If, in spite of all the Bible's promises about prosperity, in spite of all the prayers you've prayed, you are still struggling financially today, I want you to consider this question: Where do you think God is going to get the resources to meet your needs?
Without even realizing it, many believers limit God because they have their eyes trained on the limited resources of this world rather than the unlimited riches of God's kingdom.
Their faith fails when they think of the troubled economy on the earth, of the shortages and the scarcity that surrounds them. They wonder, “How is God going to bless me in the middle of all this?”
If that's what you've been thinking, here's some news that will turn those thoughts around! The Bible says in Colossians 1:13 that God has “delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”
To be translated means to be taken out of one place and put over into another. In other words, your citizenship is not primarily of this earth. You are not primarily American or Canadian or Australian – you are first and foremost a citizen of the kingdom of God.
That means this planet doesn't have any right to dictate to you whether your needs are met or not. The Bible says, “God will meet your needs according to His riches in glory!” (Phil. 4:19). You need to learn to live by heaven's economy, not earth's economy – and in heaven there is always more than enough.
A friend of mine was born and raised in Eastern Europe about the time of World War II. For years all he and his family knew were persecution and scarcity. They lived on the run, first from the Germans, then from the communists.
They ate out of trashcans until they were finally caught and sent to a concentration camp. Finally through some miracles of God and the prayers of a couple of grandmothers, they were able to get away and come to the United States.
The first place they went when they got to this country was a grocery store. Can you imagine what it was like coming out of a concentration camp and going into a grocery store? They just walked up and down the aisles of that store and wept for joy at the abundance that was available.
If you and I would only wake up to the abundance of heaven that's been made available to us, that's how we'd feel too. We'd realize we've been translated out of the world of poverty into a kingdom that flows with milk and honey.
You know, God meant for us to come to that realization every time we tithe. He meant for us to give our tithe as a way of activating heaven's economy in our lives, to give it in gratitude and faith expecting our needs to be met abundantly.
In Deuteronomy 26, God told the Israelites exactly what to say when they brought their tithes. He instructed them to acknowledge the fact that He had brought them out of the bondage of Egypt and to say: “The Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.” (vv. 8-9)
Hallelujah, God has done the same thing for us! So when you bring your tithe to the Lord, make it a time of rejoicing. Make it a time of realizing anew that you've been translated from a world of scarcity to a heavenly economy of abundance!
Here's a prayer to help you get started:
Father, I thank You and praise You for translating me from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom that You have prepared for me. Thank You that it is a kingdom of mercy, a kingdom of joy, a kingdom of peace, and a kingdom of abundance.
I bring my tithe now to You, Lord Jesus. It is the first fruits of what You have given me, and I plant it in Your kingdom as a seed of blessing, expecting the rich blessings of heaven to be multiplied to me in return.
I thank You, Lord, that You've rebuked Satan for my sake, and I stand in agreement with Your Word that he'll not destroy my land. He'll not destroy my blessings, and he'll not destroy my crop in the field. I am a citizen of Your kingdom. I have the rights and privileges of a citizen of that kingdom, and I stand upon them.
Thank You, Jesus, that heaven's unlimited resources are mine in Your Name! Amen.
