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Tithes & Offerings
Tithes & Offerings
Tithes & Offerings
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Tithes & Offerings

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A look at the Biblical origins and obligations to give tithes and make offerings

LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 13, 2016
ISBN9781911310709
Tithes & Offerings

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    Tithes & Offerings - Rebirtha Hart

    INTRODUCTION

    ––––––––

    This book is an act of obedience to the unceasing prodding of The Holy Spirit, over a number of years. His Inspiration to write this book, is His direct and loving response to the many millions of believers who today want to receive guidance, daily leading and direction by His Holy Spirit, drawing us into our Heavenly Father’s plan and purpose for our lives, yet in reality are experiencing  the consequences of the wrong choices and bad decisions which frequently take us up blind alleys, into financial hardship, crippling debt, persistent insufficiency, lack and distress. Not until the Biblical Truths, recorded in this book, are put into practice, will The Body of Christ be delivered from this far too common spiritual infirmity: a Lack of - Power, Intimacy with the Living God and Abundance both natural and spiritual. The sooner that we take this on board as individuals, church communities and as a Nation, the sooner we will all enjoy:

    The Peace, and intimacy with Almighty God we all long for

    The wellbeing and Life prosperity, that we all desire

    The End Time Wealth Transfer and the Eternal Abundant life The Lord Jesus Christ came to give us.

    He purchased all this and more for us, through His complete, perfect, finished, atoning work on Calvary’s cross.

    The primary reason for this persistent lack is the underlying lack of knowledge in His Church, thus causing all, including His people to perish; Hos.4:6

    Please pray the following prayer before you continue to read this book:

    My Dear Heavenly Father, Yahweh my Covenant God, I humble myself and come to You in the name of Jesus Christ, with thanksgiving in and for everything, including this book that I am about to read.

    I confess that I do not know everything. You are The Omniscient one who knows everything and whose thoughts and ways are much higher than mine. Please lift my thought life up to Yours and by Your Holy Spirit teach me your ways and all The Truth I do not yet know. Please embue and fill me with The Power from on High to put your knowledge and ways into practice.

    I confess, renounce and repent the lack of knowledge that is causing me and those I love to perish instead of prosper; every lie I have believed about myself and about you; my errors, traditions, self-righteousness, habits, sins, wicked ways, trespasses and iniquities, known and unknown, that have been a hindrance in my life.

    In Thy mercy, please grant me Thy Spirit of Revelation and birth in me a love for The Truth and Your Word.

    Please Yahweh, my covenant God, by Your Holy Spirit, do exceedingly abundantly above all I have just asked or can think of, or imagine.

    In the name of Jesus Christ.

    AMEN.

    This book is for everyone (believer and non-believer alike) who dares to put into practice the principles, ordinances and truths herein contained. The reason for this is that Almighty God loves the whole Universe He created and everything and everyone in it (Jn.1:3/Heb.11:3), is the Architect of Justice and Equal Opportunities which He fairly and judiciously implemented from the beginning of this world, so everyone is included.

    CHAPTER 1

    CAESAR TAXES AND THIS WORLD’S MONEY SYSTEM

    ––––––––

    Does God expect us to pay taxes? The answer is an emphatic—YES! The Lord Jesus Christ did not only instruct us to pay our taxes (Mark.12:17 "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s" but He actually paid taxes Himself (Matthew 17:24-27)

    There are in the world today two well established money systems.

    The first is the wealth creating system of the Living God that operates according to His riches in glory, in Christ Jesus, where there is never any recession; but blessings that maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with it.

    The other is the CaesarianTax system of this world controlled by Mammon, based on usury or high interest, borrowing, debt, insufficiency, lack, worry, stress, distress and sorrow.

    Caesar/The Tax Man takes out his share before we receive our wages or salary. You see our taxes are taken out of our earnings before it is paid into our Bank or Building Society account or before we receive our pay packet. If anyone cheats or fails to pay/return their taxes there are negative consequences, that in some countries sometimes means even jail.

    The taxes we pay here in the UK entitle us to a range of advantages including:-

    Free education at the compulsory phase

    Medical attention—the NHS

    Emergency Services— e.g. the Fire and Ambulance Services

    Transport (over 60’s free local transport)

    Policing, Army and Security

    State Retirement Pensions

    Benefit Services

    Similar advantages apply in the United States of America and elsewhere.

    Society’s advantages all have to be paid for by every adult in receipt of an income. There is no choice or other option in the matter and it usually increases year upon year.

    Like taxes the First Fruits, Tithes and Offerings bring us numerous benefits. Sadly, because the Good Lord allows us free will as regards the return of His First Fruits and Tithes, many think they have the option not to return that which belongs to The Lord and, worse still, that there are no consequences for this. Just because we cannot end up in jail for not making our return to The Lord does not mean that there are no consequences. Of course this is a profound and major deception as we will see later on in this book. There are even more significant consequences, in some instances, than not making our tax return.

    Paying taxes is a very old fiscal system that has survived right through to the present day. The Old Testament (11 Kings. 23:35) and the New Testament (Luke 2:1) tell us that Caesar Augustus, more than 2000 years ago, decreed that everyone in the then known world would be taxed. Joseph and Mary, the earthly parents of Jesus, being of the lineage of King David, had to return their taxes to Bethlehem, the City of David. This was all orchestrated by the hand of The Almighty God, thus fulfilling His word that He spoke through the Prophet Micah; that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem of Judea. (Micah 5:2) and all connected with the taxes His parents had to pay.

