The Tithe

 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Deuteronomy 8:18 NKJV

Consider the wording in Deuteronomy 8:18. Notice that God says that He gives us “power to get wealth”. He does not say, “I give you wealth”. This indicates that we have a responsibility to tap into the power He gives us.  The power to get wealth is in His Word. If we are going to walk in wealth, we have to appropriate the principles in His Word that govern prosperity.

What is the Tithe?

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.

Malachi 3:10 NKJV

The tithe is the first ten percent of all your increase.

And he (Abram or Abraham) gave him a tithe of all.

Genesis 14:20 NKJV

 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.

Hebrews 7:4 NKJV

Genesis tells us that Abraham gave a tithe and the writer of Hebrews recounting that event tells us that he gave a tenth part.

The Tithe is the Lord’s.

 And all the tithe of the land…is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.

Leviticus 27:30 NKJV

God says that when you withhold the tithe you are robbing Him and actually bring yourself under a curse!

8 “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.

Malachi 3:8-9 NKJV

If you are robbing God, when you withhold the tithe then the tithe must be His. The tithe is not the payment of a debt but rather the acknowledgement of a debt. We actually owe God everything we have. When we honor Him with the tithe, we are acknowledging Him as Lord and creator. We must understand that it is not God cursing us when we do not tithe. To transgress the tithe binds us to this cursed earth that became cursed through Adam’s disobedience. The tithe actually lifts us up from the curse that came upon the earth. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was even a type of the tithe.

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV

There was nothing spooky or mystical about the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The tree of knowledge simply gave man a legal right to choose the Lordship of his creator. Satan chose to reject God when he had no legal right to do so; therefore, there is no hope for redemption for him. Because Adam was given a legal right to choose, we now have the legal right to choose Jesus as our Lord and sacrifice. God was in essence saying, “This tree of knowledge represents My vested interest in the affairs of man. As long as you honor Me with it, you will have life and peace. If you consume it for yourself you are in essence making yourself the lord of your life and you are cursed because of your separation from Me.” Many who curse Adam for the fall of man are essentially doing the same thing when they rob God of the tithe. They are not acknowledging Him as Lord and creator and are setting themselves up as lord of their lives. They essentially are trading “dead presidents” for the Living God.

Another Old Testament type of the tithe is the city of Jericho. It was the first the first city that Israel took in the conquest of Canaan.

18 And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

19 But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.”

24 But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.

Joshua 6:18-19,24 NKJV

Notice the similarity between the terminology in this passage and in Malachi 3. God said that they would come under a curse if they partook of the spoils of Jericho.

8 “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.

Malachi 3:8-9 NKJV

“Accursed” could be translated “devoted”.  God told them that the spoils of Jericho were to go into the treasury of the house of the Lord. The tithe was to go into the house of the Lord.

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house…

Malachi 3:10 NKJV

Jericho was essentially the tithe. Much like many people today, not everyone obeyed God’s mandate to not touch what was His.

1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel.

Joshua 7:1 NKJV

The account goes on to say that Israel’s army were defeated by the little city of Ai. Therefore, when Joshua sought the Lord this was His response.

11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.

12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. 13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.”

Joshua 7:11-13 NKJV

They then discover that Achan had transgressed and the following was the result!

20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it.

23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord.

24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor.

25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.

Joshua 7:22-25 NKJV

This account illustrates the part of the promises to the tither found in Malachi 3.

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;

Malachi 3:10-11 NKJV

Notice when Israel transgressed the tithe they fled before their enemies. Yet, when they restored the tithe their enemy could no longer steal from them. The main reason people steal the tithe is because of the love of money.

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

I Timothy 6:10 NKJV

This is a startling revelation. A wrong attitude toward money can be an in road to all kinds of evil.  When you honor God with the tithe, you push back all manner of evil because it will be instrumental in breaking your dependence in money.

The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your life.

Deuteronomy 14:23 Living Bible

When we honor God with the tithe, we are meeting Jesus’s qualification for receiving all other things.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these (material) things shall be added to you.

Matthew 6:33 NKJV

Set your heart on the kingdom and his goodness, and all these things will come to you as a matter of course.

Matthew 6:33 J.B. Phillips

Tithing rebukes the devourer and closes the door on every evil work because where you put your money refocuses your heart attitudes.

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:20-21 NKJV

This principle is mirrored by the fact that God actually equated returning the tithe to returning to Him!

7 Yet from the days of your fathers
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
Return to Me, and I will return to you,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“But you said,
‘In what way shall we return?’

8 “Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.

Malachi 3:7-8 NKJV

When we honor God with the tithe here, Jesus receives it in heaven as an act of faith. Therefore, when we honor God with the tithe we are laying up treasure in heaven.

 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.

Hebrews 7:8 NKJV

Where does the tithe go?

The tithe always goes to your local church.

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,..

Malachi 3:10 NKJV

According to the Apostle Paul, the New Testament expression of the House of God is the local church.

 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

1 Timothy 3:15 NKJV

Therefore, you do not need to pray about where your tithe goes. We need not pray and seek God’s direction about something that is clearly spelled out in His Word. We should not send our tithes to the television minister. We should support the television minister but not with the tithe. The only exception to this would be if you were physically unable to go to church, such as someone in a nursing home. Otherwise you are to “bring your tithes” into the local church.  You should not use the tithe to pay Aunt Nellie’s light bill. You should help Aunt Nellie, but you should use your money and not God’s! Using your tithe to help someone would be the equivalent of stealing someone’s car and selling it to help someone else. God has no spiritual “Robin Hoods”.  We should not steal from anyone, especially God!

5 “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.

6 There you shall take your …your tithes…

Deuteronomy 12:5-6 NKJV

There are several significant principles in this passages related to tithing. First, you cannot choose your church and be in the will of God.

 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

1 Corinthians 12:18 NKJV

Secondly, we have to go where the Spirit of God is allowed to manifest as He pleases.  Many churches that have the Name of Jesus on the front door are not benefitting the Kingdom of God.  They have Jesus only as a figurehead monarchy. He can show up, shake hands, and kiss the babies, yet He has no say in the policies of that church. God will not lead you to funnel your resources into a dead church. Only when the anointing is allowed to manifest will there be deliverance.

