It is God's desire that His children would be blessed in every area of life - and that of course includes the area of finances. The reality is you cannot live, eat, or have shelter and clothes without money (yours or someone else's). You cannot feed the poor, clothe the naked, or "go into all the world" without money. God put gold in the earth and told Adam that it was "good." (see Gen. 2:12) Money is good, but it's not the whole thing either. There are many things far more important than money. God is not opposed to us having things, but He is opposed to things having us. When you prioritize money with God, you will get off track with God. But, God is for riches when our heart is right!
Financial Principles of the Bible
Part 2: A Right Perspective About Money
7/19/15
- Brad Ettore In Genesis 4, we see that God respected Abel's offering, but did not respect Cain's offering. Why? The difference was attitude. Abel's attitude was "Lord, everything that comes to me, I'm bringing you the first and the best of it!" Cain's attitude towards his offering was slack by comparison. Like Abel, we too can have a respect and honor regarding every blessing that comes into our lives. There is nothing inherently wrong with money - quite the contrary because God created it! The Word of God does warn us about pursuing God for the purpose of financial gain (1 Tim 6:6-10) and also about making money our god (Mark 10:21-24), but we should not erroneous interpret those warnings as God being against money. There is a way that money can be used beautifully and in accordance with God's design: knowing that He's our source, that all blessing comes from Him, and that we are blessed in order to be a blessing. With a right perspective about money, the financial principles of the Kingdom of God will take effect in your life because you'll be lined up with the Kingdom of God!
Part 3: God is Our Source!
8/30/15
- Brad Ettore The Bible has a lot to say about money and possessions! First, we learn that money is not the principal thing. Second, we see that it is good to have money, but it is not good for money to have us. Third, we learn that God is our source. Knowing that God is our source keeps us from being haughty or proud about the success we experience. If God knows finances will not "get hold of you" then He can safely get finances to you! The mindset of a steward says "it's all God's; what I have is a blessing from the Lord." As long as we possess pride saying "this is my doing" we are never going to get to that place where God wants to promote us. When we realize "God you're my provider," we can then move into promotion and He will take us into the promised land!
Part 4: The Tithe: Not From the Law
9/20/15
- Brad Ettore If we approach finances with the mindset that God wants us to have, His blessing in our life will be a pure joy. God takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servants. (Ps. 35:27) We should NEVER allow money to become our source! Once we realize that God is our source, we can move into the promised land where God will promote us because He knows the riches won’t then destroy us. With that mindset, we can begin to build our house of blessing according to the financial principles of the kingdom. The foundational kingdom principle about finances is the tithe. Many believers have no objection to the tithe, but there are some believers that do object to it. The number one objection to the tithe that some have is that they believe that it is “from the Law.” So, is tithing, in fact, from the LAW? The scriptural answer to that is NO! Tithing is in fact, not from the Law! Gen. 4:2-5, Gen 14:18-20, and Gen 28:20-22 give three examples of tithing hundreds and even thousands of years before the law. Additionally, Heb. 7:4-9 speaks clearly about tithing after Christ fulfilled the Law.The tithe is a gift from the Lord to set His people free and in return He gives them blessing. Tithing was taking place before the Law, through the Law, and after the Law - the tithe is not from the Law!
Part 5: What is the Tithe and Where Do We Tithe? Part 1
10/4/15
- Brad Ettore The question of amount as it relates to tithing is self-evident from the original Hebrew word. According to the Hebrew, the tithe is quite simply “a tenth.” Prov. 3:9-10 shows us that the tithe is a 10th of all your increase. The tithe is an INVITATION from the Lord to enter into a dynamic relationship with Him as it relates to Him blessing our finances. The tithe actually belongs to God! Mal. 3:8-9 says we “have robbed Him in tithes and offerings.” That means that the tithes are God's because you cannot rob someone of something they did not own! Our tithes are to be given where God has chosen them to be given. And He has directed them to be given to the local church.
Part 6: What is the Tithe and Where Do We Tithe? Part 2
11/15/15
- Brad Ettore God is not opposed to us possessing things - at any level; He is opposed to the things possessing us. Knowing God’s mindset about money is the bedrock to our financial house. The foundation of our financial house is the tithe. Tithing is in fact NOT from the Law; the tithe is a principle of God that has existed from the beginning. Tithe literally means 1/10 or 10% and it actually belongs to God. (Lev. 27:30) God directs us to bring our tithe to the temple (church). Tithing is not just God's practical plan for His church but it is also an act of faithful obedience that invites God's blessing and protection over our finances. Tithing keeps us in a place of gratitude, delivers us from the spirit of Mammon and is another beautiful way to worship the Lord!
Part 7: The How and Why of Tithing
12/6/15
- Brad Ettore When we understand the heart of tithing, we see that it is literally beautiful and exciting! Grace makes tithing work! “Grace is God’s willingness to use His power and His ability on our behalf.” Luke 6:38 speaks to God giving grace to the giver! Tithing WORKS because God gets involved with it! Without God, tithing is impossible, “but with God ALL things are possible!” In Deut. 26 we see what God told Moses to write down about “how” to tithe. There is a specific celebration (or ceremony) around the tithe that God wants you and I to get involved in every time we tithe - similar to how there is a ceremony around communion. In summary, this is how we tithe: (1) We remember our deliverance. (2) We worship God and not Mammon. (3) We rejoice in all that He’s given us. (4) We call upon the blessing. That’s how we tithe!
Part 8: Trust in God, not Money
1/17/16
- Brad Ettore We see in Mark 10:17-27 that the issue isn’t money. It’s trust; WHERE is your and my trust? We think our trust is in God but sometimes we need to pull aside, get off the highway of life and consider our heart. God is there, at the deepest depths of our hearts, ready to undo and straighten out anything that needs undone or straightened out! We make adjustments in our hearts by meditating in God’s Word. Ask yourself the hard questions. “What do I actually think about money? Really.” There is NO problem AT ALL in having money. The problem is in letting money have you. If there is a problem about money in your heart, don’t be afraid of it, but instead take it to God and let God work the solution in your heart. He is faithful to do it!
Part 9: Trust in God, not Money (part 2)
4/3/16
- Brad Ettore In order to understand God’s perspective about money we need to be spiritually minded and not carnally minded. So, here is the Biblical view about money in one statement: Money isn’t the issue; trust is. “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mk. 10:24) Money doesn’t give you significance. There is only ONE PLACE that TRUE significance comes from - it’s from service. God will give you more and more as long as we prove to be good stewards with what He has given us. “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.” (Mt. 25:21) Remember that "finances" is not the big thing. It is actually the training wheels that God uses to teach His children to trust in Him.The tithe is the first rung on the latter. Giving is the second rung on the latter, but God has so much more for His children! He uses money to teach us. God has true riches for us that are far better than money! (Lk. 16:11)