My God Shall Supply

Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

God’s provision

One of the great promises in the Bible is the assurance of having our needs provided for by the goodness of God. In fact, in this verse it says that all our needs shall be supplied according to God’s riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

God’s promises

But to enter into this blessing, the blessing of God’s provision in our lives, requires our commitment to embrace and adhere to the principles of the kingdom of God. The LORD will bless us financially and materially as we walk with Him, as we learn of Him through pondering His word, as we hear His promises and obey Him, and as we learn to trust in Him.

Economic prosperity

The kingdom of God has a financial system that is quite different from its earthly counterpart. In many ways the two are diametrically opposed to each other. For example, Jesus said, give and it shall be given unto you. But the world, on the other hand, says, keep all you can, and you’ll have more than others.

I will give you rest

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus said, learn of Me, or from Me, and I will give you rest. And He says, yoke yourself together with Me, and I will show you a less burdensome way.

For us to enter into the financial system of heaven, we must first learn about the way that system works. Then we must put the principles we learn into practice in our life, all the while trusting the LORD that His word is true.

The economy of the kingdom is based upon several clearly defined principles in the scripture.

Tithing

What is tithing? Tithing is giving ten percent of your income to what the Bible calls the storehouse. The storehouse is the church that you belong to, the place where you receive spiritual nourishment on a continuing basis.

The blessing that comes as the result of tithing is given in Malachi chapter three.

Malachi 3:10 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.

Malachi 3:11 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.

This passage of scripture is rich in Bible promises. The LORD of hosts is speaking, and He says, test Me with this. Bring the tithe into the storehouse and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour you out a great blessing.

God will bless you

Could that actually be true? Now, either that’s the truth or the LORD told a lie. But the Bible says that God is not a man, that He should lie. It says in another place that He is the LORD, and He changes not. So, if it was true in Bible days, it’s still true today. Our job is to believe it, and act upon it, as it is with all of His promises.

Rebuke the devourer

It also goes on to say that I, the LORD, will rebuke the devourer, the one who is stealing from you, the one who is hindering your finances, so that he will not take anything of yours, and also, your success, your vine in the field, will not fail, but will produce for you, as it should.

You sometimes hear people say, well, I got the car fixed last week, what’s going to break down now? They’ll say, it seems like something is always eating up my money. That’s the devourer.

Having the devourer rebuked and unable to steal from us is, in and of itself, enough to make a major difference in the financial stability of a person. Things don’t break down as often, money is kept that would have otherwise been lost through bad decisions, or unexpected dilemmas, and so forth.

The thief

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The thief is a reference to the enemy of God’s people, Satan, who comes only for the purpose of stealing, killing, and destroying. But Jesus came that we might have a more abundant life, free from the thief.

Covenant of promise

Now, notice how covenant works, how the promises of God work. The LORD says, you do this and I will do that. It’s not a one-sided proposition. God will do amazing things in our lives, but only if we will do what He tells us to do. It’s a two-way commitment. He makes the promise and we take HIm up on it. We do our part and He will do His part.

Yes and Amen

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God BY US.

God makes many promises in His word, but there must be a receiving of and an agreement with them on our part before we can participate in them and make them our own. There must be a yes and an amen by us. We must agree with the promise by faith.

So then, tithing to a local church, a church that you’re committed to, a place where you receive regular spiritual feeding, is the first step to entering the financial system of heaven.

Give to the poor

Have you ever noticed that there is a lot of scripture in the Bible about giving to the poor? Helping the poor is clearly one of the things that is near and dear to the heart of God. And it carries great blessings with it.

Proverbs 28:27 He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.

He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack. Wow! What a promise. Is giving to the poor important for our financial condition? Absolutely.

Tithes into the storehouse

Remember, tithes are for the storehouse, the local church, and without them it would be practically impossible for the church to operate. Buildings cost money, electricity and heat and a/c cost something, church staff costs something, office supplies and equipment cost something.

But giving is something that is done over and above what is tithed, or we might say, paid as a tithe.

Freewill offering

The tithe belongs to the LORD, and thus we don’t actually give it, we pay it. Giving is what we choose to do after we have tithed, over and above the tithe, we might say as a freewill offering offerings that we choose to give.

Treasure in heaven

Matthew 6:9 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Matthew 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Do not lay up, or save up, or store up, treasures, valuable things, for yourself on earth, where they can be corrupted, or destroyed, but save them up in heaven, in heavenly places, where they cannot be stolen or lost.

Jesus is talking about our natural tendency to lay up or store up stuff for ourselves in earthly places, such as banks, or barns, or pantries, or closets, or wherever we store stuff up on the earth. He is saying to instead store up or save up valuable stuff in heavenly places, where it will be safe for later use.

What do we do to do that? How are we supposed to lay up treasures in heaven? Jesus gives further light on that in Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Luke 12:33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

Alms for the poor

Now, we don’t use the word “alms” very much these days. But the word simply means gifts given to poor people, generally in the form of money or food.

Give alms

Sell that ye have. Now, notice. He did not say, sell everything you have, as we often tend to interpret it. It simply means to find something to give alms with, to help the poor with, even if you have to sell something.

He also says that by doing this we provide for ourselves bags, meaning money bags, bags that do not get old, and treasure that does not fail, or run out, in a place where thieves do not break through, and where moths do not destroy.

The heavenly realm

What is He talking about? He is talking about the unseen realm, the heavenly realm, the realm of the spirit. That’s where our treasures are stored up when we give alms, or, that is, help, to the poor. And if it’s in an unseen place, then we can only see it by faith, faith that God’s word is true, faith that it really is there. That’s where our treasure is.

Well, how does that help us? It helps us by being available to us when we need it. When our time of need comes, the LORD makes a way for our provision to come. Remember, the earlier verse says that He supplies all our needs according to His riches, where? In glory, in heavenly places, in the unseen realm. We are trusting God to provide for us, because He has said that He would.

The rich young ruler

Let’s look at one more verse to clarify this notion of having treasure in heavenly places, in a place we cannot see with the natural eyes, but instead with the eyes of faith.

In Matthew chapter 19, Jesus encounters a young man who is, by all earthly standards, a wealthy man. And this young man asked Jesus what he should do to have eternal life. And Jesus told him to keep the Commandments, but the man said that he had done that since his youth.

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Matthew 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Here was a man who already had material wealth. Yet the Lord told him that if he desired to be perfect, that is, finished, complete, or fully mature, then he should sell some of what he had, and give to the poor, or do alms, and then what? He would have treasure in heaven.

This is how we get treasure in heaven. We get it by first tithing, and then by giving help to the poor, what the Bible calls doing alms. These are the two areas that put us on a path to receive divine provision in the kingdom of God.

We may not like that from a natural standpoint. It says in this passage that the young man went away sorrowful, that is, grieved, sad, and offended, because he had great possessions, and he didn’t want to let go of any of it.

You see, if we are enslaved by the things we possess, it will be very difficult to enter into the financial system of heaven, or live our lives by the ways of heaven.

Matthew 19:23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

What did Jesus mean by that? He meant that it is hard for one who possesses a lot of stuff to let go of some of it, so as to enter into the ways of the kingdom. Why? Because it seems foolish to him.

1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither* can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Kingdom living

The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, and it operates upon spiritual principles, principles that often contradict natural principles. They seem to defy common sense. How can you increase by giving something away? Yet, by faith in God’s promises, tithing and giving lead us into the way of increase in the kingdom of God.