FRIDAY 22ND APRIL,2016

TOPIC: GIVE GOD HIS TITHE (2)
TEXT: Genesis 28:22 “And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be Gods house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Jacob wasn’t a giver by nature. Quite the opposite, in fact! He cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright, which entitled him to twice as much of their father’s inheritance and when he worked for his father-in-law Laban, he took advantage of him too. Then one night Jacob met God in a life-changing dream, and when he woke the next morning he told God, ‘…of all that You give me I will give You a tenth.
Note, this was hundreds of years before the Law of Moses
instituted, which said, ‘A tithe of everything…belongs to the Lord.’ (Leviticus 27:30 NIV). Jacob wasn’t motivated by law, he was motivated by love for God. You can give without loving; some folks give under pressure, or to impress others, or to get an income tax deduction but you can’t love without giving! The Bible says, ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…’ (John 3:16). You’re never more like God than when you’re in the act Of giving. Jesus said, ‘…seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you’ (Matthew 6:33).
Tithing is about putting God and His kingdom first. When self, home,business and pleasure come first in your life, your priorities are out of order. Tithing reverses that order and puts God where He rightfully belongs—in first place. When God instructs you to tithe, He’s telling you to establish the habit of putting Him in the number one slot as a life principle. When you do, Jesus said ‘all these things you’re so concerned about will be ‘added to you’.

MEDITATION: 2 Chron.31:5-7

STUDY THE BIBLE
ACTS 9:26-43/JOSHUA 5:2;6:1-27/JOB 23