And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

Isaiah 10:27b NKJV

A place where God has truly “Put His Name” will have His manifested presence. Increase comes where God’s manifest presence (glory) is. Increase came to the house of Obed-Edom because the Ark of the Covenant, which represents

God’s manifested presence was at his house.

11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.

12 Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness.

2 Samuel 6:11-12 NKJV

You also should not stay in a church that teaches that poverty is the will of God for you and rejects biblical prosperity.

Go from the presence of a foolish man,
When you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge.

Proverbs 14:7 NJKV

Is tithing still valid under the New Covenant?

Tithing is part of our worship to the Father. Malachi 3 in the same context of tithing declares the He does not change. Jesus, our High Priest who receives our tithe also does not change.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8 NKJV

Tithing predates the law. We read earlier where Abram or Abraham paid tithes before the law. Tithing was included under the law.

And all the tithe…is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.

Leviticus 27:30 NKJV

Jesus taught that we should tithe.

Matthew 23:23 

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

Matthew 23:23 NKJV

Tithing is foundational yet there is more to tithing than the physical act itself.  Jesus was saying that the Pharisees were hypocrites, play-actors who were going through the motions with no heart revelation. Jesus was essentially saying that they omitted justice (God is just), mercy (God is merciful) and faith (you have to tithe in faith). When you tithe, you have to believe that God is merciful and just to do what He said He would do and open the windows of heaven over your life and rebuke the devourer.

The New Testament recognizes that tithing is still valid today.

 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.

Hebrews 7:8 NKJV

What should I do if I still do not understand tithing?

No matter how much we learn about any subject in the Word, our knowledge is still limited. Paul, who wrote two thirds of the New Testament, said that we still know in part (1 Corinthians 13:9). We should not understand tithing fully until we obey God.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV

According to this passage when we acknowledge Him, we open ourselves to further insight.  Applying the Word to your life brings mind renewal.

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Hebrews 5:14 NKJV

Since you have purified your souls (mind, will and emotions) in obeying the truth through the Spirit…

1 Peter 1:22 NKJV

Even Jesus “learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). That is not limited to His suffering on the cross. That suffering includes the suffering in His soul from doing the will of God when His flesh wanted to do contrary to it. If we obey God with the tithe even though our flesh baulks at it, we will become sensitive to His voice in areas of personal guidance. Faith obedience is key developing in understanding.

By faith we understand…

Hebrews 11:3 NKJV

James says to be a hearer of the Word and not a doer opens the door to deception.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

James 1:22 NKJV

I knew a man who had gone from church to church offended because they taught on tithing. He would sing the blues to me about how he could not afford to tithe because of all of his debt. I wanted to tell him that it sounded to me like he could not afford not tithing! The curse was in full force. Yet, in the middle of one of his rants about one the churches he had been to, he was talking about being at a different restaurant every night of the week. Some of them were rather expensive for a man in his sad condition. Can you see his deception? He thinks he cannot afford to tithe yet he is eating out at a different restaurant every night. He would be better served to obey God and tithe while staying home eating beans and potatoes to get the curse off his life. After a time of being diligent, he could be lifted up to where he could eat out without being a God robber.

Just as a final note, I want to point out that I am not presently, at the time of this writing, pastoring a church. The only reason I mention it is to let you know that I have no hidden agenda in teaching this. Do not get me wrong; pastors have a heavenly mandate to teach on tithing.  I can be especially bold about the subject having nothing to gain from it other than wanting to see God’s best manifest in your life.

Some mindsets that hinder wealth.

 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Deuteronomy 8:18 NKJV

…that He may establish His covenant…

 As we briefly mentioned in our first lesson, we as Westerners do not understand covenant. We deal in contracts. Many, if they do not want to fulfill their obligation to the contract, get a good lawyer to get them out of the agreement they made. So many Christians have let that mentality shape their idea of God. They think that God is looking for the least shred of legality to keep Him from fulfilling His promises to us. The truth is that God is looking for the least shred of legality to bring blessing to us. Others believe that God is a dictator (they would never admit this but it is how it works out in practice). A dictator does not rule according to established law or principle but by personal whim. A dictator may pat you on the back tonight and then have you shot tomorrow. All depending upon how he feels at the moment. This is how many religious people view God. If He feels like it He will prosper you, if He does not He will not.  If He likes the way, you look today, He will heal you, but if you are having a “bad hair day”, He will not. God is not a dictator. God does not operate according to personal whim but established law and principles laid out in His Word.

 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.

Acts 10:34 NKJV

For there is no partiality with God.

Romans 2:11 NKJV

When God promises to give us power to get wealth, it is a covenant declaration. God bound Himself by a covenant oath in the shed blood of Jesus that He will provide financial abundance for us. If we are not receiving financial prosperity, it is not because God failed to provide it, because God has already set the laws of prosperity in motion. We have to find out what principles unlock His financial abundance.

There is no way to cover all the principles that govern prosperity in one article. Nor do I claim to know them all. I will, however, share a few foundation principles from the Word to get us started.

…that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers…

1 “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.

2 Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
For I called him alone,
And blessed him and increased him.”

Isaiah 51:3 NKJV

According to this passage, there are things we can learn by studying the life of our father in the faith, Abraham.

1Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.

2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV

Get out of your country.

We can draw from this passage is that we must leave behind anything in our culture that does not line up with the Word of God.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2 NKJV

According to this passage, we cannot even discern the will of God if our mindset is conformed to the world system.

One mentality in our culture that we have to get beyond is that to be wealthy you must be a crook or dishonest in some way.  Some hear the faith message and see that God wants to bless them financially. And they may even give lip service to the fact that God wants to make them blessed financially. Yet, they will vote for policies that increase taxes on the wealthy. If you asked them if they wanted to pay more taxes, they would say no. Yet, they want people who are presently wealthy to pay more taxes. By their actions, they are proving that they do not see themselves as wealthy. They still have a poverty mentality. A poverty mentality believes there is not enough money and resources in the earth and therefore resents that wealth that others have.  You will only prosper to the degree that your soul (mind, will, and emotions) prospers.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

3 John 2 NKJV

You will also never receive financial prosperity if you resent the prosperity of those in God’s five-fold ministry. I am amazed that Christian people will get offended at ministers who have an airplane, TO PREACH THE GOSPEL! It is okay for the pornographic magazines to have an airplane to spread their demonic message but God’s messengers are supposed to be limited by flying commercial on the commercial airline’s schedule. If your flight is canceled, you do not go and people are not reached for the gospel. No one seems to mind the whiskey company having an airplane but the gospel should go second rate. A worldly musician can fly the best, drive the best, and use it to corrupt your children.  Yet, God’s ministers are supposed to not have anything.  We see a similar attitude in the Bible.

