Deuteronomy 14:22-29

good morning good morning welcome to coffee and devotions this morning we're at Deuteronomy chapter 14: 22 through what did I say 22 through 37 something like that so we're going to talk about the principle of tithing right the principle of tithing let's have some coffee we'll pray and we'll get into God's word oh there's no Deuteronomy 1437 you're right 29 I was wrong yep I'm not adding to God's word mm- you want some coffee mm no okay let's pray father thank you so much for this day thank you for the blessing of being able to read your word father we pray that you would please help us to understand it please teach us Lord please let us walk in your ways in Jesus's name amen all right Deuteronomy chapter 14 beginning at verse 22 you want to read that first paragraph or you want me to you can okay you shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year and you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to make his name abide the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil of the firstborn of your herd and your flocks that you may learn to fear the lord your God always but if the journey is too long for you so that you are not able to carry the tithe or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you when the Lord your God has blessed you then you shall exchange it for money take the money in your hand and go to the place where Jehovah your God chooses and you shall spend that money for when for whatever your heart desires for oxen or sheep for wine or similar drink for whatever your heart desires you shall eat there before the Lord your God and you shall rejoice you and your household you shall not forsake the levite who is within your gates for he has no part in inheritance with you you want to read that last paragraph here at the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your Gates and the levite because he has no portion or inheritance with you and the stranger and the fatherless and the Widow who are in your Gates may come and eat and be satisfied that the Lord your God May bless you in all the work of your hand which you do okay so this is talking about the tithe right why do do you remember in here why do they have to give the tithe first I should ask what is a tithe a tenth of all of you produce good right so a tenth of all their produce and what does it say in the very last part of verse 23 why were they supposed to give this tithe where God wanted it so that they can learn to fear God right yeah so they would learn to fear the lord good so that's that's the whole point of this right who's have we been learning this in in our Bible lesson lately mhm who's this The World God so if I buy a field do I own the field no yes I do I paid for it I got a I got a a deed I got a title I own that land don't I own it but God made it yeah but are you allowed to come in and steal it from me no so don't I own it no it's more like a temporary borrow from the world oh so it's more like I'm a steward of God's thing yeah right so so we're stewards of What the Lord Has right and so in the economy of Israel every year what were they supposed to do with a tenth of the stuff give it to God yeah give it to God right so if they went out to the Harvest and they reaped let's say 10 bushels of of barley how many of how many bushels should they bring to the Lord one one right what if they had uh 10 Lambs that year give them one L and if there's 20 Lambs give him two lambs and if there's 30 give him three okay good I'm glad you know how to do math that's wonderful yeah right and so that's what the Lord does right he this and the whole point was to teach them that who's was the land Gods who was the animals God who gave them all Their Blessings God who gave them all the good things God Hey Dad I have a question what if you only had five things maybe you'd have to give up half lame like or maybe you would give With A Generous Heart actually that's that's one of the points I wanted to make when we got to see calling was what are we called to do right we're called to give the Lord what's the Lord okay so give unto the Lord what's the Lords right so do you have to pay a tithe should I pay a tithe but we're not old make Christians but the Lord still owns everything we have okay so maybe the principle still stands that the Lord owns it so are we bound to the exact number for the tithe I don't think we are I think uh 2 Corinthians 9: 6-7 talks about this right the Lord wants a cheerful Giver not one who gives under compulsion right but willingly or do we recognize that everything we we have is from him and he's so good every good and perfect gift that we have comes down from our heavenly father and so if the people under the law had to be told you must give one tenth if we're under grace how much more can we say God you have given me everything I need for life and you've given me your son I want to give it to you now notice though heart of it is for the upkeep of the Tabernacle right if you notice uh every third or you shall not forsake the levite who is within your gates for he has no portion nor inheritance with you right so the Levites had to be cared for but every third year the tithe would go not just to the levite but it would also go to the stranger and the orphans is meant to help care for the community as well people who were downtrodden but maybe another principle would be what should the church do with some of the money that the church receives [Music] um give it to missions and homeless people yeah right give it to people who are in need right so part of it is paying the ox who's trading the grain arid is also paying for the or helping other people see there's actually one of my friends taught me this I thought this was very helpful does the government make money or make wealth oh they they they take it or they print money right but but they don't actually produce wealth the church recycles right the church gets money from people and uses it to build the church or uses it to care for the community and then individuals and people as they work for companies making things produce right go out into the field and make things right and so each each part has its place okay what would you underline as the best verse to summarize this um probably 22 verse 22 you shall surely tithe or you shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year good okay let's let's have you do c calling what what do you think you are called to do the tithe and give back to the Lord what he gave to okay that's fine if that's what you ever want to take as a SE calling all right can you pray for us to close or would you like me to what's up to you I can all right let's God thank you so much you have given us so many good things thank you for life thank you for breath thank you for food thank you for children thank you for grandchildren thank you for parents thank you for shoes thank you for shoelaces thank you for taste and smell and hearing and touch thank you for love thank you for your son in Jesus's name amen well may God raise up in your a heart of generosity of thankfulness that Wells over into caring for others we'll see you next time bye bye