Giving Into God’s Kingdom
Giving into God’s Kingdom is important for every Christian. We give to God simply because we are commanded to do so but also because God wants to bless us and His economy (unlike the world’s) is based upon giving. We give to Him and He gives to us. He does not need our money, He just wants to see where our heart is and again, His giving is activated by our giving. That’s the way His economy works.
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 NIV
There are three types of giving into God’s Kingdom:
1. First fruits. A first fruit is the amount of your increase. For example: say you have a monthly income from your employment of $4,000. gross per month. This month, your boss calls you into his office and announces that you are getting a raise to $5,000. per month starting the next month. Your increase is therefore $1,000. For the first month that you receive that extra $1,000., ALL of it goes to the Kingdom of God and is called a First Fruit, and is the first way you are giving into God’s Kingdom. After that month, you then need to tithe on the $1,000. as you would on the $4,000. that you were receiving before the raise. (there are 31 references in the bible to first fruits)
2. Alms. A alm is money that you give to the poor. (Mathew 6:1) You must give this money quietly and if possible, anonymously to protect the receivers dignity. God says in Proverbs 19:17 that giving to the poor is like a loan to Him and that He will pay you back. Do not expect a harvest from this type of giving. It is just God reimbursing you, but no doubt He will look very favourably upon you as you continue giving into God’s Kingdom.
3. Seed giving. This is where you become like the farmer and plant your seed with expectation of a harvest. This type of giving into God’s Kingdom is where God can really move in your financial life. God says His Kingdom is like seed time and harvest. Do what the farmer does. Plant good seed (not corrupt money from illegal gain) and plant it into good soil. (ministries that are well grounded in the Word, have reasonable administration costs, are not corrupt, have abundant fruit from their charitable efforts etc.). Then the farmer waters, fertilizes and weeds his crop. (Give praise to God, pray over your seed, bless it, call it forth into a harvest, use faith i.e. call things that be not as though they were, (Romans 4:17), do not speak any kind of negatively over your seed, etc.) Finally, the farmer goes out and gets his harvest. (Be prepared to receive. Just as you would prepare for the birth of a child by getting his/her room ready, buying clothes etc., keep standing in faith and believe for your harvest. Do what you would do as if the harvest had already been received) (References: Gen. 8:22, Gal. 6:7, 2 Cor. 9:6, 2 Cor 9:10)
There is a very important condition to these three ways of giving. You must tithe (tithe means 10 or 10%) your gross income to God BEFORE you give any further money to Him. Tithing is not giving; tithing is returning to God what is His. In other words, your giving starts AFTER you have tithed. The tithe is to go to the local church that you attend and giving should go where God directs you.