Fellowship of World Christians 'Working Together in Union with Christ'

How do you get to the place of prospering by giving when you have bills bills bills!!!

Morning all,

I was reading my daily devotional and there was something on prospering by giving. The daily devotional explained that our sources of income are not designed to prosper us, our giving is what prospers.

I am 100% for tithing. I have started increasing my faith in terms of sowing first fruits, thanks giving offerings and generally partnering in different situations. You know the one thing that gets me though- is getting to that place where the bills havent gobbled up all that precious seed.

I treat my tithe like a bill, it comes off first, it is a necessity. Then come all the necessaries ie BILLS, which are unvoidable because I have used the service and I know even our Father wants us to be good stewards. But what happens when the bills have gobbled all that precious seed up?

So the question is do you sacrifice some of those bills in order to put seed in the ground?

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Permalink Reply by Tayo Richards on 5 April 2008 at 9:36am: Actually all these 'trivial' things can be quite useful when you consider the quality Christian broadcast that millions of people rely on all over the world. Also it is as a result of this technology that a lot of churches have been able to set up their own broadcasting facilities. Technology has played a major part in propagating the Gospel and every Christian should strive to get at least the most basic package.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jinae di Nisci on 3 July 2008 at 7:37pm: And what did Christians do before there was technology (which can fail)? I thought Christians were supposed to strive to be like god or have i missed something? Yes technology is great and facilitates many things but there is nothing like actually facing people and connecting with them. I agree with Kurt in that we strive too often for the wrong things and i think that you saying every christian should strive to get at least the most basic cable package is encouraging the wrong thing.

Does this include those who are on state benefits for whatever reason? (For a single person , the rate is less than £60pw)

From what i understand, the bible does not tell you to seek all things that you think you should have then your life is set. It says to "seek ye first the kingdom of god and all its righteousness and all else shall be added to you" (forgive me if my quotation is not exact, i read the bible from cover to cover 3 times when i was 14 and i'm now nearly 47!).

That to me means that we should be striving to be more like God and living by his principles which doesn't include "striving to have at least the most basic cable package" but striving to respect ourselves and others, treat ourselves and others with kindness, compassion and to do god's work as he has instructed us.

(BTW the passage is from Matthew 6:33 my friend has informed me)

PS> Believe it or not, I say i am not a christian and don't believe in god. My friend said i have simply lost my faith but that i do god's work n e way and live by his principles. Material things disintegrate, biodegrade, get stolen, go wrong, play up etc but the good you do for others lives on ad finitum and gets stored up in the spiritual bank.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tolu on 4 July 2008 at 8:07am: Jinae, I agree with your view and Kurt's view. I think Tayo was trying to list the benefits of technology, however connecting with people directly is the best form of communication. Technology is a bit of a double edged sword, while it can make life more simple it can make life more complicated also. And a lot of people cannot imagine their lives at all without technology in this day and age. However no one should ever place their faith in technology because when the electricity cuts out for one reason or the other you have to become more self reliant and that is a bit of a reality shock for all, since society has grown to become so dependent on it. With regards to cable tv gospel stations and such, there is no substitute for knowing and searching for God through the Word on a personal level. That is all a person will ever need for spiritual food because it contains all the answers. With regards to finances, if a person wishes to purchase cable tv, then they are well within their rights, whether it's a necessity to spend money on it if during financial difficulties is a completely different question.

The main crux of this forum has been about financial management and I think everyone who has contributed here realises that there is a lot that can be done practically to make one financially more wiser and independent.

And yes, the real treasure is to be stored in heaven and that will only happen through a personal and active relationship with God through Jesus Christ, that is the only way to righteousness. Good works will not save in the last day, if it were so then there will be no need for Jesus to die for all our sins. You are close but you need to get closer and then you will see how God can perform even better works than you can imagine through you.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Julie Harvey on 5 July 2008 at 9:10am: Oh, Amen!! Things do not go the way that we want or think they should all the time do they?

I think that we are therefore making a grave mistake if we think that its ok not to pay our bills in order to give...i know that i just can't and it doesnt bother me anymore...we all have our own personal walk with God with our own situations, and therefore we cannot all give all of the time.. i know some people will not agree, but i answer to God not to them anyway!!
Julie

PS I am not being "stingy", I would gladly give if i could....; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Meagan on 9 April 2008 at 8:05pm: A friend told me recently that when you tithe, you don't miss the money and you will be blessed beyond that giving, but when you don't tithe, you will miss the blessing and not even notice the money you "save."
I have been so blessed since I have taken this step of faith. Giving back has taught me so much about my Lord, myself, and my financial situtation. My very heart is blessed by giving, and I have found a faith that I never knew before.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Samuel on 9 April 2008 at 11:02pm: uh no but you can give another way. Be an ambassador for christ by preaching the Word of his Father. the greatest gift you can give is the Word of God. and with these genius' in congress and those other wonderful men at Shell i'm pretty sure God will understand that money is tight. but you can pray to him and ask for enough money to come in and for him to grant you the money. God will prevail, for nothing is impossible for Him!

