Day 10
Assurance Protection
but first a few Restored Marriage Testimonies!!
“EH Came Back but Then I Stopped Tithing”
The first time I was introduced to RMI the first time my EH left me I began tithing. I did so faithfully to my local church for a few months, but then after he came back I stopped tithing out of fear that he would not want me to. I fell into the trap of trying to please my EH and sadly allowed the devourer to enter back into my home. Over the next several years I would give a donation when I would attend church. I didn't tithe because I felt I "needed" my money.
After my world fell apart again and my EH left me again the Lord led me back to RMI. I was able to learn this principle early on in my RJ which is why I know that all of my needs are being met like never before. I will admit if my marriage was restored when "I" thought I was ready early on, I would not have had such a strong foundation and may have stopped tithing again and lost even more.
Now I can thank my HH for taking care of all of my needs and desires. There is not anything that I am lacking. I also want to add that I make a fairly good income since tithing. I feel as though it is even harder to give when you are giving what feels like a large portion so I struggled for a long time in the beginning with tithing because I felt I could instead choose other places to donate my money too. Erin has helped me realize the importance of tithing to your storehouse and I also realized the importance of tithing all income that includes monthly blessings and any overtime I get.
Due to how much my life has changed, I will continue to tithe on all of my income. I also feel like I need to give the Lord what is His before I even pay any of my bills. He is in charge of it all and by doing it in this order no longer need to worry about how everything will get paid. He has been faithful to me to provide me with everything and He will be faithful to provide in the future as well. I also have a new relationship with money than I did before. I am not as focused on it as I used to be. It used to consume me. Dear Fellow Traveler, I want to encourage you to grab ahold of this very important principle. It is in His word for our protection. He has the ability to take care of all of your needs. Philippians 4:19— "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Remember, it all belongs to Him!!
~ Gina in Arizona
Read Gina's RESTORED Marriage Testimony
Divorce Dismissed Day before Hearing—My Marriage is Restored!!
My divorce was almost final—but then, ONE day before the hearing—my husband had it dismissed!!! God works in just the right time, even when I thought it was hopeless and wanted to give up. I kept going back again and again to all of Erin's books and double checking to make sure I hadn't missed anything. What was keeping my restoration from happening was due to my fear of tithing. As I said in my praise report, the "Chains of Fear were Broken."
After that, the final change was when I finally gave up and trusted God to do what I could not do for myself that was the turning point that completed my journey. I gave up and devoted myself to helping other women, and now my husband moved back home and we are sharing what we have learned with others!!! I have had the opportunity to start a small group fellowship with many women from my church and have given dozens of books away (I buy them in bulk) to anyone who has shared with me that they too are going through separation or divorce. My husband does the same with the men's book!
Through the hard work and determination of Erin, this experience has truly changed my life!! It has restored and changed my marriage (and both of us) into what God intended for us to have, which was not another statistic of divorce!!! The church doesn't have the truth, so that's why we have to give the truth to others who are facing what we are(were). When we care for others, He cares for us!
I have only love, and utter gratefulness for this site and for the home fellowship that was there for me when there was no other solution to what I believed to be a hopeless situation. Had I not found that Hope Card in the RYM I found in my library, I would not be restored today. I am reminded everyday of the promise He has kept that shows the LOVE my God has for me!!!
ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH CHRIST, this means your marriage too!!! God Bless You and Thank You!!!!!
~Marilyn in Oklahoma, RESTORED
Assurance Protection—Tithing
Though tithing is a very delicate subject, we wouldn't be honest or fair if we didn't let you know that this is one of the most common violations that every woman, thus far, has had who's come to us in marital crisis. It is the principle that everyone lacked. We touched on tithing last week, but only as a way to turn up the solid ground in order to throw the seeds of faith for today's lessons.
“Now the parable is this: the seed is the Word of God. Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.
"Those on the rocky hard soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance" —Luke 8:11-15
Most of us believed who knew nothing about tithing, before we studied it, believed that we could give a donation to our church, but all of us had no idea that there were consequences if we were NOT tithing CONSISTENTLY and FAITHFULLY to our storehouse. This is why we ask this question about tithing on our Marriage Encouragement Questionnaire.
What are the consequences of not tithing to our storehouse consistently and faithfully? Not tithing to our storehouse OPENED the door that allowed the enemy to come in and legally steal anything he wanted from us!
If you are not faithfully tithing to your storehouse, then it means that the enemy was given PERMISSION to steal your husband and marriage from you!!
Like almost all of you, my church failed to teach this to me or to my husband while we were married. They either skirted around the topic (like I used to do) or they presented it in a way that just felt like they were out to get our money!
So due to the failure of the church to teach vital lessons as our "storehouse" should, such as understanding the PROTECTION of tithing, we unknowingly left the door wide open—INVITING the enemy into our lives—to steal everything! All of us who were where you are now were shocked and baffled when one day we found we had been robbed of what meant the most to us (at the time)—our marriage and our family!