3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii[b] and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept[c] this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

John 12:3-8 NKJV

I have heard many professing Christians say the same thing when some ministry builds nice facilities to honor God. They say, “Look at that nice building. They should have used that money to feed the poor”.  Do you realize whom you are identifying with when you say that? Judas, the thief who would betray Jesus! Yet, many professing Christians grudge any nice gift Jesus’ minister might receive. They are being a “Judas”. Some say well that was Jesus we should not do that for His ministers. What does Jesus say?

40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.

41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.

Matthew 10:40-41 NKJV

According to Jesus, how you treat, bless, and honor His ministers is how you treat, bless and honor Him.

Get out… from your family.

Secondly, we must leave behind everything in our family that does not line up with the Word of God. We cannot blindly accept anything as scriptural just because that is what Grandma believed.

making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Mark 7:13 NKJV

In addition, as we find out later with the incident his nephew lot there must have been a tendency toward strife in his family.

1Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.

 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents.

6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.

 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.

9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward;

Genesis 13:1-2,5-9, 14 NKJV

Notice that Abram received no more revelation until the strife issue was dealt with.

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

James 3:16 NKJV

If we are going to walk in God’s blessing, we have to remove ourselves from family squabbles. Whatever you could gain from winning the argument cannot compensate for what you will lose for being in strife. According to this passage, strife opens the door for every evil work.  Notice that Abraham believed taking the inferior land with God’s blessing on it would be better than to be in strife.  Lot however, who did not prefer his uncle ended up losing everything including his wife and ended up in an incestuous relationship with his daughters (Genesis 19).

Get out… from your fathers house.

Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Genesis 2:24 NKJV

You can only cleave to your wife and new family to the degree that you leave your father’s house.  Some men physically leave their father’s house but never assume the role of spiritual head of their household. Those of your immediate family may not understand everything you are called to do. You have to go on with God. Many are afraid to do the will of God for fear of being left out of the will. Anything you walk away from for the gospel’s sake, Jesus promised we would receive back one hundred fold.

29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s,

30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.

Mark 10:29-30 NKJV

To a land I will show you.

We must be led by the Spirit of God to walk in God’s abundance. The more we become sensitive to the Spirit of God, the more we will in the right place at the right time to be productive financially. Very much of our calling is geographical. A person who is graced for deep-sea fishing will not do well in Montana. God knows us better than we do. Therefore, if we yield to Him we will be in the right place at the right time. Imagine how well we can prosper if we know when, where and how much to invest. Many are afraid to yield to the Spirit of God because they do not truly believe He has their best interests in mind. To find out more about being Spirit led I would refer you to “How to be led by the Spirit” parts 1-3 on this same web sight.

Review:

Mindsets that hinder wealth:

1.     Lack of Understanding of covenant.
2.    Mind conformed to this world system.
3.    Resentment toward those who have wealth especially those in Jesus’ five-fold ministry.
4.     Religious family traditions.
5.     Strife.
6.     Failure to assume responsibility as head of household.
7.     Bondage to family opinion.
8.     Failure to be led by the Spirit of God.

 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Deuteronomy 8:18 NKJV

This may be a startling revelation to some Christians, but God has actually given us the power to get wealth. This is the first step. Before you can learn the steps to attaining wealth, you have to first acknowledge that wealth is God’s plan for you. I pray by the end of this article the Holy Spirit will quicken this truth to your heart.

And you shall remember the Lord your God…

We as Westerners are at a disadvantage sometimes because we are reading an Eastern book. Do not get me wrong, it applies to Westerners but we must interpret the Bible in the light of the understanding of the people who initially received it. The Bible is a covenant book filled with covenant terminology. “Remember” is a covenant word. When we as Westerners read the word “remember” we think of it as having something stored somewhere back in our mental “hard drive”.  Actually, to “remember” means to have ever before our thinking. So remember (to use a contemporary example) means not to have the Word stored in you mental “hard drive” but rather have it constantly pulled up on the “computer screen” of your consciousness. We have to analyze everything we encounter in the light of the Bible. The main way we practice covenant remembrance is through meditation.

I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your works;
I muse on the work of Your hands.

Psalm 143:5 NKJV

1 Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

Psalm 1:1-3 NKJV

 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Joshua 1:8 NKJV

Biblical meditation means to speak, mutter, ponder to one’s self, and imagine. Meditation is the process that gets the scripture from our heads to our hearts. When we study and read the Bible it is like preparing a meal. When we meditate the Word it is like feeding on that meal. To study and not meditate the Word is like preparing an elaborate meal and not feeding upon it.  We meditate by taking a scripture apart in bite sized portions and “chewing on” it over and over. Here is quick non- exhaustive example of meditation taken from Acts 10:38.

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Acts 10:38 NKJV

..how God anointed Jesus of Nazereth…..Christ means the anointed one and His anointing…Here is a glimpse into what Christ means to us…

with the Holy Spirit and with power….Jesus said that we would receive the same power (Gr-dunamis) after that the Holy Spirit has come upon us.

.. who went about doing good… God anointed Jesus to do something….. If we want more anointing we must do something… Jesus did good things… Anything that is not good does not come from the Father or Jesus….  Jesus came to give us life more abundantly….. It is the thief (satan) who steals kills and destroys (John 10:10).

…healing all who were oppressed by the devil… the Bible calls sickness oppression of the devil, not God’s little blessing in disguise…. Jesus healed all.. it is God’s will that everyone be healed…

… for God was with Him. Jesus in the incarnation emptied himself and accepted the limitations of man (Philippians 2:7 Gr)….. So everything Jesus did, He did as a man anointed with the Holy Spirit….. He said the works He does we can do also because He went to the Father….

