The definition of tithe is one tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the Church and clergy. I have heard sermons at church for several years that states an individual should give their first 10% of earnings to the church, 10% to themselves for savings and live on the remaining 80%.  Honestly I have never done that until a few months ago.

I always thought that I never had enough money to tithe.  I would give monthly to my church offering but I didn’t ever figure out if it was 10% or not.  I felt as long as I was “tithing” the amount didn’t matter.  I was so wrong.

Proverbs 3:9-10

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

I recently watched the financial seminar Saddleback Church did in 2015 and my whole way of thinking about money has changed.  The first thing I had to do was trust God that the 10-10-80 plan worked. This is a place where trust and faith can be difficult but I took the leap and stood in faith.   The seminar emphasized over and over the 10-10-80 plan to the point I had to try it.

If you read my blog consistently you know I have told you how in 2018 I lost my largest account.  It was a significant amount of money and since I couldn’t bid on the account again for a year I took a 90% loss in my income.  That switch flipped overnight.  One day I had it, the next day I didn’t.  Money one day, no money the next.

I realized that taking a 90% pay cut meant I would have to live very frugally and cut out many things that were frivolous.  I began to carry cash so I can keep my plastic on ice and hopefully not use those cards again.  I carry $40 a week for my pocket money and believe it or not it works really well.  Cash is a beautiful thing because it never surprises me the following month with a statement with a balance due.  $40 seems to work perfectly for me although it was a very small amount I thought at first.  This is glorious!

I do want to say that I do use my credit card for gas, toiletries and household incidentals and it always stays between $300-$400 total.  My husband makes sure it is paid off monthly so no interest incurs.

You have the basic idea, no credit card use unless it’s tires or emergency purchase, only $40 week spending cash and credit card paid off every month.  I don’t have a large income, I still only make that original 10% I had outside my major client, I do make some money off speaking engagements and there is no salary from our nonprofit.

Genesis 14:20

And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.

I guess what I am saying is that my incoming funds are so small I wanted to implement the 10-10-80 plan because it wouldn’t mean much cash at this point.  Let me give you a few examples.

After watching the seminar, I picked up my paycheck from my sales job mid September and being on commission I pretty much know what my sales were and what percentage I make.  I figured this paycheck would be $300.  That was easiest enough to figure 10-10-20.  I would tithe $30, save $30 and live on $240 (so to speak-it would go in our family account).  My mind was made up I was going to stick to this plan.

My boss handed me my paycheck at our staff meeting and as I looked down I saw it was for $374.  “Wow” I said, “That’s a lot more than I thought I was getting paid.”  As I was driving home I was thinking about the total.  I knew for a fact that I only had $300 due to me so I pulled over to check the paystub.  It was correct somehow a payment got posted the same day I ran the customer’s credit card and that NEVER happens.  It always take 3 days for our funds to appear for credit card payments.

I sat and scratched my head how after 13 years in this business can that money fund in less than 24 hours?  Also as I looked at my check that was $374 instead of $300 I realized another odd thing.  If I tithe $37 (10%) and save $37 (10%) that left me exactly $300.  The amount I thought I should have.  I definitely thanked God for showing me that my obedience to do the 10-10-80 plan would benefit me.  It was not luck that posted that payment so quickly and blessed me with exactly what the tithe and savings should be.

Another example that blew me away was I did a speaking engagement and made $110.  I tithed $11, saved $11 and put the rest in our family account.  This was my second time following the plan and again something unexpected happened.  Lexie and I had several events we did over 7 days time and we always have a bank for anyone to contribute loose change or dollar bills  to and I had coins, a few dollars and also had a $5 bill and a $10 bill in it.  I know this because when I come home from events I put it on my bar area and empty it weekly to deposit the money in our nonprofit account.  The bank has a glass front to I can easily see what’s inside at a glance.

Last week after the events my husband and I were getting ready to leave on a long weekend and I pulled the bank off the bar and noticed someone had added a $20 bill to what was already in there.  I took the back off and saw the $20 wasn’t a single bill but several bills inside a $20.  I literally stood in my kitchen dumbfounded that someone cared so much about what we are doing with our nonprofit that they would gift this money to us. It was a significant amount.  I broke down and thanked God again immediately (as well as over and over the next four days of our trip).  I have shared this with no one but you until now.

I am blonde and sometimes it does take a few minutes for me to comprehend things but this I understood instantly.  When I am obedient to God and do as He asks He will always provide.  God loves to shower us with blessings as I can attest to as I have shared.  I look at tithing as not an obligation but as another way God offers His love to me.

