![]() Dear Friend, How are you? I’m very well. Are you blessed in finance? Since the pandemic, we hear on the news or around us that people suffer from losing jobs or small business owners have difficulties and some of them closed their business. I heard from my sister in California that some of her church home group members suffer in finance since the pandemic. My heart aches, when I see and hear some Christians have difficulties in finance. I’ve heard many pastors and prophets prophesy that there would be global economic collapse. Then, it would be even worse than now. Yet, I believe that our Heavenly Father wants His children to prosper in all things, including finance. Today, I would like to humbly share my testimony and others’. Since I started to blog in 2020, I think I wrote on finance only once in my blog, “Hilarious Giver.” I had reservation in writing my testimonies on finance, though the Lord was always faithful to me and often surprised me with unexpected financial blessings. I didn’t want to share them, as I wanted to be rewarded for anything that pleased the Lord, by the Lord Himself, when He returns. Another reason was that I wanted to be cautious on this subject, especially in this difficult season when even Christians have much difficulty from this pandemic. But when I listened to Pastor Neville Johnson’s teaching on Keys to the Kingdom and unexpectedly listened to his teaching on finance in the last days during his teaching, my heart was stirred up to encourage the Lord’s children to obey the Lord and to receive financial blessings. Later, when I read the Scriptures, I felt it would be in His will to write on this subject. So, I’m writing this from the intention to glorify His name and to help His children, not just to survive, but to thrive in the difficult time and in the more challenging times to come. In 2020, I listened to Neville Johnson’s teaching on Kingdom Finance. I chose to buy his audio teaching in The Academy of Light website and listen to it, as I have been feeling that the Lord would use me to provide for the remnants of His people in the last days, whether they are Jews or Christians. So, I wanted to be prepared in finance in the last days. In his teaching, he mentioned that receiving financial blessing would need something very radical, which would in turn require faith. I found out the very radical thing he was referring to is to give offerings to the Lord, in addition to tithe. He said tithe is actually mandatory. It sounded to me that tithe is actually the very minimum that every believer should give to the Lord at default. So, in order to receive financial blessings, we would need to first step out in faith, to give more to the Lord in our offerings. I think some would say, “How can I give more to God, while I’m suffering now, and I don’t have enough?” That’s why faith is needed. Faith is to believe the unseen. Even when we don’t see any extra money to give, in our own mind, we need to believe it will be filled, when we give Him first. Not only the late Pastor Neville Johnson, but Pastor Robert Morris also wrote in his book “The Blessed Life: Unlocking the Rewards of Generous Giving” something most people who don’t tithe always say, “I can’t afford to tithe. I only barely make my ends meet.” But the reason that they never afford to tithe is that they never tithe with faith in advance. They only make ends meet because they can’t trust the Lord, thus they don’t tithe. If my memory serves me right, I think Pastor Robert Morris wrote in the book something like “Those who don’t tithe actually end up with having to spend the amount of tithe on something else that could be avoided unless otherwise.” I agreed with it. In the early February 2020, I went to my Christian hairdresser. It was when the pandemic began to spread in Korea, but not so widely yet. People started to be careful in going out and having contacts with others. I asked my hairdresser during my haircut whether her business was affected negatively by it. She said it was not, thankfully, and she said the Lord continued to provide and prosper her, as she had been giving special offerings to her church for a project. I knew it was on top of her tithe and I also knew she was so zealous for sharing the gospel with her unbelieving customers and the kids in the playground. Then, after the coronavirus cases spiked, I chose to be careful in contacts. Though I didn’t live in fear at all, I wanted to be careful especially for my mom. So, almost for a year, I had my haircut at home, and my mom helped me for the haircut at the back. In a sense, it was fun experience to both of us. Then, in January 2021, when my pastor in Singapore encouraged the members in our monthly online meeting to connect with a likeminded brother or a sister and to fellowship with one another, I felt I must go to my hair salon to have a monthly fellowship during my haircut, as I used to do. I really missed it. So, I went to her salon in February and I got the professional haircut in a year. As I expected, her business continued to thrive even during the pandemic. I found her appointments with her customers were all booked one week earlier. Yet she was humble and thanked the Lord for the successful business in the hard times. Looking back at my circumstance in 2020, I also couldn’t thank the Lord enough. I’ve been managing my mom’s commercial property due to her dementia, since I left Singapore and the company for good. One