Another definition of meditation is to imagine. We have to imagine ourselves walking out the provision God has promised us.  It is not enough to imagine God giving someone wealth. We have to see ourselves walking in the provision. We have to see God’s Word speaking to us personally. So when you meditate the scripture  put it in the first person.

When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

Psalm 27:8 NKJV

God says “I will supply all your needs” (Philippians 4:19). I say “You, God, supply all of my needs”.

God says “I give you power to get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18). I say “I receive Your power that gives me wealth!”`

For it is He (God) who gives you power to get wealth…

We have to let the Word of God define wealth for us. Some say, “Well brother God just makes us spiritually wealthy”. Really? Let us look at how the Bible defines wealth.

1. An abundance of natural resources.

7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;

9 a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

Deuteronomy 8:7,9 NKJV

1. An abundant supply of food.

8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;

 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity…

10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

Deuteronomy 8:8,9-10 NKJV

3. An abundance in livestock.

when your herds and your flocks multiply…

Deuteronomy 8:13 NKJV

And Abram was very rich in cattle…

Genesis 13:2 NKJV

…..for he (Isaac) had possessions of flocks and herds.

Genesis 26:14 NKJV

Blessed shall be….the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

Deuteronomy 28:4 NKJV

4. Beautiful homes.

…when you… have built beautiful houses to dwell in them.

Deuteronomy 8:12 NKJV

5. Fine Clothing.

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Matthew 6:28-30 NKJV

How do you suppose  Solomon, who threw away silver because he had so much gold, would be clothed?

…I will clothe you with rich apparel.

Zechariah 3:4 Amp

…for her (Tyre or the wicked’s) gain will be for those who dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for fine clothing.

Isaiah 23:18 NKJV

Even Jesus’s garment was so expensive that the Roman soldiers gambled for it rather than dividing it (John 19:23-24).

6. Multiplication financially.

And Abram was very rich cattle, in silver and in gold.

Genesis 13:1 NKJV

Now I ask you, was this a spiritual cow? Was this spiritual silver and gold?

And when …your silver and gold are multiplied…

Deuteronomy 8:13 NKJV

He (God) also brought them (His people) out with silver and gold….

Psalm 105:37 NKJV

I the Lord…multiplied her silver and gold…

Hosea 2:8 NKJV

…Who lavished on her silver and gold….

Hosea 2:8 Amplified

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9 NKJV

in order that by His poverty you might become enriched (abundantly supplied).

2 Corinthians 8:9 Amplified

7. Freedom from debt.

 For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.

Deuteronomy 15:6 NKJV

The wicked borrow and pay not again [for they may be unable], but the [uncompromisingly] righteous deal kindly and give [for they are able].

Psalm 37:21 NKJV

God does not want us to be a servant to this world system.

The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender.

Proverbs 22:7 NKJV

And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.

Deuteronomy 28:13 NKJV

8. Multiplication of all things.

 Now the land was not able to support them (Abram and Lot), that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.

Genesis 13:6 NKJV

…and when…all that you have is multiplied…

Deuteronomy 8:13 NKJV

“The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods….

The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand.

Deuteronomy 28:8,11, 12 NKJV

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.

11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

2 Corinthians 9:8,11 NKJV

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous in every way.

2 Corinthians 9:11 Common English Bible

32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Matthew 6:32-33 NKJV

Set your heart on the kingdom and his goodness, and all these things will come to you as a matter of course.

Matthew 6:33 J.B. Phillips

Now that we have let the Bible define wealth we have to renew our minds to the fact that God wants us to have wealth.  If poverty would have been the will of God, Adam would not have been put in such a prosperous place. God would have dropped him off in a desert rather than the garden of Eden. And he certainly would not have told him that the gold is good.

And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there.

Genesis 2:12 NKJV

I can hear God telling Adam, “I know some religious joker will try to tell you differently later, but the gold is good.” It is interesting in history every civilization that has quit having gold backing their currency has fallen into financial ruin. God set a law in motion that gold is good. Not only is prosperity God’s will He initiated it. This fact is mirrored in the life of Abraham.

1Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.

2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

Genesis 12:1-2 NKJV

Notice that God did not call out Abram (who would become Abraham) and Abram say, “I will if you bless me financially”. God initiated prosperity. We read earlier one way that prosperity manifested in Abram’s life just one chapter later.

Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

Genesis 13:2 NKJV

God’s purpose in blessing Abram and us is also illustrated in the fact that cattle, silver and gold are God’s signature blessings.

For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.

Psalm 50:10 NKJV

You have also taken your beautiful jewelry from My gold and My silver, which I had given you..

Ezekiel 16:17 NKJV

‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts.

Haggai 2:8 NKJV

Do not get me wrong, cattle, silver and gold are not the only way God blesses as we pointed out earlier. I would not know what to do with a cow if I had one. God will bring prosperity to us relative to how our culture defines it. I simply am pointing out the fact that the Holy Spirit orchestrated the events in such a way to illustrate that He was the source of Abram’s blessings.

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”,

14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Galatians 3:13-14 NKJV

 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:29 NKJV

We as New Testament believers have a right to claim the same blessings Abraham walked in. We cannot define what Abraham’s (Abram’s) blessings were. We have to allow the Bible to do that. Abram was blessed the equivalent of material prosperity of his day.

David, who God Himself referred to as a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), knew the source of wealth.

Both riches and honor come from You,
And You reign over all.
In Your hand is power and might;
In Your hand it is to make great
And to give strength to all.

1 Chronicles 29:12 NKJV

David’s life demonstrated just that. A man who started off as a humble shepherd who was not even invited in when Samuel came to anoint a king in his household, gave a multi billion dollar offering to build the temple.

So he (David) died in a good old age, full of days and riches and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his place.

1 Chronicles 29:28 NKJV

These are just a few examples of people who walked with God and prospered .The Bible is full of examples of people who, when they were in right relationship to God, increased financially. Isaac, Jacob, Solomon, and Jehoshaphat just to name a few.  I encourage you, do not take my word for it. Study the Word for yourself and you will see it is true.