If you are deep in debt or have never tried the 10-10-80 plan please try it for one month and see what happens.  I am sure your obedience will pay of too.  I don’t ever want to be in debt to my Heavenly Father and plus having some savings in the bank is nice.  Please don’t be fearful of trying it God wants His children to be provided for and He want’s to be the Provider.

I am grateful as always that you have joined me here and I pray that you are blessed daily by God’s love for you-LoLo

Leviticus 27:30

A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.

I recently heard that Americans spend an average of 3.4 hours per day on their smartphones. 3.4 HOURS! When I figured out that most of us sleep 8 hours and have 16 waking hours that means we are spending about 25% of our day on our phones.  My question to you my friend is how much of those 16 hours are we spending with God?

Social media has become such a big part of our day watching others.  It’s like we are sitting at our living room window watching others play outside. We see the fun things they are doing while we wonder how we can make our lives like theirs.  We seem to forget that pictures  for posts have filters and angles that flatter and rarely is the first picture taken the one that is posted.  Also no one puts their dark moments on Facebook or Instagram unless they are looking for sympathy, prayers or shock value.

Here is a great and quick video that may help you look at yourself and your smartphone.

I made a conscious decision 2 years ago to spend at least an hour and a half a day in spiritual growth.  I swore off reality TV, news, cut back on social media, unfriended negative people so I wouldn’t see them on my news feed.  I began taking small passages of the Bible to read daily to begin to learn the language of the Bible.  I wanted to live a better quality of life and unfocused on outside influences. I am the type of person that jumps in with both feet so don’t be intimidated by the amount of time I do daily, try fifteen minutes if you want to start.

NASA sent a man to the moon with technology that consisted of a mainframe computer with a 5MB hard drive.  IPhones can now have 256GB of memory. There are 1024MB in one gigabyte to put that in perspective for you.  Do you realize the power of what you hold in your hand?  Are you using it for good or evil?

You know, when I was younger there were no cell phones and we only had a few TV channels.  The only negative influences were the evening news that ran at 5 pm and 10 pm, not all day long and gossip.  Gossip was they only way to spread negative things about others and it was by word of mouth mostly.  There was a game when I was young called “telephone”.  You sat in a big circle and the first person would say something like, “Bugs Bunny is a good friend of Porky Pig.” into the person’s ear sitting next to them and each person passed on that message.  We soon learned that each time it was told to another person it became more distorted just like gossip.  The last person would have to say what they heard and it usually ended up something like this.  “Hugs and honey is  good with figs”.  This is nothing like the original message, same with gossip.

When you are on your smartphone you are wasting precious time.  The time wasted works out to be about 24 hours-one full day per week or eleven years of your life.   Now I know some of that time is googling addresses or checking your bank balance but that is a small percentage.  Proverbs 12:11 says,

“Those who work their land will have abundant food,
    but those who chase fantasies have no sense.”

This clearly shows that God wants us to work productively and not waste time on meaningless things.

Another downside to social media is it draws us into the world’s value and not what God teaches us.  You constantly have your phone with you and on average people check their phones every 12 minutes, that’s at least 5 times in a waking hour or 80 times a day.  This gives others to opportunity to persuade your thoughts.  How many people do you know that use Facebook to bait you to get you to react and ignite?  MANY!

Since the onset of the internet it has been a joke that if it is on the internet it has to be true.  We all know that no one censors internet posting and a very small percentage of posts are truthful or accurate.  Remember what I told you about my childhood game called telephone?  Social media is today’s game of telephone.

Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I have quoted this verse multiple times but it needs to be repeated over and over.  The world’s values are pleasure, greed and pride.  God’s values are found in Galatians 5:22-27

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

The last thing I want to mention about social media is that it pulls us into the temptation to compete with others and brag.  We post and sit with baited breath waiting for the LIKES to appear and when they don’t we shrink in unworthiness.  We don’t need to seek acceptance on Facebook or Instagram.  We find acceptance with God.  He made us specifically the way He wanted us to be.

Galatians 1:10

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

I do want to let you know that there are many good things you can do on social media if you can untangle yourself from your news feed. First remove or snooze the negative posters.  The people that are always posting about sensational events, tragedies, or other unhappy people.  Just doing this I guarantee will make your social media experiences better.  Try it, snooze those people for 30 days and I guarantee you will know when the snooze expires and you begin to see them again.

