FREELY BLESSED

GRACE OF GIVING

TITHES AND OFFERINGS

If the Bible was written in our time, it would have been filled with tithes and offering from Genesis to Revelation. Also it would have read for God so loved the world that He gave tithes and offering to save the world. Please read Phases 1-14 so you can follow this series to really have a full grasp.

The Scripture is not of any private interpretation. Someone rightly said in one of the CAPRO Ministry magazine Occupy, that many of the false doctrines we have today came on the wings of money. Even the Jews know that they cannot keep the law to the letter if they have to do it exactly as God said it, so they have modified some of it especially with civilisation and for those who do not live in Israel so they can satisfy themselves that they have kept the law even when they do it in a way that is not strictly as it is written. Note that many Jews would have done away with such rituals by now but just that some do not believe that the Messiah has come. Now the word of God says, that the Lord is rigidly righteous. There is no way man can meet God’s standard.  Only Jesus Christ attained such height fulfilling ALL the law and on His wings we obtained righteousness without the law and the blessing. Today, we do the same thing like the modern Jews and modify the word of God so we can meet the standards to be blessed and reduced tithing to money, salaries and earnings. These are purely private interpretations of Scripture. When you really want to tithe, you tithe ALL not just money. Abraham started tithing and he gave tithe of ALL, not money. There was a type of money in Abrahams time because he bought a burial place for cash. The Bible would have stated that he gave cash to represent ALL. So tithing is not about money. The law is to bring us to Christ because we cannot fulfil all the law and if you miss one you are under a curse. Let us look at Grace seriously which started before the foundation of the world. If God gave man just one single instruction or commandment in a posh Garden of Eden with everything in it saying eat everything except one and man still failed, how do you think our good Lord will now give man more than a 1,000 laws (the law is not just 10 commandments) and expect him to keep ALL. This is where the Grace of salvation in Christ comes in, so if you do not know Jesus please receive Him today. You can never be saved by your own works of prayer, tithing, sowing, giving etc. There is only one name under heaven whereby man can be saved. Salvation and every blessing is in the person of Jesus Christ

Now the most favourite scripture quoted for tithing (of course by money only) is Malachi 3. Some have worked out the formula whether it should be based on gross or nett income after tax. This has put many believers in guilt, tithing rituals, hierarchy of tithing, intimidation and many things unheard of in the exercise of tithes and offering. However, Malachi says bring ALL the tithe. One thing I have come to realise with the Lord is that He does not use idle words like men do. ALL is ALL. Note: It is true that when you believe such things and you do not actually do them, you will be under a curse because it is the law that if you break even one of the commands, you are under a curse. You do not need to put yourself under that in the first place. Christ is your place. The law and the struggle and labour to fulfil them were to bring us to Christ in the first place because you find that you cannot live them out but love in Christ and by the Holy Spirit puts you over all as you walk or hang out with the Lord. So you love the Lord or rather the realisation that He loves you unconditionally and that becomes a motivation to worship Him and give generously because of the grace in Christ. Malachi 3 says ALL. One thing I find about my God and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Father is that He is absolute and does not mince words. No grey area with Him unlike most religion. He says, “I am…..”, “no one else”, “No other name” etc. This same God said in Malachi – Bring ye ALL. Folks, ALL mean ALL. God uses the word rob. Only thieves go through the window. Why will you want to go through the window when He has set before us an open door, Jesus Christ is the door of the sheep. If you reduce it to money so people can bring money as tithe then you are interpreting the bible privately or even adding to it and that should not be. My righteousness and blessing is by faith in Christ alone. Your good works only count after that. GENEROSITY out of gratitude for what Christ has done (ie GRACE) for us should be the motivation for all we do in the Kingdom of God, not guilt, fear or intimidation. Also note that offerings include all the types mentioned in the bible including sin, heave, peace etc not just money. Jesus is the offering of ALL offerings for us. He satisfied the Father on our behalf, IT IS FINISHED, now rest in that Grace no matter what comes you way because persecution will come to shake you out of that Grace and even deny Christ when the going gets too tough.

