Kids of the King, Arise!

Is there another step of repentance that we need concerning money? What about tithing? I don’t like that word you say. How can I give 10% of MY money to God when I don’t even have enough for myself? What does He need ‘my money’ for anyways?

Well He really doesn’t but He does want your heart and your obedience. Do you remember the story of Abraham and Isaac? (Gen. 22) God asked Abraham to offer up his most precious treasure…Isaac. Human sacrifice happened in many nations at that time as they believed that their ‘gods’ wanted that. I guess Abraham figured that God wanted that as well. But he must have had many confusing thoughts. How can I give up my son, my precious child, especially as God told me I was going to be the Father of nations? I didn’t think God was like this. BUT Abraham obeyed God and prepared to sacrifice his only son. God was testing Abraham to see if he would put God first and obey Him no matter what. God however had already prepared a sacrifice (Gen 22:13) and Abraham called the place where the provision was made “Jehovah Jirah”…or God will provide. No God DIDN”T want a human sacrifice.

It is the same thing with us and tithing. Will we trust God to provide and obey Him? Will we give 10% of ‘our money’ to God for use in the Kingdom or will we hang onto it just in case we don’t have enough to pay our bills or buy that one thing that we were looking forward to having?

In Malachi there is a pretty strong statement about how we actually rob God. Have you ever thought of that?

Malachi 3:7-10 NIV Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’
“In tithes and offerings…

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

Once there was a green dress that I REALLY liked, but I didn’t have the money for it. So I walked away and sighed. I had been faithful in giving my offering but it would have been so easy just to hold some of it back just to get that dress. The next day after I had seen the dress we received a check and the amount was what we had expected PLUS the exact cost of the dress! So guess what I did…Bought the dress of course. Ever since that when we are concerned about money we say “God is still the God of the green dress!”

1) Do you think this is realistic nowadays? God says to test Him in this. Do you receive an allowance? Do you have a job or chores you get paid for? When you receive this money take 10% of it and put it into the offering at church, or give it to missions. See if God comes through for you. Ask Him to open your eyes to the truth of this Kingdom principle and be prepared to tell some amazing stories.

2) Check out the story of how Elijah was fed in 1Kings 17
Discussion:

• How do we normally get our food? Our parents usually go to the store and by the food. Then they prepare it for us. Elijah got his food a different way. God sent ravens to bring him food.
• How do you think Elijah felt knowing he had no food? a little helpless, worried
• How do you think Elijah felt when God sent him food through the ravens? amazed, thankful

1 Kings 17:6 “And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank of the brook.“

Worry vs Trust

Today as we explore some more in the Kingdom of God, we see what looks like a “giant” blocking our path. This “giant” is called the god of “Mammon” or money as we would call it. Right now especially it seems that money, or the lack of money is a BIG focus. You have probably heard the news that there is a problem these days with money. A lot of people all over the world have lost money and are very worried.

What does the King of the Kingdom have to say about all of this? Look up Matthew 6:25.

Let us start by looking at Matthew 6 starting at verse 24. “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.

So you say but I’m not SERVING Mammon or money! What does it mean to serve mammon anyways?

For myself, when I was young, I grew up in a home where we really had to watch everything that we bought. We didn’t have money for vacations like other kids did, and my mom made all of our clothes and we lived in a poor area of town in a small basement apartment. We didn’t have a car, or even a phone. So I learned to be very careful with money, never to spend it unless I REALLY needed it. When I grew up I was afraid that we would not have enough so was really good at saving. I had a hard time giving because, “What if we didn’t have enough left?” Money or the lack of it was often on my mind. Maybe you are in a similar situation or maybe you are the opposite where you have all the money you want.

Money is not bad. It is a tool to help us buy the things we need and treats too. BUT the LOVE of money is wrong. We can love money when we think having enough or not having enough is the answer to our porblems. When we love money;

· we covet what others have, and so sometimes buy what we cannot afford.

· it can also lead to stealing and gambling.

· We think about ourselves and what we can do if only we had a little more! Can you think of some more examples?

Commercials on T.V. don’t help one bit. Think about it. Often they say things like… You need this or you owe your self this, or you are not one of the cool kids if you don’t have this and so you are pulled to think that way.

O.k. so what is the answer to this problem? We live in a world where we need “money” to buy food and clothes and our parents have to pay bills etc. In Matthew 6:25 our King says:

“Therefore I tell you, DO NOT WORRY about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Then it goes on to say in verse 32 and 33

For the pagans run after all these things but your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek FIRST HIS KINGDOM and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and all these things will be given to you as well.

That’s easy for you to say you think but God KNOWS that we need food and clothes and cares for us! After all He made us without fur and knows we need food to live. So how do we seek first His Kingdom?

