Question regarding first fruits...

[Psalm23Rick]

I'm frankly not sure whether this is the best place for this question but...

So, the Lord has been working in my life with regards to tithing aside from the other areas. He revealed to me within the past month my short comings with regards to first fruits tithes. My question is this - A believer friend that I met a bit over a month ago is planting seed in my life by helping me in my time of need. She's specifically helping to cover a bill that I'm currently unable to pay that's due in a handful of days. I want to tithe a first fruits offering but if I do then the bill won't be completely paid, and I'm still behind with my checking account. Yes, my finances are a bit .. umm.. messed up right now. I'm supposed to talk to my pastor later this week regarding all of this but will be getting this first help perhaps before that happens. I just don't know enough about the ins-n-outs of first fruits to know what to do in this situation.. thoughts? I want to give God the glory for His provision in this case and every case.... thoughts?

 

[Psalm23Rick]

By the way.. I just note that I'm leaning on doing the first fruits tithe and honoring God above getting 100% of the bill paid.. I'm willing to pay any penalty and would rather honor God first. Perhaps some would differ but this just feels right...

 

[Br. Bear]

Greetings,

there are no hard and fast rules that I am aware of.
A lot of what I think you are talking about when using the term First Fruits is debatable, at least and some is plainly not right.

In a recent thread it was seen that the Children and family of the King didn't pay taxes, for the Kingdom was theirs and everything in it.
Another thought is that when we receive life in Christ, are we to give 10% of it back... or to someone else? Doesn't make sense to me.
A lot of the Tithe teaching are not Scriptural, from what I understand, which leaves me to say to you that if you need to pay your bills, then pay them.
Are you a Christian? If so, honour the Lord by paying and presenting Christ (through Christianity) to others as reliable and give no reason for slander against the faith.
If you are not a Christian, pay your bills anyway.

The best ways to honour God and give God the glory is to praise Him, thank Him, forgive others and let His love do His work in you, which means it will overflow (like a first fruit) to others in all you say and do. (I add here that I am far from perfect at doing that but I am gently reminded daily as the Lord has given me the Helper to do that sort of thing... for which I thank Him)

If you want to give something, there are usually many opportunities to help others around you or that you see down the street... unless of course you live out woop woop and never see anyone!

Remember that when the Lord separates the sheep from the goats, it is not the tithing or the first fruits as you call it, but in doing kindness that is the distinguishing mark He decides upon.

There is One First Fruit and that is Christ the Son of God.

BUT, whatever you do, do it willingly with a grateful heart. Getting into the pattern of thinking that if you give, you'll get, only breeds bad thinking. We will be doing it in order to get a 'blessing'. Wrong motive... bad idea. Many testify to the results of such giving (tithing and the like) and will no doubt get upset upon reading this, because they believe they should do it.
Remember if nothing else, if you give (tithe first fruits), do so not out of some notion that you will get a bonus cheque or any benefit at all, but do it because you love the Lord ... expecting nothing in return. He gave you everything and will continue to to do so, and He didn't give to you under contract that you now have to pay Him a tax.

Pay your bill and honour the Lord. To give first fruit is to give out of the abundance, not poverty. Yes, the widow put in all she had, but it was an offering, not a tithe. She was not compelled to do so. Don't let people make you feel compelled to be generous. God can do that for you if and when you are ready.
The person helping you is kind. Thank them and remember one day to reciprocate that kindness in one way or another.

If you owe to any more to people let them know you haven't forgotten and you will pay ASAP.

Bless you ....><>

 

[Psalm23Rick]

thanks for the reply.. Yes, I'm a believer but this is one of many areas that the Lord has been working with me on. He's made it very clear that up until recently I had not been a good steward of His provision and I am changing in the areas I've got wrong thinking, etc. Obviously at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

If you want an excellent teaching on tithing, checkout Robert Morris' book entitled "The Blessed Life" - he runs Gateway church in Tx -- NO, I'm not affiliated with them at all -- but that book really resonated with me..

