Chapter 8 “My Joy of is Contagious!” The Word of Their Testimonies

Milestone #1: Testimonies of Tithing

My Joy of is Contagious!

Beloved, since the beginning of this year, I have been feeding on the Word of the Lord through the RMI, but it took a while for me to awaken to this reality, which made such a lot of difference in my life: the importance of tithing. I just needed to share this will all of you.

At the end of every month my EH (earhtly husband) always had an excuse not to tithe; depression, unemployment, extra expenses and debts, but in the face of all this, I learned one thing: God supplied all our needs.

So, with those excuses, I stopped tithing, until I found myself in a chaotic situation, I got to the point of not even having enough for my bus ticket to get to work. I also know that it was necessary for Him to shake me in this way so that I would seek Him with all my strength and give no more opportunity to the devourer who has stolen from me my whole life. It was then that my Almighty God placed in my heart the desire to tithe, and then He provided for everything and gave me the conditions to perform what He asked.

Beloved, it was really the wisest decision I made along the course of this journey, you can not imagine how happy I am, where there was once lack in everything now there is abundance in everything! My joy of tithing is contagious, I’ve shared it with so many women and the results have been the same, joy and abundance!. Dear friend, I hope you can have the same experience, because it is extremely gratifying to give back to the Lord everything that is given to us by Him, and the best: to receive twice as much blessing because that’s how it was set up.

Give and then say this to Him, “Lord, receive my tithe as proof of my love for You, for I will honor you for all the days of my life. Amen!”

This is so true, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and then prove it to me in this, saith the Lord of hosts, if I do not open the windows of heaven to you, and pour out a blessing upon you that there is not enough room to collect it. And because of you I will rebuke the devourer, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your land; and your life in the field shall not be barren, saith the Lord of hosts. ” Malachi 3: 10-11

“Remember, he that soweth sparingly shall also reap little, and he that soweth fullness shall also reap plenteously. Let every man give as he hath determined in his heart, not with sorrow or obligation, for God loveth a cheerful giver. “2 Corinthians 9: 6-7

“There are those who give generously, and see increase their riches; others keep what they should give, and fall into poverty. “Proverbs 11:24

“Honor the Lord with all his resources and with the first fruits of all his crops; their barns will be full, and their barrels overflow with wine. “Proverbs 3: 9-10

Happiness is in giving what we receive from Him, and when we give back to Him, with the heart of pure love, we receive double.

~ Julieta

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Financially the LORD is All We Need

"God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

This verse has been very important in my restoration journey. Every time I see something I don't understand, I go back to remember this verse, because GOD always turns thing around and makes things work for our good. In the particular case I will describe in my praise report, He uses, or he causes a situation that could be stressful, to a problem solve for one of my financial needs. Only God could have done this way. HIS humor sense is unimaginable.

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33) During these trials I have understood that our JOY, Peace, love, and everything must come from the LORD and that when you are focused on HIM only He will take care of the rest.

Even though at the beginning of my journey I was so worried about my needs, Now because I want to be close to him every day I have no fear because I know he will take care of me and the desires of my heart.

I apologize if this praise report is too long, but I am too excited to submit my first praise report I want to give all praise to my HH for all He's done for me during this journey. Not only He has provided for me and my daughter financially, but He has done great changes within me that I don't even recognize. I can’t describe in words the peace, joy and freedom I feel every day of my life, but I can tell you that this is real and that you should experience it yourself because is amazing.

During my separation (over a year ago) I have received innumerable financial blessings from my HH. When my EH left I was so afraid to face financial decisions, to handle money and pay bills, I did not even know how to do all these things, and looking at my income at that time the future was uncertain as I was not making enough money to meet all the needs; I had too many debts, car payments, insurance, etc., and here I was facing the giant. So I took the decision to give all these to the LORD, and immediately I started tithing to RMI, this is a principle that I have strongly believed before but I had stopped applying in my life due to obedience to my EH who was obviously against. Well, by that moment I told myself and GOD, no matter the situation my tithes will never be compromised because that belongs to the LORD, not me, and I have to tell you since that day my tithes have never been compromised.

Shortly after my EH left, I got a promotion at work and my salary was increased, giving me the exact income to meet all the basic needs (food, rent, insurance, gas) but I could not meet my debts and my family back home whom I occasionally support. I knew the Government was sending us a monthly amount of money for child support for our daughter (that is under my custody), that was coming to my name but at the sharing bank account my EH was taking care of, so because I was afraid of his reaction if I asked him, I just decided to let GOD take over that situation.

