Test Me

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord 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)

God is interested in your money. Not because He needs your money…for He certainly does not!…but because YOU need it! Since you are important to God, your money is important to God.

God is interested in how you secure it/spend it/save it/share it. Immediately, some people say…don’t talk about money, preacher, talk about something spiritual. That kind of statement shows a lack of Biblical knowledge, and a lack of spiritual insight. For nothing is more spiritual than how you handle your money. It is the supreme test of where our heart is.

Matthew 6:21: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. "

Adrian Rogers: “a faith that hasn’t reached your wallet, probably hasn’t reached your heart.”

Money is something we use everyday, it’s our medium of exchange, our very survival depends on it. How can Jesus Christ be Lord, and not be Lord over our money? How can he care about us, and not care about that which is so intrinsically tied to our very survival?

“Don’t talk about money, preacher, talk about something spiritual…wait just a minute! The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil! If all the evil in this world is directly or indirectly traced back to a love of money, then that means there is nothing more spiritual that we can talk about today, than our attitude toward money.

“But, it’s uncomfortable…I don’t like it when the preacher talks about money.” If that’s true, you would not have liked the preaching of Jesus Christ. When He walked this earth, he gave 36 parables, and 16 of them had to do with our attitude toward money! 1 out of every 10 verses in the NT deals with our attitude toward money!

The people in Malachi 3:10–12 were struggling with some of the same issues you and I

struggle with when it comes to giving. They had some of the same factors working

against them. In verse 10 God says, "Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the

floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." It sounds like the people are scared that if they follow through on their living  commitments they're not going to make it.

These people were facing heavy taxation by the Persians. They had been taken into captivity years before by the Babylonians, and many of them were deported to what is

modern day Iraq. They lived there for 70 years, and then the Persians living in the area
of modern day Iran overthrew the Babylonians. The Persians said, “We've got all of
these prisoners of war; let's send them home and let them rebuild the nation and their
economy. We can make a fortune by taxing these people” So the people of Israel went
home, but they were paying heavy taxes to the Persians.

I'm sure some of these people thought, “Our budget is so tight, and if we give our tithes

and offerings we're not going to have enough money to pay our taxes. Or if we pay our taxes, we're not going to have enough money to eat.” These people were concerned
about pests destroying their crops and whether there would be enough rainfall and
enough sunshine so the crops would grow and have a good yield. God says to them: Trust me in this. If you do your part, I will bless you.

Today we have the same concerns, don't we? We worry about the local economy and the markets and the price of gasoline. But God said to these people and he says to us today: I challenge you to test me. Follow through on your commitment, and see whether or not I will bless you. Give and test my ability to bring blessing to your life.

Proverbs 11:24-25 -

One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

The Bible tells us that God blesses givers. That blessing is sometimes financial, sometimes not. Other times it comes in other forms. This proverb is not saying if you give your money away you'll get more. It's saying God likes to bless people who give of themselves.

 

 

Your Father Knows What You Need....

"Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need even before you ask him." (Matthew 6:8) 1. God knows all things. We call this aspect of God’s character his omniscience. It speaks to the fact that because God is God, he knows all things that could be known-past, present, and future-and he knows them all at the same time. That means that God is never surprised and that he never learns anything new.  2. God has committed himself to provide for his people. In fact, I think we can state the position even more forcefully than that. God wants to provide for us, he intends to provide for us, and he will provide what we need. In Phillipians 4:19, Paul assures us that “God will meet all your needs,” which is the New Testament version of Psalm 23:1 “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” The whole record of the Bible teaches us that God is the Great Provider, which is why one of his divine names is Jehovah Jireh-“The LORD will provide” (Genesis 22:14). 3. God has invited us to bring our needs to him. We are told to ask, to seek, to knock. (Matthew 7:7) Why? Ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened unto you. In Psalm 81:10, the Lord promises, “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” This is where prayer becomes intensely personal. Our Heavenly Father-who already knows our needs-invites us to make our needs known through prayer.  4. God knows what we need before we ask him. Matthew 6:8 says this very plainly: “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” That means we don’t have to impress God, use big words, or pray long prayers. We don’t have to repeat ourselves when we pray and worry about getting all the details correct or throw in flowery language when we pray. Since God knows us through and through, he knows our needs better than we do. When you pray, you aren’t informing God of anything. He knew your need before you bowed your head.  Let me say that another way. God doesn’t need the information we give him, but he encourages us to give him the information anyway.

Perhaps an illustration would help. Picture a father watching his four-year-old daughter trying to put together a puzzle. She tries and tries but she just can’t get the pieces in the right place. Her father watches with great interest but he doesn’t interfere. Finally, she comes over and crawls in his lap and says, “Daddy, would you help me put my puzzle together?” He smiles and bends down and together they begin to pick up each piece. One by one they put the puzzle together.

Now why didn’t the father help his daughter earlier? For one thing, she didn’t ask for his help. For another, he wanted her to try on her own. And most of all, he wanted her to ask him for his help. When she did, he was honored and gladly helped her finish the puzzle.

Is this not a picture of how our Heavenly Father deals with his children? Although he longs to come to our aid, often he waits until we specifically ask him. Sometimes he wants us to come to the end of our own pitiful resources before he intervenes. When we cry out in despair, he is honored as we express our complete dependence upon him.
 "Tell God what you know He knows in order that you may get to know it as He does." (O.Chambers)

To The Pure, All Things Are Pure

"To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted." (Titus 1:15)

So, what does it mean? Does it mean that if I am pure in heart, that everything I do will be rendered automatically pure? Does it mean that a person's lust, greed, immorality, cursing, cheating and lying are all "pure" if the person committing them is pure within? I think that any rational, thinking person dedicated to pleasing the Lord knows better than that; so then, what does the statement mean? It is Scripture, and therefore it is true.

