Robbers of God
Pastor J. R. Wilhite, author
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Malachi 3
8. Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we
robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
That's right; if you do not tithe you are a robber of God. How could He
trust you with more if you are not trustworthy with the little He has helped
you get already?
As you can see this study is not my typical "build you up" study. Even
though it will build you up more than any other study I have done, it will
not do it in the normal way that I have written in the past. For this
study to help you, you must really want to grow, be open minded, wait
until you have read it all, and then give time for it to sink in before
you judge it one way or another. If you cannot do this, this study will
not help you. If you cannot read this study then most of the other studies
will only help in small ways, not in the overall way it is intended to
help.
Why did I write this study now and not before? Why another one on the
tithe?
So now that we understand and have opened our minds to grow let's get
started.
I need for you to understand that I understand how hard it is to give 10%
of your gross income. When I started it seemed like as much as a house
payment (and it was). That was hard just to give away, but I learned that
without giving the tithe I would not grow the way I could with God, and my
finances would never grow the way I wanted them to.
At first I was elated with big numbers of people reading my Bible studies
because it fed my ego. Then God pointed out that it was much better to have a few that they
really helped than many that would get little if anything out of them.
Then He asked me out of the large numbers how many I heard from. Then it
hit me; I was not and am not getting even 1/2 of 1% responding to the
studies.
So I now am starting over by helping you to understand what you need and
must do to grow as well as being blessed in all areas.
Luke 7
Luke 18
Ephesians 2
Now, most people at first tithe due to one of two reasons:
1. Fear that if we do not tithe we will have no blessings, that actually
we will have a curse in our finances.
Some (actually most) come to God the first time for one of three reasons.
1. Finances
We get in debt and cannot get out. It seems that if we live to be 300 we
still would be in debt. So we go to God, not knowing the first thing about
God, but we still go, hoping He will bail us out of debt.
Then there are those who have been born again Christians for years,
decades for some, and they give great testimonies how God has blessed
them. Not always, but most of the time. I mean God is busy He cannot get
them all, now can He? Yes I have heard that before as well.
You have to admit you have heard some wild ones if you have been saved
more than a year.
I recently talked to a friend who still attends a church I attended over 8
years ago, and all he could go on about was how many new people they had
gotten the past week, Not how they are growing in the spirit or what new revelations they had,
but how many more members they had.
If you think I am off track with this, wait and you will see how it flows
with the subject we are talking about.
I asked him 3 questions; ones I would expect anyone in church for 5 years
should be able to answer and this person had been attending this church
for more than 20 years. Pastor Fuentes told me how once someone came up and asked her if she knew Jesus. She said yes, and they asked her how she knew she was saved. When she replied that the Spirit had testified to her spirit that she was a child of God, she said they were stunned at the reply and had never heard that before.
Romans 8
Before I go on, let me say I teach people to hear from God and be obedient
to Him before they go out and witness to others for two reasons. One
reason is to be prepared so if someone needed an answer they could give
it, and the other reason is to be prepared for someone who was not ready
for God yet could not make them look like an idiot (as well as prevent
over watering). Yes, there are those watering where someone else is
watering and maybe in the process mess up what someone else is doing. That
is why I tell people to be sure they are hearing from God. He will never
send them to someone who already is being taken care of and He will never
send them forth before they are ready.
John 14
1 John 2
Christ is a Greek word for the anointing. To be of Christ is to be
anointed with the Spirit of God, in, on and through each of us.
Luke 4
Now how does all of this tie into the tithe?
So if you do not have faith enough to tithe how can you have faith to be
healed, heal others, be blessed and so forth. Oh, yes you may get healed
and even be blessed, but I tell you I would bet it would happen not of
your faith, but of one that is praying for you.
Would you want a faithless person to pray for you?
There are those who can work in faith and not even be saved. They will
appear to be some of the best Christians you could imagine, but their
faith is based in the name of Jesus, and that is not enough.
Matthew 7
The true child of God produces the following fruit.
Galatians 1
Romans 12
We start off by realizing that there is a void in us, that we need
something more and that is the beginning of our walk to our salvation. And
then we accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour in our lives, and we walk by
faith in the Spirit. But if we cannot even tithe by faith, how do we
expect to get more by faith?