First I guess we need to repent, or change our way of thinking that we need money to survive. We need to believe that God is the one who is really our provider, and trust Him to take care of us.

Are you or your family worried about money these days? Talk about it or write down your thoughts. On a piece of paper write down all your concerns.

1. Come together as a family and take these papers and lay your fears at the foot of the cross.
2. Repent of believing the lie of the enemy that money is your source of provision.

The next post of Keys of the Kingdom we’ll look at what else the Lord has to say about money. First we need to repent of our attitude and trust God. The Bible is very practical and the King wants us to know the Kingdom secrets about handling money.

Psalm 84, vs 3

“The sparrow has found a nest, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young…”

I was enjoying myself outdoors and happened to look up and see a barn swallows nest built against the rafters of our small barn. A swallow will first find a structure where there is a supply of mud close by. It will carry mud and twigs in its little beak, making trip after trip. Then it carefully constructs its nest, placing the mud on a board close to the ceiling of the barn, creating a mud-paste type of structures. The outside of the nest is very solid and very secure. Yet the inside is lined with down feathers and is a soft, warm, and inviting!

Why has God made the swallows to build their nests the way they do? Just by “instinct ” they know that the safest place is up against a wall. There is an expression that we use “up against the wall” to describe a place that is hard and you feel that you are really stuck or trapped. Have you felt that way sometimes?

(picture of barn swallow putting a feather in its nest)

A few weeks ago one of the boys in the Daniel Prayer Group shared how in a dream God came and pulled something out of his heart and afterwards gave him a cross. Now that doesn’t make much sense you may say! But I think what God took out of his heart was his wanting to do things his own way, and giving him the opportunity to go God’s way.

You see before Jesus died on the cross, he had a choice to not die for us. BUT He chose to go God’s way no matter what it cost. It is the same for us, when we go to Jesus in the hard times when we are stuck, we say that we will trust Him even when it is hard and we are “up against a wall” like the swallow.. The cross is the place where our will and God’s will cross each other. We want to go one way, and God says… No..this way is better.

In Gods’ presence we find peace and the secret place of safety, just like inside the nest, BUT it is often through the hard times that God brings us there. The swallow has to build the mud outside of the nest first. As Christians we are not promised a life without problems! It is actually in these times when He is able to help our character to grow more like sons and daughters of the King, if we choose to come close to Him. What is so neat about the picture that David paints in Psalm 84 is that the nest is more than an emergency shelter. Inside the nest is where you can live all the time, in peace even when there are storms outside.
*Adapted by article by Michal Ann Goll “Shelter of a swallow”

Read James 1:2-5
Write down in your journal all the things that you are finding hard right now. Talk to God about them. In what ways are these things helping you become more patient, or kind or loving, or generous…
Then Thank Him that these things are giving you the opportunity to become more like Jesus.

Now to have a secret time with God it is much easier if you find a spot that isn’t in the middle of the traffic in your house. Where are some busy places in your house?

Look up Matthew 6:6. In this verse you will find the secret of where to meet with God.
Do you have a hard time sometimes praying and feeling as if God is really listening to you? Is it easy to get distracted? If your answer is “yes “ to these questions then guess what, God already has given us the key to coming close to Him…

Jesus gave us a clue when he said, “your Father who is in the secret place.” What does that mean? He is saying that the Father has already gone to the secret place and is waiting for you. What do you think about that? Cool hey! To show you that He really meant it He says it again in the same chapter. Read further on in Matt. 6 and see if you can find it.*

…but to ____________who is in____________.

Now this is a great idea but WHERE is this secret place? Look at verse 6 again. Can you figure it out? (Try to guess before you read on)

When you enter your room, and shut your door, you are in the presence of your Father in Heaven. O.K. now you say you don’t have a door to your room, or you have to share your room with 3 other people…yes that could be a problem. But the point to shutting the door is to shut out the business of the day and the distractions and the T.V. and Nintendo and your homework. It is a quiet place away from it all.
I know of a lady Susanna Wesley who had a lot of kids. She was very busy and didn’t have a large house, definitely not one were she could go into a separate room by herself, and shut the door. So you know what she did? She would sit down in the middle of the kitchen and put her apron over her head. The kids all know that when she did that she wanted “time out” to meet with God, and so were quiet.

It is in the secret place that we are able to talk to God and listen to His voice for ourselves. It is the place where we get fueled up so we have the strength, courage, and love to walk in Jesus footsteps the rest of the day. You will also be equipped to face any difficulties that the day may bring.

