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It suddenly dawned on me that you may not know what tithing is.  A “tithe” is a tenth of what God gives you.  In the Old Testament God says that the tenth is His.  You may say, that is an Old Testament law and that you are not under law but grace.  That is true, we are under grace and are led by the Spirit of God.  And the Spirit of God has led me to tithe and receive God’s blessing by His grace.  The New Testament says to save up to give to God in proportion to the increase God has blessed you with.  So, ask God what He wants you to give.  And then give that and don’t worry whether it is a literal tithe or not.  In fact, one pastor suggested that you give anything but a tenth.  He said that this would force us to go to God and hear from Him to find out what He wants us to give.  Whatever you give, give with thanks and a grateful heart.  Gods best blessing is the “hilarity” we feel when we give out of love for Him.

Jeremiah 29 (NIV)

10 This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

God is always seeking our best.  And loving God, loving Agape Love, is the best thing for us.  God’s Word tells us how to do this.  Trust Jesus and obey Him.  But this is hard to do on our own.  I naturally want to take the quick and easy path of sin to meet my God-given needs.  Sin is fun for a little while, but the problem is that the fun doesn’t last long.  And the pain of sin is much greater than the pleasure and can last much longer.  And sin hurts me, others and God.  That’s why God calls it sin.  God wants us to meet our God-given needs His way.  And that takes patience for God’s timing and trust in His character and possibly some amount of effort.

The beautiful thing is that we don’t need to depend on our own strength to follow Him.  If we agree with God that we have had wrong attitudes and actions in the past (sin), if we believe that God the Father raised Jesus, God the Son, back from the dead, and if we surrender control of our lives to the One who loves us most, Jesus promises to meet our needs and give us strength.

And with Jesus in our heart, we will be able to love supernaturally, and God will give us joy.  The way may not always be easy though.  Satan used to ignore me but now that I follow Jesus, satan attacks me much more than before Jesus saved me.

But, Jesus said, “Take heart, for I have overcome [satan].

When I was a kid, Jesus’ words of Matthew 5 made no sense to me.  When I became an adult they still made no sense.  When I gave my life to Jesus they started to make sense.

Matthew 5

1  And seeing the multitudes, He went up
on a mountain, and when He was seated
His disciples came to Him. 2  Then He
opened His mouth and taught them,
saying:

(Jesus’ words)                                          
(How I interpret them, not necessarily accurately)

3    “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy are those who have no confidence in their own goodness,
Because Jesus came for them.

4    Blessed are those who mourn,
    For they shall be comforted.
Happy are those who sorrow over their heart that is bent toward evil,
Because Jesus will give them a new heart bent toward God.

5    Blessed are the meek,
    For they shall inherit the earth.
Happy are those whose strength is under control,
For God will put the earth under their control.

6    Blessed are those who hunger
    and thirst for righteousness,
    For they shall be filled.
Happy are those who desperately want their souls to be clean,
For Jesus will clean them as white as snow.

7    Blessed are the merciful,
    For they shall obtain mercy.
Happy are those who cancel the debts of others that the others’ cannot pay themselves,
For Jesus will cancel their debt to God that they cannot pay themselves.
8    Blessed are the pure in heart,
    For they shall see God.
Happy are those who have no evil desires,
For they will be able to see God working everywhere.

9    Blessed are the peacemakers,
    For they shall be called sons of God.
Happy are those who help brothers and sisters to find common ground, creative synergistic solutions and critical understanding of each other and of themselves,
For they will be named after the Most High.

10    Blessed are those who are 
    persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy are those who are rejected for the purity of, and love in, their heart,
For Jesus is theirs.

11  “Blessed are you when they revile 
and persecute you, and say all kinds 
of evil against you falsely for My sake. 
12  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, 
for great is your reward in heaven, 
for so they persecuted the prophets 
who were before you.
Happy are you when others hate you because you follow Jesus
and your godly character publicly exposes their own evil,
Jump for joy because a prophet’s reward is waiting for you in heaven.