Well, during this time my HH provided, because He says He will in his word, HE is my provider; sometimes when I checked my budget and realized I was going to be in red that particular month from somewhere or someone (even my EH) the exact amount of money showed up to meet our needs. Months went by of this situation, until one Sunday night my EH called me to asked me If I was taking money out of his account (which wasn’t only his because like I said before it was a shared account), obviously I said no, and he asked me to find out with the bank, well It turned out that “somebody” took his money out on his account, put it all in mine account (by this time I had already opened my own) and then stole the whole money. I spoke to the bank, they told they will fix it and nobody was going to lose any money.

They did fix the problem in two days, but my EH was already too mad and not trusting me at all that he decided to close down that account and have nothing to be with me. I was asking GOD why this was happening, my EH was already detesting me and now this, I had nothing to do with this, but he did not believe me, so I cried a little and that was it.

Well guess what,? A couple weeks after I received a cheque from the government for child support for my daughter. Due to the bank account closing the account, the government tried to deposit the money to this account but It was rejected, so they sent me a cheque. Was in this moment I understood that “that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). This was part of His plan to return that Money to us because we needed. When I told my husband he was very mad, so I asked him if he wanted the money back to his account, but he said just leave it I don’t care, and then I knew I should not say anything else, my HH wanted the money for us to meet our needs as he promises in his Word that He is my provider.

Once you focus on HIM and his kingdom He will take care of the rest, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). So since that day, I have been getting my daughter's child’s support without even asking or arguing with my EH. Isn’t GOD so good?? This is only a short story of how GOD has been blessing me, I have much more to share, but I will do it in another praise report because it will take me a book. All I can say now is that I have been able to pay off debts in record time, same debts that I was expecting to pay off in 4 years’ time, I am also helping my family back home and not only occasionally as before but monthly and I am even helping my EH out financially, which has been a surprise to him who does not understand where the money is coming from, and the best part of this is that my tithes have never been compromised, because GOD is faithful.

I hope this help you ladies to understand that the LORD is all we really need!

~ Carolina in Canada

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Bonus of Another Full Paycheck!

I want to thank God for the delay in my salary being paid. I am a civil servant and we are two weeks into the month, but my salary from the previous month had not been paid to me. Rather than complain to anyone or cause a problem in my department, in prayer I presented my situation to God and in His faithfulness, something amazing happened.

As I studied the lesson about “Opening the Windows of Heaven”, I came across the principle when I realized my tithing has not been “all my tithe”, because I have deducted it from the salary paid, so I did not tithe on the gross. The Lord has shown me that I have not faithfully wiped out only partially in the same way I’d tithed.

Years ago I read on some site that I was supposed to tithe on the gross salary, but I ignored it and soon forgot because, I had learned in a different way in my church. When I read the lesson here, I was heartbroken because I was not being faithful and now because of the devourer, I didn’t even have a tenth to tithe, to make sure that I had tithed on everything. Then I remembered that I had not yet received the salary from last month. The company was far behind schedule, but in this delay, God protected me so that the thief would no longer continue to steal.

Thank you, my God, you saved me from the errors of my ways and for giving me one more opportunity to be blessed.

As you probably guessed, I was given my paycheck, tithed on the gross or full amount, and two days later was given a bonus of another full paycheck! No one else in my department appears to have gotten a bonus, just me!!

“Bring the whole tithe into the temple, that there may be food in my house. Put me to the test, “says the Lord of Armies,” and see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out upon you so many blessings that you will have no place to keep them. I will prevent plagues from devouring their crops, and the vines in the fields will not lose their fruit, “says the Lord of hosts.” Mal. 3: 10-11

~ Micaela

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“Importance of Tithing”

Hello dear brides, today I want to share my testimony about the truth on tithing! I was not able to give my tithe to RMI, where I am spiritually nourished abundantly. Since I could not make a deposit, for a few days I thought I should just go back to my church to give it. But beloved brides, as God is Faithful, by His mercy He did not allow it. As I was driving He kept reminding me that for me to do so wouldn’t stop the devourer, because I would be going against the principle I was trying to follow, because that’s not where I was fed. I went home and kept trying to make the donation.

It wasn’t until I began to ask for help from My Beloved, my HH (Heavenly Husband), after a full month, and that’s when my Heavenly Husband allowed me to finally tithe to my storehouse, the RMI ministry!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you my Love !! Right after it worked, I heard back from where I’d taken my computer to be fixed, which is why I was unable to tithe because it didn’t work on my phone. They told me that they found the issue was very small, not the hundreds they thought it would cost to fix it, and it was ready for me to pick up. It cost me less than $20!

