*THE LOVE IN GIVING TO OUR FIRST LOVE WITHOUT CONDITIONS*
*[[1Co 3:1-2/KJV]]* (1) And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. (2) I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Just as the church flopped in the real truth about the true Water Baptism, so the church had left the right way to give to God. As a result, many are babies that refused to grow in their spiritual consecration.
There were this arguments about tithing and giving to the church. Often, the question are always whether tithing at our age is scriptural or not. This post is not to argue, but to wide open that your eyes of understanding over the issue.
It depends on the angle we are looking at, what we call the church and her operations and how we take Jesus WHO is the head of the church.
Church is not a building, but the Christians. Church is the part of the citizens of heaven gathering in the name of the LORD by His children everywhere. And the LORD is our soul King.
Wherever this gathering is, there should be a representative of God, a leader, an arrow head called the PASTOR. That gathering is what God moves within and does His work. The Pastor does his local administrative business with other MINISTER known as the Prophets, Evangelists and the Teachers. This truth is according to Apostle Paul to the Ephesian church.
*[[Eph 4:11-13/KJV]]* (11) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; (12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: (13) Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
The church is a big family of the children of God. Our gathering and sharing is pictured in the book of Acts chapter five. We the church move our resources together, to maintain God's work and to continue to build ourselves up together to the stature that God desired.
Remember that it's Jesus Christ Whom His Father gave to the world. So we owe Him that blood that was shared for us, God's only Son that was given for our salvation. Nothing that you who claims to be saved, contributed to your salvation. Was it not free? What did you contribute to your own salvation? You helped God save yourself? He gave Himself free to us.
The following is a proverb of fact about how we should be loyal Jesus Christ and serve Him since Christianity is a servant - Master relationship.
*[[Exo 21:2-6/KJV]]* (2) If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. (3) If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. (4) If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. (5) And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: (6) Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.
If the servant desires to drop at the seventh year, he may freely go even with his children. And if the decides that there is no more going back to the world for him, that means like Ruth who refused to return to Moab.
That means there are categories of Christians those who serves God conditionally They share in percentage with Him to make sure He does not cheat them.
At the seventh year he decided he had no home to go to anymore, everything that he had belonged to him because His Master gave him that to please him at first, to put his best in his servanthood but since he, through love decided to stay with his Master, no home to go to, all his property therefore is no more his own even his life belong to his Master now.
The Master therefore takes him to the gate where a seal of ownership and total surrender is placed in his ear.
You have not served God to the turning point yet. Not to the point of no more return to the world.
You are still being pampared as a baby. The caution that you be not offended, what a shame!
Many bring offering and tithes to be blessed quoting Malachi 3. But brethren, that is because you do not understand the role you are to lay in the church. You forgot that you do not own yourself, bought with a price.
The Pentecostal churches had learnt to do everything to squeeze money from its members and it is due to lack of knowledge both on the children of God and their teachers, because the lack the reward.
The slave man has no home anywhere again if not his Master's house. The modern Christians today has alternative Moab to run back to. When you are like this slave, all you have belongs to your Master JesusChrist, nothing is your own even your salary.
Now carnal Christians are mocking the church and the ministers. And nobody blames them because, the Pastor had become an EMPEROR, the man in charge that eats from the church account. His wife is his Queen and they both are in charge of the offering box. When the account grows they go for private empire, that is why there are private schools everywhere and the government are not helping matters either.
The very right principle of giving to the church is willingly. As one will bring money for the need in his own family, so will he bring to his spiritual family. No ten percent of anything that comes to you, instead you give to the need of the church, the need of the ministers and bless even the less earners around the congregation.
But of all the church do, men turned to another tactics of bringing very little to the Pastor. Yet when the call comes up, all the carnal men goes up the alter. This is wrong looking for Pastoral blessing. The brethren formed a very bad impression about the whole giving process, too bad. Jesus is the Lord in all things especially when there is a need but not the Lord of your wealth? You want the church to account for every dim of the entire church expenses?
When there arises a midnight matter, you will want your Pastor to pray whether he and his family ate that night or not.
Assuming you want to wed and landed at the church and met the Pastor with a barrow, going to look for money to feed his households, what will you take him for? How does it look that you have a porch car and you are comfortably driving around and saw your Pastor on OKADA and that is what he uses how does it look to you?
His children are sick, what do you expect him to do, go to the street to mock God? There are very few spiritual men left in the church who understand a giving.
Giving is based on love from what Christ did on the cross. And He said it is finished. Nothing compares with that sacrifice. God owns you and your wealth even the whole of your properties.
The church as the wife deals very treacherously with her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.
Another example is in a marriage. Does a married woman share her possession in percentage with her husband?
Christian marriage runs in the principle of Love and total submission. Women submitting all to the husband. Any marriage that the wife bargains is not based on the rock. Everything about marriage is talking about Christ and that church. When it goes contrary, it is wickedness. And only the woman, who is likened to the church can mess up the whole exercise of the home if she disobeys this principle.
*[[Mal 2:14]] KJV* Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
You are dealing treacherously with the husband of your youth when you cheat Him (Christ) in giving.
It is an evidence of lack of conversion to see a need and look another way. And wait to be begged to give. It is wickedness that made a believer a stranger in his fathers house.
The way you regard the resident Pastor is equal to the way your own God is. He is the servant of God and a servant who is a representative of God must look impressive not beggarly. He shouldn't beg anything when God has you as His own.
If he does not have a suitable vehicle to facilitate his ministry, then you have made him cheaper than a local priest of a deity. What a shame?
Those priests even use good cars today because the heathens don't tithe, they give willingly to demons and its priests.
*[[Mat 22:37-40/KJV]]* (37)... Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39)And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Give to the church and the less privileged in the church.
Any commandment that does not hang on the total love for God is standing alone and does not please God. Infact, no flesh pleases God. With love, you give because God first loved us, and He is worthy of all we have.
The tithe in the old Testament of 10℅ is your surrendering of all in the 100% new Testament your cars your houses your wealth.
This is the truth about the age. Repent from that error and share it if you like.
Shalom
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