So don’t forget the secret: shut the door.
*Matt. 6:18

Now it was interesting but the very morning that we met together at the cottage I had a time of prayer and the Lord told me, that He wanted me to “go deeper” in knowing Him, that I wasn’t to waste time, but to meet Him in the “secret place.” THEN the next day I started reading a book for my devotions and this is what I read.

*Chris and Dee Ann Abke were feeling overwhelmed by a looming financial challenge. In desperation they took some time late one evening - after the kids had gone to bed, to pray and seek the Lord’s help. As they sat together on their living room couch, praying, suddenly an audible voice began to speak, “If you need help, call 9-1-1. If you need help call 9-1-1”
They heard this voice say this about 4-5 times, and then it stopped. Puzzled, Chris and Dee-Anne just looked at each other. The voice seemed to be coming from the garage, so they cautiously opened the door and flipped on the garage lights, not sure what they would find. Everything was in its place except for a small toy ambulance, belonging to their son, that lay by itself in the center of the garage floor.
Chris picked up the ambulance, pushed a button next to its emergency lights and the voice began to speak again, If you need help call 9-1-1.” As they wondered aloud how the toy had activated itself of its own accord, the Holy Spirit seemed to nudge Chris with these words, “If you need help, call 9-1-1, Psalm 91:1 Going to the Bible the,
verse had a completely new meaning to them as they read it together.:

Do you think maybe that God is trying to tell us something? “Uh Duh you bet” as my daughter would say!

This week when you read your Bible and pray ask God to show you what it means to spend time in the “Secret Place” . What could it mean to “Abide under the shadow of the Almighty?” I will be writing a few “keys” about that in the next while, but would love to hear what God shares with you!
e-mail me at kkarise@shaw.ca

* Quote taken from “Secrets of the Secret place, by Bob Sorge”

Love #3

Let’s go one step further. There is no such thing as love without commitment. Now what does that mean you ask. Good question. Well commitment means you will hang in there no matter what, if you are hurt, or feel ignored or are sick or happy or sad or betrayed whatever. Alot like the type of promises people make when they get married.

The problem is not every day is a sun-shiney happy day. Some days are nasty and eveything goes wrong. What do you do then? Give up and grumble and complain and say “I”M outta here?

Matt 18:7 says that stumbling block will be inevitable, in other words you can’t avoid them. People WILL hurt you and it is often the little things that bug us. You don’t stumble over boulders when you walk but little stones. Has something someone did caused you to sin…like your brother peeeed all over the toilet seat! How did you respond to him? Yeah right, I guess I shouldn’t have yelled at him and called him a pig. Or your sister ate the last of the potato chips AGAIN. AAACH

See the little things, you Have to forgive in your heart otherwise your heart will grow cold and hard towards them…but NOT only them, it grows cold little by little towards God. You cannot start to think nasty thoughts about someone, (even if they deserve it) because little by little you will grow cooler and cooler to God as well.

1 John 4:20 look it up. Does it sound harsh? But it’s true isn’t it.

You may not like what someone has done but according to this verse you can’t stop loving him/her if you say you are a son and daughter of the king. Love is a choice not a feeling. It doesn’t mean you have to be all mushy towards that person, but it does mean showing them the kind of love we talked about in love #1, the same kind of you would show yourself.

The Kingdom of God will not be seen on earth, or God’s glory seen, unless we are committed to one another and show love. A lot of us will stumble over the little things and the enemy loves to whisper into our ears and blow these little faults out of proportion.

“Your brother went into the bathroom and peed on the toilet seat cause he knew you were going in to have a shower next, and was mad at you for eating those chips. Why don’t you go downstairs and see if he has some of his pizza pops left and eat those as well. He deserves it!”

BALONEY! Don’t let the enemy take you on those kinds of rabbit trails!

The people through whom the Kingdom of God is seen on earth are those who are able to overcome the obsticles of each other’s faults. They help one another become what God has called us to be…together the living body of Jesus on earth.(1)

Action: Ask God to show you a way to show your commitment to your family this week, no matter what. Agree in your heart to stand together no matter what wave hits you!

(1)Francis Frangipane: idea from The Three Battle Grounds, pg 54

ASK the Helper to show you where you have allowed bitterness to come into your heart, and where your love has gone cold.
Repent…remember that is to change you way of thinking about the situation that Hurt you…
Man that may be hard but it is IMPORTANT
Then Ask Jesus to help you forgive the person that hurt you.
Then Thank God for allowing this situation as an opportunity to grow in love, as we only learn how to love our enemies if we have had situations where nasty things happen.

Listen to this song as you pray:



(1) Francis Frangipane, The Three Battle grounds (C) 1898 Advancing Church Publications

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

Answer: 29″The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.‘There is no commandment greater than these.”