Do you give back? A happy giver gets much more back in return. How much should you give back? In the Bible, the tithe is 10 percent.
In the following verse, we see that Jacob determined to give 10 percent: Genesis 28:22...and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Jacob prayed to God that whatever God gave him, he would give back a tenth. That is still true today.
I was suddenly curious as to why 10 and not 12 percent. So a bit of research later (Number in Scripture. It's Supernatural Design and Spiritual
Significance. E.W. Bullinger. (See suggested reading in the right
sidebar.)). The number 10 is a "perfect" number and signifies the perfection of Divine order. Ten marks the completeness of order, and implies that nothing is wanting; and the whole cycle is completed. For tithing the number 10 represents the whole of what was due from man unto God, and marks and recognizes God's claim on the whole.
Many people I have talked to over the years tell me they cannot afford to tithe 10 percent. I explain to them in order to be blessed, they should be happy to give 10 percent. I would not even think of not giving 10 percent now. But when I began to tithe I also did not think I had it to give. I was very burdened with debt and the paycheck was not big enough to pay all I owed. I decided that I must do what the Bible taught and begin tithing. Not to mention the 10 percent I started out giving would not help that much with the bills anyway, so I convinced myself that I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
And gain I did. From that point in time, I have not been without enough money to pay bills! It has been very comforting and peaceful to no longer be in debt as well. And not being in debt began with hearing the information about tithing and applying this principle to my life since it was obviously a principle set forth in the Bible.
If you want to give more than 10 percent, then you are abundantly sharing. This is way cool! ;)
So, the take home message, give back of what you receive at the minimum 10 percent. Oh and give it with a happy heart. 2 Chr 9:7: Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. I like, no love, that God loveth a cheerful giver :).
May you be blessed with all the blessings that God has to give. I pray this is the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Again I give thanks and reference to BlueLetterBible.org. It's the "go to" for my Bible references: http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Dan&c=6&p=0&rl=0&ss=0&t=KJV
Monday, October 28, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Believe as Joseph of Arimathaea
Do you believe as big as Joseph of Arimathaea?
In a Bible teaching recently, I learned a great deal about a certain disciple of Christ Jesus. He was Joseph of Arimathaea. I hope I do this justice.
Joseph was a member of the Judean Counsel or Sanhedrin and was a believer of what Christ Jesus taught, therefore a disciple (a learner or pupil) of Jesus. In the following verses, one can discern that Joseph was rich or wealthy and an honorable counsellor and that he did not consent with the counsel to have Christ Jesus killed. He was a believer, however, was one secretly for fear of the Judeans. He himself was a Judean but he knew how dangerous it was at that time to be an open follower of Christ Jesus. But God tells us in two of the verses below that Joseph waited for the kingdom of God. He believed that which Christ Jesus taught. But, even though Joseph could not openly follow Christ Jesus, he believed wholeheartedly in his teachings. He also, when the Counsel took votes on to have Jesus killed, did not consent. Although, he did not vote to have Christ Jesus killed, his vote obviously did not prevent Christ Jesus from being killed. But Joseph went boldly to Pilate on the day Christ Jesus died to request his body and then Joseph buried him in his own sepulchre. He buried him in linen, the kind that rich people wore, and had the sepulchre covered.
Mat 27:57 KJV - When the even was come , there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple :
Mar 15:43 KJV - Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came , and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Luk 23:51 KJV - (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.
Jhn 19:38 KJV - And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave . He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
Something you may notice in the above verses is that Joseph did not bury Jesus with spices which was the custom of the culture.
[55] And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. [56] And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. - Luk 23:55-56 KJV
[1] And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. - Mar 16:1 KJV
And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. - Jhn 19:39 KJV
Why, do you suppose that Joseph of Arimathaea did not use the spices and ointments? He believed in what Jesus taught. That Jesus would be raised from the dead. That death would be defeated and God would do that which he had promised. He believed and waited for the Kingdom of God. But even though the women and Nicodemus loved Christ Jesus, they did not believe as big as Joseph and carried out the custom of the burial. Joseph would have known the burial custom and had the money to buy the spices that were the custom, but since Jesus was to only be in the grave a short time, there was no need.
That's the kind of believing I want to have. What a great believer was this Joseph of Arimathaea. Can't you just imagine how he rejoiced when he saw the risen Savior?
May you be blessed with all the blessings that God has to give. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Again I give thanks and reference to BlueLetterBible.org. It's the "go to" for my Bible references: http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Dan&c=6&p=0&rl=0&ss=0&t=KJV
In a Bible teaching recently, I learned a great deal about a certain disciple of Christ Jesus. He was Joseph of Arimathaea. I hope I do this justice.
Joseph was a member of the Judean Counsel or Sanhedrin and was a believer of what Christ Jesus taught, therefore a disciple (a learner or pupil) of Jesus. In the following verses, one can discern that Joseph was rich or wealthy and an honorable counsellor and that he did not consent with the counsel to have Christ Jesus killed. He was a believer, however, was one secretly for fear of the Judeans. He himself was a Judean but he knew how dangerous it was at that time to be an open follower of Christ Jesus. But God tells us in two of the verses below that Joseph waited for the kingdom of God. He believed that which Christ Jesus taught. But, even though Joseph could not openly follow Christ Jesus, he believed wholeheartedly in his teachings. He also, when the Counsel took votes on to have Jesus killed, did not consent. Although, he did not vote to have Christ Jesus killed, his vote obviously did not prevent Christ Jesus from being killed. But Joseph went boldly to Pilate on the day Christ Jesus died to request his body and then Joseph buried him in his own sepulchre. He buried him in linen, the kind that rich people wore, and had the sepulchre covered.
