To Any Brother or Sister in Feeling Troubled

SF, Stagecoach, NV

Dear Brother & Sister,

     It's trying times today and a friend of mine needed help and I thought some of you may too.  So here is a letter I sent him.  Hope it helps, fight the enemy.

I told you in Church we’ve been praying a great deal for you, since you’ve seemed so tired and worn down.  Since it’s hard to find time to get together I thought I’d write this note to tell you about the scriptures, that helped me.

     First, I was reminded of Psalms 23.  Mainly because it deals with Christians who are having a hard time, for it starts with “The Lord is my Shepherd” which means He’s guiding me.  Then He tells me I’m not going to want.  Why would I not have wants, it’s the need of every person?  Because He said “He maketh me to lie down it green pastures.”  Green pastures are places where everything is good and growing – I believe the Lord is talking about “resting in Him.”  In this crazy world it’s the only place that calms our spirit enough to hear Him.  

     I believe the rest of Psalm 23:2 confirms this, since He says “He leadeth me besides still waters.”  It’s not something I can do on my own.  It’s got to be us, taking the time to let God lead us to a still place in Him, so He can restore our souls or another way it might be said is to give us a quite time with Him, so He can tell us what to do.  

     That’s when in Psalms 23:3 He tells us what He wants to do.  Restore our troubled souls from the world we live in.  To make us whole and renew our mind to show us what’s truly important in this life.  It truly humbles me to know how much He loves me – that He works in me individually with every problem I bring to Him – showing me the right way to go about it.  And all it takes is my asking Him for forgiveness, to get me back on the right track – then doing it His way (repentance).  I’ve learned soooo much from Him, yet what sticks in my head more than anything is that when my peace and joy are gone, there’s something I need to back track on and find out what wrong path I’ve taken.

Anyway, as far as the tithing goes – you know Malachi 3:8-12.  You believe in tithing – this knowledge is in your spirit and you know it’s the truth and He Commands it, to protect what we have from the enemy stealing it.  But sometimes we forget the many “If you don’ts” in Deuteronomy 28:15-68.  When the truth is revealed – to bless us – we become accountable to God when we stop doing them.  We not only loose the blessing for our disobedience, but we end up in worse shape.  In this case, Malachi 3:9 say’s we will be cursed with a curse and our joy, peace, love, self-control and everything else goes out of whack.

Leviticus 27:28-34 isn’t about someone not tithing, as much as it is about someone who sets apart what is the Lords’ out of what he has.  In other words, what we know, what belongs to God and don’t give it to Him, but redeem or keep part of it, to correct this we must give God 20% or 1/5 in addition to what we owe Him.  I know you mentioned about the “man made” rules the Levitical priests added later, but in this case – Verse 34 says this is a commandment from the Lord.

We may not be under the Laws of Moses anymore, but under Jesus He said He came to fulfill the law, not destroy it (Matt 5:17).  The blessings given to the Israelites are the same blessings available to us as the Children of God, thru Abrahams' seed.  It’s the receiving of salvation that’s changed not the blessings and promises of God.  We now can freely choose what and how much of God we want in our lives. 

Please do not take offense if I’ve gone to far in my explanation.  God has put in my heart Galatians 6 and you are my brother, who’s having trouble.  Just know that no matter what you choose to do, you have a sister who loves you and will continue to pray for you.  Give me a call – or drop by – when you want someone to talk to. 

You can always fall back on one of my favorite versus....

Luke 6:38 NKJ

(What?) "Give, and it will be given to you:
(How?) good measure, pressed down, shaken together,and running over 

(Where?) will be put into your bosom. 

(Why?)For with the same measure that you use,
it will be measured back to you."

Blessings - The Lord's Servant

PS: Happy Father's Day To ALL you Dads!