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.

Proverbs 17:17 GWT says, 'A friend always loves, and a brother is born to share trouble.' And Job 2:11 NKJV reads: 'When Job's three friends heard about all the terrible things that had happened to him, each of them came from his home.' The particular Hebrew word that's used for 'friend' in Proverbs 17:17 is the same as in Job 2:11. The meaning is 'friendship, real, brotherly love'.

Job was hurting. Everything was falling apart around him. He was also covered in sores, so his buddies would have known that he was 'unclean' under Jewish law. In short, Job was a complete mess. But, despite all of that, those friends travelled cross country just to get alongside him. They sat with him for a week, in silence, to show they were there for him. We reckon that covers both the loving-at-all-times and 'adversity' bases of today's Proverb.

So the question is, how can we do the same? How can we be that sort of friend, and where can we find friends like that for ourselves? Well, love comes from God, right? So he's probably a good place to start. If we want to strengthen our friendships, the best plan is to fill them full of God, knowing that he'll equip everyone who's his to be a rock to those around them in hard times.

So what now? Arrange for a worship-and-Bible session with some friends. Start by asking what each person needs support for and pray about those things. Be a friend to a 'brother' or 'sister' in their time of trouble.

Naaman was an army commander; a capable and composed man. But then he got sick, and didn't feel either of those (read 2 Kings 5). And he was told that the way he'd get healed was by jumping in a muddy river! This made him very angry. No matter how desperate he was for healing, Naaman was too proud to do something he felt was beneath him. He could see the easy way (having someone lay their hands on him and pray), and couldn't accept that his healing was through a mucky, more difficult route.

Sometimes God does what he does, in exactly the way that he does, on purpose. Actually, scratch that. God always does what he does for a reason. Ecclesiastes 3:1, right: 'There is a right time for everything'? God has a solid plan. Even when the plan doesn't look like we expect it to, it's solid. Going back to Naaman: when he got back from his ego trip and did what God instructed, he got to progress to what he'd been promised - he was healed. That's a lesson we can all do with learning.

Do we find ourselves getting annoyed when progress doesn't go the way we planned? Especially if it means we have to make more of an effort? Despite our complaining and indignation, this is the reality: 'Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding' (Proverbs 3:5 GWT).

So what now? Pray: ask God to build trust, grace and obedience in you, even in the muddy times.

We're stranded on an island with a friend. We are, literally, starving. So we pray. And ta-da! A fresh loaf of bread appears in front of us. But then our friend turns round and says, 'Um, great work on the bread, but why couldn't God send us a roast?' To most of us, that seems really ungrateful. We can get the same feeling reading the Israelites' reaction to their daily God-provided manna (read the story in Numbers 11).

The thing is, though, we all do it. When we complain about what we have, even when it seems reasonable to moan, we're bringing God's capability, and his decisions, into question. We're telling him that what he's given to us isn't enough. When we tell him that the beat-up-but-reliable car he gave us isn't a new Holden, or that the grade he gave us the knowledge to attain wasn't quite a merit one, we're not trusting his plan. In short, we're saying that the pain, humiliation and death that our God suffered for us wasn't sufficient. We're ignoring grace.

Tough talk, we know. But it's important for us to realise that, even when things feel really rough, we've been given everything we need, because we have God. Despite the fact that we've messed up, he chose to give himself to us.

So what now? Think about the person who disappointed you last (for whatever reason, big or small). Go out of your way for that person today, even if it's just a friendly text or surprise chocolate bar.

Do all things without complaining. All things? Yes, it's a huge challenge. Let's see what Paul meant when he wrote that, and why it's actually very solid advice. Before he tells the people at the church in Philippi not to complain, Paul shares how God is working through them to bring about the things that please him. Then, right after this, Paul talks about how the society around the Philippian Christians is 'crooked and perverse' (Philippians 2:15 NKJV). He tells those early Christians that they can be the light in that far-from-God society. We don't think it's an accident that, in the middle of him telling them that God is using them for good, to shine his good light into a dark world, Paul warns against moaning and griping. Let's face it - we're all human; we're prone to snapping at each other and complaining about the things we don't enjoy. And we don't often stop to think the impact of our negative words.

But grumbling and bickering have direct consequences. When we moan, we're damaging our own mood, we're questioning God's know-how (more explanation on that in tomorrow's reading...), and we're dragging down those who have to listen to us. General dark-cloud sitting over us all.

But. We can choose not to moan. We can choose to allow God to fill us with his brightness, whatever the situation. When we choose positivity, we shine out with that Jesus-joy.

So what now? Today, do a chore you normally don't enjoy at all, and sing a cheerful song whilst you do it.

Jesus wasn't afraid of risk. Anyone who picks inexperienced, very human, people as world-changing disciples is taking a pretty great risk, right? Especially when the task at hand is so huge for humanity. In fairness though, Jesus tends to know what he's doing. When it comes to taking risk in our own life, we can speak to as many people, read as many inspirational quotes online, and attend as many Bible studies as possible, but there comes a time to make a decision to step out.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a parable of workers who were entrusted with money. The ones who went out and invested the money to gain a profit for their master were rewarded with a slice of their earnings. But the guy who chose to leave it in the ground because he was too afraid to step out and take a risk, didn't receive a reward from his master (Matthew 25:28).

Now, sometimes life is just about going through our everyday lives (which does have its purpose). But when a God-opportunity comes along to step out and invest our time/energy/money into something we can't have complete control over, what do we do? Back in Ecclesiastes it says, 'If you wait for perfect conditions, you'll never get anything done' (Ecclesiastes 11:4 TLB). Would we rather serve a God of comfortable non-action, or one of risk who gets results?

So what now? Pray for something inconvenient to come along, perhaps something that messes with your schedule. Ask God for the willingness to take the risk and do it.