But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You. 1 Chronicles 29:14
SCRIPTURE: PSALM 50:8-12 “8 I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices Or your burnt offerings, Which are continually before Me.9 I will not take a bull from your house, Nor goats out of your folds.10 For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.11 I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.”
COMMENTS: If God owns everything, then why does He give it to us and then ask us to give it back? Tithing was a requirement of the Israelites, but the total of giving required was at least 23%, one tithe for priests to support them, one tithe more like a tax to fund government function, and a tithe every 3 years for needs of others. If God gives from the abundance of His storehouse and powers, why does He ask more from us, especially when we struggle to make ends meet? Well, why is He so passionate about having a close relationship with you and me when He already has a close relationship with millions of saints and angels in heaven and millions on earth now?
I believe the answer is worthy of praise and worship towards Him. BECAUSE HE LOVES US AND DESIRES THE BEST FOR US! He wants us to be close to and rely on Him. He wants us to desire others to know Him too. Scripture tells us He desires all, everyone of us to be with Him and that none would be lost. Tithing is not for His good but for ours. Tithing teaches us to hold possessions loosely and to trust Him completely. Afterall, He has promised to bless / return back to us far more than we give away and tithe to Him. We have found this to be so very true. I believe we would not have ½ of what we enjoy if we had not tithed. The mystery of this is unanswered other than obeying God in all ways makes us more open to make wise choices that avoid consequences of foolish choices. Tithing helps us put more value on our relationship with Him and less value on material possessions. Tithing encourages us to be kind and generous with others, which invites them to be kind and generous during our time of need too.
Tithing our time is also another import part of giving. God not only gives us possessions, but gives us life to spend as we choose, so tithing our time is important too. Besides giving time at church and at pantry and caring for and visiting others at times, but during the last two years God has persuaded me to donate time and equipment to mow the 7=8 acre cemetery in our community, which was the grounds and cemetery our church previously sit on and cemetery was Methodist too. For over 100 years, after our church relocated ½ mile in Clintonville, the cemetery became incorporated as a community cemetery, but still carries the Christian and church roots of the ancestors buried there who’s families still reside in community.
By donating my time and resources, a wonderful thing has begun to happen. Others are also volunteering who hadn’t before. Evidence of working together and rekindled friendships are starting to blossom. Our prayer is the benefit will not just be building a strong financial and sustainable source of income to pay for major work in cemetery and maintain it, but a rekindled desire to rediscover family legacy and roots of those buried in the cemetery that will draw many back to Christ or to Christ for a personal relationship with Him. I know that is God’s goal and pray I will be able to see that come to fruition in my remaining years.
So, what ways does God desire for you to tithe your income and time? That is something only He can tell you, because it is different for each of us. What is common is that tithing time and money is important and results of tithing will bring blessing back when we do it. Well, how do we prepare? I believe the answer is no amount of prayer or planning will adequately prepare us better then just starting and doing it. I believe more commonly God withholds details of instruction until we start. So, giving 10% to our local church is a good starting point. Tithing our time first by attending church regularly and then exploring other areas of volunteering in church and community to complete the 10% of our time is a good way of beginning the journey of faith called tithing.
A wealthy man was complaining to a pastor that tithing was costing him thousands of dollars. The pastor reminded him that when he was very poor and the tithe was a few dollars, he didn’t complain. The pastor then said, “maybe it would be better if pray God make you poor again so only need to give those few dollars.” The man was silent but got the point and didn’t complain any more about giving his tithe to God.
God owns everything—including all that we have. What impact should that have on our use of time, talent, and treasure?
“The steward needs an open hand to receive from God and then an active hand to give to God and to others”. Murray J. Harris
AMEN? AMEN!
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 536 blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present.
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials.
My hope and prayer are, my blog and devotional materials will become a source of encouragement and tools in ministry for you.
Published by donsdevotions
Don McDaniel - Who am I?
Hello everyone and welcome to my devotional journal blog. In order to get acquainted and help you get to know me a bit better before considering following my blog, let me give you some background. I am a 74-year-old male and a retired engineer. I worked for a major supplier of underground mining equipment for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2012. Arlene and I have been happily married since April 1978 and have two grown – married children, one granddaughter and 2 step grandsons. I joined the local United Methodist church at age 12 after accepting Christ as my Savior at age 10 during revival services in that same church in 1961, so I have been a “Born Again” Christian all my teen years and adult life. Christ has helped and guided me all that time. He guided me in choosing my wife and life’s career. My life journey has included regrets and failures, but God has picked me up and protected and spared me from life threatening consequences and dangers more times than I can recall or count. But many I do recall and encourage and motivate me to trust and follow Christ with more passion than ever.