When you have  a cleaner news feed, then make a point of complimenting five others on their wall.  Tell them how great they are, how pretty they look, praise them for a goal they have recently reached or just bless them with a cute GIF.  Keep it positive for your souls and theirs.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Using social media to express your faith is also a beautiful way to make a negative a positive.  On our Facebook page Grateful gratitude every morning we have a scripture meant just to show our faith and to lift others.

https://www.facebook.com/gratefulgratitude/

I am proud I have accepted Jesus as my Savior and living in God’s Word and I want to share that with the world and with Facebook I can do that.  There are people on the other side of the world reading the words I have learned from the Bible, posted and are responding positively showing their faith too!  We are building a stronger more faithful world with others because of the connection of Facebook.

Proverbs 20:15

Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.

The last way I would like to encourage you to use social media for is to share your witness.  Let other people know the peace you have received from God.  I know my life has changed completely by not focusing on my news feed and focusing on sharing God’s Love with others.  Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:19-20  Jesus had to walk the land to reach people, we can use our computers and smartphones to reach the world.  It is said we have it easier now to be a disciple than those 2,000 years ago because of the power in our hands.

As I close I hope you will take to heart what I said about using social media for God’s Work and the evil it can create.   I try to live by the quote from Mahatma Gandhi

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

All my love and gratitude for you-LoLo
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When I think of sins I think simply of the seven deadly sin. The sins I should never commit or dreaded consequences will come upon me. You know them; lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath, envy and pride. These sins I have pretty much in check except for an occasion gorging myself on nachos or laying around when I should be doing laundry.

I prefer to speak today about things that are sinful but do not fall into the categories I talked about in the first paragraph. I think of sin not as a behavior but as something that goes against God. Things that go on in my mind or heart or in my words that are not peaceful or kind.

Rick Warren once spoke about four characteristics of sin and how to determine what is sin. I will share those with you. First sin is anything that God would frown upon and would not find as something good or that we appreciate.

1 Timothy 4:4 For everything God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;

As we move through our day are we constantly sinning with our habits? For example when we stand in line at the coffee shop and we impatiently tap our foot and huff because the barista isn’t moving quickly enough. We act as if we will fall over dead because our coffee isn’t ready the exact moment we think it should be. Is that a sin because we are being unkind? Of course it is , this is a human barista not Superman.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Rick also said that anything that goes against love is considered a sin. Judgement, hatred, gossip, avoidance and breaking the law are all examples of non-loving acts. I have see all five of these things happen at once. I was at a meeting when someone came up to me and said, “I have a juicy piece of gossip to tell you and don’t sit at Lisa’s table because she is annoying. By the way, I hate that new insurance guy that just came in!” All this was said in practically one breath as this guy then threw his paper coffee cup on the sidewalk. Whoa, I was exhausted and so offended in 45 seconds. He had no clue he committed five sins in less than a minute. This behavior was normal for him and he was oblivious to it.

I have talked to many people about sin and they feel that if they don’t break any commandments or partake in the “seven bad sins” they are good with God. I am not trying to judge anyone but I think they are forgetting about the simple everyday sins. The sins that become part of our every day that are not Christlike.

Sins can also be in our selfish nature. Selfish sins focus only on you and what you want. Take these for example; whining, lying, criticizing, suspiciousness, being defiant or neglectful. Each one of these is a selfish act and not performed in servitude. We are here for God’s purpose and to serve Him by serving others. We need to take ourselves out of the picture because God will provide and reward us when we do His work.

James 3:16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

The last way I would like to talk about sin is the TV shows we watch. It seems now with cable, streaming and other means of watching shows and video we are constantly polluting our minds . I have talked before about shaping our minds through positive reading and uplifting programming. Remember you are what you think. When I look at my TV guide listings I see crime shows, sitcoms making fun of others, harsh political news channels, shows on ghost hunting and demons and Live PD shows showing crimes as they happen. All of these shows pollute our mind. So lets look at this, crime shows portray murders, sitcoms shows make fun of people of certain races, religions and sexual preference just for the sake of making fun of people. Harsh political news channels cram slighted views down our throats. I don’t need to even begin to say what’s wrong with ghost hunting and demon TV. Lastly, do we really want to see the people being arrested for driving without a license, under the influence or all the drugs found inside someone’s car? It you want to watch Live PD and pray for the people whose lives are being messed up then I will commend you for that.

You would never invite someone into your house to commit a murder, slander others, force political views on you or open a portal for the devil so why sit in your home and watch it? It only serves to pollute your mind and thoughts and again your thoughts form your life. I consider this a sin. Why not turn off the TV?