    The Tax System

    Taxes are the means by which Central and  Local Governments raise money to pay for Public Services. For example; schools, hospitals, old age state pensions etc. have to be paid for. Nearly all the money comes from tax payers like you and me. The Government of the day decides how much tax income earners should pay.

    The Banking or Usury System

    Banks are there to make money for their Investors and Shareholders. They are not there to help Joe Public. You don’t have to be persuaded to know this is true. The current international crises should be enough to convince you. The interest and penalties we pay, for money we borrow from them, or use without the Bank’s proper authorisation (when for example we make late payments or exceed our agreed exceeding your overdraft limit) are the primary ways that they use to make their money.

    How does the Tax System work?

    In the United Kingdom every person, who is resident here for tax purposes, has to pay taxes on their income once it is abovetheir tax-exempt personal allowance. There is no age limit to paying taxes. Once you are receiving an income at or above this threshold you must pay taxes. The two main categories of taxation are direct taxation which is removed from our earnings before we receive it and indirect taxation where the money is paid indirectly to the Government such as the Value Added Tax we pay on most goods and services.

    I deal below with the main forms of direct and indirect taxation.

    Income Tax is direct taxation which is mainly collected via the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) system. This ensures that a certain percentage of one’s earnings is deducted before we receive our wages or salary or before it gets to our bank account. For earnings above the level of the personal allowance on which no tax is paid basic rate tax is paid. Above another pre-determined level higher rate tax (40% at the date of writing) is paid and above another level still super rate tax (50% at the date of writing) is paid and this highest rate applies to all further income even it exceeds one million pound per annum. The tax bands and rates are controlled by the Chancellor of the Exchequer acting for the government.

    This form of direct taxation ensures that the rich get richer and my observation tells me that the system is unfair, since the majority who earn in the highest bracket are few and they are usually male. Is this an in-built, systemic form of sex discrimination? You decide, then make it a matter for prayer.

    Income Tax is not the only form of national taxation for UK residents and citizens to pay. There is also National Insurance, Inheritance Tax, Tax on specific consumable items, Value added Tax, Corporation Tax and Stamp Duty.

    National Insurance (NI), this usually represents around 11% of our earnings. This provides us with state pensions, insurance, for instance if we are injured at work, need to see our GP, or be hospitalised. This too is Direct Taxation.

    Inheritance Tax:-  When someone dies they leave their possessions in their will, if they did not die intestate. They can leave up to a specific value of possessions that are not taxed. Anything above this is taxed at a rate specified by the government.

    Tax on Specific items:- Most of the money individuals pay for petrol, alcohol and cigarettes is tax rather than cost of production and profit on the goods they buy. These items are taxed so highly to discourage people from using them so much because they are bad for our health and for the environment.

    VAT (Value Added Tax) is a tax added to things you buy. Most items are taxed at 20% This means that 20% of the value of what you purchase is passed on to the Tax authorities. Some items are taxed at a lower rate and essential items linked to health and education are not taxed at all.

    Corporation Tax is a tax on business profits.

    Stamp Duty is a tax on land and property and certain other transactions such as dealings in stocks and shares in the UK. The tax rate is incremental. The more expensive the transaction, the higher the tax rate.

    There are other National Taxes in addition to the ones listed above. Councils also raise taxes at the local level. Most adults pay a Council tax, which is calculated according to a notional valuation of the property in which they live. In 1970 VAT and Council Tax did not exist. It is the Government of the day (Labour, Conservative, Liberal-Democrat or a Coalition) who decides how much taxes we must pay for the Public Services they deliver. They also decide what type of tax, by how much it should be increased, the percentage of our earnings we must contribute and how often.

    It is interesting to note that Taxes invariably increase, and whether we as members of the public protest against any increases or whether we agree, is of little importance. The Government decides and we pay up or face the bailiffs or jail.

    As stated earlier, we all need Public Services, and these are paid for with Taxpayers money.

    However this does not guarantee that we will get all we have been promised by our Politicians and that we pay our taxes for.

    The irony is that this world’s systems, good though they may be, cannot guarantee us:-

    Secure jobs and a State or Employment pension, when we retire,

    Good health,

    Peace and the

    Prosperity we all desire and long for.

    For example:-

    - Having good schools/ Colleges/Universities does not guarantee that we will leave these fine institutions with qualifications, certificates; or ensure if we do that we will get a good secure job.

    - The National Health Service, the envy of many other nations, does not guarantee us good health. In fact the more of tax payer’s money that is allocated to the NHS, it appears that we as a nation are not becoming healthier.

    - Having the best Police and Security service on the planet, cannot guarantee our safety and protection from crime and or terrorism. The list goes on and on.

    This is quite unlike The Tithe (10% of our gross income), which has in fact since the days of Abraham, approximately 6,000 (six thousands) years ago, remained the same to this very day - no increases, just the same 10% gross and it assures us more awesome promises of a better covenant.

    Almighty God challenges us to Prove Him by

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