I don't pretend to understand much or all that this walk of faith consists of, but I do know that my old habits of tithing before I was a born again believer were NOT right, among other things. We gave $20/wk regardless of our salaries/combined incomes. My entire life is now changed with being a believer and I WILL follow Christ wherever He wants me to go and I will learn whatever He wants me to learn. I'm in a season of fast paced learning and tithing is just one area of many I'm being taught in day by day by day.. Some of these lessons are EXTREMELY difficult for me, humbling as my trust is in God alone and I want to learn these corrections only ONCE. They're too painful to go through a 2nd or 3rd time. This period of leaning on the Lord for provision has been going on for >6 months. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel though, but I want to get rooted & grounded completely in His teachings & ways.

 

[Br. Bear]

Blessings to you.
I can testify that the Lord is kind to each one of us and leads us where He knows he wants us, for His purpose and that is always a wonderful learning time. You might find (if the LORD tarries) that in years ahead you will look back and see the lessons He gave and smile. This lesson of tithing you are presently learning is needful to most of us, and yet it is full of precious building work being done, behind the scenes. They are the scenes you will one day look back and see. It is also like a stepping stone to higher ground.

May you know His peace in all things,

Bless you ....><>

 

[Psalm23Rick]

Thanks Br. Bear! I totally agree!! Blessings always!!

 

[Laura1557]

thanks for the reply.. Yes, I'm a believer but this is one of many areas that the Lord has been working with me on. He's made it very clear that up until recently I had not been a good steward of His provision and I am changing in the areas I've got wrong thinking, etc. Obviously at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

If you want an excellent teaching on tithing, checkout Robert Morris' book entitled "The Blessed Life" - he runs Gateway church in Tx -- NO, I'm not affiliated with them at all -- but that book really resonated with me..

I don't pretend to understand much or all that this walk of faith consists of, but I do know that my old habits of tithing before I was a born again believer were NOT right, among other things. We gave $20/wk regardless of our salaries/combined incomes. My entire life is now changed with being a believer and I WILL follow Christ wherever He wants me to go and I will learn whatever He wants me to learn. I'm in a season of fast paced learning and tithing is just one area of many I'm being taught in day by day by day.. Some of these lessons are EXTREMELY difficult for me, humbling as my trust is in God alone and I want to learn these corrections only ONCE. They're too painful to go through a 2nd or 3rd time. This period of leaning on the Lord for provision has been going on for >6 months. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel though, but I want to get rooted & grounded completely in His teachings & ways.

Two thoughts came to my mind, brother: 1) follow the leading of the Lord. You very much sound like you're on the right track with wanting to fix the things He's shown you aren't/haven't been right in your life and you're definitely on the right track about wanting to learn His lessons the first time!

2) As a general principle, pay your bills first, before tithing, to be a good witness and honour the Lord, as Br. Bear has already said.

As far as this current bill goes, I'd say if your friend is paying most of it and your choice with your own funds is to pay the rest of this bill or tithe, pay the rest of this bill with the view to starting to tithe next, as you get your finances into the shape the Lord wants them. The Lord knows your heart: He knows your willingness to start tithing and since He owns it all anyway, He's not going to want you to go into debt or stay in debt so you can give. He's as pleased with your willingness to give, even if you can't give as you'd like right now, as He'd be if you could.

You've said that you see the light at the end of the tunnel and that's good. That shows how close you are to being able to tithe as you'd like and as He seems to be leading you to do. Remember being rooted and grounded completely in His teachings and ways is a process and as I said, you sound like you're on the right track.

Tithing was one of the first things the Lord challenged me on as a new Christian too. Since then, I've heard the arguments that Malachi 3:10-11 doesn't apply to the church today (and doctrinally it doesn't) and we don't have to tithe, but I'm here to tellya that the I challenged the Lord on that passage and I proved Him on it and found that you really can't out-give God.

Doctrinally, 2 Cor 9:6-7 KJV applies to us, but if the Lord is leading you to cheerfully give Him the first 10%, He will get you into a position where you can do just that as you continue to follow and obey Him in general, and specifically regarding your finances. Tithing isn't just something the Lord told the Israelites to do under the Law; Gentiles tithed before the Law was ever given (Gen 14:20). In my observation, we may not be obligated to tithe, but when we do it with a right heart and right motive, God is pleased when we do.

