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Today was our church ministry expo, where we showcased ministries and had lots of fun, food and fellowship along the way.   The congregation went from booth to booth, which were located all over the Brownsville campus, to get their passport card signed or stamped with that ministry.   From dunk tanks for the worship dept. to Hispanic dancing to the blow-up slide for our Voyage children's ministry, the day was filled with fun for all!

Pastor Evon's teaching was a continuation in his 6-part series "Explore Life Now".   In this teaching ("Exploring God's Provision"), he shows us in Exodus 16 that the Israelites were totally without food in the wilderness.   In Egypt they at least had food to eat, and when their food ran out, they began to complain to Moses about their circumstances and even wanted to return to Egypt.   Here is where God shows up and shows off for them, and God Himself provides food in the form of manna for them to eat every day.   Manna means "what's this?"   God brought them manna every day, except for the Sabbath, where He established the Sabbath rest at that time.   They could gather extra manna on Saturday for the Sabbath.  

Manna was the bread of Heaven, it had fullness and was satisfying.   We find that manna from God was:

* Free

* A mystery where it came from

* It was for all and there was an abundance

* White and sweet

* Descended in the night

* Given in the midst of their grumbling

God also provided water for them to drink when He told Moses to strike the rock.   Even when they got tired of eating only manna, and longed for meat, God heard their cries and brought them quail.   He gave them so many quail that they could hardly eat it, and He made the quail fly in low to the ground so they could capture the birds for their consumption.   God truly thinks of everything! 

If God did this for the Israelites, He will do the same for us!   We must know that He is our provider and keep our eyes on the Provider and not the provision.   There are so many financial matters in marriages and in families and we must remember who our source is, and how to effectively deal with the financial situations correctly.   Jesus knew the importance of money, and He said more about money than about Heaven and hell combined.   There are 288 verses in the Gospels that have to do with finances.  

Tithing is our way of showing God that we do trust Him as our Provider.   It is not about the money - it is about our hearts.

1.  Tithing is the minimum.   It's the floor, not the ceiling.   Tithing is God's plan for prosperity.   He knows that we need to tithe for us, not for Him.

2. Give because you want to, not because you have to.   It's a stewardship issue for us.

3. We only have the chance to tithe on earth - there is no tithing in Heaven.   We must not miss the chance to be faithful here on earth.

4. We are told to test Him in Mal. 3:10.   He IS faithful and He will provide.   It's our heart that must remain pure and surrendered to Him.

Truly, where our "treasure is, there our heart will be also."