When we say, “I gave my tithe,” we are not exactly accurate. Tithing is not giving. The tithe (ten percent of our gross income) already belongs to the Lord. It’s not “my tithe” it is the Lord’s. We don’t “give” it because it belongs to God. You can’t give something that doesn’t belong to you.

Leviticus 27:30 (KJV)
And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, [the tithe] is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.

The Tithe Is a Test

The ten percent extra we all get is a test as to whether we will choose to honor God, or the malignant principality of mammon. Passing or failing this test may well determine your future wealth.

In Malachi 3:8–12, God wants to be proved on this. In verse 10, He says, “Prove me …Tithing opens the windows of Heaven to your life, but offerings (giving beyond the tithe) are what provide you with the container to catch all the blessings God pours through those windows. Remember tithing is not giving. Giving is when you go beyond the tithe. We sometimes call it “seed planting,” remembering that when we plant seeds we expect a harvest.

Tithing opens the windows of Heaven, but when you give beyond that in offerings, you will receive a spiritual container proportionate to your offerings. If you give big, you will get a big container to catch the blessings being poured out. If you give a tiny bit, you’ll be given a tiny container for your blessings.

A Generous Attitude

If you have a generous attitude, and are liberal in your giving, you’ll get a huge spiritual truck to catch your blessings. If you have a stingy attitude in your giving, you may get a teaspoon to catch your blessings. It’s all up to you. Even Paul made the statement in the New Testament concerning giving and receiving:

2 Corinthians 9:6 (TLB)
But remember this—if you give little, you will get little. A farmer who plants just a few seeds will get only a small crop, but if he plants much, he will reap much.

Is Tithing Optional?

Tithing is not optional. Giving (or “seed planting”), however, is optional, depending on what size harvest you want in the future.

The tithe belongs to the Lord already. But the rest is yours to do with as you please. If you use some of what’s left to give big, you’ll receive big personal wealth containers for the blessings.

I asked two thousand people for some volunteers one Sunday morning. I announced, “I want to conduct an experiment with two tithing families. I’d like for you to quit tithing for one year to see what happens. Can I get any volunteers?” Nobody–I mean nobody-volunteered.

Each person seemed to understand the starting point to radical wealth is the practice of tithing and then making offerings—then going beyond what they think they can do by making radical faith promises…and keeping them.

author Dave Williams

1. Samuel 15 (AMP)

¹⁹ Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but [instead] swooped down on the plunder [with shouts of victory] and did evil in the sight of the Lord?”

²⁰ Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. ²¹ But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things [that were] to be totally destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” ²² Samuel said,

Through the death on the cross of Jesus Christ, if you asked Him for forgiveness for your sins, you have also received forgiveness. We should and may pass this on to our fellow men. Forgiveness and healing are the two most important elements of the good news, the gospel.

In the following verses Jesus explains this very precisely. It begins with the fact that it probably requires an everlasting readiness and in the parable he describes how much we have been forgiven and at the same time also the hardness of heart and consequences if we ourselves do not forgive.

Some things are easier and some things are very, very difficult to let go of, because they had deep wounds and personally severe consequences for you. Forgiving begins with a decision of the will and the feelings or healing you need comes from your loving Father in Heaven, through the power of the Holy Spirit here on earth. So there is a lot of hope for your tortured soul to come to rest again. Negative feelings and thoughts like anger, bitterness, jealousy, envy etc. fly away and a deep peace comes. You can call this a miracle. The book by Peter Horrobin “The most powerful prayer on earth” could be a great help in this process. It leads you to freedom !!

Matthew 18

Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came to Him and asked, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?” ²² Jesus answered him, “I say to you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven.

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he began the accounting, one who owed him 10,000 ^[i]talents was brought to him. ²⁵ But because he could not repay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell on his knees and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And his master’s heart was moved with compassion and he released him and forgave him [canceling] the debt. ²⁸ But that same slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him ^[j]a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began choking him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe!’ ²⁹ So his fellow slave fell on his knees and begged him earnestly, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ ³⁰ But he was unwilling and he went and had him thrown in prison until he paid back the debt. ³¹ When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and they went and reported to their master [with clarity and in detail] everything that had taken place. ³² Then his master called him and said to him, ‘You wicked and contemptible slave, I forgave all that [great] debt of yours because you begged me. ³³ Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave [who owed you little by comparison], as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (jailers) until he paid all that he owed. ³⁵ My heavenly Father will also do the same to [every one of] you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

AMP Version

May you be able to let go of the past and may you have good relationships with all your family members in the natural and with your brothers and sisters in the fathers kingdom.

shalom – nothing missing * nothing broken

Shalom woman of God and beloved and precious, You precious pearl, You are beautiful… You are His bride…

had an invitation card for a shoe store here in my area in the mailbox … the front was this saying

If I ever let my head hang down, then only to admire my shoes !

There is a wonderful promise in the bible that fits this:

The Messiah reveals his mission in the book of Isaiah 61

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed and commissioned me
To bring good news to the humble and afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up [the wounds of] the brokenhearted,
To proclaim release [from confinement and condemnation] to the [physical and spiritual] captives
And freedom to prisoners,
2 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance and retribution of our God,
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To grant to those who mourn in Zion the following:
To give them a turban instead of dust [on their heads, a sign of mourning],
The oil of joy instead of mourning,
The garment [expressive] of praise instead of a disheartened spirit.
So they will be called the trees of righteousness [strong and magnificent, distinguished for integrity, justice, and right standing with God],
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

AMP version

Much blessing wishes you Sabine … may the Lord fill your mouth with laughter and give you ever lasting joy … may the Lord expel all dark thoughts and everything that wants to depress and grieve you may flee …

4 Answers or reactions to sin
What is sin: it is the corrupted human nature, which is also called flesh, or sons and daughters of disobedience. See Romans 7, 18 – 20 + 21.
Characteristics of sin: contemptuous, stupid, unbelieving, transgresses the law, unjust, seductive, forbidden, has attraction.
Nature of sin: universal, it affects every human being. See Romans 3, verse 23 and 1 John 1 verse 8
Effects of sin:
destructive, brings spiritual and physical death, hurts yourself and others, brings separation from God and causes punishment.