“Offer to God a sacrifice of gratitude, fulfill his vows to the Most High, and cry unto me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me. ” Psalm 50: 14,15

~ Jodi

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“Principle of Tithing”

I praise the Lord for the great blessings He has given me! Before I was a tithing, my salary was nothing—I could not pay anything on the time, I just never had enough. It was a terrible feeling. Every month I received my salary, but I could never pay all my bills. I lived in constant debt. In fact, I never paid anything on time, so I also ended up paying penalties and late fees!

I always delayed even paying car insurance and my home mortgage payment. But after beginning to strictly follow the biblical principles on tithing, for the first time since I refinanced my house, I was able to pay two installments on the dates. I also paid all my bills and had got caught up on everything!!

God is wonderful!!! His principles are true!! Now I always get to the end of the month with money left in my account! Funny too, is that before I had no money not even enough to tithe! Now I have an abundance!! God is faithful !!!

“I was young and now I am old; but I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread. ” Psalm 37:25

~ Cindy

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A Taker Not a Giver

Dear Beloved brides! I want to start this praise report asking for forgiveness from the Lord and from everyone at RMI, for I have been feeding on your truths you offer, I’m encouraged daily and have been taught by this Ministry for some time now, but yet I have not sent any praises until this moment.

So, during this journey, the blessings of God in my life have been great, beyond imagination, so many that if it were to describe it would take several pages. But I will describe a recent one. Already a few months ago I let go of my church and with that, I began to tithe here. (I have been unemployed for some time, but tithed on my unemployment check, so that I had enough for me and my young daughter). However, as of last month, I realized that shortly after I paid my tithe, a shortage in finances happened, which never occurred before. So as I was taught here, I went to my Heavenly Husband and began to ask Him why, because I had been faithful in my tithes, even though the amount is very little.

Well, to my surprise when I went to the lesson for this morning, it was talking about robbing God, not only in tithing but also in not giving praise to Him for all that He has done for us, whether small in our eyes or not … I understood how much of a taker I was, but not a giver. Always coming to take away praise, but never giving back!

Lord, thank You for Your immense love and kindness with me, I will give you my praise, large or small.

“Bless the Lord my soul, do not forget any of His blessings, He is the one who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases” Psalm 103 – 2: 3

“The Lord says,” For this people draw near to me, and with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but their heart departeth from me, and their fear toward me, is but the commandments of men wherein was instructed “” Isaiah 29-13

~ Amanda

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“The Fruits of the Full Tithe”

I thank the Lord for this ministry and for being made aware of the truth about the Lord’s will in my life. In the old days I did not tithe regularly, nor did I understand the importance of this principle. After coming to this ministry, I learned to be faithful to God so that He will be free to bless me as He longs to do. Yesterday I was sharing with a friend the blessings of God in my life and I saw the need to share here too!

Every time I tithe, something good happens right away! This last time, I was praying for a refrigerator because I was without a decent one. Though I didn’t believe I needed a new one. I asked the Lord to show me a refrigerator that I could buy, used. Right after I tithed, I found a refrigerator on sale that was less than the used one I planned to buy! Another time, I remember that after I paid my tithe, I received an invitation from my husband, asking me to come over to the place where he is living to enjoy the day. Glory to God who is good and His mercy lasts forever!

“Take all the full tenth of your income to the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test me,” declares the Lord. “See if I do not open the gates of heaven and pour a blessing upon you that surpasses your needs.” Malachi 3:10

~ Rena

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He Didn’t let the Enemy Take my Life—Just my Possessions

Through a new lesson I have learned that the abundant life my HH (Heavenly Husband) wants for me is what my soul longs for, but I did not understand. I acknowledge that letting go is difficult. We also face the obstacles of the world and all those “thoughts” we also believed the path we should follow as modern women. But if I’ve got my HH, so I have everything; nothing else really matters in my life.

My fight is mental, my whole battle has been in my mind, between thoughts and darts of the enemy, my feelings, and then there’s the Truth I learn that calms me. I see that I can help by hiding the truth in my heart and when I do, I find I have an even more intimate relationship with Him. And He can generate a much greater confidence in me. When I begin to see that there is more communication, more answers from Him, I see my personal transformation and know what’s most important is to love our HH with all our hearts.

Well, so, this Sunday something happened. I read a new Abundant Life chapter first, and I was so excited after having spent a night crying because my EH (earhtly husband) lied in order to leave for 4 days. I want so much to no longer have my EH hurt me, but unfortunately, it still hurts. The fact is while suffering in my pain I asked my Beloved to do something for me. I felt tired and I really wanted to just pay for my lunch.