Malachi 3

⁸Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

⁹Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

¹⁰Bring 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.

REMEMBER – ABOUND IN THE GRACE OF GIVING

This is the end of the series on the grace of giving.

Check this link to help you know Jesus and become a child of God and let me know when you have done so.

http://www.gracecovenantministries.org.uk/2010/10/08/salvation-a-simple-mystery/

Pls when it blesses you pass it on for others to subscribe. Freely we have received, freely give.

Comments, questions, love motivated corrections.

We will preach to the world free of charge but we welcome generous donations.

For Counselling and prayer, call the minister

Sam-Best Ewruje – 07957708126. Invitations are welcome apart from Sundays except local around the North East of England

Email: sambestewruje@hotmail.com

RESURRECTION MESSAGE – TELLING FORTH THE GOSPEL OF THE RESURRECTED JESUS CHRIST. PLS BE PATIENT TO READ

From Sam-Best Ewruje, an able minister of the New Testament, not of man nor by man, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but by the will of God through the Grace and Mercy of Christ given unto me. Abundance of Grace and Gift of righteousness by Grace be unto you.

There is something about the resurrection that makes all the difference because Paul said that if Christ did not rise Christians would have been of all men most miserable. There is also something about the telling or preaching the gospel that astounds all. It is not about us so that when the Lord commissions, He does not look at our weaknesses because He wants us to be His witnesses that these feeble unlikely men can have something that can change the world. However, in our generation, we do not put this to use because we want to be strong, grow or mature before we can tell the good news and eventually we out grow ourselves from the basics of the word of God and lay more hold on traditions. One thing I notice is that whenever I preach the gospel and lives are touched, it satisfies me and I forget my own problems and begin to take on their fights and pray for them. Most times, we are more concerned with our own flaws and the devil has a thousand reasons especially fear or embarrassment why you are not fit to minister if you let him. Note that the same thing happened to the 2 naive women in Mark 16. I say naive because even the apostles did not believe them. May be they had always told fables or gossiped or not Christian like in their own ways. However the angel told them in verse 6, be not affrighted or afraid. Why? Because ye seek Jesus who WAS crucified. HE IS NOT HERE! HE IS RISEN. There you go, we seek ourselves more, what he can do for us rather than Jesus Himself. He has already done everything for us. We should seek the risen Lord not the crucified ONE we seek today. He is no more dead. He is no more on the cross. He is not in the grave. “He is not here”. Oh! Religion and works – I bind you!! I receive grace. We have to seek Him and find the risen King first to accept what He has done by dying for us and secondly to thank and worship Him forever for all He did, going to the cross and grave. The next thing is to let that fill us with so much love and gratitude to fall at the Fathers feet with profuse worship and thanksgiving and learn of Him to know Him and Jesus Christ His Son, the one who did such marvellous things. Then GO TELL. Note, don’t seek Jesus at the cross or grave. The angel said, He is not here!! This is what distinguishes the Christian faith from all other faiths. Yes He was crucified, He died, but He rose. It is finished. That chapter is closed over sin, death and iniquity or the works of the devil. The new order and new life He came to purchase for us has begun. He is now at the Right Hand of the Father, seated, watching and praying for us that we will fulfil His purpose and that of the Father. Paul said, we are now married to the risen Lord. We are His bride. So we worship Christ and the Father wiping His feet with tears of gratitude not of mourning and sorrow.  That was the first question that Jesus asked the 2 disciples going to Emmaus in Luke 24. “Why are you talking about me and you are sad”. When Jesus revealed to them He is no more there and that it is their minds playing up on them, they ran back to Jerusalem after trekking a whole day. What a revelation that brings revolution. I say again, I bind religion and release GGRRAACCEE

