Blessings and Cursings

What kind of life do we want to live?  A life of blessing and rewards?  Or a life of cursings and poverty?  According to scriptures, we have a choice.

In Malachi 3:8-12 and 3 Nephi 24:8-12 it says:  "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?  In tithes and offerings.  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.  And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts."

Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

Proverbs 3:9-10 "Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:  So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine."

Proverbs 11:24-25, "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.  The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself."

Leviticus 27:30, 32, "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD.

And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

It has been said that you can count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the apples in a seed.  When you plant an apple seed, which becomes a tree, it produces an untold amount of apples.  The same thing happens when you sow a financial seed, the return the Lord gives is multiplied back to you.

We wish to share a couple stories....
We read that Gordon Groth, former president of Electra Manufacturing Co., once said that he had known many regular churchgoers who, for one reason or another, quit going to church.  But he had never found any people who stopped tithing once they had started.  His comment was that they were afraid to stop because their tithing had brought them increased material blessings, which they felt would disappear if they ever discontinued it.
We also discovered that William Volker, the inventor of the roll-up window shade, gave away enormous amounts of money.  While still a comparatively young man, he was worth several million dollars.  He and his wife decided they would keep one million and give away all above that amount.

Now that's one profound decision for anyone to make!  His friends thought he had taken leave of his senses.  In fact, one of those friends said to him much later, "I was sure you would end up in a pauper's grave, but here you are, richer than ever, despite all the money you have been shoveling out for years."

William Volker replied. "Yes, I have been shoveling it out, but God has been shoveling more of it right back to me and God has a bigger shovel."

A benefit you'll discover in tithing is the financial discipline it creates.  One of the reasons, perhaps, that God's material blessings do pour down upon the tither is the training that comes automatically with setting aside 10% of each income check, or 'increase'.  If you do this for a year, you'll have formed a valuable habit to apply to the control of other aspects of your spending.  Financial success usually is built upon a well-regulated life.  Tithing helps foster that.

Tithers enjoy an enhanced reputation, greater determination, and, best of all, the joy and delight in being freed from money worries.

People speak of giving as an unselfish act, but the effects of tithing are also in your own self-interest.  It's one of the very basic principles and laws of God for a reason!

Message 12:10 "... For behold the people of the Lord are glad to help in this work of the Lord, by tithes and by offerings for thus did the people in the days of old, which was pleasing unto the Lord, for this was the law in Abraham's day who paid tithes and the Lord blessed him, and the Lord will bless in your day all those that shall keep His law. Therefore pay your oblations to the Lord in all things that your work may be accepted of Him, so that when trying times are upon the earth your work might stand the test. Let the gospel be preached, let the poor be provided for, let the Temple be built, that in all things you may be the children of God."

Message 21:15 "Let those that have, pay their tithe and offering that the work may go on and the warning be taken to all the world."

We are told here "let those that have, pay...."  He didn't say 'let those that have a lot'...or 'more than enough'...or 'a certain amount'...or that have 'excess'.  He said those that 'have'.

Some of us live simply on social security or SSI.  Some have meager earnings.  Some own companies.  Some are single parents.  Some have disabled children.  The common theme is that we all 'have' in some form or another.  We could have less...or we could have more.  But the fact is, we could be blessed in what we 'have' if we tithe.  God said so.

Message 46:4 "Behold, there are those whose hearts are full of evil and selfishness; they have withheld that which is the Lord's of tithes and of offerings. Their hearts are not right before Him, therefore, I say unto you, they cannot have part in this work, and are not of the household of faith, for they have failed to obey The Word of the Lord."

If we, as members, don't pay our tithe and oblations, there's no way for the joint quorums to send our elders out among the people, to take the warning to all the world as we have been instructed.  

Following are some of the items tithing pays for.  Other items are what we hope to pay for but don't have enough at times:

Voice of Joy publication and distribution
Building Rent for Assembly
Eventual purchase of own building again
Web site charges
Paper and other supplies for Voice of Joy, letters, reports, etc.
Office Rent, electricity, heat, etc.
Copier purchase and maintenance contract
Computer purchase, maintenance, and upgrades when necessary
Postage for Voice of Mailing of Voice of Joy, tithing receipts, letters, mailing of tracts, etc.
Bank account fees when applicable
Publications and tracts
Sacrament and sacrament service
Help for the widow, the fatherless, and the needy
Payment for missionaries' families
Payment for apostles and/or elders to travel to locals, members, other countries
Fees to wire money to Africa, India, Germany, etc.
Gas costs to travel for funerals
Record keeping, audits, and tax preparation
Cassette tapes to record Assembly and other services
Radio services in some locations
Translations of the messages
Assistance to India Church for meeting debt

We could do much more of the Lord's work with more tithing.  Just imagine!

Message 85:29 "I come fulfilling and to do His will. This is the assured way, the Elijah message. The curse is lifted as belief and obedience comes."

Your choice to pay tithe--or your choice not to pay tithe--will affect your seed (your children).  We are responsible to break the curse...and to not bring a curse upon our seed.  HYPERLINK " http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV2&byte=878788" 30"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:"

It has been said that you can give without loving, but you can't love without giving.  Our love of God is best expressed perhaps by our gifts to the Church and subsequently to His Work.  You can see by the above list, which is in no way exhaustive, that your giving...your tithing...is important to support and to further God's Work here on earth.  

Every dollar ($) makes a difference...Every dime (¢) adds up...Every tithe is critical for the tither, and for the Church.

So...what is your choice?  Rewards and blessings?  Or curses and poverty?

In Gospel Bonds,

Barbara Yates, Missouri
Leat (Yates) Stanley, Wyoming