I tell you now, if you are living pay check to paycheck and things are not
getting any better, but maybe even getting worse then look to the tithe.
If you are not, start. If you are and you are not doing better within a
few months, then you need to seek another place to be fed.
If you are not growing, but are attending every time the doors open at the
church you go to, it is either the Pastor is not feeding you (because he
is either himself not able to teach you more because he does not know
more) or you are just in the wrong church. I believe that there are many
types of churches. If you are a plumber in a carpenter church then you
need to find a church for plumbers.
Yes, there are pastors that know enough to seem like they know it all (to
babies) but they actually know very little. There are those who have
little or no faith themselves.
If you run across a church, ministry, or web site knocking, faith, spirit,
and so on, it is because they had trouble operating in them. Most of the
time they did not give the subject in question enough time. More likely
they expected it to work the first day and when it did not they then
decided to justify their lack by criticizing those who do operate and flow
in faith, spirit, or the anointing.
If you are involved with any of the above or any ministry that does not
feed you meat, leave there at once! This is the only time you do not
tithe, because to tithe to one such as this is no different than burning
your money.
Do not buy into the lie that the church belongs to the denomination you
attend so it must be right and you are wrong. First of all we are all
human beings and can make mistakes. Second of all the word denomination
means to divide and Jesus referred to division as bad not good.
I am going to show you a way that anyone could understand as far as the
tithe and offerings go.
If you go to a restaurant and eat and do not pay you may go to jail at the
very least you will wash dishes. The restaurant will get the equivalent of
the meal's cost back.
So, how much more is your spirit man worth than your flesh? This is what
connects you to God and this is what helps you grow. So if you do not feed
the spirit it will do a lot like the flesh; it will become weak and not
able to be there when you need it.
Let's look at the tithe, meals, and tips.
Ok, I know, it all sounds good on paper, but you have a budget and to take
that much out would mean you have to get it from somewhere else.
That is right at first, but in time you will notice you have extra even
with the tithe. That is the whole idea to show you how God can bless you
and plug that hole money seems to drain out of, and then you will see more
and more of your money every month. But you got to take that first step,
and you have to believe.
Malachi 3
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now - The first part is easy; bring the tithe to the storehouse, but what is a
storehouse? That is anywhere the word is taught fully, and due to its teachings people
grow. As the flesh grows from eating, the spirit also will grow from being
fed. If you attend a ministry/church and you are growing from attending
it, then you should tithe there.
The second part is a little harder. That there may be meat in mine house
means even if you have grown to the point where you are learning directly
from God and no longer need a man/woman to teach or help you, then you
still tithe where you were last fed so that there will be meat for others
to come into and be fed. Your tithe will help maintain the storehouse
while the new are learning.
The last part is the only time God allows and even insists on you testing
Him in this area.
As you tithe, you should even look forward to giving your tithe. It should
be a joy to do, because you know as you tithe you have God watching over
all that is yours and especially your money.
Yes, that is right I said over all that you have, the tithe allows Him to
watch over it all.
Malachi 3
He, God will rebuke anything that would try to devour that which is yours,
even the fruits of your ground. So first He looks over all you have and He
will not even allow your income to be messed with.
Ways to tell if you are not tithing to the right place.
1. You are not growing
As you apply your faith to the tithe your faith will grow in other areas
as well, like healings, relationships and more.
Romans 10
So our faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So the more
you hear the word (read it out loud) the more your faith comes.
Hebrews 11
Your faith is NOW, not tomorrow or the next day, and it is impossible to
please God without faith.
If you look closely at the ministries and the people who attend church you
will see with the ministries a direct correlation of those who tithe to
those who grow. There are less than 5% who tithe, and the same is true for
churches. There are less than 5% who are big ministries. There are more
than 5% who are almost in constant need. As you look into this you will
see some that do not match up with the numbers, but over all they do.
Remember all who pray do not always make a difference. Only those who
apply their faith and pray in faith truly help those in need.
What you should have gotten from this study:
1. If you do not tithe, you are a robber of God and as such how can you
expect God to
give you much.
Other studies that will help you grow and learn more as well as they were a huge help with this study. Christ Church Life Starts Here God's Plan Hearing from God My prayer for you is: 3 John 1 2.
9. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole
nation.
Because God showed me the error in my ways as far as comunicating the
tithe to those who visit godsgifttoyou.com.
We are saved by faith and that same faith is where all of our blessings,
healings, and help come from. Without faith we could not even have been
saved. So if we had the faith to be saved, we also have the faith to tithe.
50. And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
42. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God:
2. Because we know that it is the right thing to do. We realize that all
we have is God's and that if we do not return to Him what He asked for we
could lose it all and more.
2. Healing
3. Relationship
Or we have a loved one who is sick or injured and they may even be close
to death so we go and make promises we will never keep.
The last problem area is that a relationship with our spouse, children,
parents, or just a friend is on the brink of collapsing, and we hope that
God would make it right.
We never realize there may be a price to pay or we might have to give up
something (or we are in fear of just that). So we go in ignorance and ask,
and we hear from others who appear to know what they are doing that they
will pray for us and that it will all be fine.
By some miracle we do get what we need and realize that maybe we should
check into this further so the next time we can get help sooner.
I asked him what Christ meant, what church was, and I asked him what
salvation was.
He could not answer any of these.
16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God:
26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye
need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of
all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you,
ye shall abide in him.
18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
First of all the faith it takes to tithe is the same faith it takes to be
saved, to grow, to witness to others, to hear God, and be obedient.
15. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or
figs of thistles?
17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit.
18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit.
19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast
into the fire.
20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven.
22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in
thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works?
23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me,
ye that work iniquity.
22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith,
23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts.
25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit of God will produce works, but they will be works
based in the above 9 areas. They will be for the glory of God not man and
they will only be in your life or mine by faith.
We are all given the same measure of faith and that faith is faith of God,
or God's faith in us.
4. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among
you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to
think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of
faith.
So, if you will pay $50-$200 for a meal for the flesh that is only with
you 60, 80, 120 years, how much more worth is the food for the spirit that
is with you for eternity. If you compare the tithe to your food bill
(groceries bought, dining out, fast food) you will notice the tithe is
anywhere from just under your food costs to no more than double your food
costs.
Now when you eat at the restaurant you tip the person who serves you,
15-20%. That person(s) deserves the tip, but how much more is your spirit
going to do for you versus that person. God only asks for 10%, but as you
tip for good service after you paid for the food, why not tip the pastor
for his service, say 15-20% of the tithe.
Let's say you make about $39,000 a year. The tithe is 10% of the gross not
the net, otherwise you are shortchanging God, and are still a robber but
now you are out of a lot of money as well.
Income $39,000 - Household $3,000 - Food bill $5,200 a year - Tithe $3,900
a year.
So the tithe here is $1,300 less than the food bill, and to get the food
bill down to $3,900 a year for 3, means no eating out, it would be $75 a
week. I agree you can eat for $25 a person a week but it is not much, no
junk food.
And now lets say you eat out once a month and it costs $60 for 3 at Joe's
Crab Shack so the tip would be $9 - $12 that is 15-20% the going rate for
tips.
Let's say you tip only 20% that would be $144 a year or $12 a month, Vs
10% tip of the tithe, which would be $390. I agree you are tipping better
here, but the service here is for eternity, the other is for one night.
But even with the tip being 20% of the tithe it is only $4,680 a year Vs
the $5,200 food bill, which I did not even figure in the tip with it, so
you are still paying less for the spirit than for the flesh.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will
not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not
destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit
before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome
land, saith the Lord of hosts.
10. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not
destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit
before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
2. You find others elsewhere are growing faster than you
3. You are still living paycheck to paycheck
17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen.
6. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh
to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.
I would rather have 5 people applying their faith to the prayers Vs a
million who do not.
If you cannot tithe in faith, do not be shocked that your faith may not
work in other areas well either.
Faith is like a muscle if it is not used on a regular basis it will start
to go into atrophy.
2. The 100% was never yours; actually it is more like 110%. God arranges
for you to get 10% more than you should and then watches to see what you
do with it before giving you more.
3. All who pray do not always help. Only those who pray and have faith
and apply said faith to prayers help.
4. The tithe is the first action of your faith after you are saved.
Remember to show faith when you pray, then praise and give thanks.
God Bless You as you hear His words and follow His leading.
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