His Eye is on the sparrow

A couple of weeks ago, the Lord told me -- I think it was Him-- to always save $100 from each paycheck or money I receive from my pension. On the one hand, that's a lotta money. It could pay off a bill. On the other hand, it's not a lotta money. How can one build a savings account. But it's what the Lord told me, I think.

So, am gonna trust that the Lord is telling me to do this.

All this is in addition to the Tithe we are ordered to give to God, and the offering that we should also give. So it's my part to save, to tithe, to give offerings. And basically to trust that God is taking care of me.

It'll be interesting. The Lord tells us that we can't serve God and money. He tells us we should be like the sparrow. The sparrow doesn't sit around saying "Did I tithe enough? Does God owe me? Have I sowed?" The sparrow doesn't sit around sowing and thinking about what that sowing will make him reap. We tithe because it's part of our realization that the tithe belongs to God. It's our opportunity to use something that belongs to God in order to show God how we use money that doesn't belong to us. When we tithe to help others, we show God that we are using what belongs to his in a cause he considers worthy.

Churches and Christian television programs kinda brainwash by saying God will bless us if we tithe. And while it is always good to sow, it is not really Scriptural to think that our daily life depends on us sowing seed and God blessing it. God blesses his children no matter what and He always takes care of us. It's good to tithe but the Lord tells us to give cheerfully. Not out of necessity. God wants to take care of his sheep and his sparrow. And God doesn't want us to think of Him as a means to an end. We are here to serve Him. He is our master and the good shepherd who takes care of the sheep. We should rely on God who owns all the cattles on a thousand hills. He has given us the power to get wealth. We should trust in His supernatural blessings. But we are to trust Him to provide for us and not to use God to get rich. We tithe in order to get money so we can bless OTHERS. We are not here to serve and seek after money. We are here to use money.

Ecclesiastes 7:12 "For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it." Ecclesiastes 7:11-13

We are not to fear poverty. That leads us into believing that God isn't there for us. Money is not picked on in the Bible but we are told how to use it.

Remember the wasteful steward in Luke 16:1-12 "And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods."

Notice how the story ends: The rich man was very happy to see how the wasteful steward handled matters. One would think he would have been angry with the steward for stealing from him and cooking the books. The rich man was proud that the steward finally understood how to use money: as investment, as a tool, instead of wasting it and not influence through it.
-C