A person’s anxiety will weigh him down, but an encouraging word makes him joyful.—  Proverbs 12:24 God’s Word Translation

No tricks. No gimmicks. It is possible to rid yourself of unwanted weight. Anxiety, hurts, baggage, hang-ups, attitudes and addictions can be gone (or leaving) by the time you finish this article. People are worried about so many things. The anxieties of today are only minimally different than those of any person in human history. The causes do vary, but the results are the same. Heavy hearts, preoccupied minds and eventually unhealthy bodies are all bi products of excess emotional weight. Bottom line—you just have to let it go.

Ecclesiastes 11:10 says, “So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body… .”  Another translation of the same verse reads, “So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy…” A third commands, “Get rid of what troubles you or wears down your body… .”

It is our responsibility as Christians to keep ourselves cleansed from worry, offenses and additions. More importantly, we must be God’s voice to those who need, as Proverbs 12:24 call it, an encouraging word. How can you who are weighed down so heavily with your own issues notice someone else in need, let alone cheer them up? God built your body to rid itself of waste of every kind; this includes the ability to excrete emotional toxins such as offense and worry.

Here are three practical steps from the Bible for instant weight loss.

Instant Weight Loss Formula

Step 1: Release every weight to God.

Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).— Psalm 55:22 AMP

Wow! What a verse. This covers everything. Personal problems, damaged emotions and concerns of every kind can be classified as burdens. My husband and I recently had a disagreement because he’d made a decision on something totally out of frustration and the anxiety of the moment.  I asked him if he’d consulted the Lord on the issue, he honestly said no. When he did so, several more sensible options became available to him. Making a conscious effort to immediately cast things off on God keeps you open to be used as His vessel; in return, you get the answers you need. Otherwise, we spend the balance of our day (and many times longer) totally heavy, distracted and detached from our surroundings. Lose weight immediately!

Step 2: Tell the truth in love (and/or respect).

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. — Ephesians 4:15-16, 25-27

Many times we feel as if we should not speak up for ourselves in certain situations. Or, we allow an offense to weigh on us indefinitely. The truth is, if something bothers you to the point of stifling, you need to deal with it ASAP. There is always a right and a wrong way to do so. Take care to handle potentially inflammatory situations with a cool head, if possible, face to face (emails and text messages are not recommended). The offender could your spouse, a friend or a superior at work. You have to let it go—excrete it from your emotional storage space. James 5:16 AMP gives detailed instructions, “Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored….” Waste poisons you, and weighs you down. Get rid of it with the truth!

Step 3: Reap the benefits of weight loss.
To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion–to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit–that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. — Isaiah 61:3 AMP

We all know someone who has achieved a lofty physical weight loss goal, succeeded after the loss of a loved one or a major life setback, or overcome the emotional heaviness of abuse. Their very lives are an inspiration. Meeting these people and hearing their testimonies make most of our modern day “worries” seem minute and trivial. If some lofty, strong, magnificent and distinguished person came to cheer you up during what you would consider a bad day, wouldn’t you receive them? Wouldn’t you straighten up and hear them out? Especially if they proceeded to tell you of their own misfortunes, offenses and heartaches, surely your focus would shift. Why not lose weight and become that person to someone else. God has promised to not only take that heavy burden, but to replace it with joy, beauty and praise. I know because He does it for me on a continuous basis. I’m constantly losing weight!

Weight Loss Assignment

I have one assignment for you before I close. Tonight when you have quiet time before bed, make a list of all your worries, offenses (even ones years old) and fears. Exhaust yourself. Rehearse the verses from this article to yourself. Then make a list on the other side of the paper. This list is of people you know who are dealing with challenging situations, and pray for each one by name. Finally, make an effort daily to say a kind word to at least one person. Repeat daily until it becomes routine. Instant weight loss is guaranteed!

Blessings!

Shon

If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success.

Ecclesiastes 10:10 NKJV

Solomon, the wisest man in the Old Covenant, to illustrate the value of wisdom uses the imagery of a man cutting wood. The picture is of a man trying to cut wood with a dull ax. If you have ever tried to cut something with a dull instrument, be it an ax or knife, you know it takes more effort to bring forth the desired result. It can also be dangerous causing injury. Many people who have tried to cut something with a dull knife have ended up cutting themselves because the knife finally cuts through the object when they least expect it and they end up stabbing or cutting themselves in the process. There is also the wear and tear on the body from using dull equipment.  At the very least, it will take more time to produce the desired results.

As we have established, it is both dangerous and time consuming to try to cut wood with a dull ax.  Why, then would anyone do it? Because they do not want to take the time that it takes to sit down and sharpen the ax. They look and their friend is already in the woods cutting trees, so they already feel like they are running behind.

I believe the sharpening of the ax represents preparation.  Many people’s health and productivity is being affected by their lack of preparation. Much like our wood cutting friend, they are so desirous to accomplish their goal, they want to skip the preparation process and get right onto the “good stuff”.

1.    Keeping Sharp Through Preparation for Ministry.

 My spiritual father in the faith Dr. Jefferson Thompson used to tell me when I was just starting out in ministry, “Preparation time is never lost time”.  Of course, that was not what I wanted to hear but it was true nonetheless. The fact is that the greater the calling, the longer the preparation time. Jesus prepared 30 years for 3 years of ministry.  Moses knew he was to be a deliverer of God’s people when he was about 40 years old (Acts 7:23-25).  He tried to fulfill his destiny in the flesh by killing an Egyptian and ended up fleeing for his life. However, after submitting to God’s sharpening (preparation) process, in the spirit he killed a whole Egyptian army who drowned in the Red Sea.

