MANAGING FOR THE MASTER Till He Comes will show us that 
God Is Working His Purpose Out – Hymn 225 in all our we do and say. May we be encouraged by this hymn for this quarter and that 
In Our Work And In Our Play – Hymn 591 we will work until Jesus comes. Hence, a choice of theme hymns for this quarter.

Our Memory Text this week encourages us to 
Trust and Obey – Hymn 590.

 On Sunday, I find that 
God Is My Strong Salvation – Hymn 339 helps to 
Fight The Good Fight – Hymn 613 as I try (with God’s abundant help) to keep the faith (2 Timothy 4:6-8) because 
Faith Is The Victory – Hymn 608.

Moses encourages with his writings on “God’s faithful dealings with Israel”: 
Hymn 100 – Great Is Thy Faithfulness. The Children of Israel needed to keep 
Standing On The Promises – Hymn 518 as was written on Monday.

The “demonstration of our faith in Him” shows in 
My Faith Looks Up To Thee – Hymn 517, 
If You But Trust In God To Guide You – Hymn 510. To “Honor The Lord” (Tuesday’s title), with  
A Diligent And Grateful Heart – Hymn 639 I will be able to sing 
Give Of Your Best To The Master – Hymn 572.

“Seek Ye First” (Thursday) is reiterated in 
Hymn 224 – Seek Ye First The Kingdom. The day’s study continues with the statement “in order to receive the blessing, we need to do our part, as well” which gives rise to my favourite saying: I do my best, and God does the rest.

The final statement of our study this week reminds us that “it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ”: 
Hymn 533 – O For a Faith that will not shrink.

Today, and every day, we look forward to Jesus coming again. Oh, what a day that will be 
When We All Get To Heaven – Hymn 633 because 
That Glorious Day Is Coming – Hymn 209.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Key Thought: When we look at God’s bilateral covenant with us, we can see both our blessings and our responsibilities. By our responses, we establish our relationship with Him and determine our destiny.
January 14, 2023

1. Have a volunteer read Deuteronomy 28:1-14.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What great blessings are promised to the people?
3. Personal Application: What must we do to receive God’s blessings today? Share your thoughts..
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “What does it mean to “listen diligently” to what God has said? I have accepted Jesus and have been saved; I am receiving His blessings. What more would I need to do?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Proverbs 3:1-10.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What promises are given here?
3. Personal Application: How do we learn to trust God during hard financial times when there is a famine in our lives? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “What does the “firstfruits of all your increase” mean? Was this just a Jewish thing in the commandments of ordinances, or does it have an application to us today?.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Malachi 3:7-11.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What are the promises and obligations found in these verses?
3. Personal Application: What does your tithing (or lack of it) say about your spirituality and relationship with God? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “I don’t give ten percent. I give as I am able after all the bills are paid and financial obligations taken care of. It’s not about a certain number, but the actual intention and giving of what we can that counts..” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Matthew 6:25-33.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What were the people to do in order to receive these promises?
3. Personal Application: What do we need to do in order to have peace with God? Share your thoughts?
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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There is a close spiritual connection between the practice of tithing and our relationship to God. The Israelites prospered when they obeyed God and were faithful in tithing. In contrast, they fell on hard times when they didn’t. They seemed to follow a cycle of obedience and prosperity, and then disobedience and problems. It was during one of these periods of unfaithfulness that God, through the prophet Malachi, proposed a bilateral contract with His people.

Read Malachi 3:7-11. What are the promises and the obligations found in these verses?

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God promised the people that if they would return to Him, He would return to them. When they asked what He meant by returning to Him, He explicitly said, “Stop robbing Me of tithe and offerings.” Their robbery was the reason they were being cursed. Here is God’s solution to the problem of the curse: “Bring all the tithes [the whole tithe] into the storehouse” (Malachi 3:10, NKJV). And if you do this, then “I will … open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (NKJV). If we don’t have room enough to receive it, we have a surplus with which we can help others and help to advance the cause of God.

