October 30, 2023 • 24 mins
Are you ready to unlock divine blessings and abundance? Our faith walk continues as we delve into the biblical teachings on tithing and giving. The concept of tithing predates the law, with faith-filled examples of Abram and Jacob giving freely to God. Together, we will decode the scripture from Malachi 3:10 where God invites us to 'prove me now'; an open invitation to comprehend the Word and discern God's message to us.
Venture into a deep exploration of biblical passages from Proverbs 3:9-10 and 19:17, unfolding the profound power of giving from our substance to God. We talk about first fruits, alms, and the importance of giving to the poor. Jesus' parable of the sower in Mark 4 shapes our approach to giving, reinforcing the principle that we reap whatever we sow. Remember, the blessings we receive are not always monetary; they can also be spiritual or emotional.
Do you ever struggle to make ends meet? We discuss how tithing and giving can provide support in such times. Jesus' parable of the sower comes to our aid again, reminding us to sow seeds in places that can yield a harvest for the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit guides us through this journey of faith, reinforcing Galatians 6:7's powerful message that we reap what we sow. So, let's open our hearts and heed the divine message. Join me, William Carroll, as we continue our Faith Walk together.
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Episode Transcript
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William Carroll (00:01):
Well, welcome to faith walk podcast with
William Carroll.
I'm your host, william Carroll,and on this podcast, as you
know, we've been talking aboutthe things that God has done in
my life, the word that he hastaught me, the word that I cling
to, the word that I put inpractice and put in faith, and
trying to encourage you andother believers to do the same
(00:22):
thing.
You know, god is an amazing Godand so so many times we just
put him in a box.
So let's get God out of the box.
This morning I'm going tocontinue on this own my
testimony of sowing or tithing.
So I started tithing.
I had been working for twocompanies, you know fire
(00:44):
department, ems.
I quit one, I started giving.
I was making all my bills wherebefore it wasn't and I had
shared that.
I had heard a, I had heard amessage on on tithing and I had
started studying it on my own.
See, don't take my word for it.
You don't have to argue with me.
(01:05):
Look, you can't convince me.
You can't convince me.
It doesn't work, so It doesn'tmatter if you argue or not,
because I know that, I know that.
I know that it works because Iput it in practice by faith, And
God honored that obedience.
And let me just go back andwe'll talk about this again in
(01:29):
Malachi three and six, because Iwant to talk about itit some
more.
There's more than one giving inthe Bible.
That the Bible talks about Now.
Tithing is just an obedience.
It's an obedience to God.
We talked about how in inGenesis that Abram gave by faith
(01:50):
, before the law, a 10th of thespoils of the battle when he
rescued Lot.
And then we talked about howJacob vowed a vow to God that he
would give a 10th of all of hisincrease, of all of his,
everything that he had, if Godwould bless his going and coming
and that God would keep himsafe and bring him back.
(02:11):
And that was two times.
By faith, men of God gave ties,and that was before the law.
Well, in in the New Testament,how are we supposed to give by
faith?
We're supposed to give by faith.
You know we're not under thelaw.
You're right.
(02:32):
I agree with that.
Tithing is not turned in, is nottied into your salvation Just
because you don't tithe or youdon't give, you don't give first
first fruits or alms, or youdon't sow seed.
It doesn't mean that you'regoing to lose your salvation.
No, it doesn't Look.
God doesn't need anything fromyou.
(02:55):
But if we freely give to God,he gives back to us.
And I hear it all the time youcan't out give God, and I'm a
total believer in an agreementwith that.
You can't out give God.
But for God to give to you, youhave to give to him.
That's just.
That's just the way it is.
You have to give to receive.
(03:15):
Blessed is he who gives.
The Lord said Anyway, let's goon here.
Let's.
Malachi said for I am the Lord,I change not.
We talked about God doesn'tchange.
We talked about in Hebrews 13and eight.
It says that that he's the sameyesterday, today and forever.
(03:40):
God does not change.
He's not a man that he shouldlie and he's not a God that
changes.
All right, so he doesn't change.
Jesus said I didn't come to doaway with the law, but I came to
fulfill the law.
Think about that, All right.
Anyway.
It says for I am the Lord, Ichange not.
Therefore, you, sons of Jacob,you are consumed not from even
(04:04):
the days.
Your fathers or gone away frommy ordinance and have not kept
them.
Return unto me and I willreturn unto.
You say if the Lord of hosts.
But you say where shall wereturn?
Will a man rob God?
Malachi three and eight Will aman rob God?
Yet you have robbed me.
But you say where have werobbed you?
And God says in ties andofferings you are cursed with
(04:27):
the curse, for you have robbedme and even this whole nation.
And then in Malachi three and10, and this is the scripture
that God laid on my heart andconvicted me Don't get
undercombed.
If you get undercombed innation at the word tide, then
you know, just check your heart.
That's all I'm saying, becauseit's not of God to be under
(04:50):
condemnation.
Now, if you get under convictionand you start studying it and
you need to study it you need togo and get in the Word and you
need to study it and you need tofind out for yourself.
You don't need to listen to meor ask the pastor or ask
somebody else.
You need to hear from the HolySpirit and learn yourself and
hear what God is saying.