Sunday, I read the lesson again on tithing and I decided to re-read once more and pour out my heart into my journal about my fear to begin to tithe. But before I cleaned my house and I started to do this, I decided to buy my lunch. Well on my way back home, someone robbed me and stole my bag with my license and my cell phone! When I saw that my bag was being carried away by the mugger, I decided not to run after him (also he was on a bike), and then I remembered the verse, “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.” Matthew 5:42. Although the man didn’t “ask” He did remind me He also says before this in Matthew 5:39 “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person.” I did not really understand, so the first thing I said was “Lord, why did you allow this ?” And that’s when I remembered He had been speaking to me about tithing so often, but I pulled back, and this how it happened, that the devourer had permission for this horrible thing to happen!

Immediately I repented and told the Lord that I would tithe the moment I was paid again, and go back to pay from the time He’s first told me to. Immediately He began to cause incredible things to happen.

But first, I realized that in my bag were my keys too, so I could not enter my house, which was terrible. To make everything worse, remember I said my EH had gone away for 4 days, and where he went was really far away. He told me he would return on Saturday, but I knew this wasn’t true. I heard from friends he wouldn’t come back until Monday night. That’s when I thought about my dog that had been locked up in the house and I had to ask for help from my neighbors. (Later I found out) that they kindly tried to communicate with my EH, but he did not answer them. Nevertheless, with the help of my neighbors, I managed to get into my apartment.

Then I realized my credit cards were in my purse, so before my neighbors left my home, I contacted my sister on her facebook to help me to call the bank to block the card. She was very distressed (and I found out later) that she began calling my EH, but he did not respond. When he finally answered, she rebuked him yelling “Why aren’t you at home taking care of my sister?” She did not know that he was home so many nights. My EH had asked me not to say anything to his mom or my family. I knew I would be embarrassing to him, so I told him I would never tell anyone anything. But things came to light in this way. Soon everyone was talking, no one believed he was working on the holiday!

The robbery was a few blocks from my house, and for the first time, my EH felt bad, felt horrible for leaving me alone for so long. For the first time in so long he asked me to forgive him, he felt guilty, and he said he knew he should have been with me. I spoke kindly and told him not to worry. He reached into his pocket and gave me money and told me to buy a SIM card for another older phone we had, so he could call to my other phone. So I did, and he called several times to find out about me.

When he returned on Monday night (yesterday) he rushed right in and hugged me, which I knew meant he still felt bad and I thought I had passed some sort of a test.

I realized that the love of my HH is infinite and forgiving, and He used this situation to teach me how important tithing really is, while at the same time He put the burden on my EH too. This loving act, after my rebellion, brought me so much comfort, and it proved that He does anything for me because I am His bride.

Although the storm has intensified, He has not abandoned me, but He’s still my side encouraging me and loving me! Oh, how good are you, Lord! Rather than complain, I praise Him because He did not let the enemy take my life, he only took my possessions, AND I know that the enemy can never take away my HH’s love!

Cultivating an intimate relationship with our HH is essential, so is following every principle. Now it’s something I’m more serious about, what I’ve been doing much more often. I also stopped asking for so much and focusing on what I wanted for my life. I feel much better knowing that He knows what is best for me, so now when I pray I just talk to Him more, about how I feel and what I think about, talk about the things that happen to me. Clearly my wisdom is nothing compared to Erin’s, but this praise report is the way I want to let everyone know what’s inside me and how He’s changing me with the help of this ministry.

~ Helen in Colombia

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My Journey with Finances: Tithing and Offerings

I often used to come to the question why do I tithe? At times, I had done it robotically just by putting something in the offering plate, even when I went to Catholic Church. I assumed it was my sacrifice to the Lord. However, this was rarely my best fruit, rarely intentional, rarely did I sacrifice something, and it was soon quickly eroded when I was going through money troubles.

During my restoration Journey, this question became very serious because as I now had to live out my faith. As I have said before, I hardly ever read my bible before my marriage restoration journey, so once was seeking His face, after listening to preaching and being in God’s word—I can now tell you I tithes and give offerings because:

I follow in the promises of Abraham; (Genesis 14)
I want to be a doer of the Word not just a reader of it, (James 1:22)
I seek God’s blessing with my tithe, (Malachi 3)
I live in obedience to Him by doing it and, (Malachi 3)
I close off any opportunity the evil one may use to attack me. (Malachi 3)
Romans 11:17

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree.

