We'll, it's the holiday season and I have good news for those of you that are financially strapped or running on a tight budget. Use your tithe on your Holiday Needs!!! The Israelites did.
"Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away), then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice." Deuteronomy 14:22-26
Did you see that? The Israelites were commanded to eat the tithe and to buy whatever they wanted for themselves and rejoice in the presence of the Lord. They were commanded to spend their tithe on themselves as they appeared before the Lord at their festivals. Which festivals? The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering. See Exodus 23:14-19. And when they appeared in Jerusalem for these festivals they were commanded to use their tithes for both sacrifices (gifts to the Lord) and for their personal needs. That's right. Personal needs.
It's one thing to be a millionaire. It's another thing all togther to be living month-to-month. If things are tight and yet God has placed it on your heart to hold dinner at your house or buy your kids presents or buy gifts for the poor.....be open to using your tithe money to do so. The scriptures say this is ok with God as long as the Spirit leads you to it. Obviously, we need to pray and ask about all things. I am not encouraging anyone to skip that step. What I am saying is to be open to hear the Lord say this to you. In the past he has spoken it to others. I believe he still does so in the present.
"Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality." 2 Corinthians 8:13
If things are tight, and yet you have need to spend the money, I believe it is ok to hear the Lord on this. But again, you need to pray because ultimately everything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Revelation 2:7
Greetings and God Bless during this holiday season.
JEB
http://www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com/.
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