Right, okay, so let's go on.
(05:11):
It says all I'm doing isfeeding you a spoonful right,
okay, so if bring all the tiesinto the storehouse that there
may be meat in my house.
And prove me now, prove me now.
This is the only place in theBible where God says prove me,
test me, try me.
You know, see, test me and tryme and see, boy.
(05:33):
That stuck to me.
When I read that I mean Istarted saying, whoa, god wants
me to prove him.
Prove him for what?
And it says prove me now, saysthe Lord of hosts, if I will not
open the windows of heaven andpour out a blessing, that there
shall not be enough room tocontain it.
And he says I will rebuke thedevourer for your sakes, and he
(05:55):
shall not destroy the fruits ofyour ground.
Neither shall your vine cast orfruit before the time in the
field, says the Lord.
Okay, so in Malachi, when Iread this and you know I was
struggling with paying billswith two jobs, I just quit one
job.
And then I got this scriptureand I started studying it and I
(06:16):
started reading about Abrahamand how he had gave.
He had gave a tithing toMelchizedek and we talked about
that on the last one.
And so I started.
I said you know what I need tostart tithing.
So you know, sometimes it'seasier, sometimes it's easier to
tithe when you got a lot ofmoney than when you have a
little money, because thatlittle money, you think, will
(06:38):
pay an extra bill or something.
Or you know that sometimes itis, sometimes it's it's easier
to to to tie when you have alittle money and you don't have
a lot of money, you know.
But if you don't start whenit's little and this is my
thinking, this is how I had todo it if I didn't have started
when I had a little money, andthen I wouldn't have done it
(07:01):
when I made more money as theyears went on.
See, it was, if you make ahundred dollars, it's easier to
ten, to tie ten dollars in thanwhen you make a million dollars
and you tie a hundred thousand.
You say, well, oh, you know,you wouldn't worry about that
money.
Oh yeah, rich people you knowwell how many times did jesus
said it it's very hard for arich person to get into to
(07:25):
heaven.
You know why?
Because their heart's not right, because their heart is on
their money.
A lot of times, you know, youknow he said it a rich man to
get in heavens, like like acamel going, camel going through
an eye of a needle.
All right now we're talkingabout.
In jerusalem there was a placegot an eye of a needle in the,
(07:45):
in the door, into the, into thetemple but or into the city.
But listen, even if you take aneedle and you say a camel can't
go through it, it's about thesame thing.
And then, and then they askedhim.
They said, jesus, well, who canget into heaven?
He said, well, with men it'simpossible, but with god nothing
is impossible, so nothing'simpossible.
(08:05):
Do you know?
A lot of corporations give andthey give freely.
They give much money tocharities and to all these
different things.
There's businessmen that havelearned that if they give, then
they're blessed back from thatgiving, and they're not even
christian.
I mean, just listen to some ofthe testimonies of these people
(08:29):
in the natural world thatbelieve in giving because they
say when I give, it seems like Iget back.
I, I receive more, that I cangive more.
See, that's the purpose.
It's not that I want to receivemore from god so I can consume
it.
The thing is, I give so that Iget more, so that I can give
more, because there's alwaysneeds to give to.
(08:51):
That's why I want to put mymoney where I will be blessed
back with it.
Tithing is just the start of it.
It says bring all the ties andthe offerings into the
storehouse that that there maybe me in my house.
And it says I will rebuke thedevourer.
So this is the thing I wasalways when I had the two jobs
(09:14):
and I was making double themoney something during bills,
I'd get a little bit of money.
You know how it is.
You get a little bit moneysaved up.
Oh, you think you want to dosomething with it and what
happens?
It's gone, it's gone.
It it goes away.
Right, you got to put a newalternator on the car, your car
breaks down or you need newtires or something.
(09:34):
But as I started giving, Istarted noticing that all that
stuff that just took my extramoney that I had started kind of
taking care of itself.
You know how's that?
Will you?
Because it's a supernaturalthing.
We serve a supernatural god.
God is not a god, is not a manthat he should laugh at one
(09:55):
thing and when he says prove meand try me, oh, why don't you
put it to work?
Prove him and try him, see ifit works.
That's what I did.
That's what I did.
You don't have to do it, butanyway, let's move on.
Because then it talks about uh,there's a, there's also a first
fruits.
The first fruits was usually atthe time of pentecost, the
(10:17):
feast of the pentecost in theold testament, and the first
fruits is when they harvestedthe field and they got their
first fruits.
And it was the increase oftheir field.
Oh, this year I got an increaseof my crops.
You know well, my first fruitsis when I get a bonus.
I got a bonus from work.
Oh, that's a first fruit.
Why?
Because it's something I wasn'texpecting.
(10:38):
It was something extra.
Do I have to pay a tithe on it?
No, I give an offering off ofmy first fruits because of my
love and because of my, mythankfulness that god blessed me
with something extra.
Okay, now then there's alsoarms.
Jesus talked about arms a lot,and he talked about when you're
(11:00):
giving your arms.
Arms, don't let your left handknow what your right hand doing.
Don't blow the trumpet in thefeast.
Don't tell everybody how muchyou're giving.
What are arms?
Arms is giving to the poor.
See, jesus said you'll have thepoor always.