Mat 27:57 KJV - When the even was come , there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple :
Mar 15:43 KJV - Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came , and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Luk 23:51 KJV - (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.
Jhn 19:38 KJV - And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave . He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
Something you may notice in the above verses is that Joseph did not bury Jesus with spices which was the custom of the culture.
[55] And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. [56] And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. - Luk 23:55-56 KJV
[1] And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. - Mar 16:1 KJV
And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. - Jhn 19:39 KJV
Why, do you suppose that Joseph of Arimathaea did not use the spices and ointments? He believed in what Jesus taught. That Jesus would be raised from the dead. That death would be defeated and God would do that which he had promised. He believed and waited for the Kingdom of God. But even though the women and Nicodemus loved Christ Jesus, they did not believe as big as Joseph and carried out the custom of the burial. Joseph would have known the burial custom and had the money to buy the spices that were the custom, but since Jesus was to only be in the grave a short time, there was no need.
That's the kind of believing I want to have. What a great believer was this Joseph of Arimathaea. Can't you just imagine how he rejoiced when he saw the risen Savior?
May you be blessed with all the blessings that God has to give. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Again I give thanks and reference to BlueLetterBible.org. It's the "go to" for my Bible references: http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Dan&c=6&p=0&rl=0&ss=0&t=KJV
Monday, October 21, 2013
Because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
This verse was in a Bible teaching I heard recently: 1 Tim 4:9...because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
Have you ever thought about that the God in Heaven is a living God? What does that mean? Some of the examples that come to my mind is the "other God's" in the old Testament. In Genesis 31:30 we can see that Jacob's father-in-law referred to "his Gods":...yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods? If you go back a few verses to Genesis 31:19 the Bible tells us that these so-called Gods were only figures and Jacob's wife Rachel had taken them: ... Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. In Exodus 32: verses 8 and 23 , you can read about the children of Israel making a god of a molten calf and asking for more gods to made of gold. They longed for the gods of Eygpt that they had grown accustom to during their captivity, ...For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us:...
Imagine calling something that is made by a human's hand a God? Foolish! Would you think that something I made and gave to you was capable of being a God? I hope not.
If you have doubts that there is a living God, you are not the first. In the same Bible teaching that I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it was said that there is nothing that we have to go through now that the believers and people in the Bible did not also go through.
There were doubters in the Bible that there was a living God. But just like today, once one hears or sees that God is real and lives, they can and will believe. Here's a good example of someone that became a believer of our living God...a King: King Darius.
King Darius had to have a servant he trusted thrown into the Lion's Den after he, the King, was devilishly tricked into keeping a decree he had made. He was very wrought over the situation but could not save Daniel from being thrown into the Lion's Den. However, the King knew that Daniel was a firm believer and did not waiver on his beliefs.
Daniel 6: 19 - 27:
Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
So as you can see...the living God...who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe saved Daniel. And as Daniel was an example of a true believer, the King became a believer as well. Daniel did not waiver on his beliefs even in the life-threatening situation in which he was faced.
Wishing you all the blessings available to you by God! In Jesus Christ name I pray this, Amen.
Again I give thanks and reference to BlueLetterBible.org. It's the "go to" for my Bible references: http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Dan&c=6&p=0&rl=0&ss=0&t=KJV
Have you ever thought about that the God in Heaven is a living God? What does that mean? Some of the examples that come to my mind is the "other God's" in the old Testament. In Genesis 31:30 we can see that Jacob's father-in-law referred to "his Gods":...yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods? If you go back a few verses to Genesis 31:19 the Bible tells us that these so-called Gods were only figures and Jacob's wife Rachel had taken them: ... Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. In Exodus 32: verses 8 and 23 , you can read about the children of Israel making a god of a molten calf and asking for more gods to made of gold. They longed for the gods of Eygpt that they had grown accustom to during their captivity, ...For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us:...
Imagine calling something that is made by a human's hand a God? Foolish! Would you think that something I made and gave to you was capable of being a God? I hope not.
If you have doubts that there is a living God, you are not the first. In the same Bible teaching that I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it was said that there is nothing that we have to go through now that the believers and people in the Bible did not also go through.
There were doubters in the Bible that there was a living God. But just like today, once one hears or sees that God is real and lives, they can and will believe. Here's a good example of someone that became a believer of our living God...a King: King Darius.
King Darius had to have a servant he trusted thrown into the Lion's Den after he, the King, was devilishly tricked into keeping a decree he had made. He was very wrought over the situation but could not save Daniel from being thrown into the Lion's Den. However, the King knew that Daniel was a firm believer and did not waiver on his beliefs.
Daniel 6: 19 - 27:
Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
So as you can see...the living God...who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe saved Daniel. And as Daniel was an example of a true believer, the King became a believer as well. Daniel did not waiver on his beliefs even in the life-threatening situation in which he was faced.
Wishing you all the blessings available to you by God! In Jesus Christ name I pray this, Amen.
Again I give thanks and reference to BlueLetterBible.org. It's the "go to" for my Bible references: http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Dan&c=6&p=0&rl=0&ss=0&t=KJV
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