"We have here only 5 loaves of bread and two fish", they answered- Matthew 14:17
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This month, my prayer as a I paid my tithe was that God should make my money sufficient for the month. I don’t often do this but in my mind, I expected my income for this month to be slightly less as I did not work overtime. As I prayed, I realised there was a slight anxiety rearing its head so I decided to switch and thank God in advance that my money for the month would be sufficient.
As I continued, I remembered the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 people with little to nothing. And so here goes my lesson for the month so far which begins with my tithe.
The tithe is based initially on the story of Abram paying his first tithe to Melchizedek, king of Salem who was also a priest of God, after the king had brought out bread and wine and blessed him for winning a battle against his enemies to retrieve his nephew Lot.
Melchizedek is believed to be a type of Christ and in him first offering to give and bless, Abraham reciprocated by giving a 1oth of his spoils.
Genesis 14:18-20
"Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all."
From this practice, believers have followed and had faith that in paying their tithe, which is a tenth of their income/ increase, the Lord will fulfil his promise concerning their finance as in the case in Malachi 3:10 which states
"Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need".
In this promise, it appears there is a storehouse which would suggest a place filled with extra in case there is a need to be met, an obvious window which as I write I think to myself as a portal or opportunity as in the case of a window of opportunity which will be presented to us as we honour God's word and obey this principle. Window also reminds me of the story of Jacob in Genesis 28:10-22 which speaks of Jacob having a dream in which God shows him a stairway resting on the earth with its top reaching to heaven and the angels ascending and descending on it.
Thus, there is an obvious point of entry between the earthly realms and the heavenly realms. Why did Jacob only see this stairway when he was asleep and not awake? What were the angels doing climbing up and down, what business had they to do on this earth to be so active at that time of the night? Think about it because that’s a whole other sermon in itself!
As you read along Malachi 3:10, it also appears that God is BOLDLY “DARING” us to “TEST” Him by OBEYING His word regarding tithing and be expectant of the abundance that will come with it
Proverbs 3:9 also states “Honour the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your harvest, then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. In this instance the bible speaks to us as though we were farmers who had worked to till the land, sown seeds and eventually reaped a harvest of great goods and are being encouraged to bring a portion to the LORD reminding me again of the story of Cain and Abel who brought an offering to the LORD and with the former’s being rejected and the latter’s being fully accepted.
As I write, I am also reminded of the verse that states that no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved- Luke 5:37-39.
This verse to me speaks of newness and renewal of the mind. When we are renewed in our thinking on life’s issues as in this case, finances, we are to put away the old thoughts about our finances and to imbibe the new wine (God’s word) into our new wineskin by implementing His word correctly regarding our finances.
Some of these old thoughts could be,
1. The Lack mindset
2. Where is the money going to come from?
3. How am I going to pay this or that bill,
4. How will I clear this debt etc
An example is given of Jesus and his disciples presented with the case of 5000 hungry people gathered after his preaching and healing expecting to eat something.
The only food available at the time is 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. How do you feed 5000 with such a small quantity? But Jesus did not panic. Rather, he looked up to heaven, GAVE the Father thanks and broke the bread.
This action is described perfectly in Philippians 4:6-7 which states "be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests known unto God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus."
We all know that going on the path of anxiety is a fruitless venture.
It stems from the place of fear of the unknown and wreaks havoc on our mental, physical, emotional wellbeing as well as our immune system.
Imagine Jesus walking in anxiety after claiming to be the son of God and being presented with such a big "opportunity" only to disappoint his disciples by panicking! And so, Jesus in his wisdom chose to be still, give thanks to the father and begin to break the bread.
Be still and know that I am God Psalm 46:10, and they that know their God shall be strong and do exploits Daniel 11:32 confirm this.
So, on a new financial journey this year, I’m praying and hoping that in me relearning money, I will be able to implement more principles of God's word, some of which are,
1. The borrower is servant to the lender- Proverbs 22:7
2. Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding- Proverbs 3:5
3. Guard your heart above all else, for from it flows the issues of life- Proverbs 4:23
4. Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom- Luke 6:38
5. Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land- Ecclesiastes 11:2
This last principle reminds me of the story of Joseph in Egypt interpreting the pharaoh’s dream about 7 years of abundance and 7 years of famine and also giving him solutions by advising him to save in the years of abundance for surely the years of famine would come.
In my learning of all these principles, I hope to do better this month and this year financially.
I may not be so sure how things will work out, but I pray for wisdom to implement that which I have learnt.
Some of the other practical ways to do better financially include
- Making work lunches to reduce cost
- Reducing borrowing
- Finding other means to make more money
So help me God!!!
I hope you are blessed as you read this and also will be able to search and know more of God's word regarding His financial promises to you and in doing so improve in your finances as well.
Shalom!!!