Jesus sent out judas the nightof the last supper to give him
to the poor.
And what did he do?
He went and he sold out jesus.
(11:21):
For uh, what was it?
30 or 33 coins of silver.
Yeah, that's what happened.
But anyway, you give arms, youknow, and in arms is it says in
proverbs that proverbs that arms, that when you give unto the
lord, hold on.
Let me see here, I got it righthere.
Just give me one second.
(11:43):
The proverbs three.
Let's go to proverbs chapterthree.
Right, quick, proverbs chapterthree, and we're going to look
at verse nine and ten.
So proverbs three, nine and ten.
This is what it says.
It says honor the law of thelord with your substance and
with the first fruits of thineincrease.
(12:05):
So shall your borns be filledwith plenty in your presence,
shall merge out with new wine.
That's the alms.
Honor the Lord with yoursubstance.
That's the first fruits.
I mean, that's the first fruit.
That's the scripture I wantedto share a minute ago and I kind
of got ahead of myself.
So now, then, in the alms isProverbs 19.
(12:34):
Proverbs 19,.
Yes, I know I'm in the OldTestament, proverbs 19,.
Listen to this.
It says 19 and seven, 19 andseven, 19 and seven.
It says all the brethren of thepoor do hate him.
(12:57):
How much more does his friendsgo far from him.
He pursues them with words, yetthey are wanting.
He gets wisdom.
Love with his own soul, and hekeepeth understanding shall find
him.
Well, I'll be darned.
Either I didn't read that rightor I didn't write it down right
.
Hold on just a second.
Maybe it's 17.
(13:19):
Here it is Proverbs 19 and 17,.
That was a good proverb, butthis is the one I wanted to read
.
It says he that hath pity uponthe poor, lendeth to the Lord.
So when we give unto the poor,it's as if we lend it to the
Lord.
We're giving some of God'smoney to the poor right and he,
(13:42):
that which hath given and thatwhich hath he given, will he pay
him again.
So the Lord says that which youhave given, I'll pay again.
You're gonna get it back.
It may not be in money, butit's gonna be in blessings, it's
gonna be in something.
You see, we get so tied up withmoney.
That's why Jesus talked aboutmoney all the time.
(14:03):
I mean, he talked more aboutmoney than he did salvation.
All right, okay, okay.
So listen, let's move on rightquick.
And I know I'm going throughthese fast, but I don't wanna
spend a whole lot of time onthem.
But I want you to get in thereand you to look them up in you,
to ask the Holy Spirit to teachyou and to guide you and to show
(14:24):
you what I'm telling you.
Right, okay, so, and up inMatthew six.
Matthew six, you know whatwe're gonna talk about now.
Yep, that's right.
We're going to talk aboutsowing seed.
(14:46):
Matthew 6 says Take heed thatyou do not do your arms before
men to be seen of them,otherwise you have no reward
from Father in heaven.
That's the arms that's given tothe poor.
Make sure you know.
Don't let your right hand knowwhat you left in there.
Don't brag about how much yougave to this or gave to that or
(15:07):
gave to this charity or whatever.
That's between you and God andyou and them.
A lot of times I may buysomebody their lunch or their
and I'll see them sitting at atable over there.
Well, I don't go, I want tobless them.
So I tell the waitress, or whenthey, I say, hey, I want to pay
for their meal, I don't.
(15:29):
I say don't.
She says, well, who do you wantme to tell them about it?
I said don't, just tell themthat they, that somebody blessed
them because I don't want touse lose my blessing.
You know, I went out with themotorcycle ministry and we was
going to eat and we went to pullit up to eat and, oh, I don't
know how many there was, there'squite a few of us there and I
(15:49):
said, I said I told the waitress, I said bring me the check, and
so I was going to buy everybodyand everybody started saying
hey, where's my check?
Where's my check, where's mycheck?
And she said, well, it'salready paid for.
And they go, what?
No, no, no, we got to pay forwho paid.
So she did.
He ended up telling them,pointing me out, and they came
over and they said, oh, you know, here, let me pay, you, let me
(16:10):
pay.
And I said, no, don't rob me ofmy blessing, don't rob me of my
blessing.
That is my blessing to blessy'all with today.
God laid it on my heart to payto bless you, just to be a
blessing to you.
Don't rob me of it, because ifyou start giving me your money
back, then you've robbed me ofmy blessing.
(16:30):
You know what good was it?
You know, because I like to beblessed of God, because I want
to bless God, I want to blessother people and I love to be
blessed by God because I can'tout give him.
I cannot out give God.
All right, so let's go to MarkMark, chapter four, and we're
(16:52):
going to look at verse.
We're going to start in versethree.
It's Jesus talking about thesower.
He said there went out a sowerto sow and it came to pass.
He sowed, some fell by thewayside and the fowls of the air
ate it and devoured it up.
Some fell on stony ground whereit had not much earth, and
immediately it sprang up becauseit had no depth of earth.
(17:15):
But when the sun was up it wasscorched away because it had no
root.
And then others fell amongthorns.
Thorns grew up, choked it outand it yielded no fruit.
And others fell on good groundand did yield fruit.
That sprang up and increasedand brought forth some 30, some
60 and some 100 fold.
