Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. This is the Lamp and Light broadcast coming to you from Central Baptist Church in beautiful Ocala, Florida. Lamp and Light is a ministry that takes a book of the Bible, verse by verse, teaching it as it is, to men as they are, without compromise or apology, while at the same time speaking the truth in love, giving the lamp and light to all. Yesterday, in our study of 1 Timothy chapter 6, we were taught that we all should be careful to seek the Lord on how we should spend our money. Let's listen to that thought today. And now, here is our teacher and radio pastor, Dr. Andy Bloom. Don't be high-minded. Don't worry about bus children and the wall got dirty. Paint the wall and go out and see that those children get saved because many times they live in the homes of drug addicts and drunkards. You need to realize that money is an accountability factor before God. Our money should discipline us to show as much care and thought in its use as we did in procuring the money. And that's something when you think about it. There must be as much thought in it. The use of money then should be a manner of prayer, because it's a trust of which God has placed in your care. And so you need to be sure that you distribute that according to His will. You ever hear someone say, God told me to tell you? Well, God may have, or He may not have. And bottom line is, instead of allowing someone to try to put you on a guilt trip, why not just seek God, seek His face, and seek if he would have you to do it, then I think that you'll notice that the blessing is all the greater. Don't allow your increase, your riches, to make you proud, lazy, or high-minded. Remember, it is God, not money, that maintains this world. Nor, he adds, trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God. Do our stock markets, employment situation, rising cost, and the subjects of our political debate tell you that riches are uncertain? In Proverbs 23, verse 5, the Holy Spirit would ask this. He says, wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle toward heaven. By the way, let me add this. It is just as wrong for churches to misuse the funds that the people give through their tithes and offerings. I can remember the first church which I pastored. A man and wife were arguing about tithing. She thought they should tithe. He did not. He said, I got my job. I'm the one that works hard for it. I've been there 15 years. I'm the one doing the work. Well, having said that, within two weeks after he made the statement, a man in the place that he worked came to his floor, wasn't even on the same floor that he worked, got in a fight with him, and they were both fired within two weeks after he made that statement. I believe God was showing him whom he should trust and whom he should obey. God gives us richly all things to enjoy. It rains on the just and the unjust. A lot of times there are people who get mad when their finances go in the tank. They get mad at God. Well, God really just allowed their finances to go in the tank to show them who their real God actually is. You see, God was showing them that Mammon, not God, was actually their God. And they cannot be content without it. So all along, their Christianity has been a farce. Now, God gave it to us to enjoy, but enjoy by walking in the Spirit. and using those funds according to the leading of the Lord, not the leading of the flesh. Now again, that takes you into verse 18, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. Now understand, this is not talking about the tithe. 10% of your income goes to the local church. out of each check, out of each salary, out of your salary that you make, whether you get it once a week, every two weeks, or once a month, or however, 10% of that, right off the top, goes to the Lord's Word. If you don't like that, don't get mad at me, get mad at God, it was His idea. Now, many of you know, that on this radio program we have not made it a practice to talk about money. As a matter of fact, I'm talking about it now because we've been going through the book of 1 Timothy and if I'm going to be true to teach it, then this is what it's teaching. So I'm not apologizing for teaching it, but I'm telling you this is what it teaches. And I have told you over these years that your tithe belongs to your local church. And we've told you that if you write on your letter, this is my tithe, We'll send it back to you. We don't want your tithe. We will accept an offering. Now, an offering is anything above a tithe, anything above 10%. That's what the word tithe means, a tenth. Anything above a tenth of your income is an offering. Now, if God lays some ministry on your heart, and let's just take this radio station that may not have commercial announcements, and so all it depends on is the listeners. And they have us on there, but they may have other good programs on there as well. And God may lay that radio station on your heart. That's fine, but don't rob, don't steal from the tithe to send to the radio station. You give your tithe to the local church, and then That offering God laid on your heart, you go ahead and send that to the radio station. And if God lays us on