From “The Word For You Today” by Bruce Christian

WEATHERING THE FINANCIAL SHAKEUP (3)

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was a young minister during the Great Depression.  His salary had been cut twice.  He says: “Everyone was frightened and depressed.  Businesses were failing.  Nobody could borrow money.  The pressure got worse, and for the first time I was terrified.  I said to my wife, ‘We’re in a desperate situation.  We can’t pay the bills.  What are we going to do?’  Her answer startled me: ‘We’re going to start tithing!’  I said, ‘With what?  It’s impossible.’  ‘Not impossible,’ she replied, ‘essential.’  We’re going to get by on 90 percent of your salary.  Tithing is an act of faith and if we have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing will be impossible.’  She was right, we did get by.  Money didn’t pour in, but there was always enough.  Furthermore, the act of tithing seemed to calm my fears and stimulate my mind.  There’s an invisible reservoir of abundance that’s tapped when you obey God’s law.”  The Bible says, “The blessing of the Lord makes…rich…and…and adds no sorrow” (Pr 10:22 NLT).  God’s ability to bless you doesn’t depend on what’s happening in the economy.  When you honor Him with your tithes and offerings, He will ‘open …the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing…there will not be room enough to receive…And…{He} will rebuke the devourer for your sakes”(Mal 3:10-11 NKJV).  In the Old Testament when God’s people “began bringing their gifts to the…temple” there was “enough…and plenty to spare.”  Why?  Because the Lord had “blessed His people.”  Would you rather depend on man’s economy or on God’s blessing?  The choice is yours!

Advertisement

From “The Word For You Today” by Bruce Christian

WEATHERING THE FINANCIAL SHAKEUP (1)

Writing about a recent conversation, Rich Hamlin says: “Another guy like me said, ‘I dread going to work.  All these layoffs are depressing.  I keep thinking I’m going to be next.  I’ve tons of work, and my clients appreciate what I’m doing, but I start worrying and there’s no stopping.’  Worrying is the worst of it, and the stories are piling up; friends, friends of friends, people from church, neighbors, parents of our kids’ friends.  An early retirement here, a downsizing there, a severance payment, a pink slip…all put faces on the statistics and…that gnawing fear can make every day an agony.”  The chances are, you may be feeling some shots of discouragement yourself-daily arrows of frustration that wear you down and steal your joy.  Satan’s like a terrorist specializing in guerrilla warfare.  He knows he’d lose big time if he went against the forces of heaven, so he singles out individual believers.  The question is, how do you stand firm when “everything that…can be shaken” is shaking?  Well for starters, Isaiah says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you” (Isa 26:3 NKJV).  If Moses had focused on his circumstances, he’d never have had peace standing between the Red Sear and the Egyptians.  His peace came from knowing he was where God wanted him to be.  Peace in and of itself isn’t the goal; peace is a by-product of knowing: “How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear (honor) you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you”(Ps 31:19 NIV).