(17:36):
He that hath ears, let him hear.
And then Jesus, we know thatJesus goes on and tells what the
parable is.
He says the sower sows the word, the sower sows the word and
the word falls sometimes on goodground, sometimes stony ground,
sometimes in amongst the weeds,and sometimes on good ground
(17:58):
where it takes root.
Now, listen, every time God istalking about something, there's
always more than one meaning toit.
So I took this scripture and Istarted applying it to my giving
.
You know, and because in inGalatians 6 it's a, in a
(18:20):
Galatians 6 it says be notdeceived for whatsoever.
A man soweth, that he shallreap All right.
So if I sow good seed, goodseed, if, with a clear heart and
a clear conscience, the Lordlays it on my heart to give to a
certain ministry, or to give toa Building fund or whatever God
(18:45):
lays on my heart to sow into,if I sow that into good ground,
it's gonna produce fruit.
Now, it may not be cash back tome, see, god also, he can, he
can bless me 3060 and a hundredfold back in cash.
He can, he can.
It says young men, give untoyour bosom.
(19:05):
It's not always about that,it's about spiritual blessings,
it's about just being able to bea cheerful giver, to love God,
to want to give, to want to sowinto the things that God's are
is doing.
See, I want to put it in goodsoul.
And now, if you see a ministryand it's always Struggling and
(19:25):
it's all they're having, theyjust have a hard time all the
time.
Well, you know, sometimes youknow something's needs to change
in their ministry.
Not saying that it's bad soil,but something needs to change.
They need to take a look at itand they need to change
something in the ministry andsay, okay, lord, where are we at
?
You know why we alwaysstruggling.
(19:47):
You're you on the cattle, on athousand hills, Lord.
All the gold and all the Gloryis yours.
Lord, you see, when I, when I'vegot my paycheck and I did start
tithing, you know, I startedtithing and and because I, I
thought this is this is what Itold people, the those, the name
that's on that check, whoeverit is, you know they didn't,
(20:12):
they didn't sign my check.
They signed it in the naturalrealm, but that's God's
signature.
God gave me that job, godblessed me with that job and
that's God's money that he gavehim to me.
And, out of obedience, becauseI love him, I want to give.
So I give 10%.
Then, as he lays on my heart, Igive first fruits like a bonus.
(20:35):
If I get a bonus, I'll givefirst fruits.
Look, you don't have to give 10%of every $10 bill you got in
your pocket.
What you do if that came from acheck, a paycheck, or from
settling cattle or for whateveryou do.
Well, however, you make aliving.
When you get that amount, thenyou give.
That's where the tithe in mymind comes off.
(20:56):
You give the tithe right then?
Well, the other 90%, 100%, isyours to spend as you see fit in
the Lord.
That's what I always say,because I always want to ask him
it.
Hey, lord, you know, do youmind if I buy this new
motorcycle?
You know?
I mean, I want to ask him, Iwant to be in his will.
You understand what I'm saying.
So you don't have to go aroundand every time you get a piece
(21:18):
of gum, give 10% of piece of gumto something else.
But listen, it's not only aboutmoney.
It's not about my God's nottrying to get something from you
.
You know God's trying to getblessings to you.
That's what he wants to do.
See my dad with those $5 in thein the collection plate.
My dad, crap about it.
You know all they want my money.
(21:38):
No, they don't want your money.
They don't want your money.
God don't need your money.
If it's your money, why are youstruggling with your bills all
the time?
Because you say it's your moneyand you're not recognizing the
Creator, you're not recognizingGod, you're not recognizing the
blessings that he's given untoyou if you're born again
(21:59):
Christian.
Now, a lot of people aren'tborn again.
They don't know Jesus is theirLord and Savior and that's how
they work and they live frompaycheck to paycheck.
A lot of Christians Are brokeChristians because they think
it's an honor of God to be broke.
Well, it's not.
Look at Abraham.
Look at Abraham.
Look how much God blessed him.
Look at Job.
Look how much God blessed him.
Look at all the, the people inthe Old Testament, how God
(22:22):
blessed him.
And when people saw that Godblessed them, they recognize
that their God, their God, hadblessed him, that the God,
jehovah Rapha, jehovah Nicest,jehovah Jireh, I am the good
Lord that have provided.
You see, people, listen, you'vegot to get in the word.
(22:43):
Be not deceived.
Whatever a man soweth, whatevera man soweth, whatever See,
whatever.
So if I soweth, if I sowethseed, if I soweth money into
good ground, that's what I'mgoing to reap a harvest on.
If I sow money into good ground, into God's causes, am I going
to reap a harvest on it?
Yeah, will it be in moneySometimes?
(23:05):
Sometimes it's going to be inblessing.
But listen, if I'm a good sowerand I'm a good tither and I'm a
good giver, guess what God'sgoing to give me more money to
do what with?
To give because he knows he cantrust me, because my heart is
right with Him and he knows I'ma giver, because money isn't
what it's all about, because Itrust God for my needs.
(23:27):
He's my provider.
Is God your provider today?
Anyway, I just wanted to talk alittle bit about that because
once we started talking about it, man, I started getting digging
.
See, it refreshes my mind.
It refreshes me to understandwho God is in my life and how
he's blessed me and how I needto act accordingly to Him.