To help each of you to slam the door shut, let's begin by giving you the knowledge that you probably (like all of us) lacked. And PLEASE be careful NOT to reject this because you believe that this is so we can get your money or it's something that the church shouldn't talk about.
Why? Because in Hosea 4:6 GOD says this, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you..." Therefore since you are interested in learning the truth (or you would not be reading these lessons), we are going to go over the basics and build upon them.
The Protection of Tithing
First, what exactly is a tithe?
*Since tithing is a key principle in your restoration journey, let's QUICKLY go over the basics of tithing.
The word "tithe" actually means a tenth—it is what God asks us to give back to Him—a tenth of all our INcome, money that He gives to us.
"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus"—Philippians 4:9
You may think that you "earned" what you have, but that's only because you are ignorant to this verse above and this one below.
"It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; for HE GIVES to His beloved even in his sleep"—Psalm 127:2
And if your circumstances are making you worried or doubting God, then read the truth in this verse:
"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the RIGHTEOUS forsaken or his descendants begging bread "— Psalm 37:25
And the word RIGHTEOUS simply means someone who KNOWS to do what is right. In other words, not to try to "earn" money or borrow money or certainly not to BEG for money (like asking for a loan) from anyone—instead believing and trusting God by learning and apply His principles in your life, which begins by not robbing God. If you've ever wondered WHY you are without His provisions and are lacking and certainly not as blessed as He said you would be, this verse will tell you the reason.
"Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings"—Malachi 3:8
This leads us to...
Why Should I Tithe?
"You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!"—Malachi 3:9
"'Bring the WHOLE TITHE into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,' says the LORD of hosts, 'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.'"—Malachi 3:10
"THEN I will REBUKE the DEVOURER for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,' says the LORD of hosts."—Malachi 3:11
Like 99.9% of women who come to our ministry looking for help for their troubled, crumbled or ended marriages, as a couple you were probably NOT tithing—THEREFORE the enemy had PERMISSION to destroy your lives just as he had permission to destroy ours.
And before you worry too much, rest assure that satan is not ALLOWED to touch God's children when he wants to, he can only do so when he is given permission.
How do I know?
Because it says so very clearly in the Bible. First you see it in the book of Job when God reveals how He had placed a "hedge" around Job and all he had. Then you see that it was not until God allowed Satan to touch (first) what Job had, in other words ALL his possessions, and then (later) Job's health. Not until he had permission was Satan able to do anything. Each and every time Satan had to be allowed to hurt or destroy Job or what he had.
We see it again when Jesus Himself said, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded PERMISSION to sift you like wheat . . ."—Luke 22:31
What this means is that when a believer is faithful to TITHE to their storehouse, God promises that HE, personally, WILL REBUKE the DEVOURER!!
How can we possibly give to Jesus or God when they own EVERYTHING?
It says He OWNS everything, but what He has always wanted was not our treasures, but our hearts.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your TREASURE is, there your HEART will be also" —Matthew 6:19-21
NO, GOD does NOT “need” our money, neither (by the way) do we! So why does God tell us that we must give BACK to Him a tenth, which He calls our tithe? Because He knows that until we INVEST our “treasure” back to Him and what He is doing, our hearts are not with Him. But there’s more... read what He says...
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you”—Malachi 3:10-11
In addition to your heart, our tithe is God’s “assurance” policy for us. Most of us have insurance policies like: car, health, or life insurance to name just a few. But the only way you can TRUST in these policies is when you are FAITHFUL to pay the very “small” payment (small in comparison to what is promised to be paid TO you should you need it) right? The same is true with God’s assurance policy that is by far MUCH better to be trusted in than anything man promises us.
As a matter of fact, one of the biggest scams that is just now being uncovered are insurance policies that are bogus! They are being sold by reputable insurance agents who have no idea they are sending the monthly premiums to a post office box! In a day and age when we can't trust ANYONE there is ONE whom you can trust!
"Thus says the LORD, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
“For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit'"—Jeremiah 17:5-10
When these people show up in the emergency room or their doctor tells them that their cancer treatments aren't paid for, we see why Jesus told us not to store things here on earth, and why God told us NOT to trust in mankind!
Though some well-meaning Christians are now arguing that we are no longer under that law, therefore there is no need to tithe (as the enemy gladly ROBS them blind) it is only because they are ignorant to what Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until ALL is accomplished.”
There is not much to debate there or anywhere with the verses we have shared. Clearly, tithing is important, and that it’s to be given to your “storehouse” in other words, where you are spiritually fed, which we will discuss tomorrow. The only question is, will you willfully ignore what you know is true, very much like your husband or ex and the OW are doing? Again the choice is yours.
More help
Read A Wise Woman Chapter 16. "Opening the Windows of Heaven"
To help you over your fears, please take a moment to be encouraged and read the many testimonies that have been submitted on the
1st Spiritual Milestone: Tithing ★★★★★ Testimonies
CLICK HERE to get help overcome OTHER Hurdles and Fears
“...and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." —John 8:32
Now it's time to CLICK HERE and pour out your heart to the Lord and Journal "What I Learned."