Preparation in ministry is important, first, because you need to know something if you are going to help someone else.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV

 From this passage, we see that we need to have understanding of the Word and we need to learn to rightly divide the Word. I realize that understanding is a journey and not a destination. Even the Apostle Paul says we know in part. However, we have to stay sharp in our Bible study. One problem for ministers is we can become so topical in our approach to Bible study that our doctrine gets lopsided. We need devotional study of the Bible as well as topical. By “devotional”, I mean reading through the Bible. It is easy to fall in the trap of only reading the highlighted parts of your Bible. First, this leads to pride, because if you only study what you do know you lose sight of how much you do not know.  Secondly, (which leads us to our next point) in reading only your favorite “bread box” scriptures you lose sight of what he was talking about in the context of the chapter and book as well as in the light of the rest of the Bible. We have to learn how to rightly divide the Word of truth. At the time of this writing, the national presidential elections are around the corner. There are many sound bites being aired by various news networks. I have noticed that depending on the networks agenda, the sound bites can be arranged in a certain way to paint their view of a certain candidate. The same is true with those who only study their favorite scripture. They use biblical sound bites to push their spiritual agenda and not God’s. We have to draw out of the Bible what God intended not use the Bible to “proof text” what we wanted to believe to start with. (If you think this does not apply to you because you are not a five-fold minister that is not true. Ephesians 4 says the five-fold ministry is to equip believers for the work of the ministry. Every believer is called to the ministry of reconciliation.) A good example of misusing the scripture is taken from the following scripture.

 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

John 12:32 NKJV

 I have heard it taught, using this passage as a proof-text, to prove that if we lift up Jesus in praise then all peoples will be drawn to Him. Yet, if we read just one verse later we get clarity

This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

John 12:33 NKJV

The “lifting up” spoken of in verse 32 according to verse 33 is His death on the cross. Therefore, when Jesus was lifted up on the cross we were identified with Him in the mind of God and sin’s justices were paid in the high court of heaven.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galatians 2:20 NKJV

You see although praise is important, that is not what that passage is talking about.

The second reason preparation in ministry is important, is the development of character. We need to have our character developed so that when we are promoted it blesses us and does not destroy us.  Paul says that maturity is a qualifier for ministry.

not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.

1 Timothy 3:6 NKJV

 How is our character developed for ministry? It is developed through faithfully serving a man of God in the context of the local church.

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,

1 Timothy 1:12 NKJV

 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV

Many young ministers are trying to “break into” the ministry. The key to promotion and enabling in ministry is faithfully serving in the local church.  Faithfulness is key to promotion and greater anointing. Elisha served Elijah and received an impartation. Timothy served Paul. Joshua served Moses. Philip, in the Book of Acts, started out as a deacon waiting tables and was promoted to being an evangelist mightily used by God. Now, you cannot be an evangelist just because you serve, you have to be called. However, to be released in your calling you have to be faithful. The greater your calling, the greater the amount of character development needed through preparation and service.

This has been a challenge for me over the years.  I have been much like our wood cutting friend who saw his friend chopping down trees while he was still sharpening his ax. I have seen people in ministry a shorter amount of time than myself pastoring churches and doing other things that makes it seem like I am being passed up, especially when they make their verbal jabs at you to make them feel superior. However, I know I am being prepared and cannot compare myself to others and I must run the race set before me.

For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

2 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV

 All they are doing, of course, is to measure themselves by their own standards or by comparisons within their own circle, and that doesn’t make for accurate estimation, you may be sure.

2 Corinthians 10:12 J. B. Phillips

 But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.

2 Corinthians 10:12 Message

 Our destiny comes in seed form. Although it starts small, as we are faithful it will grow to fruition.

Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings? They’ll change their tune when they see Zerubbabel setting the last stone (of the temple) in place!”

Zechariah 4:10 Message

2.    Love Prepares.

As our main text illustrates, wisdom and preparation are inseparably linked. Too many Christians are reactive rather than proactive. If you move with God, you will always be ahead of the enemy and circumstances of life. There is much teaching (as there should be) on healthy marriage relationships. However it amazes me how little emphasis there has been in the preparation phases leading up to marriage. So we with a “dull ax” are trying to cut back opposition and hold together marriages that if there had been proper preparation would have cost a lot less time, energy and pain.

 It is the nature of unrenewed man to worship the creation more than the creator and by doing so we exchange the truth of God for a lie.

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Romans 1:25 NIV

Does Paul mean we tell a lie? No. In my opinion, it means we believe a lie. For example, we are created social creatures so much so that losing your right to fellowship was a means of correction in the New Testament church. However, in some circles, the creation (social need) gets elevated above God and the purpose for which He created it and things get out of whack. The purpose for fellowship in the context of the local church should be to strengthen our relationship for the purpose of bringing unity and harmony that will in return strengthen our prayer and worship. Also, we are to come together to glean understanding from each other. You will never live long enough to learn everything on your own. That is why we are the Body of Christ. However, in some church circles the social has rose to preeminence to the point of carnality. If my flesh likes your flesh we have a basis for fellowship, if it does not I reject you. I am not talking about in a sexual context, but rather the basis for fellowship being carnal fleshly interest that may not be bad within themselves rather than a spiritual connection. The Word of God is also never mentioned in these carnal relationships, because if I listen to someone else it might imply they know something I do not (Newsflash, they probably do). In so doing we believe that we are doing what the Bible says and having unity. It is, however, a counterfeit unity and therefore you believe a lie to be true.

The same is true in relationships. The following example is some of the most ignored wisdom of God in the Bible.

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

2 Corinthians 6:14 NKJV

 God instituted marriage and said it was good. However, some have elevated and worshipped being married above God the creator of marriage and it results in shipwreck. God said do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Yet week after week in our churches across America another young man or woman brings some unsaved person of the opposite sex into the church with them and sit on the back row because they do not understand what is going on (of course they don’t they are lost).  If that person is a coworker that you brought to church then that is wonderful. These people however are bringing them as a potential mate! They believe the lie (remember Paul said that is what we do when we worship the creation more than the creator) that they can change that person. The truth is, however, the person they are before you marry them is the best they will ever be. If you feel like someone who is not saved is to be your mate then wait and pray for him or her. However, you should not go into a rebellious relationship with them cutting them and you off from the very grace of God to move in their life.  Much like our wood cutting friend they see friends of theirs getting married and their life seems to be blissful. In addition, they have aunt Nellie asking them at every family function when they are going to get married.  So they succumb to the pressure, reject the Word, marry the person, and spend years in counseling that could have been spared through the preparation of doing the Word in the first place.

Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, Because he willingly walked by human precept (rules of action or conduct).

Hosea 5:11 NKJV

 Brutal Ephraim is himself brutalized— a taste of his own medicine!
He was so determined to do it his own worthless way.