A good friend of mine, Patrick Dunn, was in need of a certain amount of money by the end of the month. he asked God to help him with the situation. around the end of the month a man came to him and handed him the exact amount he needed. Praise God!

In Him,
Sam; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ken Helsley on 13 April 2008 at 3:40am: Dear Tayo,

It's not about how much you give, it's not about percentages, it's not about giving to be prospered, it's about giving because you understand all you have comes from God, so you you want to give back so you can to show that recognition. God never expects you to forgo your financial obligations. If you owe someone, paying that obligation is priority. To not pay your bills first would be a poor reflection on you and thus on Christians world wide, as non-Chistians are always looking at us to see if we walk our talk.

Prospering comes from giving what you can, when you can with a cheerful heart. If you give out of obligation, God will not prosper you. However, giving should not be done just to be prospered either. Also remember the story of the widows mite. She had less to give than anyone else., but still was willing gave what she had. Jesus said that was more pleasing to God than all the rich pharsees' giving compined.

I believe God always looks at our giving from the prespective of faith. Do you give to any organization (your church or ortherwise) becuse you believe God will multiply those resouces better that you can. If God sees that you are willing to trust him to multipy whatever resouces you can afford to share, He will begin to multiply your resouces so you can give more. See Jesus' parable of ten talents (Mathew 25:14-30). .; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tayo Richards on 13 April 2008 at 2:52pm: Really appreciated your take on this!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Frederick Tobun on 16 June 2008 at 8:53pm: The context of the believers wealth is directly related to understanding our inheritance in Christ and the economy of the kingdom of heaven. If the activity of paying, tihes, offerings and so forth whilst scripturally accurate does not sit in the context of the inheritance life, we will continue to find ourselves knee deep in debt and poverty stricken.

Our Fathers kingdom purposes will continue to be bigger then our bills, our salaries and anything we could muster together, it is the ability we have to draw on the inheritance that makes all things sufficient and us content.

The basic principal of the prodigal son is that he sought to use his inheritance for his own purposes and thus the inheritance without the Fathers wisdom would altogether run dry.

The kingdom ecomony is released by a correct understanding of ones heritage (Isaac and the wells) and through the hearts of men (goly and ungodly).

I can personally testify to developments in God whereby I have broken through with very little by faith. These developments came about purely through a revelation of my heritage and sonship first and then through divine favour.

Every son of God must grow in the wisdom of the inhertiance and as a result will see the divine favour released through God and men.

I am open for further discussion.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tolu on 16 June 2008 at 9:46pm: Can you explain further on Isaac and the wells and prodigal son's use of money? :-); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Frederick Tobun on 17 June 2008 at 2:14pm: Hi Tolu, to explain further on Isaacs and the wells i have added a blog articulating a study here.

With regards to the prodigals son's use of the inheritance, I was simply stating that the creation of the wealth did not merely come as a result of work, but first through the Fathers wisdom, knowledge and understanding. The son's ideology about the personal use of the inheritance was not in keeping with the Fathers, hence his inability to sustain it.

The creation and multilication of the wealth was subject to what the Father understood. I believe that the fact that the prodigal sons was the youngest seems to communicate the idea that his relationship with the Father still required a maturing to comprehend his position in the house and the purpose of the wealth that he by virtue of his birthright had access to.

The use of all resources including money must be in keeping with Gods kingdom agenda and economy. Our lack of understanding of this show up in our imaturity or selfishness (lust and gluttony). As I stated earlier, most believers concept of finance and the kingdom surrounds purely the tithes and the offerings which inherently is really tabernacle and temple administration. The book of deuteronomy highlights a far greater economy worth understanding as it has Christ centred implications for us today.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tolu on 2 July 2008 at 2:50pm: Hi Fredrick. Just re-reading your comment again. I understand what you mean now. If we don't see money as God sees it, we are likely to make it a god over us or use it unwisely and both of those options are very crippling to the life of a be believer. I definitely advocate your thoughts on we believers studying the word of God, there is a wealth of financial wisdom to be found there.

Thanks for sharing.; ▶ Reply to This