day, a tenant in her property who had his business in there for more than twenty years said to me, that his business flourished since I took over. And he said other business owners in the property seemed to have good business as well. I thanked the Lord Who made our tenants’ businesses prosper. And I believed He certainly opened the storehouse of heaven as I tithed from the rent income, while my mom didn’t, previously. Then, our country economy didn’t really go well, even before the pandemic came. So, vacancy in commercial properties increased and it was often reported on the news. When I had a vacancy in mom’s property, the Lord gave me the heart to provide the vacant place to a self-funding missionary for North Korea who used to be one of mom’s tenants. After a certain period of time I granted her a space for free, the Lord sent me a new tenant through her at a higher rent. During the pandemic, sadly, one of our tenants had to close her business and yet another decided to retire from his business. However, the Lord sent new tenants at a higher rent. And our property has 100% occupancy rate with higher rents in the midst of the pandemic, while I see so many commercial properties with empty rooms in Seoul look for new tenants. I still think it is miracle and our Lord is indeed faithful when we give Him first in faith. Not only the rent income, but I unexpectedly received money from here and there after giving to Him. After I listened to Pastor Neville Johnson’s teaching on Kingdom Finance, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit and sent some money to a minister in the very next morning. Then, I was amazed to receive her testimony. She said she had sent some money to a missionary two days ago. And now, she received the exact same amount of money from me. I was stunned and encouraged to hear that. And you know what? In a few days, I received more than what I sent to her, unexpectedly. Later, when I gave offerings somewhere, I unexpectedly received around US$9,000 as a gift. What a gift! I couldn’t thank Him enough for His faithfulness. James Durham wrote in his book, “Keys to Open Heaven” that one of the keys to open heaven is giving. He shared his testimony. He wrote that the Lord put something new in his and his wife’s hearts. He wrote that they made a decision to stop working so hard to make a living and to begin to work hard to make a giving. He also shared a similar testimony that I shared on the minister who received the exact same amount of money as she gave. He wrote: The Lord began to do some amazing and inspiring things which we received as signs and wonders…. On one occasion, the Lord told me to sow all that I had. I usually keep money in two separate compartments in my wallet. One section I call seed and the other section I call bread. This choice is based on Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians, chapter nine. … After I sowed all the seed in my wallet, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Now sow the bread!” The Lord had never asked this before. When I heard this, I knew the Lord was going to demonstrate something, but I didn’t have any idea what it would be. I obeyed the Lord and sowed the bread. Later, as we were getting ready to drive home from the conference, my wife asked me if I wanted to stop and eat on the way home. I told her that we could do that if she had some money, but I had sown all I had. I opened my wallet to show her. To my surprise, I had five crisp new one hundred dollar bills in the seed compartment and triple what I had previously had in the bread section. I couldn’t wait to sow that five hundred dollars again and see what the Lord would do with the seed. [Durham, James A. Keys to Open Heaven. Xulon Press. Kindle Edition.] Isn’t our Father so faithful and marvelous? Friend, Again, I humbly shared the testimonies including mine, as I would like to encourage you to continue to or start to obey the Lord and give Him first in faith, even when you don’t see any source to be filled after giving. Our Father is the Creator and Possessor of all things in the universe. He can print notes and send His Angel to put them in your wallet, if He is willing to. If not, He would use other ways. Please put your trust in Him. Having said that, I also would like to mention that poverty could come to some people for a season, as a test from the Lord, just like Joseph had to be imprisoned without any wrongdoing. Another reason for poverty could be from the curse or the spirit of poverty. If you or your family members or friends kept suffering from poverty even after tithe and offerings, I would like to encourage you or them to read a Derek Prince book, “Blessing or Curse: You Can Choose” or listen to his teaching online. I believe we must understand the source of ongoing poverty and find a right solution. In our Heavenly Father, there is always a cure and remedy even for the cursed. As Father, He wants to see His children prosper. Friend, if you are a parent, you would know the heart of father or mother very well. You wouldn’t even want your child to wear shabby clothes. Our Father is love and He wants us to thrive even in the challenging times to come. I pray that you and I know His heart and we trust Him and give to Him first, with our love toward Him, in Jesus’ name. Have a bliss! Yunee Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2) Comments are closed.
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