Today's Scripture
In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." Genesis 4:3-7
"Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." Malachi 3:10
"Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." Proverbs 3:9-10
"The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth that He may show Himself strong in the behalf of those whose hearts are perfect towards Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9
"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21
Be encouraged today with this powerful testimony of God's provision when He is put to THE test.
------ Forwarded Message
From: Greg Bowman
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:16:25 -0500
To: Darryn Scheske
Subject: "No More Cain" Follow up Story
Darryn:
These last few months series taught at Heartland have really convicted my and Gail's heart in many areas. One of the main areas of my life that the Holy Spirit has convicted me the most is in the area of tithing. I am very embarrassed to say that my wife and I haven't tithed in over 10 years!! God has been so good to us over the years and blessed us with much more than we deserve or could ever ask for yet we have never been "truly blessed" as you have described in your teachings to us. Growing up, this topic of tithing was presented in a very legalistic way. Until this last few weeks, you have shown to us that it is not legalistic at all. Like you said, "it's simple, it's instructed to us in the Bible, it's cut and dry." We have never looked at it the way you have presented it and therefore the Holy Spirit has really spoken to us in a way never before. We have been so fortunate all these years with 2 good jobs, our good health and "material" things, but very unfortunate in the most important part of our lives - the "spiritual blessings".
You have been teaching about US the last few weeks. I have been Cain, so to speak, most all of my life and wanted to control everything myself. That has gotten us nowhere fast. We have always had "stuff" but we have been slaves to debt, therefore living without real peace or joy in our lives. The true desires of our hearts is to be able to help others in need and we have been unable to do that because of the debt. We want to bring God our 1st fruits not our left overs from now on. He is going to be #1 in our lives, not 4th, 5th or 6th place like before. We want to experience true spiritual blessings you have described by giving back to Him what is already His in the first place. This is truly a giant leap of faith for us and one as you said will not be without trials and challenges. I always kept delaying the tithing issue because I would always say, "once we get out of debt, etc. we will start tithing, then we would pay some things off and replace it with buying other things instead of taking that extra income and giving back to God.
I say all this to tell you this quick story of a real blessing since the night I hand delivered to you our 1st tithing check in over 10 years. I remember as I was driving away from church that night I had 2nd thoughts about it, thinking that I really need that money right now to be able to pay off or pay down something, etc. but was also excited about giving back to God for the 1st time in over 10 years and that we were definitely doing the right thing. I was very torn and the devil immediately created doubt in my mind and heart. The very next day at work was the last day of October and time for me to figure all the commissions for the sales people for the month, including myself. After figuring mine last, I discovered that I was receiving the worst/lowest commission check I had received in the last 2 years. I couldn't believe it and started panicking thinking how am I going to pay my obligations, not even including the additional tithe commitment. Satan immediately spoke and said "you can't afford to tithe." I was at least $1,000 short of the commission I usually receive on the 10th of each month. I rely on that to pay bills. I needed at least the $1,000 to cover bills and the tithe. Right then I prayed to God and said "God, you know my needs and I know you will provide for me". That was Monday.
On Wednesday my boss communicated that somehow $990.00 in commission due to me and that I would be getting that on the 10th payroll!!!! Praise God! Totally unexpected and how ironic (NOT) that is was the "exact" amount I needed to meet my basic needs, including the tithe on the entire amount of the check!!!
To top that, when I got home that day, going through the bills, I had forgotten about 5 medical bills that needed to be paid as well whose co-pays, etc totaled $310.45. I was not going to be able to pay those so I was going to have to put those off another month. I went out to the mailbox a couple hours later and in there was a check from our health insurance provider reimbursing us an unknown percentage for a chiropractic visit we had paid out of our pockets a month earlier that I had forgotten about and the total of that check was $310.46!!!!!!!!!! One penny more than the total of the medical bills due!!! Praise God again!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Right then and there I prayed to God and praised Him for who He is and for taking care of me and my family in this unbelievable way. I thought, this is exactly what Darryn is talking about, what "true blessings" are and that we have been missing out all these years on these blessings in our lives. I know that it won't always happen this way, I know, but I know God really knew the true intention of our hearts when we sacrificed and decided to bring Him our tithe and HE honored that.
I have tithed now online 2 more times this month since I gave God our 1st check and will continue to honor God and bring Him our first fruits every time we get paid from now on, regardless of our situation, and I know God will keep His promises of blessing our lives in ways I don't even know about yet. Thank you so much Darryn for opening our eyes and hearts to the vital importance of putting God first in our lives and receiving blessings we can't begin to imagine. We are looking forward to getting completely out of debt by Spring of 2012, selling our home and downsizing so that God can use us in ways that will bring us the happiness, peace and joy we desire for our lives. We have been slaves to debt for so many years now and I don't want to or intend to live like that anymore. We can't wait to see what the future holds for us.
I thought you might really be touched by our story. Feel free to share it with anyone you want...I NEEDED to share this story with you and others.
In Christ,
Greg Bowman and family
Prayer
Father in Heaven, I'm so grateful about the lessons of faith you are teaching us in the 40 Days of Faith. I thank You for never giving up on us even in the times when we didn't follow what you said to do. Thank you for Greg's response to the whisper of your Spirit. Bless him and his family for their willingness to put you in first place in their hearts. I’m so excited about where you are taking us next.
Holy Spirit, I’m all in! Whatever you say to me, let my answer be “yes!” I want You to have my whole heart. Use me and what is in my hand anyway You desire. I want to be a part of what You’re doing in this world. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.
