Philippians 4:8-9 NLT says, 'Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise... Then the God of peace will be with you.'

It's the good things that keep us pressing on to real resolution. Which sometimes seems crazy, because life can get pretty miserable sometimes. Not even talking international disasters here - even that essay that keeps us up to 2am can drag our mind into a rut of despair. Now, it's right to be upset about some things and to give them real thought (Isaiah 1:17 tells us to seek justice and correct oppression, and this means thinking seriously about the wrong in the world). But today's verse is asking us to consider the thoughts that define us and keep us going. Do these thoughts reflect God's truth and love? These thoughts also underpin us having 'joy'. Joy is a deep and firm thing and doesn't shake when our world does, because it comes from him who is beyond the shaking.

Yes, things do get hard, but never forget this: 'The Lord your God is with you. He is a hero who saves you. He happily rejoices over you, renews you with his love, and celebrates over you with shouts of joy' (Zephaniah 3:17 GWT).

So what now? If you have a PC/laptop/phone/iPad, change the screensaver to Zephaniah 3:17. Use it as a regular reminder to reinforce your new 'excellent and worthy of praise' thought pattern.

In Galatians 6:2, the apostle Paul encourages us to share our burdens. This is not the easiest thing to do, especially when many of us carry the weight of our troubles because we think we can handle them on our own. And, if we continue to carry the heavy weight of our mistakes, disappointments and hardships by ourselves, we will give up or cave in.

Imagine if we physically carried everything we're worried about or dealing with. Let's say that for every situation or worry we pick up in life, it's like another glass being balanced on our tray. Some severe situations are like full glasses being dumped right on the edge, and the tray gets increasingly difficult to balance. Now, what if someone offered to take a few glasses from our cluttered tray? Things would be much more manageable.

That's what happens when we share each other's burdens. When we talk situations through with someone we can trust, we feel at least a little bit of balance brought back to our lives. Just a slight pressure lifted off us can change the course of an entire day and keep us pushing forward. This is far better than if we battle along on our own.

So what now? Which do you need to do today: share one of your burdens with someone or be an ear for someone's burden? Pray that God will give you an opportunity to do the one more needed.

Tithing is a love thing, done in response to us knowing God's heart and recognising that there are needs all around us. From some, God will ask for only 10%. From others, 30%. Sometimes, he may ask for 100%. The important thing is to get close enough to him to hear what he wants of us. When we make any excuse about tithing, it's really more about what's important to us rather than what God wants.

This is God's heart for tithing: that we hold onto the stuff we accumulate lightly and share it at a moment's notice where there's a need. If we lived in a church community where each of us did that whole Acts 2:45 CEV thing - 'They would...give the money to whoever was in need.' - everyone would be covered. The man without a home would become our brother, and we'd help him not go hungry or cold. The single mum struggling to pay the bills would become our sister, and that church community would see that she can pay to keep the lights on, so she can read bedtime stories to her kids.

God will help us to use wisely what he's given us. Even starting whispers of a community like the early Christians developed in Acts could change this world completely.

So what now? Look at what you have differently. Knowing it's all God's anyway is freeing. Ask him to show you how to best use it, for his best outcomes.

We've learned that Abraham and Jacob gave because they met with God. Some time after this, God gave the law to Moses, which is where we'd expect to find actual rules on tithing. In Leviticus 27, there's a detailed list of the tithes God expected from his people at that time. But, the list is not a straight 10% of their income. From reading Leviticus 27, it's more likely that at least 20% of the Hebrew people's property and food-produce was given away in a tithe. This changed from year to year, as different laws cycled in and out over different periods. The one thing that stands out, though, is this: it wasn't about percentages; tithing was about making sure everyone was looked after. Tithes went to widows, priests and travellers - to help them survive.

Actually, there really isn't that much difference between those old-time tithes and what's expected of us now. It's still not about percentages. Check out Acts 2:45 CEV: '[The Christians] would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever was in need.' God's tithing model is to use what we have to look out for those with need. This kind of tithing throws the whole 'formula' thing out the window.

So what now? Instead of only thinking about 10%, ask God what he wants of you. Ask him to point you to an act of practical giving today, regardless of whether it was what you expected to give or not.

Another Bible passage that mentions tithing is Genesis 28. Jacob was a lying, cheating-his-own-brother-out-of-an-inheritance rogue. But then he met God, and he walked (well, limped) away a different man. After that happened he said to God, 'Of all that you give to me I will give you a tenth' (Genesis 28:22 NIV). Jacob met with God, was changed, and so he promised to give him a tithe. Again, just like with Abraham, this was before the Levitical laws were a thing, so Jacob wasn't under any obligation. It was the fact that he'd experienced the loving presence of God firsthand that led him to tithe.

This is the second thing to learn about tithing: it's inspired by love. Loving and giving are completely tied together. The Bible says so. John 3:16 NKJV says (we can probably recite it from memory): 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life'. We've all heard it, probably many times, but have we ever noticed: 'God so loved... that he gave.' He loved us first, then gave everything of himself to us.

Loving someone or something creates openness and sometimes even a longing to help. And that's when we get inspired to give.

So what now? Which person, situation or place gets your compassion going? Use this as motivation to give, in whatever way you can. Do something generous that will really make a difference. Start with love and move into action.

Tithing. We're going to spend the next four days really getting to grips with what tithing means, and what God's heart for it is. There may be a few surprises along the way - it's not quite as straightforward as popping 10% of our wallet's contents in a little wooden dish.

The first mention of tithing in Scripture is when Abraham meets Melchizedek, a man whose name means king of righteousness. Abraham had just been to battle, and he promised God he wouldn't keep any of the spoils (Genesis 14:14-24). When he meets Melchizedek, he recognises something so godly about the guy, so he gives him a 'tithe' of the spoils. Now, this happened before Moses was around, so it was a point in time before God had passed his laws to his people. Abraham was under no obligation to give 10% away like that. The thing is, though, he'd already dedicated the whole 100% to God when he promised not to keep any of the spoils. He didn't consider a single bit of plunder to be his and he gave the other 90% away after meeting Melchizedek anyway. In Abraham's eyes, everything he'd received was God's already.

The first tithing-lesson we reckon we should learn... Count it all as God's. He gives us a portion of this world and its resources to steward. But it's not ours to jealousy guard; it's his, given to us to use for him.

So what now? Know someone who God shines through? Share something God's given you with them today.