GOD FIRST!--Or, God the Preferred Creditor!--By Father David DO934 20/9/80
1. GOD COMES FIRST!--HE IS A PREFERRED CREDITOR, NOT TO BE A DEFERRED CREDITOR! His tithe comes first before all other bills are paid. That is the first bill you should pay. It doesn't matter what the other bills are--unexpected doctor bills, unexpected utility bills or any kind of expected or unexpected bills.
2. IF YOU DON'T PUT GOD FIRST, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A HELL OF A LOT OF UNEXPECTED BILLS WITH WHICH HE'LL CHASTISE YOU! He's a preferred creditor & His bill comes first. His tithe comes first & should be paid before anything else is paid--period! If you don't believe it, read Exodus 20:3 & 5 where He says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God!"
3. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU CAN'T PUT ANY THING ELSE BEFORE THE LORD, & THAT INCLUDES YOUR BILLS FROM OTHER GODS that you serve & worship--including doctors, utility bills & whatever. If you put them before God's bill, then you are putting them first instead of God & therefore worshipping & serving them more than you are God, by putting them first & putting God off & postponing His until everything else is paid.--And most likely if you do that, you'll seldom, if ever, have enough left to pay God's bill. Everything else will eat it up--& God will see to it just to punish you!
4. GOD'S TITHE MUST COME FIRST!--AND YOU MUST PAY IT FIRST BEFORE YOU PAY ANYTHING ELSE. Otherwise you are not putting God first & He doesn't like it! He doesn't like to play second fiddle or be put somewhere down the line amongst your creditors. He likes to see you put Him first, absolutely first, & nowhere else on your list of bills & creditors. And if you don't, you're going to have trouble with Him, because He's a preferred Creditor!
5. I REALISE THAT SOME OF YOU FEEL LIKE THE FELLA WHO TOLD THE PREACHER, "SORRY, PARSON, BUT I CAN'T PAY MY TITHE this month because my other bills were so high." And the Parson said, "Yes, but you know God's bill, God's tithe, should come first!" And the guy answered back, "Yes, but He doesn't press me like the others!" And the Parson said, "Well, you'd better watch out, or He will!"--He'll press you more than the others!
6. GOD COMES FIRST, & HIS TITHE IS YOUR TOP BILL ON THE TOP OF YOUR STACK OF BILLS. He is to be your preferred Creditor above all others, & you are to pay your tithe whether you get any other bills paid or not! You're to pay your tithe whether you can pay your rent or your utilities or your doctor bills, or whether it even looks like you have enough money for food or not!
7. I'LL GUARANTEE YOU RIGHT NOW, AS I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE, THAT IF YOU WILL PUT GOD FIRST & put His tithe first, He will see to it that "the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail"! He will "pour out such a blessing there will not be room enough to hold it" & you'll have no complaints because you had to pay God first. (1Kg.17:14; Mal.3:10.)
8. BUT I'LL TELL YOU, IF YOU DON'T PUT THE LORD FIRST & PAY HIS TITHE BILL FIRST, you're going to have plenty of complaints!--Because the Lord will not like it & He will not let you get away with it. You will suffer for it & you'll lose more, much more. He'll see to it that you don't have enough money to pay the other bills. If you can't pay His, then you can't pay anybody's, & He'll see to it!
9. THAT'S THE WAY GOD IS; HE'S A STRICT FATHER & YOU'VE GOT TO PUT HIM FIRST OR ELSE! He will not play second fiddle to anybody, & you had better pay that tithe first or you are in trouble with the Lord! You may not be able to pay any of your other bills next month if you were not willing to put God's tithe first last month.
10. BUT IF YOU PUT HIM FIRST & YOU PAY HIS TITHE, "HE WILL POUR OUT A BLESSING THERE WILL NOT BE ROOM ENOUGH TO HOLD IT!"--He's promised it! It's His Word, it's a contract, & He cannot & will not violate it. He will do it just as sure as the Law of Gravity! It's His Law of Economics--if you put Him first & you pay your full tithe, God will bless you for it & He'll see to it that you have more than enough to pay the rest of the bills.
11. --BUT IF YOU TRY TO MAKE HIM PLAY SECOND, THIRD OR TENTH FIDDLE & you put Him down at the end of the list of the last of your creditors--you only pay your tithe to Him if you have enough left after paying all the rest of the bills--He'll see to it you don't even have enough to pay any bills, & I mean it! If you can't pay God, you can't pay anybody! He is not going to take second, third or tenth place on your list of creditors.