How do we respond to sin – there are 4 different behaviors that the Word of God shows:
Temptation from Satan, from outside – we must resist it.
see Ephesians 6 verse 13; James 4 verse 7; 1 Peter 5 verse 9

2. temptation from within, our own evil desire – we must deny it, not respond to it.
see Matthew 16 verse 24; Mark 8 verse 34 + 35; Luke 9 verse 23

3. temptation through the world, from outside – we have to flee, also leave people and places.
see Genesis 39 verse 12; 1 Corinthians 6 verse 18; 2 Timothy 2 verse 22

4. temptation or testing by or from God – from above, which is not evil but a test –

we must submit to it
see Job 36 verse 11; James 4 verse 7; 1 Peter 5 verse 6

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

We are living in a time of great distractions.

We have the choice how and with whom we spent our time, energy, money etc.

The Lord has shown me a situation how to better understand repentance or conversion. As I was driving my car on a street, the Spirit suddenly told me to turn around. It was a main road with lots of oncoming traffic. And I thought, that’s just not possible. As I drove on I came into a roundabout with several exits, I took the last exit and drove back in the opposite direction. When the Spirit calls us to repentance, then He always gives us grace and the opportunity to do so. This grace is meant for the humble ones who realize that in areas of their lifestyle they do not agree with the Word of God. Now what is the biblical meaning of repentance. The Greek word metanoeo implies a change, a rethinking,  a change of mind. It all starts with a new way of thinking. Change of thinking is only possible when we spent time with GOD and in the bible. This should become our first priority in life. Thoughts become feelings and feelings become actions and the wrong actions are called sin. This I believe is our biggest battle. The battle against our sinful nature, our flesh. We all face these battles. But how can we overcome or repent. Please read Galatians 5 verses 16 to 25.

2. Chronicles 7 verses 14 and 15 says:

¹⁴ and My people, who are called by My Name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear [them] from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer offered in this place.  (AMP)

So let us not participate in the wickedness of the end times. Just like making money and wasting it, or wasting time in front of the TV instead of prayer and reading your bible. Give your Savior more time and show HIM how much you love HIM. HE loved you first and gave HIS life so you can have fellowship with your heavenly father.

May you be blessed while seeking truth.

Shalom Sabine

The Spirit says:

I distribute sickles !!!

John 4 AMP

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to completely finish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘It is still four months until the harvest comes?’ Look, I say to you, raise your eyes and look at the fields and see, they are white for harvest. ³⁶ Already the reaper is receiving his wages and he is gathering fruit for eternal life; so that he who plants and he who reaps may rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this case the saying is true, ‘One [person] sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap [a crop] for which you have not worked. Others have worked and you have been privileged to reap the results of their work.”

In the area where I live there are a lot of meadows and fields with long romantic paths. Suddenly the Lord opened my spiritual eyes. And I saw the fields around me all white and there were angels with a sickle in their hands. And an angel gave me a sickle. And I said ok Lord I know what you mean. Many are ready to hear the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 9

³⁶ When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion and pity for them, because they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Furthermore I saw a figure standing before the angel, dressed all in white. When the angel handed the sickle to this person, he pulled the inner lining out of his right pocket, indicating that I cannot take it, for I have nothing. It felt like an apology. At the same time I saw a small dark, obscure figure standing on the left side next to the person he pulled what he had out of a hole in his inner pocket. I had the impression that the spirit was aiming at the area of greed. He wants to tell us that we should not waste what we have in finances, income, talents, power, leisure time etc. in our own lusts and desires. He wants more from you than you have been willing to give to HIM so that you are qualified for the harvest and can be sent out as workers in His harvest. Then there is not so much room for what we want.

James 4

³ You ask [God for something] and do not receive it, because you ask ^[d]with wrong motives [out of selfishness or with an unrighteous agenda], so that [when you get what you want] you may spend it on your [hedonistic] desires.

1. Peter 4

Keep Fervent in Your Love

4 Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh [and died for us], arm yourselves [like warriors] with the same purpose [being willing to suffer for doing what is right and pleasing God], because whoever has suffered in the flesh [being like-minded with Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [having stopped pleasing the world], ² so that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living for human appetites and desires, but [lives] for the will and purpose of God. ³ For the time already past is [more than] enough for doing what the [unsaved] Gentiles like to do—living [unrestrained as you have done] in a course of [shameless] sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries.

It is not the time to have excuses, because when you take the sickle, it is the ability with the gifts the Lord has given you to reap the harvest of souls. Perhaps He has spoken to you a long time ago about what you should do or what He wants you to do. Recognize and implement God’s plan for your life. The Holy Spirit continues to be poured out on all flesh and many of His children agree. A great revival is coming, but it starts with you and me. The willingness to refocus your life on God, first seeking His Kingdom, His righteousness. See Matthew 6:33. Our focus should not be I – me – mine – me, Lord bless all four. Our focus should be, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come in me and around me, thy will be done in me and around me…

Where you live, there are white fields and there are angels and they are waiting for you to take the sickle…

May the Lord bless you and equip you for what lies ahead. SHALOM