Romans 4: 16 (ESV).

That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

Because I am following these words in my heart, I had to encourage myself not to stop tithing during hardships and also not tithe or give offerings optionally. My new understanding of what I had been doing then, by not tithing, in this area of finances is, I was not allowing the Lord into all my circumstances. It is as if I had put an “out of bounds” in my finances to the Lord. By not tithing, I was saying, “God You are not welcome into my finances and You’re not even part of my financial hardship.”

Mark 12:41-44 (ESV)

And He [Jesus] ]sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Now, I do the opposite of keeping God out, because to know that you are on a journey with the Lord, despite your circumstances, as was the widow— is a big comfort and blessing, because it means you are not alone! God notices your tithes and offerings!

We know from that the devil is always accusing us in high places (Job 1, Zechariah 3). So apart from welcoming the Lord into all your circumstances, including your financial life, you will close off a way for Him to help and allow the accuser to attack and devour your finances.

Malachi 3: 10-11 (NIV)

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

As Christians, we can not pick and choose what we obey in his Word; rather we obey all of His Word. Being obedient even in difficulties develops our character and faith. I have, in my opinion, felt that tithing steers your heart and actions towards the Lord and helps you pray more out of faith and expectation (For where your treasure is, will be found your heart -Matt 6:21). Tithings are part of obedience and faith in action.

Today, I encourage you to participate in the sacrificial giving of the widow, the full-of-faith giving; full-of-trusting giving; and proportional giving.

Jesus referred to tithing as something that we should not neglect when He taught on it.

Matthew 23:23 (Luke 11:42)

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

As a last encouragement to you this day, please stretch your faith: Give your tithe to your storehouse and give offerings to RMI. It’s is not about the amount, it is about your heart’s condition and your trust in the Lord. I have found that if we as a ministry do not bring this to your attention, we have failed in our discipleship of you. From my own experience, I found that tithings and offerings opened the way for the devil to accuse me and prevent my prayers during my journey.

Fear not.

~ Tad in Australia

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Stolen Car was Recovered by the Police!!

Today I NEED to PRAISE MY HH (Heavenly Husband) ! My dear AWESOME LORD, PROVIDER, MY EVERYTHING!

I told myself this morning that I would not let this day go by without writing and submitting a Praise Report! My dear HH has been soooo good to me this month, I have such JOY in my heart, I’m smiling from ear to ear. I am SOOO HAPPY!!!

Where do I even start? He never STOPS blessing me, He never stops showing me His goodness.

Even when I doubt… Yes, I doubted at times I would think up ways that I could get myself out of trouble, ways that I could provide what my kids and I needed while their Dad was away… Even though I was standing on this word that the Lord gave me I still doubted at times…

Psalm 9: 10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

But I PRAISE God! He is sooo faithful, even when I could not see, He had it all worked out all along!

A couple of months ago our car was stolen outside our workplace. We had just purchased this car 2 months prior and we did not have a vehicle for a WHOLE year prior to the purchase of this vehicle. It was a difficult time taking public transportation to work and at times I would get to work late and be warned my Teamleader for latecoming… As I said, our car got stolen, wow what a horrible feeling… Because of the type of car it was – here in Africa, taxi’s are used as a mode of public transport – people said that our car was probably stolen to have the engine removed and put into a taxi…

And you know what? I actually lost all hope that this car would be recovered…. But today I want to tell you never, never listen to a bad report because you NEVER know what God is up to! So yes, I lost all hope that this car would be recovered and I am ashamed to say I never really prayed or spoke to God about it either… Until one day I came across a devotion that spoke about speaking to God about everything and talking to Him in the night watches.

PSALM 63:6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.

So this one morning I was alone at home and I decided to speak to God about this car after being encouraged by this devotion, so I told my dear HH that we really needed that car, that it was so hard taking public transportion, getting late to work, not being able to take the kids to the beach or do our grocery shopping etc.

My HH is soooo good because at about 10h00 that same morning I spoke to my HH I received a call from my EH to say that the car was recovered by the Police!! Many, many people have told us that when their car was stolen it was never recovered and how “lucky” we were that the police had actually found it. I say “We are BLESSED!” I say we serve a GREAT and AWESOME HH, Lord, Saviour, Redeemer who takes care of us and provides ALL of our needs even when things look bad in the natural and we get a bad report He is UP TO SOMETHING!

Philippians 4:6-7 AMP “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].”

I memorized these verses many many years ago and I want to say that God has stayed true to His Word, He has never ever changed but always stayed the same, Faithful to His Promises!!!

~ Atarah in South Africa