Sunday, November 30, 2014

Happy Thanks Giving – Part 2



Malachi 3:6-15 “For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’  “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.  “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the Lord of hosts;  “And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts. “Your words have been harsh against Me,” says the Lord, “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’”

God does not change. Return to Him and He’ll return to you. If you want the Lord to pay attention and listen to you, then start living the way that you were designed to, in obedience to God. This includes our finances. 100% of what we earn and have this side of eternity belongs to God … He made everything and retains ownership. The word “tithe” literally means “tenth”, and God graciously gives us 90% to live on, with a mere 10% for His kingdom. Yet, so many treat God’s tithe like some tip for good service instead to cheerfully giving back to the Lord what He first gave us. Do we truly believe God’s Word? Do we trust God? Why would we trust Jesus with our eternal salvation and soul, but not with our finances? We are to honor God with our first-fruits thanks giving, not our left-overs. 90% is a great amount. Can’t we spare a dime?
 
Malachi 3:15-18 Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

Decide to live within your means. We live in a materialistic mentality that spends more than it earns, runs credit cards to the max, buys houses and cars that they cannot afford, purchases all the latest gadgets, electronics and toys, dines out constantly, wears all the latest fashions, sees all the latest movies, and parties until the cows come home. Seriously? Why? All of us have a step that God is calling us to take. If God is truly good on His Word, then you can trust Him on it.
Happy Thanks Giving.

In Christ, Brian

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