Romans 2:5-8 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.  God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”  To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.⁸ But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

My purpose of this blog post is not to chastise or judge anyone but to have you rethink the daily things that you do. I work consistently to try to better myself and act more like Jesus. I struggle daily with this but every day that I make one small step of progress is a day I can feel my heart soften and grow kinder. It’s not easy but when I think of sinning I think of Jesus on the cross.

I pray that you feel God’s love and peace and you know that He is always walking with you. LoLo

Just relax! How many times has a good meaning friend or family member told you to just relax? I can’t begin to count the times I turned to someone when I was worried or fearful and the comfort I received was, “Just relax. You worry too much!” These words were not very comforting when I was in the throws of worry in regards to my future.

There have been times when my future was so unclear and anxiety consumed me wondering about the unknown that lie ahead of me. Times like during my divorce wondering how it would end or when I was moving to Dallas with my small daughter staring a new job and she a new school, neither of us with friends or social support. I no longer stress about the future and I would like to share with you why this is.

A very comforting thing I learned was that God knows knows everything that will happen in my life, good or bad. He knows my past, present and future as I can only live and see the present. I see my situation as I stand in it not as God sees the whole picture. He sees how I got to this situation, as I look in it now and how it will soon look as my future approaches. God looks down at the whole story all at once. Rick Warren once said, “He see your history because it is HIS-STORY.” I love this because it is so true. He planned me, knows me and has a purpose for me.

Hebrews 4:13 says,

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Also Psalm 139:16

“You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed. “

This proves to me that I need not worry because it is all laid out and my free will only interrupts His plan and future for me.

I try to remember also that God only wants good for me so why would I ever think my future didn’t include His plans for my life be amazing? I do know that I do have free will and this can lead to some not so good decisions but when I reel that free will back in and follow God’s Word I’m good. God has blessed me with a purpose and that purpose is to serve as He designed and for His glory. Even if you don’t know your purpose from God you still have the same great future planned by Him for you! You just need to tune in and find that purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a favorite of mine. It is a good one to memorize. It is a clear, concise promise from God.

” For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. “

In this life there is only one authority and it is God. I know I must trust and obey God to have a beautiful future. I get God’s Will from God’s Word in the Bible. He tells me in the Bible how to live to have an outstanding future. Follow His Word and know He will always guide you through prayer.

I have had times in my life when I thought I knew what was best for me but the more I worked for the outcome I expected the more everything went upside down in my life. When I quieted myself in solitude and prayer my future became clear with God’s guidance. I meditate to allow myself to stop the constant thoughts that run furiously through my mind. I really couldn’t pray effectively until I quieted my mind and focused on God and sincere prayer. Confusion becomes clear when we are quiet in our minds.

Proverbs 3:5-6

” Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight. “

Fear is the misunderstanding of who God is and what He has promised. If you don’t read the Bible you need to start to just understand God’s promises for us. God is good and faithful and ALWAYS keeps His promises. He has promised over 7,000 promises to us in the Bible. Here are five I put in bold type in just one verse.

Isaiah 41:10

“Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.”

God will also help us move through temptation as it comes upon us in our future. I have told you before in my blog that I once had difficulties with consuming too much wine daily. Three years ago I promised God I would no longer drink alcohol and promised to stand firm in this proudly which I have. I have several events every month that I am invited to that are centered around alcohol and I have to remind myself that God helps me say no to these invitations because I am placing myself into a situation that will weaken me. I do not want to fail Him so He keeps me strong.

It’s funny how I can tell others about my weakness and yet they continue to invite me and tell me that I can come and I don’t have to drink alcohol. Do they not recognize the setting for the event is a bar with very little food and full of every liquor known to man? I know they just want my company and I am appreciative of that but I know the promise I made and no one can get me to break my promise to my loving Father. I will control my free will for His Will.

Philippians 4:13 is another one to memorize to make life easier.

” I can do all this through him who gives me strength. “

I am nothing without God’s strength. A mere human walking on a broken earth with sadness and temptation all around. I have to remain strong in my faith to guarantee my future of love and happiness.

Lastly, God promises to reward my service and generosity. I once read that

Service+Giving=Christianity

Mark 10:45

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus gave His life for us so that we would be forgiven and could live an abundant and beautiful life. We need to strive each and every day to be more like Jesus and Christlike in our actions. Follow His example on loving others, being kind and not judging and your future will always be extraordinary. Serve in His name always.

If you are worried about your future currently I hope these word help you. Please quiet yourself of thoughts and share a sincere prayer with God. Trust Him and stand in faith that He wants the best for you. I am always praying for each of you. All my love and gratitude, LoLo