“He who gave His only-begotten Son to die for you, has made a covenant with you. He gives you His blessings, and in return He requires you to bring Him your tithes and offerings. No one will ever dare to say that there was no way in which he could understand in regard to this matter. God’s plan regarding tithes and offerings is definitely stated in the third chapter of Malachi. God calls upon His human agents to be true to the contract He has made with them.” — Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 75.

One of the positive cycles of obedience is recorded during the reign of good King Hezekiah of Judah. There was a genuine revival in Judah, and the people started faithfully returning their tithes and offerings to the temple storehouse. So much came in that it was piled in heaps at the temple. Second Chronicles 31:5 tells what happened when the people “brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything” (NKJV).

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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The book of Proverbs is not so much about right and wrong as it is about wisdom and foolishness. As one reads through the book, one will see the benefits of wisdom and the pitfalls of foolishness.

Read Proverbs 3:1-10. What wonderful promises are given here? Also, what does “firstfruits of all your increase” mean?

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God asks us to put Him first in the management of our possessions as an acknowledgment of His ownership of all things, and as a demonstration of our faith in Him to provide for us. But even more than this, He says that if we will put Him first, then He will bless what’s left. For us to do this — that is, to put Him first — is an act of faith, an act of trust, a manifestation of trusting in the Lord with all your heart and, indeed, not leaning on your own understanding (which is especially important, because so often things happen that we cannot understand and cannot make sense of).

Nothing, though, should spur us on more in trusting God and His love than does the cross. When you realize what each one of us has been given in Jesus, not just as our Creator (John 1:1-4) and our Sustainer (Hebrews 1:3), but also as our Redeemer (Revelation 5:9), returning to God the firstfruits of whatever we have is, indeed, the least we could do.

“Not only does the Lord claim the tithe as His own, but He tells us how it should be reserved for Him. He says, ‘Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase.’ This does not teach that we are to spend our means on ourselves, and bring to the Lord the remnant, even though it should be otherwise an honest tithe. Let God’s portion be first set apart.” — Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 81.

God says that if we put Him first, our “barns will be filled with plenty” (NKJV). Yet this is not going to happen by miracle; that is, you are not going to wake up one day and find your barns and vats suddenly full.

Instead, the Bible is filled with principles about good stewardship, careful planning, and financial responsibility, of which faithfulness to what God calls us to do is our first and foremost responsibility.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Understandably, there are many who are unaware of the difference between tithes and offerings. Many – even seasoned members – are surprised to learn there is a difference.

Tithe is not used locally, like for church maintenance, Sabbath School supplies and so on. The offerings cover those needs, while the tithe goes to pay the salaries of conference-employed gospel workers. This is according to the direction of Scripture.

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Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting. Numbers 18:21 NKJV

Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 NKJV

The tithe goes straight to the ministry, while offerings are in addition to the tithe. Occasionally local church treasures will receive a tithe envelope that looks something like this,

Tithe: $200.00

Combined Budget: $100.00

Conference Evangelism: $100.00

Total: $200.00

The problem is the total should be $400.00. The person filling out the tithe envelope was thinking that he was to divvy up the tithe between the other categories on the envelope, but tithe is its own category. IF one is only returning their tithe, it should look like this,

Tithe: $200.00

Combined Budget:

Conference Evangelism:

Total: $200.00

If you are returning tithe and offering, it would look like this,

Tithe: $200.00

Combined Budget: $100.00

Conference Evangelism: $100.00

Total: $400.00

Scripture makes a distinction between tithes and offerings.

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. Malachi 3:8 NKJV 

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7 NKJV

Malachi shows us offerings are in addition to the tithe. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us while the tithe that goes to the ministry is 10% of our “increase,” the additional offering is what we purpose in our hearts.

My father was a church treasure for over 50 years, and he would occasionally receive tithe envelopes filled out by those who thought the tithe was divided into the other categories on the offering envelope. Other treasures have mentioned it to me as well, though, of course, never mentioning names. Understanding how this can be confusing to some, when I give personal Bible studies on stewardship, I always make sure I carefully explain how the tithe is sacred to Gospel workers, and that the offerings are in addition to the tithe. I hope this explanation will be helpful to some.

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