(23:47):
And why do the things I do?
Why do I tithe?
Why do I give alms?
Why do I give first fruits?
Why do I sow seed in placesthat it'll produce the harvest
for the kingdom of God?
You know I mean anyway, I gotto stop here, but God bless you
and I hope it blesses you.
You know, get in the word andstudy it.
(24:09):
Maybe this will speak to yourheart and cause you to see that
you know, if you're not makingyour bills, then now is a good
time to tithe.
Now is a good time to tithe ifyou're not making your bills
because of destroying them.
Got to go, love you Until nexttime.
Bye.
Well, welcome to faith walk podcast with
William Carroll.
I'm your host, william Carroll,and on this podcast, as you
know, we've been talking aboutthe things that God has done in
my life, the word that he hastaught me, the word that I cling
to, the word that I put inpractice and put in faith, and
trying to encourage you andother believers to do the same
(00:22):
thing.
You know, god is an amazing Godand so so many times we just
put him in a box.
So let's get God out of the box.
This morning I'm going tocontinue on this own my
testimony of sowing or tithing.
So I started tithing.
I had been working for twocompanies, you know fire
(00:44):
department, ems.
I quit one, I started giving.
I was making all my bills wherebefore it wasn't and I had
shared that.
I had heard a, I had heard amessage on on tithing and I had
started studying it on my own.
See, don't take my word for it.
You don't have to argue with me.
(01:05):
Look, you can't convince me.
You can't convince me.
It doesn't work, so It doesn'tmatter if you argue or not,
because I know that, I know that.
I know that it works because Iput it in practice by faith, And
God honored that obedience.
And let me just go back andwe'll talk about this again in
(01:29):
Malachi three and six, because Iwant to talk about itit some
more.
There's more than one giving inthe Bible.
That the Bible talks about Now.
Tithing is just an obedience.
It's an obedience to God.
We talked about how in inGenesis that Abram gave by faith
(01:50):
, before the law, a 10th of thespoils of the battle when he
rescued Lot.
And then we talked about howJacob vowed a vow to God that he
would give a 10th of all of hisincrease, of all of his,
everything that he had, if Godwould bless his going and coming
and that God would keep himsafe and bring him back.
(02:11):
And that was two times.
By faith, men of God gave ties,and that was before the law.
Well, in in the New Testament,how are we supposed to give by
faith?
We're supposed to give by faith.
You know we're not under thelaw.
You're right.
(02:32):
I agree with that.
Tithing is not turned in, is nottied into your salvation Just
because you don't tithe or youdon't give, you don't give first
first fruits or alms, or youdon't sow seed.
It doesn't mean that you'regoing to lose your salvation.
No, it doesn't Look.
God doesn't need anything fromyou.
(02:55):
But if we freely give to God,he gives back to us.
And I hear it all the time youcan't out give God, and I'm a
total believer in an agreementwith that.
You can't out give God.
But for God to give to you, youhave to give to him.
That's just.
That's just the way it is.
You have to give to receive.
(03:15):
Blessed is he who gives.
The Lord said Anyway, let's goon here.
Let's.
Malachi said for I am the Lord,I change not.
We talked about God doesn'tchange.
We talked about in Hebrews 13and eight.
It says that that he's the sameyesterday, today and forever.
(03:40):
God does not change.
He's not a man that he shouldlie and he's not a God that
changes.
All right, so he doesn't change.
Jesus said I didn't come to doaway with the law, but I came to
fulfill the law.
Think about that, All right.
Anyway.
It says for I am the Lord, Ichange not.
Therefore, you, sons of Jacob,you are consumed not from even
(04:04):
the days.
Your fathers or gone away frommy ordinance and have not kept
them.
Return unto me and I willreturn unto.
You say if the Lord of hosts.
But you say where shall wereturn?
Will a man rob God?
Malachi three and eight Will aman rob God?
Yet you have robbed me.
But you say where have werobbed you?
And God says in ties andofferings you are cursed with
(04:27):
the curse, for you have robbedme and even this whole nation.
And then in Malachi three and10, and this is the scripture
that God laid on my heart andconvicted me Don't get
undercombed.
If you get undercombed innation at the word tide, then
you know, just check your heart.
That's all I'm saying, becauseit's not of God to be under
(04:50):
condemnation.
Now, if you get under convictionand you start studying it and
you need to study it you need togo and get in the Word and you
need to study it and you need tofind out for yourself.
You don't need to listen to meor ask the pastor or ask
somebody else.
You need to hear from the HolySpirit and learn yourself and
hear what God is saying.
Right, okay, so let's go on.
(05:11):
It says all I'm doing isfeeding you a spoonful right,
okay, so if bring all the tiesinto the storehouse that there
may be meat in my house.
And prove me now, prove me now.
This is the only place in theBible where God says prove me,
test me, try me.
You know, see, test me and tryme and see, boy.
(05:33):
That stuck to me.
When I read that I mean Istarted saying, whoa, god wants
me to prove him.
Prove him for what?
And it says prove me now, saysthe Lord of hosts, if I will not
open the windows of heaven andpour out a blessing, that there
shall not be enough room tocontain it.
