing as I come in the name of a tither. I expect these things to take place.

I confess that the windows of heaven are being opened. Blessings are being poured out- there’s not enough room to receive it! Surely I will shout, “It is enough! It is enough!” God Himself has rebuked the devourer for my sake. The fruit of my ground will not be destroyed. My vine won’t cast fruit before the time. Nations will call us blessed, and we will be voted the happiest household, and experience what it is like to be a family of Grace, Highly favoured by You and extremely blessed in all our endeavours, and we will be a delightsome land. Today we are experiencing God’s supernatural increase, and we walk in it by faith. I call it done in Jesus Name, and Lord, I worship You.

Your brother In Christ,

Temisan

“...You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as

worthless. You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father...” – Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:13 – 16) New Living Translation