Trying to gain understanding...

I keep questioning a lot of things I read and hear these days.  The below devotional was one I read yesterday off my YouVersion Bible App plan "From Faith to Faith".  This lines up with the teaching of my own Pentecostal church.  Yet as I read this, I didn't get the same message they're giving.  I wonder if I'm wrong in my thinking or if they are or if it's all a matter of God meeting each of us where we are or what.  My comments come below the devotional:

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Tithe With Joy

by Kenneth Copeland

“And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance…that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth...and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there.” Deuteronomy 26:1-2

Tithing. Most Christians aren’t very excited about it. But they should be―and they would be if they understood how to do it properly.

Scriptural tithing stirs up faith. It activates the power of God in our lives when we do it in gratitude and joy, expecting our needs to be met abundantly.

In Deuteronomy 26:8-9, God told the Israelites exactly what to say when they brought their tithes. He instructed them to acknowledge the fact that He had brought them out of the bondage of Egypt and to say:

“The Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: and he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.”

What does that have to do with you and me? God has done the same thing for us! He’s brought us out of a life of bondage and poverty into a life that flows with the abundance of God.

So when you bring your tithe to the Lord, follow the example set by the Israelites. Make it a time of rejoicing. Make it a time of realizing anew the glorious things Jesus Christ has done for you.

Thank Him for delivering you from a land of darkness and scarcity and bringing you into His promised land of plenty. Thank Him that it is a land of mercy, a land of joy, a land of peace and a land of prosperity.

Tithe in faith, expecting the rich blessings of that land to be multiplied to you. You may soon find it to be one of the most exciting things you can do.

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So Copeland is saying that we should thank God for bringing us out of darkness and into His promised land of plenty...whether we've actually reached a land of plenty.  And my thoughts on this are, God did not tell the Israelites to offer the firstfruits when they left Egypt, but to do so when they received those fruits, when they entered the promised land. 

Now don't get me wrong, I thank God daily for those things He's teaching me, for the bonus I received, the bracelet and message from a friend, for my son, home, job, car, etc.  But to me, thanking Him for something I haven't yet received?  I know that God's Word is truth, and yet isn't thanking God for something I don't have the same as lying?  I thank Him for what I know He's GOING to do in my life and for what He IS doing, but I don't say Lord thank You for prospering me financially when I'm financially struggling.  My church however teaches that this is the way to prosper financially, to first believe that we already have and then receive it.  And it's like the other day, I felt God said to me....who was believing He was going to create the world and man before He did so?  It seems like it's this WOF type teaching, that we have to believe we already have it in order to get it and frankly...well...I don't get it.

Can someone give me some thoughts on this?  And if we're truly supposed to speak as if we already have something, how does one reconcile with something they feel so strongly is a lie.  If I'm not happy, I will NOT go around saying that I am...although that too is something my church says.  I can say that I feel awful today, but I'm praying God lifts me up and I know He'll help me get through it.  But to say, "Oh I'm great!  I feel fine!" when I do not...it makes me cringe.  And to say God has prospered me, rather than I know God WILL prosper me, or I know God promises I will prosper as my soul prospers and all in His time, etc....the first makes me feel as if I'm lying, and secondly like I'm trying to force God into doing something or like I'M in charge of what I get instead of God.  And it somehow all seems wrong to me.