12. GOD COMES FIRST!--"SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD & HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, & ALL THESE OTHER THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU!" (Mat.6:33.)--And if you don't learn any other lesson through tithing than that, you will have learned something that will benefit you the rest of your life!--And that is, that if you put God first, He will see that you never lack for anything you need, & you'll have more than enough of everything else.
13. IT'S HIS PROMISE, HE'S PROMISED IT IN SO MANY PLACES! He says, "Bring ye all the tithe into the storehouse, & prove Me now herewith if I will not open you the windows of heaven & pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it"!--"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, & all these other things shall be added unto you." But He also says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me"!
14. IF YOU PUT ANYTHING ELSE BEFORE THE LORD, IT HAS BECOME YOUR GOD THAT YOU PREFER ABOVE GOD HIMSELF! It means that you honour & fear & serve your other creditors more than you do God!--Your landlord or your grocer or the City Hall or whatever it is. If you put them first, it means you fear them more than you do God.
15. AND IF YOU THINK HE DOESN'T PRESS YOU LIKE THE OTHERS, JUST WAIT & SEE, HE WILL!--He'll press you more than all of them put together if you try leaving Him out or putting Him at the end of the line or even second or third. He will sock it to you for not putting Him first & worshipping & serving & paying Him before you do anybody else.
16. THAT'S HIS RIGHT, HIS DUE, & TO HIS HONOUR, & YOU OWE HIM MORE THAN YOU DO ANYBODY ELSE. You owe it to Him first, & if you don't pay it you're going to find out God will not take anything but first place. He will press you more than the other creditors, to where you won't be able to pay any of them.
17. NOW THAT'S THE FACTS, & YOU'D BETTER WAKE UP TO IT & not go writing to us, "So sorry, couldn't pay my tithe this month!--I had an unexpected doctor bill, a big unexpected utility bill!--I had this car repair & this, that or the other happened!"--That's probably why it happened, because God knew in advance that you were going to put that first instead of the Lord!
18. HE TESTED YOU TO SEE WHAT YOU'D DO, & SURE ENOUGH, YOU PAID THE OTHER BILLS FIRST & LEFT GOD TILL LAST to where you couldn't pay Him. That's why you write to us complaining: "So sorry, we couldn't pay our tithe, & how come we don't get our Magazine?"--Because nobody but Tithers get the Magazine at all anymore!
19. NOBODY BUT TITHERS GET ANY MAGAZINES AT ALL, PERIOD! If your report is late & your tithe is late, then you're going to miss your Magazine. That is your punishment & your chastisement for being a procrastinating delaying lazy lethargic servant who does not pay his bills on time! Let me tell you, if you don't pay your other creditors on time, they're going to cut off your lights & your gas & your phone, & they're not going to wait for it very long!
20. I HEARD CYPRUS WAS HAVING A TERRIBLE TIME GETTING PEOPLE TO PAY THEIR PHONE BILLS which were sent out on the first of the month. So if it wasn't paid by the 10th or the 15th, whichever it was, they just immediately cut off the telephone, period, without any warning whatsoever!--And if there were people waiting in line for phones, they gave it to the first one in line. Let me tell you, people started paying their bills in a hurry & right on time when they found out they couldn't get away with it!
21. SO YOU HAD BETTER PAY GOD ON TIME, & RIGHT ON TIME, OR YOU'RE GOING TO FIND OUT YOU CAN'T GET AWAY WITH IT! You cannot put God last or somewhere down the line & everybody else first, or that's putting other gods before Him! He will not stand for it! He says He's a jealous God & He's going to visit your sins upon you & maybe even your generations if you keep it up, according to His Word. (Ex.20:5.)
22. SO YOU'D BETTER PUT GOD'S TITHE AS YOUR TOP BILL ON THE TOP OF THE STACK & PAY ON TIME, or you're not only going to lose your Magazine for that month, you are going to lose a lot more, so that you can't pay any of your bills! God will not stand for it! He will not be put last & other bills first.
23. YOU PAY YOUR TITHE FIRST, & THEN YOU SEE IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY YOUR OTHER BILLS.--You don't pay all the rest of your bills first & then see if you have enough money left to pay God His! He just won't stand for it, I'll tell you right now! I've seen too much, heard too much & experienced too much in God's financial world to think you're going to be able to get away with it; I've been through it myself!
