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In that sense of the word, noth–
ing we do or have really belongs to
us. lt all belongs to God.
But God is a generous God. He
has not demanded we give it all to
him. He has given it all to man to
use. Man can work the land, till the
soil, use the earth in any way he
chooses or sees fit. God has given
laws
whereby man
should
do all of
this, but he has not forced human
beings to do it the right way. He
has left that up to us for a period of
6,000 years.
In Deuteronomy 30:19, God
gives us a choice, "1 call heaven
and earth to record this day
against you, that I have set before
you life and death, blessing and
cursing: therefore choose Iife,
that both thou and thy seed may
live."
There are two ways to go.
One Ieads to curses, sickness and
financia/ disaster.
The other
c hoice is do it God's way. That way
will result in life as life is intended
to be lived. And it includes mone–
tary blessings.
The question remains-do you
want to do it God's way?
Obviously, if someone is going
broke and standing on the brink
of collapse, he is spending more
money than he has coming in. A
$200-a-week American factory
worker cannot live in the same
fashion as a $1 ,000-a-week execu–
tive. He would go broke the first
month he tried to live that way.
And the $1 ,000-a-week executive
cannot spend money on the same
scale the highly paid $1 million–
a-year professional athlete does.
No matter what salary you make
you have to control how you spend
what you have.
God's 10 Percent
Most people in today's society
receive a wage or salary as income
for labor. Whether a laborer, clerk,
blue-collar or white-collar worker,
businessman or banker, we receive
money for our efforts.
The reason so many are failing
is · that they
never have been
taught the right way.
Here's what
people haven't learned from Mal–
achi 3:8-9, "Will a man rob God?
Yet ye have robbed me. But ye
say, Wherein have we robbed
thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye
Aprll 1982
are cursed with a curse: for ye
have robbed me, even this whole
nation."
Remember, God owns the
land-it's all bis! Yet God tells you
and me we can have 90 percent of
all the increase we can make from
the land or in our jobs. Think of
it-:-a God so generous he gives us
90 percent ofal/ the earth wi/1 pro–
duce.
But he is careful to point out
that the 10 percent (that is what
the word
tithe
means) that
belongs to him must faithfully be
paid to him
for his use-it
cannot
be used for our own spending.
Because people
have not known
that-they
have been robbing
God and face the potential for
financia! disaster.
.
Just look around you to see
whether or not that scripture is
literally being fulfilled today.
Malachi gives sound and stable
financia/ counseling.
His writings
have been preserved for us and are
not out-of-date but up to the min–
ute.
If
you are willing to follow
this counsel there will be abun–
dance and prosperity. Notice the
next verse-verse 1
O,
"Bring ye
all the
tithes
into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now here–
with, saith the Lord of hosts, if I
will not open you the windows of
heaven, and pour you out a bless–
ing,
that there shall not be room
enough to receive it."
That's God's promise
to you!
And he challenges you to prove
it. Thousands upon thousands of
people are finding out that God's
way of tithing and being generous
with offerings does work. God will
do for you what he promises.
Tlthlng Teaches Budgetlng
There is more to family financing
than sitting down and watching
God cause paper money to grow on
trees in your backyard or garden. 1
have not yet heard God has done
that- and I'm sure he won't. But
he will bless you- if you will dili–
gently apply bis way.
God said, "The
laborer
is worthy
of his hire." He did not say the man
who sits around will get rich.
When you begin to pay God his
tithes, God will
begin
to add to you
as he sees fit. But you must learn to
control
your iocome. The chances
are God will not give you a salary
increase dou ble your present
amount the very first month you
begin to pay tithe.
First, you must learn to handle
your present salary.
Budgeting principies can be
learned from the tithing princi–
ple- this teaches dividing your
income and expenditures up by
percentages.
The first thing you should do
when you receive your. pay is give
God the 1
O
percent that is his in
the first place. (In most nations,
the government will already have
taken its tax revenues out before
you even see your check.)
Remember, though, God's tithes
come out of the total increase or
adjusted gross income, not on the
after-taxes amount.
God has given you control over
90 percent of the remaining
income . (The government, of
course, has taken whatever it has
decreed is its fair share.) The
remainder becomes
your responsi–
bility
to handle. It may not make
sense to you now-and you prob–
ably will not be able to put it
down on paper-but when you
begin to properly tithe, God will
see to it that
your 90 percent
will
go further than the entire 100
percent used to--one reason being
you begin to make wiser deci–
sions.
Follow These Baslc Rules
Once you have decided you will
handle your finances God's way,
you have a place to start. How you
control your after-tithe-and-offer–
ing and after-tax income now
becomes a matter of
budgetary dis–
cipline
and wisdom. There are rules
you must follow if you want to be
financially successful.
Since living conditions are so dif–
ferent from one part of the country
to ·the next-and different
in
one
nation from what they might be in
another nation-it is difficult to
properly advise
exactly
what each
of you should do. But there are
basic rules which apply to all
people everywhere.
The first financia! need most
families face is that of
housing.
You will either rent or buy a
borne. There will
be
furniture for
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