And he says I will rebuke thedevourer for your sakes, and he
(05:55):
shall not destroy the fruits ofyour ground.
Neither shall your vine cast orfruit before the time in the
field, says the Lord.
Okay, so in Malachi, when Iread this and you know I was
struggling with paying billswith two jobs, I just quit one
job.
And then I got this scriptureand I started studying it and I
(06:16):
started reading about Abrahamand how he had gave.
He had gave a tithing toMelchizedek and we talked about
that on the last one.
And so I started.
I said you know what I need tostart tithing.
So you know, sometimes it'seasier, sometimes it's easier to
tithe when you got a lot ofmoney than when you have a
little money, because thatlittle money, you think, will
(06:38):
pay an extra bill or something.
Or you know that sometimes itis, sometimes it's it's easier
to to to tie when you have alittle money and you don't have
a lot of money, you know.
But if you don't start whenit's little and this is my
thinking, this is how I had todo it if I didn't have started
when I had a little money, andthen I wouldn't have done it
(07:01):
when I made more money as theyears went on.
See, it was, if you make ahundred dollars, it's easier to
ten, to tie ten dollars in thanwhen you make a million dollars
and you tie a hundred thousand.
You say, well, oh, you know,you wouldn't worry about that
money.
Oh yeah, rich people you knowwell how many times did jesus
said it it's very hard for arich person to get into to
(07:25):
heaven.
You know why?
Because their heart's not right, because their heart is on
their money.
A lot of times, you know, youknow he said it a rich man to
get in heavens, like like acamel going, camel going through
an eye of a needle.
All right now we're talkingabout.
In jerusalem there was a placegot an eye of a needle in the,
(07:45):
in the door, into the, into thetemple but or into the city.
But listen, even if you take aneedle and you say a camel can't
go through it, it's about thesame thing.
And then, and then they askedhim.
They said, jesus, well, who canget into heaven?
He said, well, with men it'simpossible, but with god nothing
is impossible, so nothing'simpossible.
(08:05):
Do you know?
A lot of corporations give andthey give freely.
They give much money tocharities and to all these
different things.
There's businessmen that havelearned that if they give, then
they're blessed back from thatgiving, and they're not even
christian.
I mean, just listen to some ofthe testimonies of these people
(08:29):
in the natural world thatbelieve in giving because they
say when I give, it seems like Iget back.
I, I receive more, that I cangive more.
See, that's the purpose.
It's not that I want to receivemore from god so I can consume
it.
The thing is, I give so that Iget more, so that I can give
more, because there's alwaysneeds to give to.
(08:51):
That's why I want to put mymoney where I will be blessed
back with it.
Tithing is just the start of it.
It says bring all the ties andthe offerings into the
storehouse that that there maybe me in my house.
And it says I will rebuke thedevourer.
So this is the thing I wasalways when I had the two jobs
(09:14):
and I was making double themoney something during bills,
I'd get a little bit of money.
You know how it is.
You get a little bit moneysaved up.
Oh, you think you want to dosomething with it and what
happens?
It's gone, it's gone.
It it goes away.
Right, you got to put a newalternator on the car, your car
breaks down or you need newtires or something.
(09:34):
But as I started giving, Istarted noticing that all that
stuff that just took my extramoney that I had started kind of
taking care of itself.
You know how's that?
Will you?
Because it's a supernaturalthing.
We serve a supernatural god.
God is not a god, is not a manthat he should laugh at one
(09:55):
thing and when he says prove meand try me, oh, why don't you
put it to work?
Prove him and try him, see ifit works.
That's what I did.
That's what I did.
You don't have to do it, butanyway, let's move on.
Because then it talks about uh,there's a, there's also a first
fruits.
The first fruits was usually atthe time of pentecost, the
(10:17):
feast of the pentecost in theold testament, and the first
fruits is when they harvestedthe field and they got their
first fruits.
And it was the increase oftheir field.
Oh, this year I got an increaseof my crops.
You know well, my first fruitsis when I get a bonus.
I got a bonus from work.
Oh, that's a first fruit.
Why?
Because it's something I wasn'texpecting.
(10:38):
It was something extra.
Do I have to pay a tithe on it?
No, I give an offering off ofmy first fruits because of my
love and because of my, mythankfulness that god blessed me
with something extra.
Okay, now then there's alsoarms.
Jesus talked about arms a lot,and he talked about when you're
(11:00):
giving your arms.
Arms, don't let your left handknow what your right hand doing.
Don't blow the trumpet in thefeast.
Don't tell everybody how muchyou're giving.
What are arms?
Arms is giving to the poor.
See, jesus said you'll have thepoor always.
Jesus sent out judas the nightof the last supper to give him
to the poor.
And what did he do?
He went and he sold out jesus.
(11:21):
For uh, what was it?
30 or 33 coins of silver.
Yeah, that's what happened.
But anyway, you give arms, youknow, and in arms is it says in
proverbs that proverbs that arms, that when you give unto the
lord, hold on.
Let me see here, I got it righthere.
Just give me one second.
(11:43):
The proverbs three.
Let's go to proverbs chapterthree.
Right, quick, proverbs chapterthree, and we're going to look
at verse nine and ten.
So proverbs three, nine and ten.
This is what it says.