your heart, don't send us a tithe. We don't want that. Only if God lays us on your heart for an offering. You say, Pastor, you mean you don't need the money? I don't need that kind of money. But, oh yeah, I mean, there's so much more and so much could be accomplished. if there was more money coming in. But my friend, we're not going to break ethics and God's Word to try to get you to send us money. We're not going to beg for it. We believe your tithe belongs to your local church and offering is something God lays on your heart. God's allowed you to be rich. God's allowed you to have what you have. And so you must pray about how God would have you to distribute those funds. Now, again, God may lay some ministry on your heart, but then it might be other people that are asking for a handout, a group that's asking for a donation to a worthy cause. Understand, it's not the worthiness of the call that counts. Rather, is it God's will? That's what you have to determine. This is why prayer is so important to your situation. Do good is, in the Greek, the idea of benevolently good. You see a need, take it to the Lord in prayer. Always take it to the Lord in prayer when you see a need, and then If God would have you to do, then you do it. A rich man gave a testimony in church one time. He said that he was with a missionary who was in their home church. And he'd come in that night. He was just a young guy just getting started and didn't have much. And in his pocket, all he had was $1. That was it. And after hearing the missionary's presentation, God just seemed to impress on his heart that you need to give that dollar. So he said, I gave it. And you know what? God has blessed me so much ever since. And today I'm a millionaire. And I believe that I became a millionaire that night because that's when God started just blessing me. I gave that last dollar. And God started blessing me. Well, the man gave his testimony and sat down. Some senior citizen lady just kind of leaned forward and said, well, I'd like to see you try it again. Well, now that he had a million dollars, that might be a different story, given that whole thing. But you see, God works in the heart and you got to respond to what God tells you to do the word distribute here in our text And when he says ready to distribute has the idea of giving Be ready to give as the Lord shows you again Prayer is very very important in this matter Now this does not mean When we're talking about giving, it does not mean that you are a millionaire. It may simply be that God has provided you with such to meet a need of another, just like the man we gave the illustration about that only had a dollar in his pocket, but he gave it all. And God may want you to give to meet the need of another, and may want you to do it sometimes as a service for somebody that has a need. You might be a mechanic and there's someone that is in need, maybe a missionary that's traveling through and he's got mechanical problems with his car and can't afford to fix it. Maybe it's somebody in your church. And they can't afford to get their car fixed. Maybe there's electrical problems in the houses or appliances, and you can repair it, and you can do it. And it's because they're in need, and they can't do anything about it. And you pray about it, and God lays it on your heart. You do it. Be ready to distribute. Be ready to communicate. Willing to communicate is the way he says it here in our passage. Communicate refers to sharing what you have to meet a need. Now, some may say, well, God gave us this wealth. We can live extravagantly since God blessed us with it. If God wanted others to have it, he would have given it to them. Therefore, they don't have it. God didn't want them to have it. Well, if I'm a chef and I have an overabundance of salt, should I oversalt my meals that I'm cooking for others since I have an overabundance? No, because then it would make something good to have a bad result. And others may have no salt. Now, it's said that Princess Eugenia, sister to the King of Sweden years ago, sold her diamonds to raise money to build a hospital. When the building was completed, she visited the hospital, and she stood at the bedside of a suffering patient. The patient began to shed tears of joy, and he thanked her for what she had done in selling her diamonds so that they could have a hospital. And she said, ah, no, now I see my diamonds again. Now her diamonds were the tears of that man and the joy of seeing the good that it had accomplished. And it enriched her spirit. This is your radio pastor, Pastor Andy Bloom, saying, may the word of God be a lamp unto your feet. and a light into your pathway today. 1714 Southeast 36th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34471 We also welcome your comments on the broadcast and Bible questions. Again, you may write us at the same address which is 1714 Southeast 36th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34471 You may also visit us on the web at www.centralbaptistocali.org. No breaks. Click Sermon Library. Again, that web address is www.CentralBaptistOcala.org with no grace. This is your announcer, Jerry Banks, saying, May God's peace be with all that are in Christ Jesus.