Hosea 5:11 Message

 I also believe that “unequally yoked” extends beyond saved and unsaved. If you believe speaking in tongues is a valid New Testament experience and you marry someone who believes they are of the devil, then you are unequally yoked.  Unbelief comes in many forms. If you do not believe in divine healing you are an unbeliever on that level whether or not you are saved. Remember that when you choose a mate you are also choosing a parent for your children. If they come from a denomination that rejects the biblical truth of divine healing and health then who will agree with you when your children are sick?

“Woe (great sorrow and distress) to the rebellious children,” says the LORD “Who take counsel, but not of Me, 
 And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin; 
      

 Who walk to go down to Egypt (who is a type of the world system), And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 
      

  Therefore the strength of Pharaoh 
Shall be your shame, 
And trust in the shadow of Egypt 
Shall be your humiliation.

Isaiah 30:1-3 NKJV

 Therefore shall the strength and protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt be to your humiliation and confusion.

Isaiah 30:3 Amplified

 In addition, on a more practical level, if a man says that he loves a woman then he prepares.

I (Jesus) go to prepare a place for you.

 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:2-4 NKJV

 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,

Ephesians 5:25 NKJV

 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:2 NKJV

 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.

2 Corinthians 11:2 NIV

 For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:2 NLT

 When we harmonize these passages, we realize that Christ love for us is the pattern of true love that should exist between a man and a wife. Jesus said He goes to prepare a place for us. I am amazed at how many boys (the omission of the word “men” here was deliberate) will ask a girl to marry them without a home, job, or ambition to get either. That is not love. If you are in love, you will give yourself for her. Love will not take a girl out of a home where she is cared and provided for without providing for her. He is actually lusting her. Lust desires to get at the expense of others. Love, on the other hand, desires to give at the expense of self. So ladies if that dude loves you he will have a j-o-b.  Before God gave Adam a wife, He gave him a job. When he did not cover and take care of his wife, he then lost his job.

In addition, if a guy walks in love he will establish himself by getting an education before getting into a relationship to start with. Much like the man with the dull ax, relationships struggle and have to put forth more effort because of a lack of preparation (sharpening your ax).

3.    Keeping Sharp Through 
Spiritual Preparation.

 As I said earlier, many Christians are reactive rather than proactive. They react to problems as they arise rather than preparing ahead of time. The same people who will not drive across town to go to a church to teach them how to walk in divine health will drive a hundred miles to get treatment once they get sick. Some will refuse to give God ten percent and yet will give the credit card company fifteen percent to catch up their finances because they are laboring under a curse from robbing God.

  “ Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me!  But you say, ‘ In what way have we robbed You?’  In tithes and offerings.

  You are cursed with a curse,  For you have robbed Me,  Even this whole nation.

  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.

   “ 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;

   And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,”  Says the LORD of hosts.

Malachi 3:8-10 NKJV

 They say they have no time to read the Word of God and yet they can tell you a blow-by-blow account of the entire career of their favorite sports star or who was voted off the Island last week. I am not criticizing sports or entertainment but they had better not be your top priority. The amount of time spent in church three times a week is not as big of an investment as dying early.

With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

Psalm 91:16 NKJV

 Be proactive and not reactive. Seek the Lord and He will tell you what preparations you need to make to stay sharp and to be ahead of any problems that may arise.

That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.

   Is there anything of which it may be said, “ See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.   

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 NKJV

Many times in my Christian walk, if I implied that God wanted to do something new or even express old truths from a fresh perspective folks would get a distant, far away look in their eyes and quote this passage. However, I believe this passage requires further study. One foundational principle of hermeneutics (which is the science and art of Bible interpretation) is that we always view a scripture in the light of the rest of the Bible. Do you realize how many “new” things God talks about after this scripture?

 I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, 
Nor My praise to carved images. 
    

 Behold, the former things have come to pass, 
And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!

Isaiah 42:8-10 NKJV

 “ Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 
 

  Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness 
And rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:18 NKJV

 “ You have heard; See all this. 
And will you not declare it?
 I have made you hear new things from this time,  Even hidden things, and you did not know them.

Isaiah 48:6 NKJV

How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth— A woman shall encompass a man.”

Jeremiah 31:22 NKJV

 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—

 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.

Jeremiah 31:31-32 NKJV

 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 
      

 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV

New heart and new Spirit. (Ezekiel 36:26)

New tongues (Mark 16:17)

New Birth (John 3)

New Commandment (John 13:34)

New creation (II Corinthians 5:17)

New and Living Way (Hebrews 10:20)

 There is nothing new under the sun.

I believe the qualifier to that verse is “under the sun”. In this natural world, there is no new thing. However, God is not limited to this natural world. In Christ neither are we.

 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 2:4-6 NKJV

This is good news because satan is called the god of this world.

 The eyes of those who do not believe are made blind by Satan who is the god of this world.

2 Corinthians 4:4 New Life Version

Since there is nothing new under the sun, then satan cannot bring something new from out beyond Pluto somewhere against us. Satan is limited to what is common to man.

 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

The fact is that God is infinite.  As long as God is infinite, there is more to learn about Him. There is always a deeper depth of relationship with Him than we are currently experiencing. There are deeper depths to the moving of His Spirit than we have experienced before. God is a God of wonders.

Wonder- something strange,” causing the beholder to marvel, is always used in the plural, always rendered “wonders,”

A sign is intended to appeal to the understanding, a “wonder” appeals to the imagination, a power (dunamis) indicates its source as supernatural.

(Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words)

According to W.E. Vines, if God does something you could fully understand it is not a wonder. It is sad how many Christians stand in judgment of the various ways God manifests Himself. However, some of the same people say that God works in mysterious ways! When someone dies unexpectedly in a tragedy or do not receive their healing for whatever reason they say, “Well brother, God works in mysterious ways.”  According to Jesus, anything that steals, kills and destroys is not from God (John 10:10),but from satan. When someone moves in the Spirit in a way that their flakey flesh does not like or understand they criticize it.

Many object to the way the Spirit of God moves because they cannot find a specific scriptural example for God moving in that way. The truth is God has an infinite amount of ways of moving in our lives. John says that if everything Jesus did was recorded, that the world could not contain the books. The Bible gives us a representative sampling of ways God moves.  Where did Peter find a scriptural precedent that people can be healed from his shadow? Where did Paul get the Spiritual “green light” to use aprons and handkerchiefs to minister healing and deliverance to people? These are examples of wonders.