It says honor the law of thelord with your substance and
with the first fruits of thineincrease.
(12:05):
So shall your borns be filledwith plenty in your presence,
shall merge out with new wine.
That's the alms.
Honor the Lord with yoursubstance.
That's the first fruits.
I mean, that's the first fruit.
That's the scripture I wantedto share a minute ago and I kind
of got ahead of myself.
So now, then, in the alms isProverbs 19.
(12:34):
Proverbs 19,.
Yes, I know I'm in the OldTestament, proverbs 19,.
Listen to this.
It says 19 and seven, 19 andseven, 19 and seven.
It says all the brethren of thepoor do hate him.
(12:57):
How much more does his friendsgo far from him.
He pursues them with words, yetthey are wanting.
He gets wisdom.
Love with his own soul, and hekeepeth understanding shall find
him.
Well, I'll be darned.
Either I didn't read that rightor I didn't write it down right
.
Hold on just a second.
Maybe it's 17.
(13:19):
Here it is Proverbs 19 and 17,.
That was a good proverb, butthis is the one I wanted to read
.
It says he that hath pity uponthe poor, lendeth to the Lord.
So when we give unto the poor,it's as if we lend it to the
Lord.
We're giving some of God'smoney to the poor right and he,
(13:42):
that which hath given and thatwhich hath he given, will he pay
him again.
So the Lord says that which youhave given, I'll pay again.
You're gonna get it back.
It may not be in money, butit's gonna be in blessings, it's
gonna be in something.
You see, we get so tied up withmoney.
That's why Jesus talked aboutmoney all the time.
(14:03):
I mean, he talked more aboutmoney than he did salvation.
All right, okay, okay.
So listen, let's move on rightquick.
And I know I'm going throughthese fast, but I don't wanna
spend a whole lot of time onthem.
But I want you to get in thereand you to look them up in you,
to ask the Holy Spirit to teachyou and to guide you and to show
(14:24):
you what I'm telling you.
Right, okay, so, and up inMatthew six.
Matthew six, you know whatwe're gonna talk about now.
Yep, that's right.
We're going to talk aboutsowing seed.
(14:46):
Matthew 6 says Take heed thatyou do not do your arms before
men to be seen of them,otherwise you have no reward
from Father in heaven.
That's the arms that's given tothe poor.
Make sure you know.
Don't let your right hand knowwhat you left in there.
Don't brag about how much yougave to this or gave to that or
(15:07):
gave to this charity or whatever.
That's between you and God andyou and them.
A lot of times I may buysomebody their lunch or their
and I'll see them sitting at atable over there.
Well, I don't go, I want tobless them.
So I tell the waitress, or whenthey, I say, hey, I want to pay
for their meal, I don't.
(15:29):
I say don't.
She says, well, who do you wantme to tell them about it?
I said don't, just tell themthat they, that somebody blessed
them because I don't want touse lose my blessing.
You know, I went out with themotorcycle ministry and we was
going to eat and we went to pullit up to eat and, oh, I don't
know how many there was, there'squite a few of us there and I
(15:49):
said, I said I told the waitress, I said bring me the check, and
so I was going to buy everybodyand everybody started saying
hey, where's my check?
Where's my check, where's mycheck?
And she said, well, it'salready paid for.
And they go, what?
No, no, no, we got to pay forwho paid.
So she did.
He ended up telling them,pointing me out, and they came
over and they said, oh, you know, here, let me pay, you, let me
(16:10):
pay.
And I said, no, don't rob me ofmy blessing, don't rob me of my
blessing.
That is my blessing to blessy'all with today.
God laid it on my heart to payto bless you, just to be a
blessing to you.
Don't rob me of it, because ifyou start giving me your money
back, then you've robbed me ofmy blessing.
(16:30):
You know what good was it?
You know, because I like to beblessed of God, because I want
to bless God, I want to blessother people and I love to be
blessed by God because I can'tout give him.
I cannot out give God.
All right, so let's go to MarkMark, chapter four, and we're
(16:52):
going to look at verse.
We're going to start in versethree.
It's Jesus talking about thesower.
He said there went out a sowerto sow and it came to pass.
He sowed, some fell by thewayside and the fowls of the air
ate it and devoured it up.
Some fell on stony ground whereit had not much earth, and
immediately it sprang up becauseit had no depth of earth.
(17:15):
But when the sun was up it wasscorched away because it had no
root.
And then others fell amongthorns.
Thorns grew up, choked it outand it yielded no fruit.
And others fell on good groundand did yield fruit.
That sprang up and increasedand brought forth some 30, some
60 and some 100 fold.
(17:36):
He that hath ears, let him hear.
And then Jesus, we know thatJesus goes on and tells what the
parable is.
He says the sower sows the word, the sower sows the word and
the word falls sometimes on goodground, sometimes stony ground,
sometimes in amongst the weeds,and sometimes on good ground
(17:58):
where it takes root.
Now, listen, every time God istalking about something, there's
always more than one meaning toit.
So I took this scripture and Istarted applying it to my giving
.
You know, and because in inGalatians 6 it's a, in a
(18:20):
Galatians 6 it says be notdeceived for whatsoever.
A man soweth, that he shallreap All right.
