Put me to the Test

Scripture:

Malachi 3:9-10 "You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating Me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in My temple. If you do, says the Lord of heaven's Armies, I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!"

Observation:

God has always wanted to be in first place in the lives of His people. He has always wanted to be honored with the first fruits of our labor. He is a jealous God by His own admission. He wants nobody before Him in our lives. As part of that, He wants to be first place in our finances. He wants us to honor Him by bringing him the first ten percent of everything we make. He considers it cheating Him or "robbing Him" if we don't honor Him in this way. On the other hand, He makes tremendous promises to the person who does honor Him with a tithe of his income. he says he will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so great we won't have room to take it in.

Application:

Serving God is so simple! We make it complicated by seeing if there is any way around His rules and regulations. We make it difficult on ourselves by disobeying Him. We rob ourselves by not placing Him first in every area of our lives. If we trust Him, and He asks for the first ten percent, then we must believe He is able to bless the 90% left over and multiply it. This is also the only place in the bible it tells us to test God. He actually says, "Put me to the test!" I have chosen to live a life of blessing instead of trying to get out of God's intentions for me by looking for a loophole in the scriptures.

Prayer:

Lord, I want to be faithful in every area of my life. I have always been a tither and I am looking for my time of blessing. I believe 2010 is a year of blessing in my personal and family life. I believe this is a set time for my family and church to prosper. I know You have seen our faithfulness in putting You first and now I am looking for the windows to be opened and blessing poured out. Bless my family and bless my church!

I love you lord,
Jeffrey