24. SO YOU'D BETTER GET BUSY & SET GOD'S TITHE APART FIRST THE MINUTE YOU GET PAID, from your job or income or whatever it is. You had better set it aside the first thing & send it off immediately with your report on the first of the month, or you're going to lose your Magazine & a whole lot more! God will not stand for your putting other creditors first.
25. HE'S YOUR NUMBER ONE CREDITOR & HE WILL NOT TAKE SECOND PLACE, MUCH LESS TENTH PLACE, at the end of the line of your bills! So you'd better put Him first, or else you are going to be in trouble! But praise God, if you put Him first, as He asks, & you lay aside that tithe & put it first, then He's promised to put you first with abundant blessings!
26. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT THEY SAID TO LAY IT ASIDE THE FIRST DAY OF EVERY WEEK. (1Cor.16:2.) Well, we only ask you to lay it aside the first day of the month.--But it better be for the whole month, & it better be a full 10% of your full total income, or God is not going to like it. If you say you're going to put your other bills & creditors first because you can't afford to pay Him, then He's going to see to it that if you don't put Him first & pay Him first, that you're not going to be able to afford to pay the rest of them--& I mean it!
27. GOD JUST WILL NOT TAKE ANYTHING BUT FIRST PLACE!--He wants to be first in your life, first in your economics, first in your giving!--And paying your tithe bill is at the top of the list. God will be no less than Number One! He's a jealous God & He will visit the punishment of your sins on you & even your generations, if you don't pay up, on time, & put Him at the top of the list.
28. BUT IF YOU PUT HIM FIRST, HE'S PROMISED TO POUR OUT A BLESSING THERE'LL NOT BE ROOM ENOUGH TO HOLD IT! He's promised if you "seek first His Kingdom that all these other things shall be added unto you". But He's not going to let you pay them first & seek all those things first & put God last--then decide to add His bill providing you can afford to pay it after everything else is paid! That just is not the way God works. He will not be put second or third or tenth or whatever!
29. HE INSISTS ON BEING IN FIRST PLACE, NOT ONLY IN YOUR HEART & YOUR LIFE, BUT IN YOUR BILL-PAYING AS WELL!--And that's a pretty good thermometer & barometer of your spiritual temperature & high pressure, as to whether you put God's bill first before other creditors. That's pretty good sure indicator as to whether you put God first in all areas of your life. And if you don't pay God first & put Him first in line in your bills & payments, it's a pretty sure sign that you're not putting Him first in your life nor your family!
30. SO GOD COMES FIRST--NOT SECOND OR LAST! He can only come first. He doesn't know how to take second place or play second fiddle to anybody. He will not, & He flatly refuses to do so & makes it very clear all through the Bible. You can take those references that I've given you as samples if you want to, & that was Exodus 20:3 & 5, Matthew 6:33, & also Mal.3:10.
31. JUST READ IT!--AND WEEP!--AND REPENT & ASK GOD TO FORGIVE YOU FOR TRYING TO PUT HIM SECOND TO ANYBODY, much less third or tenth or somewhere down the line; that you take care of everything else first & leave God last. I'll tell you right now, He won't take it! He won't stand for it, & neither will we!
32. NO REPORT & NO TITHE--NO MAG! Sorry! Anybody can tithe, no matter how much or how little you got this past month. If you only got ten crackers, you'd better send us one of them; or ten beads, send us one. Whatever it is, you'd better send God His tithe first before you pay anybody else--or you won't have any crackers or beads left!--And I don't mean perhaps!
33. GOD BLESS YOU & HELP YOU TO PUT GOD FIRST IN YOUR LIFE, YOUR HEART, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR HOME & YOUR BILL-PAYING! That's the only place He'll take. He'll flatly refuse to play second fiddle to anybody else, much less any other fiddle, if you start fiddling around with His tithe! So sorry, Buddy! Sorry, Sister!--You'd better put God first & pay up--or shut up! We don't want to hear any more of your complaints about not getting your Magazine because you didn't pay your tithe on time because you had other bills to pay first.--Forget it!
34. YOU DON'T BELONG IN THIS FAMILY IF YOU PUT ANYTHING ELSE FIRST BESIDES GOD HIMSELF! He will not take any other place but first place--either in your life, heart, mind, family, strength, time or economics. His tithe is the first bill you pay every month, & on the first of the month with your report, or you get no Mag. And you can't tell us later, "Well, so sorry, but I couldn't pay it on time!"--Why didn't you save it up last month?