So if I sow good seed, goodseed, if, with a clear heart and
a clear conscience, the Lordlays it on my heart to give to a
certain ministry, or to give toa Building fund or whatever God
(18:45):
lays on my heart to sow into,if I sow that into good ground,
it's gonna produce fruit.
Now, it may not be cash back tome, see, god also, he can, he
can bless me 3060 and a hundredfold back in cash.
He can, he can.
It says young men, give untoyour bosom.
(19:05):
It's not always about that,it's about spiritual blessings,
it's about just being able to bea cheerful giver, to love God,
to want to give, to want to sowinto the things that God's are
is doing.
See, I want to put it in goodsoul.
And now, if you see a ministryand it's always Struggling and
(19:25):
it's all they're having, theyjust have a hard time all the
time.
Well, you know, sometimes youknow something's needs to change
in their ministry.
Not saying that it's bad soil,but something needs to change.
They need to take a look at itand they need to change
something in the ministry andsay, okay, lord, where are we at
?
You know why we alwaysstruggling.
(19:47):
You're you on the cattle, on athousand hills, Lord.
All the gold and all the Gloryis yours.
Lord, you see, when I, when I'vegot my paycheck and I did start
tithing, you know, I startedtithing and and because I, I
thought this is this is what Itold people, the those, the name
that's on that check, whoeverit is, you know they didn't,
(20:12):
they didn't sign my check.
They signed it in the naturalrealm, but that's God's
signature.
God gave me that job, godblessed me with that job and
that's God's money that he gavehim to me.
And, out of obedience, becauseI love him, I want to give.
So I give 10%.
Then, as he lays on my heart, Igive first fruits like a bonus.
(20:35):
If I get a bonus, I'll givefirst fruits.
Look, you don't have to give 10%of every $10 bill you got in
your pocket.
What you do if that came from acheck, a paycheck, or from
settling cattle or for whateveryou do.
Well, however, you make aliving.
When you get that amount, thenyou give.
That's where the tithe in mymind comes off.
(20:56):
You give the tithe right then?
Well, the other 90%, 100%, isyours to spend as you see fit in
the Lord.
That's what I always say,because I always want to ask him
it.
Hey, lord, you know, do youmind if I buy this new
motorcycle?
You know?
I mean, I want to ask him, Iwant to be in his will.
You understand what I'm saying.
So you don't have to go aroundand every time you get a piece
(21:18):
of gum, give 10% of piece of gumto something else.
But listen, it's not only aboutmoney.
It's not about my God's nottrying to get something from you
.
You know God's trying to getblessings to you.
That's what he wants to do.
See my dad with those $5 in thein the collection plate.
My dad, crap about it.
You know all they want my money.
(21:38):
No, they don't want your money.
They don't want your money.
God don't need your money.
If it's your money, why are youstruggling with your bills all
the time?
Because you say it's your moneyand you're not recognizing the
Creator, you're not recognizingGod, you're not recognizing the
blessings that he's given untoyou if you're born again
(21:59):
Christian.
Now, a lot of people aren'tborn again.
They don't know Jesus is theirLord and Savior and that's how
they work and they live frompaycheck to paycheck.
A lot of Christians Are brokeChristians because they think
it's an honor of God to be broke.
Well, it's not.
Look at Abraham.
Look at Abraham.
Look how much God blessed him.
Look at Job.
Look how much God blessed him.
Look at all the, the people inthe Old Testament, how God
(22:22):
blessed him.
And when people saw that Godblessed them, they recognize
that their God, their God, hadblessed him, that the God,
jehovah Rapha, jehovah Nicest,jehovah Jireh, I am the good
Lord that have provided.
You see, people, listen, you'vegot to get in the word.
(22:43):
Be not deceived.
Whatever a man soweth, whatevera man soweth, whatever See,
whatever.
So if I soweth, if I sowethseed, if I soweth money into
good ground, that's what I'mgoing to reap a harvest on.
If I sow money into good ground, into God's causes, am I going
to reap a harvest on it?
Yeah, will it be in moneySometimes?
(23:05):
Sometimes it's going to be inblessing.
But listen, if I'm a good sowerand I'm a good tither and I'm a
good giver, guess what God'sgoing to give me more money to
do what with?
To give because he knows he cantrust me, because my heart is
right with Him and he knows I'ma giver, because money isn't
what it's all about, because Itrust God for my needs.
(23:27):
He's my provider.
Is God your provider today?
Anyway, I just wanted to talk alittle bit about that because
once we started talking about it, man, I started getting digging
.
See, it refreshes my mind.
It refreshes me to understandwho God is in my life and how
he's blessed me and how I needto act accordingly to Him.
(23:47):
And why do the things I do?
Why do I tithe?
Why do I give alms?
Why do I give first fruits?
Why do I sow seed in placesthat it'll produce the harvest
for the kingdom of God?
You know I mean anyway, I gotto stop here, but God bless you
and I hope it blesses you.
You know, get in the word andstudy it.
(24:09):
Maybe this will speak to yourheart and cause you to see that
you know, if you're not makingyour bills, then now is a good
time to tithe.
Now is a good time to tithe ifyou're not making your bills
because of destroying them.
Got to go, love you Until nexttime.
Bye.
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