Then let the thoughts of the great suffering that Jesus took for us fill us with so much love and gratitude to ask Him and the Father, what can we do to thank you? The answer is simple and the same as in Mark 16 “but go your way – TELL! Very simple. As you go about daily, see yourself as a full time minister, take your pulpit with you and wait for opportunity to tell about the risen Christ and what He did saving you and all who will accept it. Tell it in the market stall, at the shop, at the dry cleaner, at work, at school, in the pub, chip shop etc. When we seek Jesus like that, there will be angelic manifestations as with the 2 women. First question the 2 women asked was who shall? Romans 10 say we should not ask that kind of question anymore who shall bring Christ down or who shall bring Him up because Jesus has come and the word is nigh you. So declare it. The next thing was that they continued to be afraid when the angel told them not to and by verse Mark 8 they could not tell (preach) because they were afraid. It did not say tell about yourself, Paul said we preach Christ not ourselves. If you tell about yourself sometimes, nothing good to tell. Paul said in me dwelleth no good thing. He said that because, there will a million flaws with you to stop you from TELLING. That is exactly what circumstances and situation want to do – STOP you TELLING because of your own shortcomings. So please let us go and tell, that He suffered, He died and He rose and He is at the right hand of the Father praying for us that our faith will not fail and that He is coming back again. Let us go out there and tell them house to house, town to town, and community to community. As you go tell, you will see so much joy. I have never returned from one evangelism sad whether we won soul or not. We meet in church to be equipped to GO and TELL as commissioned. Just look at these 2 unlikely people – women and one who had 7 devils yet they were commissioned – GO TELL. They were not even in the bunch because they wisely went to seek after Jesus and they became the first to preach the good news, not bold Peter or beloveth John. We are blessed and should be glad to GO and TELL about Jesus. Go tell is not about debate or analysis or argument. The word of God or preaching that sets free is by declaration, proclamation, telling it as the Lord taught or said it you. The church is in a “hush position or shush position” today looking for formula, 10 steps to this and that, how to, where to, waiting for someone to come from some distant place and show us how to do it etc and forget the real message of resurrection to GO AND TELL. That is exactly what the early disciples did. They faced so much persecution as have never been known today but everywhere they fled to from persecution, they went and told about Jesus. Yes we meet in church, however, the word says study to show yourself approved unto God (not man) a workman who need not be ashamed but rightly dividing the word of truth. So you need to go tell as the Lord teaches you not like Billy Graham or TL Osbourne or Wigglesworth etc who have come and fulfilled their telling. We are still here on earth and we are to emulate these great men of God while we seek the Lord in our generation, for our generation and for posterity then we go and tell as He teaches us. We can boldly go tell because you will not be preaching any man’s message but as Jesus said “As the Father has taught me so I speak these things”. Note that the knowledge should be of God and His Christ, not about ourselves or any man for that matter. Other things follow. We can talk about these great men but they are not the message.

In the great doctrine of resurrection is the fundamental difference between belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and many false religions of the world. These false religion say DO and if you DO enough and if you DO well enough you will be blessed and make heaven but Jesus says I DID IT FOR YOU and I have proof by rising from the dead and if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you will not perish but have a blessed everlasting life. ONLY BELIEVE then GO AND TELL of HIM. Please give your life to Jesus. You will see how to do that on this website.

Have a blessed Easter

Mark 16

¹And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. Note that the Sabath has passed, so it had nothing to do with a holy day or Sunday or any special day. They just went to SEEK the Lord.

²And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. I find morning best for me also because rest of the day is so busy and noisy

³And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? Most time the stone is the law

⁴And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. The stone or law is so great that we can’t do it ourselves. God fulfilled and did it Himself in Christ

⁵And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. Angelic manifestation

⁶And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

⁷But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.

⁸And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they anything to any man; for they were afraid.

⁹Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

Luke 24

¹³And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.

¹⁴And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

¹⁵And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.

¹⁶But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

¹⁷And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

¹⁸And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

Philippians 3:10

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

John 17:3

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Daniel 11:32

And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits

Hosea 6:6

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Pls when it blesses you pass it on for others to subscribe. Freely we have received, freely give.

Comments, questions, love motivated corrections. We will preach to the world free of charge but we welcome generous donations.

For Counselling and prayer, call the minister

Sam-Best Ewruje – 07957708126. Invitations are welcome apart from Sundays except local around the North East of England

Email: sambestewruje@hotmail.com