Paul's statement "To the pure all things are pure" must be taken in the context of the problem at hand. There were false teachers "teaching things they should no teach." From this epistle, and others, we know exactly what they were teaching.

Paul was dealing with rebellious men of Jewish backgrounds who were trying to bind portions of the Old Law on new Gentile converts. Among these laws were the dietary restrictions that divided meat into two groups, "clean" and "unclean". Under the Old Law, this had pictured for God's chosen people, the Jews, the concept of how they must maintain a separateness from the world and its sin. Today, while we are no longer required by the New Covenant of Christ to keep these Old Covenant dietary regulations, we are still commanded to keep ourselves separate from the sins of the world (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 1 John 3:3-5).

The false teachers were saying that some meat continued to be impure. Paul says, in this context, that "To the pure all things are pure." He was talking about food, not that we could mix with sin and still maintain our purity (cf. 1 Timothy 4:1-5; Colossians 2:16-17). To even attempt to apply this statement to impure or immoral behavior is a gross misapplication of the Scripture. According to the context, by the grace of God, we are to leave behind those things which are not in harmony with His will (Titus 2:11-15; 3:3-7).
"...but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Both their mind and conscience are defiled." (Titus 1:15b).

Under the Old Law, if one who was ceremonially pure came into contact with an unclean thing, he or she would become unclean. These ceremonial cleanliness/uncleanness rules did not necessarily mean an unclean person had sinned. For example, touching a dead body was not a sin, but it would render one unclean for a time. Again, these laws were shadows illustrating the spiritual principle that God's people must always keep themselves separate from sin. This principle remains true today even though we are no longer under the ceremonial law of Moses that illustrated it.

Haggai once used this ceremonial law to illustrate how all of God's laws work (Haggai 2:11-14). When we touch what is morally unclean, we become unclean ourselves. If we disobey God's moral laws and then think that because we do some good deed that it will render us morally clean we are wrong. So many people think that is how it works; that one may disobey God's moral laws and still be right with God because of some contribution to a charity or something. But that is not how or why we are right with God. We are not, in this sense, justified by works (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-10). On the contrary, doers of good deeds, like Cornelius, must be saved by God's grace by fearing God and doing what is right (Acts 10:1,2; 34-35). All of us need to do what Cornelius did; obey the gospel of grace (Acts 10:48; 11:14). Without this obedience of faith, we are lost. Nothing but the blood of Christ can take away our sins. Many immoral persons attempt to salve their conscience by joining some good deed crusade while continuing to live in sin. It will not purify them.
"...in all things, show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine dignified." (Titus 2:7).

Contrasted with the above, the godly man or woman teaches the truth, and then also dignifies it with righteous living (cf. 1 Timothy 4:12). It is with good deeds that we adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect." (Titus 2:10). The proof is in the doing.

It is because of the hope we have in Christ that we are motivated to take such a stand even if it is presently unpopular. "And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." (1 John 3:3). We are indeed grateful for the good things with which God has blessed us. "To the pure, all things are pure."

"It is always right to believe the best of the purposes and intentions of others.  Your outlook towards others is an indication of your inner condition.  To the pure, all things are pure."

I Am Doing A New Thing

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." (Isaiah 43:19)

God is doing a new thing in your life. Some new beginning is happening. God has already started the work in you. How is your life now? Desert, wasteland. Yes, out of this desert and wasteland God is going to do something new.
 
The Lord wants to give us a new personality to enable us to be all that He wants us to be. Samuel told Saul that he would be changed into a another man when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him.Jacob the deceiver was changed into Israel a prince with God and man.God wants us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.Often we want God to change others and to change circumstances.

But God wants to change us first and then we will experience a corresponding change in others and in our circumstances.A little child may find it difficult to lift a big chair .But the same child when it grows and becomes an adult will find it easy to lift the same chair because it has now grown bigger and stronger than the chair.Similarly when God transforms us and strengthens us we become bigger than our problems and can tackle it easily.
The Lord wants to give us new pursuits.  He wants us to seek and pursue the heavenly blessings and eternal rewards.Often we seek only the things of this world and the desires and the longings of our heart are only after earthly blessings.

God wants to put new longings and pursuits in our hearts.The disciples tried all night to catch fish and caught nothing.But Jesus told them to cast their net again and immediately they caught a multitude of fishes.The disciples were amazed at this miracle and probably started dreaming about a very prosperous career in fishing with the blessings of Jesus.But Jesus changed their pursuits and told them that they would now start catching men.God wants to do a new thing in our lives and give us new pursuits in our lives.
The Lord wants us to experience new provisions in our life.He wants us to have a strong unwavering faith that we will receive what we petition Him.He wants us to realize that if God would love us so much that He would sacrifice His Son for us surely He would provide everything else that we need.God wants us to reach a new level of faith that would cause us to receive His provisions .
The Lord wants to fill us with new power.He wants His children to live a life of divine power.He wants to fill us with new wine .But we must become a new wineskin before God would pour out His new wine into our lives. He will not pour out His new wine if we remain an old wineskin because it would destroy our life.Let us become new wineskins and receive the new wine that God wants to pour out in our lives.
"God can start over in a life no matter what the age.  God is the God of new beginnings, bringing new life out of the desert of our own ways"