(Once you're able to tithe the way you want to, the question may come to your mind about whether you should tithe on your gross pay or net pay. The best advice I ever heard on that came from one of the aged men at church who said "it depends. Do you want God's blessings to be gross or net?" )

 

[Dave M]

Also keep in mind you can tithe with your time if your money is not right, donate some time to your church like Bear was suggesting volunteering. But I am here to tell you like Laura no one out gives God, I have seen it in my life and it is truly amazing I mean to tell you miracle before my very eyes when it comes to this. God bless you brother you are on the right track.

 

[Psalm23Rick]

Thanks all.. Perhaps I have a different take on what the Lord has been showing me and I believe He's made it clear to me, since I wrote this post, that my first fruits ALWAYS come first over anything that this world needs. I will step out in faith here to do what I'm being led to do. Of course, the first fruits of my day are always His.. He almost daily, by the Holy Spirit, gets me up at ~1:30AM to spend time in intercessory prayer for various people in my life. That is the first fruits of my day.

By the way, if you've never watched Robert Morris video's on Youtube on the topic, I HIGHLY suggest it -- of course his book entitled "The Blessed Life" is amazing too -- same subject.

Regardless, I need to follow the prompting of the Lord as Laura mentioned. I know that my walk is .. umm.. different. I must follow what He wants of me... Thanks all!

 

[Laura1557]

Thanks all.. Perhaps I have a different take on what the Lord has been showing me and I believe He's made it clear to me, since I wrote this post, that my first fruits ALWAYS come first over anything that this world needs. I will step out in faith here to do what I'm being led to do. Of course, the first fruits of my day are always His.. He almost daily, by the Holy Spirit, gets me up at ~1:30AM to spend time in intercessory prayer for various people in my life. That is the first fruits of my day.

By the way, if you've never watched Robert Morris video's on Youtube on the topic, I HIGHLY suggest it -- of course his book entitled "The Blessed Life" is amazing too -- same subject.

Regardless, I need to follow the prompting of the Lord as Laura mentioned. I know that my walk is .. umm.. different. I must follow what He wants of me... Thanks all!

Excellent, brother. If He's made it clear to you what He expects you to do in this matter (and in any matter), then that's what you need to do, even if it goes contrary to human advice. The key to watch for is that what He's telling you to do doesn't go against scripture, because He will never lead you contrary to His word. (Sometimes I think He leads us in a direction different from the human advice we receive as a test to reveal to us if we're going to put Him first, or man's advice ahead of Him.)

You'll see Him work in some pretty amazing ways over time as you seek to obey Him in your first-fruits giving.

 

[Psalm23Rick]

Thanks Laura.. As of this AM (its 4:58am as I write this), He's given me a much better understanding of the fear of the Lord. I've been praying over that on-n-off for a while and He answered it this AM by giving me a fairly long message for the church... Oh my, but He is good! But I now see another side of Him that I've never experienced myself in my chronologically short walk of faith (just shy of 3 years). Perhaps I'll go into this in one of the other forums.. It's OT for this post.. Praise God always!! He is amazing and if you'll completely submit to Him, He will transform your life as He's done with mine!

PS. In my case regarding the tithe, He instructed me that first fruits always come first before anything. Perhaps that doesn't align with your beliefs, but if that's what He wants, that's what He will get. It is done. Thanks all!

 

[Dave M]

Rick you give God the first fruit, before you know it he will be opening the flood gates to you.

 

[Psalm23Rick]

Thanks Dave.. I believe you're right. This past week has been absolutely eye opening in my walk. I'm not at liberty to go into what He's shown me but what He wants to use my life for at this time is WAAAAAAAY bigger than I ever imagined. I am humbled by Him and His desires to use my life.. Praise the Lord!!!

 

[Dave M]

Every believer that I have herd test God on giving has seen him open the flood gates, we truly reap what we sow.

 

[Psalm23Rick]

So true!!! Thanks brother!