“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 1

2 A Childhood Experience

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 3 Why trap mice? They are pests!

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 4

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6 Curb every passion, and be on the alert. Your great accuser, the Devil, is going about like a roaring lion to see whom he can devour. Weymouth Bible 1 Peter 5:8 Curb every passion

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 7 “Any powerful or strong emotion or feeling. Passion (from the Latin verb patī meaning to suffer) is a term applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing” DEFINITION OF PASSION

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 8 sIn “… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 9 FREEE CHEESE SIN is a pest!

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 10 To many minds the origin of sin and the reason for its existence are a source of great perplexity. They see the work of evil, with its terrible results of woe and desolation, and they question how all this can exist under the sovereignty of One who is infinite in wisdom, in power, and in love. Here is a mystery of which they find no explanation. The Great Controversy, p. 493

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 11 The Great Controversy, p. 493 And in their uncertainty and doubt they are blinded to truths plainly revealed in God's word and essential to salvation. There are those who, in their inquiries concerning the existence of sin, endeavour to search into that which God has never revealed; hence they find no solution of their difficulties; …

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 12 The Great Controversy, p. 493 and such as are actuated by a disposition to doubt and cavil seize upon this as an excuse for rejecting the words of Holy Writ. Others, however, fail of a satisfactory understanding of the great problem of evil, from the fact that tradition and misinterpretation have obscured the teaching of the Bible concerning the character of God, the nature of His government, and the principles of His dealing with sin.

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 13 DEATH Life Through Eternity For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 14 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 SIN Free Cheese The Reverse Order

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 15 “I the L ORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the L ORD Almighty. Malachi 3:6-10

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 16 “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Malachi 3:6-10

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 17 God’s house–in those days, the temple– was the place from which the produce, the abundance, of the land was redistributed. Dereliction in fulfilling one’s rightful “tithe” upset the harmony that alone could assure prosperity in the land. Restoration of this commitment will issue in “overflowing blessing” for all.

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 18 Don’t let argument about “tithing” upstage the main point about giving, its motivation and outcome: generosity comes from an experience of “abundance,” the blessing of which is literally lost unless shared with others, and impossible to gain alone.

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 19 Matthew 6:19-21 “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The Reverse Order FAITH LOVE

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 20 1.Tithe is 1/10 that belongs to God! As such we don’t pay but “return” tithe to the Lord. 2. Numbers 18 – To provide for the priests and Levites who provided spiritual leadership. 3. Jesus affirmed ( Matthew 23:23) and the Apostle Paul encourages (2 Cor. 9: 6-15) believers to return tithe. 4. Tithing provides regular reminder of our dependence on God (Deuteronomy 14:22-23).

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 21 William Colgate

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 22 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the L ORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Malachi 3:10

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 23 2 Corinthians 8:3 - 5 “I can assure you that they gave as much as they could, and even more than they could. Of their own free will they begged us and pleaded for the privilege of having a part in helping God’s people in Judea. It was more than we could have hoped for! First they gave themselves to the Lord; and then by God’s will they gave themselves to us as well.”

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 24 Certainly, we all CAN DO Better than what we do now

“FREE CHEESE IN A MOUSE TRAP” 25 SDAH # 572 Give of your best to the Master; Naught else is worthy His love; He gave Himself for your ransom, Gave up His glory above. Laid down His life without murmur, You from sin’s ruin to save; Give Him your heart’s adoration; Give Him the best that you have.