Paul says that our natural mind cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned.

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV

The word natural man literally means “soulical man”. You will not be able to discern the will of God with your natural mind. Mind renewal is important, but is a result of spiritual illumination that ends in the renewal of the mind.

So if you see something a minister does that you do not understand, just put it on the shelf and pray for God to give you insight. But, never come against something just because you do not understand it. Discrediting someone’s ministry is one way of not discerning the Body of Christ.

 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep (die prematurely).

 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

1 Corinthians 11:28-31 NKJV

We should be open for God to manifest Himself in whatever way He desires even if it is new to us.

Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).

Jeremiah 33:3 Amplified

In this message taken from accounts of physically barren women in the Bible I draw parallels on how we can be delivered from spiritual barrenness.

Redefine-1.: to define (as a concept) again :reformulate<had to redefine their terms>

2 a : to reexamine or reevaluate especially with a view to change

b : transform

Miriam-Webster.com

 What is faith? Everyone has an Idea. We must let the Bible define what Bible faith is. We undo religious preconceptions and allow God to redefine faith in this message ministered at Russellville Christian Center.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9 NKJV

It is amazing to me that church people will use this verse that promises wealth and riches to try to talk us out of it! They are so focused on the “Jesus became poor” part that they fail to appropriate the “that you…. might become rich” part. They reason that because Jesus was poor, and He was our example, that we are doomed to poverty as well.

I believe the key to unlocking this verse is in the phrase “for your sakes”. Another words, Jesus became poor as a result of His substitutionary work in redemption. So let us continue in that vein.  So when did Jesus become poor?  We will view it in the light of the rest of His redemptive work.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that Jesus became sin for us (note the word “with” identifying it as part of His substitutionary work).

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV

When did Jesus become sin for us? Did He become sin as the little baby in the manger? Did Jesus become sin during His earthly ministry? No. The New Testament clearly tells us at what point He became sin.

who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree (cross), that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

1 Peter 2:24 NKJ 

So we see Jesus did not become sin as the little baby in the manger. Nor did He become sin in His earthly ministry. He became sin on the cross in redemption.

The Bible also teaches us that Jesus bore our sicknesses and was literally made sick with our sicknesses.

 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 
      

  Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:3-4 NKJV

“Griefs” is an unfortunate translation of the word in both verse four and five.  According to the Strong’s Concordance the Word “griefs” literally means “sickness”. Hebrew Scholar, Dr. Robert Young even translates it that way in his translation.

He is despised, and left of men, A man of pains, and acquainted with sickness, And as one hiding the face from us, He is despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains — he hath carried them, And we — we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53 :3-4 Young’s Literal Translation

So when did Jesus become sick with our sicknesses? Did Jesus become sick as the little baby in the manger? Did Jesus become sick during His earthly ministry? Not once did Jesus turn to Peter and say, “ Peter, you need to teach for me tonight. I caught the hog flu.”  Also if you continue reading in Isaiah you find out when these events transpired.

But He was wounded for our transgressions, was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5 NKJV

The “stripes” spoken of in this verse speaks of the flogging Jesus received at the hands of the Roman officers. This event was not part of His normal life and ministry, but was accomplished in His redemptive work.

So if Jesus did not become sin as the little baby in the manger or in His earthly ministry, nor did he become sick at that time, why do people reason that He was born poor and remained that way throughout His earthly ministry?  I will agree that leaving heaven and coming to earth and accepting the limitations of humanity would definitely be a step down. But as I pointed out earlier, the phrase “for us” ties it to His redemptive work not His earthly life and ministry.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV

For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

1 Corinthians 5:7 KJV

…Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8 KJV

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Romans 8:32 KJV

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Galatians 3:13 KJV

We also know from the Bible that Jesus was not poor in His life and ministry because He fulfilled the law.

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Matthew 5:17-18 NKJV

It is true that Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law. But we forget that the book of Deuteronomy is part of the law.

“And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Deuteronomy 8:18 NKJV

Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.

Deuteronomy 8:18 NLT

If Jesus did not get wealth, He did not fulfill the law.

Some use this passage in Luke 9 to prove that Jesus was poor.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Luke 9:57-58 NKJV

Opponents of the prosperity message say, “See there, Jesus had no place to even lay His head. He was a poor peasant.”  This is a prime example of pulling a passage out of its context to prove a point without considering the rest of the passage. Why did Jesus have no place to lay His head? Was it extreme poverty and lack? No. We get the answer only a few verses before.

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.

Luke 9:51-53 NKJV 

The reason Jesus had no place to rest his head is because the Samaritans refused to let Him come into town. No matter how much money you may have, if you cannot go into town you are going to be sleeping out under the stars.  Jesus was basically telling the guy who wanted to follow him, “If you follow Me, you may have to sleep out under the stars.  Because, they may not let you come into town.”

We see in John 13 that Judas carried Jesus’s money box.

For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, “Buy those things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.

John 13:29 NKJV

We also see in John’s gospel that Judas was skimming off of the top and “helping himself” to some of that money.

This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

John 12:6 NKJV

If there was not but two dollars in the money box, and Judas stole one, don’t you think someone would have noticed it missing? Jesus had enough money in the box that Judas could steal from it and no one ever notice. Also we see from John 13:29 that the disciples were accustomed to Jesus providing for them. He had anywhere from twelve to seventy as a conservative estimate following Him at any given time. You cannot do that if you are broke.

Jesus wore a garment that was so expensive that the Roman soldiers gambled for it rather than dividing it.

They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “ They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

John 19:24 NKJV

Now that we have let the Bible demonstrate that Jesus became poor in redemption, I want to conclude with the passage we began with.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9 NKJV

Jesus came to the earth to demonstrate the faith life including walking in God’s provision of financial abundance.  He then suffered and died and rose from the dead to give us the legal right to walk in that same financial abundance.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

John 14:12 NKJV

Need direction? Want to be sure you are being led by the Spirit of God? Want to further develop sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit?

Get the answer to these questions and more in this teaching ministered at Russellville Christian Center.