[FOR]Ward | Week 4
SERIES: FORward
MESSAGE: With God’s Resources
DATE: October 9, 2022
But keep yourselves from the things set apart, or you will be set apart for destruction. If you take any of those things, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and make trouble for it. For all the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, are dedicated to the Lord and must go into the Lord’s treasury.” Joshua 6:18-19
They burned the city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. Joshua 6:24
The Lord then said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen facedown? Israel has sinned. They have violated my covenant that I appointed for them. They have taken some of what was set apart. They have stolen, deceived, and put those things with their own belongings. Joshua 7:10-11
Achan replied to Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did: When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Babylon, five pounds of silver, and a bar of gold weighing a pound and a quarter, I coveted them and took them. You can see for yourself. They are concealed in the ground inside my tent, with the silver under the cloak.” Joshua 7:20-21
Israel’s sin was to take what was “God’s” and try to make it “theirs”.
- Everything belongs to God
The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord. Psalm 24:1
- The Tithe belongs to God
Every tenth of the land’s produce, grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord…Every tenth animal from the herd or flock, which passes under the shepherd’s rod, will be holy to the Lord. Leviticus 27:30, 32
The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives. Deuteronomy 14:23
Is there a step of faith I can take in my generosity that can teach me to trust God more?
Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
- Make a Decision
- Make a Plan