35. THE TROUBLE WITH YOU IS, YOU PUT GOD OFF SO LONG YOU'RE ALREADY RUNNING LATE! You can't save it up during the month, because you're already a month behind. Well, you'd better catch up & get ahead a month instead, so you won't take a chance on losing your Magazine & the blessings of God! Anybody can tithe! No matter how little you make or how little you get--how little income you receive from whatever--you can tithe 10% of it.
36. DON'T TELL ME YOU CAN'T, BECAUSE IF YOU COULDN'T, GOD WOULDN'T HAVE ASKED IT OF YOU! God would not be demanding at least 10% of your income if He didn't think you could give it.--Especially not when you ought to be giving 100% of it! 10% is the least little beggarly miserly percentage of your income that you could possibly get away with giving to God, & absolutely no less!--You ought to be giving 100% & serving Him 100% of your time with 100% of your strength & 100% of your family, when you're trying to get away with only 10%.
37. IF YOU DON'T PAY THAT 10% AT THE VERY LEAST, THEN GOD IS GOING TO BLOW UP! He's angry enough at you for not serving Him fulltime & putting Him first in everything, every area of your life, your fulltime service--all your family, all your strength, mind & heart. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart"--that's 100%--"& all thy strength"--that's 100%--"& all thy mind"--that's 100%! (Lk.10:27.)--And that includes all your time too, that's 100%. And that includes all your income too, & that's 100%!
38. HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK HE'S GOING TO LET YOU GET AWAY WITH GIVING LESS THAN 10%?--And that not even on time!--Because you're paying your other bills first & you're putting other people before Him, & other gods before Him!--And that's what they become if you put them first!
39. THAT MEANS THAT YOU FEAR & SERVE & WORSHIP THEM MORE THAN YOU DO GOD HIMSELF & He will not take it & will not stand for it! He won't put up with it & that'll be that! He'll cut you off from blessings & all income & where you can't pay any bills, if you can't pay His! He'll get you in a fix where you can't pay any of'm!
40. SO IF YOU WANT THE BLESSING OF GOD & "HAVE ALL THESE THINGS ADDED UNTO YOU" & "such a blessing there will not be room enough to hold it," & not have God get mad at you & your generations, don't cheat Him of His due!--The absolute minimum 10% when you ought to be giving 100%--or you're going to be in trouble with Him & us!
41. I'M SORRY, BUT THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR ANYBODY NOT PAYING YOUR TITHE ON TIME, so that it doesn't give us all this trouble of having to answer extra letters & send back issues & blah blah, even if you send us your back tithe, & that's that! Now we've been merciful, & when people finally send in their tithe late we've tried to send you your back issue that you missed.
42. BUT WHEN I SAID, "NO REPORT, NO MAG", I MEANT IT!--AND THIS IS GOING TO BE THE END, THE LAST! If you don't send your tithe in & put God first--& on the first of the month--you're not going to get your Magazine from us, & you're not going to get the blessing of God from Him. You're going to lose your Magazine & lose your blessing, & God only knows how much you're going to lose!--And I don't mean perhaps! It's in the Bible, you just read it. Read those verses I gave you, if nothing else, & there's oodles more.
43. IF YOU DON'T GET A REGULAR MONTHLY OR BI-WEEKLY PAYCHECK FROM WHICH YOU CAN TAKE IT OUT IMMEDIATELY, you can lay aside that tithe all month long. And if you can't even trust yourself to keep it till the end of the month & send it on the first, then for God's sake, as fast as it comes in lay aside the 10% & send us a letter everyday!--Or if you're paid twice a month & you can't trust yourself to save the tithe of the 15th paycheck until the first of the next month to send it to us, why, send it to us in the middle of the month & we'll give you credit for it on your next month's God's bill.--That's God's bill!
44. HAVE YOU PAID YOUR GOD'S BILL THIS MONTH?--ARE YOU PREPARED TO PAY GOD'S BILL FIRST? Well, if you don't, you're in trouble with God, with us, & no report, no Mag, & no back Issues! So sorry! God bless you & Jesus help you, in Jesus' Name, amen. Maybe you figure, "Well, I'm late sending my report & my tithe, & therefore I'm not going to get a Magazine anyhow; I might as well not send any tithe or any report."--Well, you won't hear from us, but wait'll you hear from God!: "No Tithe, No Blessings!"--God help you!
--And no Mag! Sorry!--But you just can't keep God--or us--waiting.--No tithe--& on time or no Mag!--& maybe no God! GHU!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family