Daily Archives: May 29, 2016

Did You Know (8)?

Apologetics, , ,

DID YOU KNOW (8)

…That revelation follows generosity.

Generosity is one of the major themes of the Bible. Jesus spoke more about money than He did about any other so-called “spiritual” topic such as prayer, faith, or salvation. Why was that? I cannot speak for Him but it seems to me that, since money plays such a major part in our lives, it would make sense for Him to teach us about the place money should play in the lives of His followers and how to use our money in a way that would benefit and not harm us.

The world is driven by money and, unfortunately, so is most crime. Marriages very often break up because of disputes over or misuse of money. Selfishness and greed are the hallmarks of ungodly people and, believe it or not, religious people as well. By “religious”, I mean people who adhere to and practise a religion which has no power to change their lives.

Does God care about the way we use our money? Of course He does! He gave His people a simple system by which they would be generous with their wealth and, at the same time be free to enjoy what He gave them without guilt. Unfortunately, there are those who pooh-pooh God’s instructions to His ancient people as “law” when, in fact, they are part of His “torah” – teaching. i.e., ageless wisdom which always works.

God’s economic system is based on the responsibility of households to care for four groups of people. I say “households” because, in ancient times, God’s people were farmers and each household produced the crops which fed them during the year. In our day, we would translate “households” as wage earners, be they husband or wife separately or their combined incomes which would represent a household.

The first group of people for which the Israelites were responsible was the high priest and his family. The high priest was the one who represented God to the people and the people to God. God required the people to give the firstborn of their animals and the first-fruits of their crops to Him. They were even instructed to give the first city, Jericho, to Him when they conquered the Promised Land. In the case of their livestock and crops, they had to offer the first of the increase to Him as a terumah or first-fruit offering, and then give it to the high priest since he had no land of his own to sustain his family.

Approximately one fortieth to one sixtieth of the crop matures first (a scientific fact). When the harvest was gathered in and bagged, the farmer would set aside every fortieth bag for the high priest as a terumah, as well as the first-born of his livestock. The terumah offerings of all the people would take care of the high priest and his family until the following season.

The equivalent of the high priest today would be our spiritual authority, in other words, our pastor. He should not draw his stipend from the tithes of the people but from their terumah offerings which God requires over and above the tithes. It is our terumah which guarantees God’s blessing on the rest of our income. Here is the principle:

Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine (Prov. 3:9-10).

God did not repeat the instruction in detail but in principle in the New Testament. Paul wrote to the Galatians:

The one who receives instruction in the Word should share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please the flesh will reap destruction: whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers (Gal. 6:6-10).

Why is it, then, that we dissect the bit about sowing and reaping from the passage and make it mean something different from Paul’s intention in the context? Although “sowing and reaping” is a principle that has a broad application, in this context, Paul is talking about increase – whatever the equivalent may be in the times. The first-fruit of our increase belongs to God and we must share it with those whose work is to teach us the truths of God’s Word.

This is an important part of God’s wisdom which works. Unfortunately, since we in the main in the New Testament era, have thrown this principle out through ignorance or the mistaken idea that it was only for the Old Testament people of God, we have greatly harmed ourselves in the process. That the first portion belongs to God is a timeless truth and, when we obey His instruction, He fulfils His promise to pour His bounty into our lives.

The first of the offerings God requires of us is, then, the terumah offering, one fortieth of our monthly income which belongs to God and which we give to our spiritual authority. This releases God’s favour on the rest of our income and, yes, actually overrides whatever causes our lack in an amazingly supernatural way! Try it!

Since this is a big subject, I shall continue to show you the principles and draw my conclusions in the next few blogs.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Do you like this post? Then buy your own copy of my book, Learning to be a Disciple, which is also available from www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com in South Africa. You can also order a copy directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com

My latest book, The Heartbeat of Holiness, is now available on www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com or from me at luella@efc.org.za at R130,00 including p and p.

 

 

 

 

Did You Know (6)?

Apologetics, , , ,

DID YOU KNOW (6)

…That you choose the measure of your gain or loss.

Human beings have this crazy idea that it is okay to have two standards of judgment, one for ourselves which is lenient and another for other people which is based on the standard we set for ourselves but is very strict. We let ourselves off on the basis that we are “only human” or that we are not responsible; it is someone else’s fault that we said or did this or that or that we are this way, that is, we are angry, miserable, frustrated or whatever. We judge others because they did not measure up to the standard we set for ourselves.

The Apostle Paul understood human nature.

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself because you who pass judgment do the same things (Rom.2:1).

Now we have to ask: How fair is that?

God is absolutely just and fair. He has a simple solution for our foolish injustice. He has determined that we set the measure of justice we receive from Him by the way we treat others. Jesus put it like this:

Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matt. 7:1-2).

If we think that we have the right to set the standard and to judge others for their wrongdoing, we must not forget that we are automatically passing judgment on ourselves as well, and that the punishment we inflict on others will come straight back to us.  

As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A gallows seventy-five feet high stands by Haman’s house. He made it for Mordacai who spoke up to help the king. The king said, “Hang him on it!” So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordacai. Then the king’s fury subsided (Esth. 7:8b-10).

God’s just measure applies in other situations as well. I found a significant one at the end of Jesus’ story about the sower and the seed, and His explanation of the parable to His disciples. They asked Him why He taught in parables. He gave them a curious answer.

He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything is said in parables so that,

‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” (Mark 4:11-12). 

Why would Jesus not want them to believe? He was quoting from Isa 6:9-10. God commissioned Isaiah to go and preach to His people to harden their hearts because they had already chosen to ignore His word and disobey His instructions. Isaiah would continue to give them God’s instructions until their disobedience made them ripe for judgment. They had already chosen their course. Isaiah’s message would harden their hearts until they were carried into captivity. Through their suffering, some would finally return to the Lord.

By teaching the people in parables, Jesus was doing what Isaiah had done in the past. Only those who had a heart to believe and receive His Word would gain understanding from His teaching.

But there was an equally serious warning for those who chose to listen to Him.

“Consider carefully what you hear,” He continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him (Mark 4:24-25).

Did you get the gist of Jesus’ words? What we choose to do with God’s Word will determine whether we gain more than what we have now or lose what little we have. We can never remain neutral to the Word of God. Every time we choose to ignore what we have read or heard, we lose more of our ability to understand and respond. If we keep ignoring what God wants of us, we will eventually be so immune to His Word that we will be unable to hear or understand it.

But there is another side to the measure we choose to use. God responds to our generosity with a deluge of blessing. That’s the kind of God He is. He uses the strict measure of our choices to dispense consequences, but He give back to us in immeasurable bounty when we act out of love towards those in need. Consider this promise:

Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Luke 6:38).

This verse does not only relate to material things; it relates also to the measure of love, time, care and forgiveness we extend to others. The more we pour ourselves into the lives of others, the more God pours His love and grace into us. How much better to use a huge measure of love and kindness in our attitude and interaction with others than to judge or condemn because we can never out-give God.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Do you like this post? Then buy your own copy of my book, Learning to be a Disciple, which is also available from www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com in South Africa. You can also order a copy directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com

My latest book, The Heartbeat of Holiness, is now available on www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com or from me at luella@efc.org.za at R130,00 including p and p.