What Have You Dedicated to God?
Mike and Marilyn Phillipps
 Recently
we heard a very successful Christian businessman share one of his long-standing
policies. He said that he dedicates a certain portion of his finances to
the Lord and then never again mixes those finances with the rest of his money.
By keeping the finances he has dedicated to the Lord separate from the rest
of his money, he is able to obey every direction the Lord gives him without
fear of losing income. By keeping dedicated funds separate, he is able to
begin, stop, expand and decrease projects as the Lord directs. His investors
know that the Lord leads him in the area of dedicated funds and, if they
wish to invest in those areas, they can rely on his obedience to God's voice.
As we thought about this man's philosophy, a scripture came to mind, "And He said to them, 'Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's'" Luke
20:25. In this case, the Christian businessman rendered unto God the things
that are His and did not allow the things that are Caesar's to interfere
with them. He allocated dedicated finances only as God directed and only
when God directed. No matter what else happened to the rest of his finances,
that which had been dedicated to God were not used for any other purpose.
As
we thought about things dedicated to the Lord, we remembered when the Israelites
took the city of Jericho and were instructed not to keep any of the
treasures that belonged to the Lord. Achan disobeyed and took some of the
dedicated things and hid them under his tent. Scripture says that "the anger
of the Lord burned against the children of Israel." They lost their ability
to succeed in the plans that the Lord had for them and were defeated in the
next city they were to take. They became fearful of the enemy and lost their
faith in the Lord.
When
Joshua inquired of the Lord as to why they were defeated, the Lord told him
of the disobedience of Achan-that he had taken that which was dedicated to
the Lord. Achan and his entire family were killed because of that sin.
Another
example came to mind-Ananias and Sapphira, the couple who sold land and held
back part of what was to be given to God. They lied and said they had given
it all and immediately dropped dead. We were beginning to see that God is
very serious about that which is dedicated to Him.
Sometimes
we blame the devil when things go wrong in our lives, especially when we
are experiencing financial problems. We believe he is stealing from us-robbing
us of God's blessings. Might it be, though, that sometimes we cause some
of our own problems if we fail to honor what we have dedicated to the Lord?
What
we dedicate to God always seems to come from a limited supply. When we look
for time or money (or other things) to dedicate to Him, it usually appears
that we don't have enough. There is no surplus available that can be easily
carved out for Him. No, the majority of the time that which we dedicate to
God comes from the limited supply we have.
We
remember many years ago when we had lost everything in a major financial
blunder. We had absolutely no money and had to pray in even food and clothing.
Our heat was shut off for lack of payment in the middle of a cold winter
and eventually even our water was turned off. In the midst of those dire
circumstances someone gave us $10 one day. Mentally we spent that money over
and over again. The hard part was deciding what need was the greatest that
$10 could meet.
The
Lord spoke to us at that moment and reminded us that we needed to tithe on
that money. We couldn't believe it. We had nothing and He wanted $1 of that
$10! What did a dollar mean to Him? To us it was gold. We promised Him, "Let
us keep this whole $10 and when we have more we will be glad to tithe."
We will never forget what He shared with us. "If you cannot give Me $1 of $10, you will never give Me $100 of $1,000."
We
knew He was right. So many times people think when they have more, then they
can set some aside for the Lord. When they have more time, more money, more
education, more security, more. The problem is, if we do not carve out a
portion of what we have today and dedicate it to the Lord, we will never
give Him anything tomorrow either.
Over
the years we have seen so many couples that have said that God called them
to minister to marriages and families. Yet many stop ministering after a
short time. A few years ago we did a phone survey of those who had taught
classes with the University of the Family but were not longer teaching. By
far, the vast majority stated that they knew God had called them. Yet almost
all stated that they were no longer ministering because they were just too
busy-there was not enough time.
We
know that many who quit ministry because of time constraints never return
to any type of ministry anywhere. The grief of our hearts has always been
that so many have been robbed of the joy and blessing of serving God because
they couldn't find time to obey. Now we were looking at these situations
in a whole new light. Could it be that when we take back that which is dedicated
to God, a greater void is created? Instead of walking in blessing in that
area, perhaps we walk in greater lack.
The
principle seems to be: the more we honor what we have dedicated to God,
the more we have. When we take back that which belongs to God, the less
we have.
We began to realize that when we dedicate something to God, we need to honor that dedication. We
were challenged to examine our lives and it is amazing how much God is willing
to show us when we ask. How incredibly unfaithful we have been with our time!
When we took it for ourselves, we never seemed to have enough. Now we have
repented and once again have declared that time we promise to God will be
His! We have been amazed at the amount of time that is seemingly being added
to our days. How does God do that? When we honor time we have promised Him,
it seems He gives more back to us.
This
has encouraged us to encourage you. What have you dedicated to God? Are you
honoring that dedication or have you taken back that which belongs to Him?
Don't let the pressures of life cause you to take back that which you have
dedicated to Him. If you've promised Him time, make sure you set it aside
from the rest of your day. If you've promised Him money, such as a pledge
or offering, don't let financial pressures rob you of that obedience.
Just
as our friend, the successful businessman, we must decide what is God's and
keep it separate from the rest of our lives. Then we will be free to obey
the Lord without fear of loss in other areas. Others will also be free to
invest in our lives because they will know that what we have dedicated to
God will be given to Him. The blessing of our lives will then overflow to others as well.
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New Teachers Honored
 Teaching their first Married for Life class:
California - Luis and Elsa Tovar and Bruce and JoAnne Balcombe Colorado - Luis and Silvia Hernandez and Tomás and Carolina Quiñonez Florida - Jamil and Elzeli Ribeiro Georgia - Donald and Tonya Rucker Iowa - Charles and Jennifer Stone Louisiana - Clint and Loretta Lege Massachusetts - Marcos Antonio and Adriana DaSilva Michigan - Pete and Kris Zanoni and Steven and Kimberly Meszaros Minnesota - Jon and Denise Bjorke Mississippi - Chris and Jennifer Curlee Montana - Ken and Robin Homan Nebraska - Mel and Kathy Kaup New Mexico - Ralph and Drucilla Chavez New York - Tim and Ingrid Steffens and Phil and Ramona Caporusso Oregon - Matthew and Amanda Todd, John and Cheri Cox, and Jeremiah and Becky Darling Texas - Carroll and Evelyn Burgoon, Bernard and Kelly Tate, and Jeff and Michelle Miller Washington -
Michael and Lisa Joehnk, CT and Michelle Rickard, Bruce and Becky Rosenthal,
Cruz and Stacey Garcia, Shane and Kathryn Posey, and Trevor and Sara Dunbar
Teaching their first Parents for Life class:
Arizona - Gary and Marlene Coble and Randy and Elaine Mark Idaho - Cal and Tracy Ketchum Michigan - Hal and Susan Filter Minnesota - Jim and Hilary Early Montana - Kyle and Nan Skibsted, Steve and Pam Jackson, and Emmett and Anne Coon New York - Bob and Judy Johnson Washington - Scott and Ketra Curtis, Mark and Marian Spurling, and Mike and Sue Costello
Teaching their first
ONE for Life class:
Florida - Jack and Pam McLaughlin Washington - Shane and Kathryn Posey
What
a blessing it is to see all these couples reaching out to marriages and families
in their communities. Our prayers are with all of these teachers and the
couples in their groups. |
If you haven't yet visited our website and discovered all the exciting events planned for this year's convention, do it today!
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