Verse of the Day: God is Not Unjust

  

10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.

Hebrews 6:10 (NLT)

From the Life Application Bible:

It’s easy to get discouraged, thinking that God has forgotten us. But God is never unjust. He never forgets or overlooks our hard work for him. Presently you may not be receiving rewards and acclaim, but God knows your efforts of love and ministry. Let God’s love for you and his intimate knowledge of your service for him bolster you as you face disappointment and rejection here on earth.

Verse of the Day: Lazy Person = Destroyer

9 He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.

Proverbs 18:9 (NKJV)

9 A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things.

Proverbs 18:9 (NLT)

The Bible calls a lazy person a destroyer or his brother. That’s a pretty bad insult, no? If you’re a lazy person you will destroy things in your life. Hard work really does pay off, and you won’t be called a destroyer by the Bible!

From the Nelson Study Bible:

The word slothful means a person who is “known to be slack.” It refers to a lazy person (see 15:19). Destroyer means “lord of destruction.”

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Verse of the Day: Lay Something Aside

  

2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.

1 Corinthians 16:2 (NKJV)

From the Nelson Study Bible:

The first day of the week was the regular weekly meeting day of the early church. Lay something aside expresses the concern of Christian giving in the New Testament. The Old Testament tithe (altogether coming to about 23 percent) was not adopted by the New Testament church, though certainly Christ practiced it. New Testament believers were encouraged to give liberally, but never a specified amount or percentage (see Romans 12:8). Paul wanted to make sure that the Corinthians’ offering would be collected before he arrived so that he would not need to pressure the people when he saw them (see 2 Corinthians 9:5).

Let Us Remember on Memorial Day

Let us remember on this Memorial Day the fallen military heroes who have fought so bravely and sacrificed their lives for our freedom in this country both in our history and our recent past. Please pray for the families of these heroes and for all the armed forces currently serving around the world in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and others. We will always remember…

Verse of the Day: Pockets Filled with Holes

  

6 You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!

Haggai 1:6 (NLT)

From the Life Application Bible:

Because the people had not given God first place in their lives, their work was not fruitful or productive, and their material possessions did not satisfy. While they concentrated on building and beautifying their own homes, God’s blessing was withheld because they no longer put him first. Moses had predicted that this would be the result if the people neglected God (Deuteronomy 28:38-45).

Verse of the Day: Firstfruits of Your Increase

  

9 Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase;

10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

Proverbs 3:9-10 (NKJV)

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.

10 Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.

Proverbs 3:9-10 (NLT)

From the Nelson Study Bible:

The promises in these verses describe general patterns, not rules that have no exceptions. These are the results that often follow a full commitment to God. The command to honor God with wealth and to give to Him from the firstfruits of all income is a part of what it means to worship God.

In God’s covenant with Israel, fullness of barns and vats was God’s blessing, a part of God’s covenant promise. Yet these verses should not be taken as a formula for getting rich. They speak of what righteous people can reasonably expect in life, not what God promises to return on investments.

From the Life Application Bible:

This refers to the practice of giving to God the first and best portion of the harvest (Deuteronomy 26:9-11). Many people give God their leftovers. If they can afford to donate anything after the bills are paid, they do so. These people may be sincere and contribute willingly, but they are not obeying what God says.

God wants the first part of our income. This demonstrates that God, not possessions, has first place in our life and that our resources belong to him (we are only managers). Giving to God helps us conquer greed, helps us properly manage God’s resources, and opens us up to receive God’s special blessings.

Verse of the Day: Tithing in Nehemiah

  

Here’s another one for our tithing series.

37 to bring the firstfruits of our dough, our offerings, the fruit from all kinds of trees, the new wine and oil, to the priests, to the storerooms of the house of our God; and to bring the tithes of our land to the Levites, for the Levites should receive the tithes in all our farming communities. 38 And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes; and the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms of the storehouse.

39 For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain, of the new wine and the oil, to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are, where the priests who minister and the gatekeepers and the singers are; and we will not neglect the house of our God.

Nehemiah 10:37-39 (NKJV)

From the Life Application Bible:

According to God’s law, the people were to give a tenth of their produce to the Temple for the support of the Levites (those who cared for the Temple and the religious observances). A tenth of what the Levites received or produced went to the priests for their support. The principle at work was to ensure the support of the house of God and his workers. We must not overlook our responsibility to God’s workers today.

Verse of the Day: Tithing in Deuteronomy

Sorry about today’s Verse of the Day being late.

22 “You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. 23 Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored—and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 14:22-23 (NLT)

From the Life Application Bible:

The Bible makes the purpose of tithing very clear – to put God first in our lives. We are to give God the first and best of what we earn. For example, what we do first with our money shows what we value most. Giving the first part of our paycheck to God immediately focuses our attention on him. It also reminds us that all we have belongs to him. A habit of regular tithing can keep God at the top of our priority list and give us a proper perspective on everything else we have.

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Personal Finance 101 Finance Survey for Couples

Amanda of Personal Finance 101 emailed me about a finance survey for couples she’s conducting to gather some research on how couples manage their money. If you are not single, and would like to fill out an anonymous survey to help her out, go to the survey by clicking here. It would be greatly appreciated!

Verse of the Day: Tithing in Leviticus

  

30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.

Leviticus 27:30 (NKJV)

Hope you guys and gals aren’t sick of tithing verses, because there’s a ton of them in the Bible! Here’s another one from Leviticus.

This concept is repeated throughout Scripture that the tithe belongs to God and that it is expected of Christians to pay the tithe to the Lord through your home church where you are being fed. This is so important in my life that I tithe 10% of my income every month and I have always had shelter, food, and clothing. God has never let me down in the past and He will not in the future because He’s promised it in His Word. He will supply all your need. Not some, all! But remember the difference between need and want.

All I can say is try it. I’ve even heard of a church that offered a 100% tithe guarantee that if they weren’t satisfied, the church would return their money! Who needs a guarantee from man? God’s the one who guarantees it!