The Greatest Gift

Today's Christmas eve and once again, we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. To many, Christmas is associated with Santa Claus, presents and family gatherings which is fine.

But the real reason why we should be celebrating Christmas is to remember the birth of Christ.

Today, my QT touched on God's name - Emmanuel which means GOd with us. Jesus is God's Christmas gift to anyone who wants to accept Him. Wrapped up in Jesus are all the benefits and blessings and so much more - He gives us a purpose for living.

I took the step of accepting Christ when I was 19 and I have not looked back. It was not easy for me to be a christian initially because my mum who was a staunch Buddhist refused to accept my decision. I stuck with it even though she was dead against it. She threw my bible down the chute & I got scolded for mixing with Christians. I was not allowed to go to church until Peter came along. He secretly took me to church and one day he decided to tell my mum about it. He wanted to come clean with her. My heart stopped beating when he told her. Because my mum valued honesty n courage, she took it very well and from then on, everything went smoothly. Whew!

However, we dont hv to wait for Christmas to celebrate Jesus' birth. We can do it every day. We remember Jesus came to die on the cross for us so that He can pay our 'debt' , compensate for the damages of our sins, redeem us from slavery and take on the punishment on himself when we should deserve it. That's grace - undeserved mercy. That's why a man who realises how much God loves him inspite of his sins, wrote this song - Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

Wonderful Counsellor n Mighty God

Money

Caption : Show me the Money!

My Little Lamb & Champ

Do you know that the bible talks alot about money - 5,280 verses on money more than heaven and hell put together?

God is not opposed to Christians having lots of money. He's opposed to christians coveting, which is greed actually. The bible warns us about greed. Greed is deceptive (Mark 8:35), distorts our value system and plunges men into ruins & destruction (1Tim 6:9)

More amazingly, the bible also talks about not being a guarantor for anyone if we dont have the money to cover the debt amount. Proverbs 22:26 "Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you". That is the reason why so many young people in Spore are bankrupts because they are guarantors for their friends' debts.

On the other hand, it's not easy to get some christians to understand the truth that God wants them to prosper and do well in life. Many folks have this poverty mentality in that they think it's spiritual to be poor. To live in a big house is ungodly. These folks think that it is a sin to have

more money coz 'money is the root of all evil'. The bible didnt say that. The bible says, "For the LOVE of money is the root of all evil..." 1 Tim 6:10.

Chew on these :

Psalm 50:10 "The cattle on a thousand hills are His."
Hagai 2:8 "The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord Almighty."
Proverbs 10:22 'The blessings of the Lord brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it."

I have since learned that God wants to prosper His children. He is concerned about us and wants us to have good things in life. Abraham, Joseph, Daniel & Solomon, just to name a few, were extremely wealthy people. Many christians (quote K Hagin) think that a person ought to go through life with his clothes worn out, the soles of his shoes worn out, and live on Barely-Get-Along Street way down at the end of the block right next to Grumble Alley! Haha..

But God talked to the Israelites about their 'basket & store' being blessed, their barns being filled, n about them being the head and not the tail in Deut 28:1-14 n Prov 3:10. That's material prosperity. But notice that their physical and material prosperity depended upon their spiritual prosperity.

3 John 2 "Beloved, I wish above all things that you may PROSPER & BE IN HEALTH, even as your SOUL PROSPER."

God created the silver and the gold and many other good things for his creation- Man. If God created the world and the fullness of it and then turned it over to Adam (the 1st man), how did satan become god of this world? (2Corin 4:4) God made everything for His man, Adam but then he committed treason against God when he surrendered all his rights & privileges to satan in the Garden of Eden. Adam & Eve disobeyed God and fell into the devil's trap and thus lost their authority over the earth's goods. One of them is money.

At the Hawaii conference, systemic poverty is still prevalent in most parts of the world because satan puts people in bondage. Satan influences people to think that poverty will always be their lot in life and there is no escape. But if u read my previous blog about what is happening around the world, u'll realise that God wants to rescue people from this scarcity mentality & change their thinking. The good news is that the bible says we have been given authority in Christ to claim our needs and enjoy the blessings of God that we have in Christ, including financial prosperity. Believing and confessing will get the job done.

Love, Mum

Tithing

Haha... The above brings me to the topic on tithing.

Leviticus 27:30 "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord."

God owns everything. God keeps a portion sacred for himself, 10% - that's the sovereignty of God in our lives, and we keep 90%. Many of the principles regarding sacrifices & tithes were intended to encourage inward attitudes as well as outward actions. If a person gives grudgingly, he shows that he has a stingy heart. If that's the case, He wouldnt want our tithe coz God wants us to be cheerful givers -

2Corin 9:7 "Each man should give what he has DECIDED in his HEART to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion for GOd loves a cheerful giver."

So children, do not rob God of this 10% (tithe - tenth) as Malachi 3:8 talks about coming under a financial curse if we do (egs holes in your pocket) - "Will a man rob GOd? Yet u rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob u?' 'In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse-the whole nation of you-because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse (local church) that there may be food in my house (church). Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, & the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,' says the Lord Almighty. Then all the nations will call you blessed for yours will be a delightful land,' says the Lord Almighty.

God is working at our attitude - when we tithe, what is our motivation? In the old testament, the people of God were commanded by law to pay. In the new testament, the people were compelled by love to give. What's yours? Dont tip God. Give God purposely for everything that he has done for you. We are under the new testament.

Secondly, if you look at the above scripture- 'bring the tithe into the storehouse' - it means to give our tithe to our local church who provides spiritual covering/protection for us.

1Tim 5:17-18 "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching & teaching. For the scripture say, 'Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,' and 'The worker deserves his wages.'

Full time church leaders are sometimes taken for granted - their needs are not adequately provided for. Personally, I feel we should often ask ourselves if they have received enough financial support to allow them to live without worry & to provide for their families. The reason we should honour the office of the pastor and honour the man who stands in that office is that those who do will prosper in life! It's ironical that some church goers will not hesitate to ask for pay increases and promotions for themselves when they deprive their own pastors from increments and promotions!

Notice that financial curse will come upon a person if he does not tithe. That's the principle of sowing and reaping. When your dad 1st started his biz, he did not have enough income and had to depend on our savings. Once, he decided to skip tithing for that month so that he could use the money on the family. When he did that, he encountered car problems which needed fixing n that amounted to quite a bit of money, or sth would go wrong n we needed to spend. In the end, God spoke to him about the conseq of not tithing - you will have holes in the pocket if you do not tithe.

A few years back, Ps Khong preached on tithing and the law of sowing & reaping. Many from our congregation including our friends & myself, decided to pay back what we owed God in the past when we did not tithe. As a result, there were many who were blessed beyond their expectations - great favours with clients resulting in more biz, job promotions, good health, restoration of family ties, etc.

2Corin 9:6 " Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.."

It pays to obey God's unchanging Word. Do it and you will forever be protected from the clutches of the spirit of poverty or the scarcity mentality. When giving, do it cheerfully and keep your motives n attitudes right. As you do, you'll be blessed because Abraham's blessing belongs to you!

Love, Mum