Christmas 2011 our daughter gave Arlene and I each a devotional journal. Journals were books with devotion for each day and space to give personal impressions and thoughts related to each devotion. Her desire was to have a lasting legacy she could refer back to and share with her children and grandchildren especially after we are gone. I was touched by that gesture. My parents and Arlene’s were devout Christians, so we would have greatly treasured having that from them, so we felt a sense of urgency to honor her request. I finished my journal first and returned it to our daughter the following Christmas. I’m glad I did it then because Parkinson’s has caused my hand writing to deteriorate since then. The exercise was such a blessing for me. Discipline of keeping journal helped me gain a deeper walk with Christ and greater discipline in honoring my time of prayer and devotion with Him each day. So, I decided to continue the practice but since I could not find a paper journal I liked, I decided to create my own. I had already been receiving electronic devotions by email every day from several sources, my favorite being “Turning Point” from Dr. David Jeremiah. What I decided to do was to include devotional scripture but add my own thoughts and comments only so there would be no issue of copyright infringement. Creating and maintaining journal by computer also addressed my deteriorating handwriting ability. I started an electronic devotion journal January 1, 2013 and have been faithful to that practice every day since. I prayed about method and level of distribution. My initial intent was to only share it with my two children by email, but quickly discovered others in my family, my church, and friends from work (both retired and still working) who knew me and wanted to be included in distribution when they learned what I was doing. I now distribute by email my daily journal at the beginning of each month to over 150 friends and relatives. God has richly blessed and encouraged me.
I am concerned with the state of our church and nation, and world for that matter, believing we are living in the end times the prophets of old and Christ have talked about in scripture, so time is short. I desire to be true to my Savior and a witness to help others come to a saving knowledge of Him and equipped to share His Good News too. If my journal can encourage and help others, I believe God wants me to share it. I struggled, for a time at first, because I know many others keep similar journals but only for their own edification and do not want to share them because they are private.
However, Christ has stirred my heart to share it as a witness tool.
Our son and daughter have a long-time friend who grew up with them who we also befriended nearly 25 years ago. He had a lot of family problems, so would gravitate to our family as a refuge and eventually thought of us as his adopted parents and he as our adopted son. We lost contact with him for some time when he grew up and left home. He traveled around the U.S. and eventually ended up in Ukraine where he resided for next 10 years. He had to return to the US to renew his visa and took opportunity to recommend I begin a blog of my devotions and helped me set it up. He is also an active blogger and has been an email subscriber to my journal for several months, so he has been suggesting I expand my distribution by starting a blog to get broader exposure. After reflection and prayer, I concluded God was in this, so he is helping me set up my blog site. This brief autobiography is my first entry.
He returned to Ukraine, then resided there until circumstanced made him decide to move back to US with his young son. This biography was my first post February 29, 2016 .
I have published 600 posts from 2016-2023 automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God. I decided to take a sebatical to prepare for a new chapter. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which affects patient ability to walk, drive, do physical work, and eventually talk. By mid 2023 it became evident our home for last 42 years (previously owned by my parents for previous 44 years and by my mother's grandparents for 39 years before that) would eventually not meet my needs so we decided to sell it and move into 1st floor of a duplex we also owned that was the town school from 1855-1913. Likewise, the property was requiring more maintenance that I was no longer able to keep up with. 2023 involved selling our home and moving into apartment next door and then in early 2025 an opportunity to move closer to our daughter and granddaughter in Kentucky which was completed in May 2025. For a number of months I have been seeking direction seeking God's direction and timing to return to blogging as my journey with Parkinson's continues to unfold with God's guiding hand in mine.
I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me since started this blog in 2016. I have spent time with Him studying scripture and praying and listening and writing this journal. I will continue seeking God’s help and will welcome your input to make this site as meaningful as I can and true to God, who is motivating me to create and maintain it. I will also welcome input in order to make format more meaningful going forward.
Don & Arlene McDaniel
In His Service,
Email: mcdanieldonald769@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 600+ blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present (https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/link-to-dons-devotional-journal-entries-2013/ )
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials. View all posts by donsdevotions
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