Hello it’s me again - LJ

Today: Tithing!

Now here it is my testimony about Tithing, read on and be blessed!

It was the year 1999, we were just introduced to the Euro and we were heading towards the millennium change and that was not the only thing.

I had recently been divorced and was now living alone with my 3 small children (8-10 months, 4 & 6 years) in a small 3-bedroom apartment. I had also recently come to faith and was still a babe (as they say) in Christ. One of these days I will give you my testimony on my journey to faith/Salvation.

So let me paint you the picture, so you understand well where God took me from. First I have been raised by my Moms in love and without financial worries, from their perspective. This means that they had their finances in order (their father had always been a bank manager with that Dutch green and withe colored bank, I am not making ads for them here…), and always gave us everything balanced both material and emotional. But somehow, I have always been in debt as long as I can remember… So even when I had started to live on my own and was renting a room, my Moms still gave me monthly assistance so I could make ends meet.

Then I met the father of the children, married, increased debts (all in my name), divorced, relocated outside my home town where I lived for 23+ years, lived with my birth mother for a couple of weeks until I urgently got the apartment I now came to live in (as mentioned at the beginning of this story) with the young ones. Needless to say that I was a mess, emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially. I was on welfare and this just meant, I had too much to die but not enough to “live”…. If you know what I mean!

But like I already said, I had come to faith and I had immediately a very clear and deep relationship with our Heavenly Father (subject to another blog story). This mend I heard His Voice very clearly, had deep revelations and saw His hand in everything very powerfully.

So it came to the point that we had been taught in church about putting God first in everything and paying our tithes from Malachi 3:10-12. I LOVED GOD, so the willingness to obey his word was easy, but just the execution was a different story. You can understand that with 3 young ones, rent, a car (this was needed to drop them off at school and was mine), a debt of fl 16.000,- and an income of approx. fl 1058,34 (guilders at that time, the Euro did not show up physically until 2002) it was very difficult to make ends meet.

So I remember sitting down in the living room, it was Sunday evening. I knew I would receive my welfare in my account the following Monday. I sat down, put all the acceptgiro’s on the table, added up all bills and costs and came to the total of fl 1058,34! Now I know you are thinking I am putting this for dramatic effect. Let me ensure you that exactly the amount that was due was the amount that I needed to pay all the creditors etc., by the way this was without cost for food!

You can understand that I just softly whispered Lord I cannot pay my tithe, I don’t even have enough for necessities and all these bills. I clearly heard: Can you rob God? Immediately I began to repent and explain to the Lord, I was not robbing but I was being sensible and had no other choice. I clearly heard: Trust Me! I then and there decided to trust Him as I had done before when I came to faith. So I looked at the bills again, choose those who were screaming the most and would put me and the kids at the most risks if I did not pay them. I took my tithe (= 10%) and put it aside, and told the Lord. Here is Your tithe and now help me!

That Monday, my best friend (even till today!) called me and asked that if I could help her do shopping with her because I had a car. So when we were in the supermarket, she told me to put anything I needed, she would pay for it. Wow! Thank you God 1. (God was not done yet!), outside she gave me fl 10,- for fuel! 2. Later that week I received a phone call and I found 2 cleaning jobs each 1x a week, with this I could fuel the car and eat! 3. This continued (shopping with my friend) the whole month exactly at the times that the “cleaning money” would be finished and my fridge almost empty.

So the last 3 days of the month came and we were coming out of the supermarket and there was a homeless man offering the Street News newspaper so they can earn some cash. I had 2 guilders till in my pocket, but 3 days before the end of the month. I gave him nothing I thought I will keep it because I might still need it…. I still regret that decision until today. I mean come one God had proven himself above and beyond! Oh we humans how messed up we are…

The end of the month came and I still had the 2 guilders, I put them in the offering.

Now you see when I mentioned in the beginning that I had PROOF of God being faithful and keeping His Promises I was NOT guiding! That month how everything went and God showed Himself the PROVIDER it will never leave me (sometimes it comes under pressure, but that is just for reassurance).

So let me encourage you with this! Since that time I have never looked back and paid my tithe, eventually until 13% of my gross salary, so before taxes, tried to always give to anyone begging and most of all Loving God and telling him so! I now live in a house on the best spot of the area, my children are prospering, I am prospering and able to assist my family also financially. This year when I will become 50 I will take my family (my children, my sister and her children and my best friend) to Spain to celebrate it there as I have always said. You see MY GOD SHALL/HAS SUPPLIED ALL MY NEEDS!

I am not special, so what he did for me He will ALSO do for you! Just Trust and Obey and Love Him, put Him first!

God Bless you! – LJ