"Depending on God"

"He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust." (Psalms 78:46) If I had a nickle for every time I worried about money, I think I would be set for life. Seriously, money is the least thing that we should be worried about, but instead, it seems to be the thing we think about most. Even when we are not thinking about it, we are having something planning in our minds about what to do with it, whether we have it or not. I bring this up because I learned something a long long time ago: You cannot depend upon money to be there for you! It's just a fact; the more you depend upon money, the more liquid your money becomes. Years ago I learned a lesson about trusting and depending upon God for my finances; not just His ability to provide for me to pay my bills, but His ability to manage my life. We tend to look at it from the perspective of doing for ourselves with what God gives us; but in reality, we should be looking to do for God with what we have been given. Tithing is the primary way that we give; well, at least some of us tithe, the majority of Christians hardly give 5% of what they have left over after paying their bills. To let you know how I know, I took care of counting the tithe and entering the offerings into the books for many years; so I know who gave and who didn't; I also know who gave little and who gave much. Interesting enough, those that seemed to always give faithfully were the ones that seemed to be doing the best financially. Talk about what came first the flies or the frogs; what comes first, the harvest or the tithe? I will tell you, that without a doubt, the tithe comes before the harvest! Your tithe is something that you determine in your heart to give. It could be ten percent of what you have after taxes, or ten percent of your total income; but what ever it is, it is something that you pray about and determine in your heart to give, unconditionally. In other words, whether you are able to see how you can make your other obligations or not, you first pay your tithe, and let God take care of the rest. That is how you become dependent upon God...
""Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! But you ask, 'What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?' "You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will poor out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies." (Malachi 3:8-11) NLT