Lovin and Living
This is a place for me to just be me… (All content Copyrighted Yeve Eeffoc 2008-2015)Archive for Tithe
Christian Living
We have been having a series at church that really has had me thinking a lot. The main point of the whole series has been about asking if what you are about to do fits into the your Christian Life.
Do you actually live a Christian Life? Do you make time to read the Bible? Do you make time for Church? Do you make time to have a relationship with Him? Do you Tithe? Are you making choices that put you in Debt? Do you Gift others? Are you someone who knows they have issues to work on but Never does?
It can apply to anything in your life. Do you swear to much? Do you eat to much? Do you exercise to little? Are you moving in with someone and are not married? Are you having premarital sex? Are you having an affair? Are you using the gifts God has gifted you with? Are you really in need of the new car, shoes, boat, house? Are you living above your means? Are you saving money for later in life? Are you gossiping about others? Are you involved in activities at church? Are you pushing aside church for sports, sleep, fun?
How important is the Lord in your life? He sent His only Son to this world to save us!
John 3:16-17 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.God sacrificed His only Son for us! Do you make any sacrifices for Him?
God did not send Him to condemn us He sent Him to save us! Which then brings me to another verse that really has opened my eyes with how I view some things.
For a very long time I have read Matthew 18: 15-17 and seen it in a different way than the way I do currently.
Matthew 18:15-17 15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.In the past when I read that verse my mind instantly goes back to the Old Testament. It is the only way I could explain it to myself. How was a pagan treated? You avoided them, you didn’t want them in your life, you didn’t want to be influenced by them and so you “killed” them. Of course now you would not literally kill them but you could remove them from you life and kill them and the relationship that way.
But now read that verse and see it from the eyes of the one who is speaking those words, Jesus. How did Jesus treat a pagan or a tax collector? He ate with them, He sought them out, He spoke to them, He was kind to them, He LOVED them; sins and all! He won them over with His actions and His grace and then told them they were forgiven and to go and sin no more. Did He really expect they would never sin again? I don’t think so because we do live in a fallen world, but to have the Savior say go and sin no more to you, to touch you, to care about you and what YOU did when no one else did?
We are not supposed to push these people away from us (there are situations when I do think it is important to remove them from our lives, like if they are influencing us to follow in their footsteps instead of you influencing them), we are supposed to love them and after a while confront them again.
There isn’t a single Christian around who does not sin. So are you open to others confronting you and you confronting others? That is also part of Christian Living! Are you defensive if someone points something out to you that goes against the Bible and God’s way for us?
I am not perfect and I certainly don’t claim to be. There are days I really am not the Christian I should be or could be. There are days I struggle more than others, just like anyone. But for me the really big thing is am I really trying to make it to church, tithe, have a relationship with Him, showing others I am a Christian by my actions, and not using excuses for not doing all of it?!
How is your Christian Life going? Are you loving everyone, no matter what their sin is? Are you judging instead of loving?
1 Kings 8:39 Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for You alone know every human heart),You are allowed to bring to the forefront a sin, but we are not allowed to judge because God is the only one who know what is truly in our hearts!
I Get it God!
If He could hit me any harder upside the head with something I just might end up on another planet!
Seriously about 3 weeks ago (give or take), on my way to church He smacked me about tithing and our debt. I know we need to tithe. I know that even though the old testament laws are not expected to be followed anymore, the principles behind them are expected to be followed. I know we are deep in debt and I know we need to stop using credit cards because we can’t get out of debt if we are using them. I know we have to learn to just live within our means. And are you ready for it, here comes the but…. But with us having used the credit cards we have debt we have to pay which means currently without Jack in the Box having a job we have no way to make it without living on those credit cards.
It is seriously a very vicious cycle and I HATE it! I want off this merry-go-round.
So anyway when I got to church that morning our Pastor was talking about tithing of course! I mean honestly God was giving me a wake up call prior to walking in the door that day.
And since that time there have been many times I will just be sitting and then here comes that 2×4 to smack me upside the head to remind me what we have to do. That we need to get out of debt. That we need to get back on track and we need to be a giving family.
As I have mentioned in another post God has brought to my attention that instead of saving for our Disney trip we really should take the money and pay off a debt we have. It isn’t really a large debt compared to others but the amount we pay monthly is larger than what we pay on most other debts. And it would do a few things for us.
1. It would get rid of this company, which has since getting this loan been proven to be the bane of my existence. I do research. We used it to get out of debt and had we stayed out of debt it wouldn’t have been a big deal but we didn’t. And since that time I recently found out some things that were not disclosed and even after reading all the paperwork I can’t find it stated exactly. But basically (and sadly in my state this is legal) they give you the loan. They prior to giving you the loan charge you all of the interest you would have to pay on the loan over the whole course of the loan as a “fee” prior to getting the loan. Then they charge you accruing interest daily. So what it comes down to is you are paying your interest fully in the loan, twice if you are unable to pay it off early. It is sad and ridiculous and frustrates me that it is legal to do.
2. It would free up $173.00 a month.
3. We would be able to do multiple things with that extra month. We would be able to tithe and put extra money toward our debt to pay it down faster.
I do understand the fact we need to get our financial life in order. God has given us so much and we are thankful and we need to be thankful right now. I am just praying that Jack in the Box gets a job soon because we can’t get our financial life in order if we don’t have an income to do it.
God please grant us the ability to get out of the financial mess we are in. Even if it takes years we are okay with that but we need Jack in the Box to have a job in order for us to move forward!
Lovin and Living 