Food Stores

On January 14, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Malachi 3: 10

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test 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 a blessing until it overflows.”

This is the leading scripture on tithing. There are different ways to give to the Lord, the most basic of which is the tithe. “Tithe” literally means 10%. The first ten percent of our income is given into the house of the Lord for its support. In the old days people actually gave food stuffs. This, then, was how the priests ate. You see that the verse says, “so that there may be food in My house.” Truth be told, this is still how the ministers eat. The tithe supports the ministers as well as supporting the work of the ministry. The theory is that the ministers feed you with what God has given them to sow and you feed them with what God has given you.

Father God is serious about this. He is serious about the blessing that He has appointed for the tithers. You can see this in His promise to open His storehouse for us and in His permission for us to hold His feet to the fire on this promise. He says, “Test me now in this.” That is an amazing statement for Him to make, that we should put God to the test!

So, the tithe is the first ten percent of our income and it is paid into the church for its support. God always has a reward attached to all of our giving and the opened storehouses of heaven are the reward for tithers. In addition, verse 11 says that He, God, “will rebuke the devourer” for our sakes if we are tithers. He protects our crop and all that we own so that the devourer does not diminish it in any way. That is a pretty big benefit by itself.

My advice, then, is to become a tither if you are not. It is just fiscal foolishness not to. In today’s economic climate, you really do need to be connected to God’s storehouse, to His provision. Then you will always know where your next meal ticket will come from. This is how we store up for ourselves, not by hoarding.

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Generous Growth

On January 13, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 11: 24 – 25

There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more and there is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want. There generous man will be prosperous and he who waters will himself be watered.

How is it that the one who gives generously shall increase all the more while the person who hordes shall experience lack? It hardly makes sense. This, however, is the law of sowing and reaping that Jesus taught his disciples and is still teaching us today. This is how the Kingdom of God works. You cannot reap a harvest without putting some seed in the ground. When the Israelites were being fed in the desert by manna from heaven, they found that when they tried to store away extra, it rotted. That is what happens with our resources. I am all for saving but not at the cost of being tight fisted and stingy. The Kingdom goes to those who learn how to give.

I have noticed that the people who get the most disturbed about Christians and especially ministers having substance are those who are not givers. The reason might be that they simply do not have a revelation yet of how generous Father God is yet. They seem afraid to release anything that belongs to them. Once they find out that there is joy in giving then they will no longer be afraid of loss. Then, perhaps, they will not begrudge others having material wealth because they will understand two important principles. First, they will not fear that someone else having wealth means that they will somehow be deprived and second, they will understand that those people acquired their substance through their own generosity as the scripture says. Once we understand how the kingdom of God works and have experienced God’s generosity in our own lives then there really is no place for fear of lack or jealousy.

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Abundant Grace

On January 12, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Timothy 1: 14                   (Amplified Version)

And the grace (unmerited favor and blessing) of our Lord actually flowed out superabundantly and beyond measure for me, accompanied by faith and love that are to be realized in Christ Jesus.

This passage was written by the Apostle Paul. He was recounting how he blasphemed the Lord and persecuted the church. Yet nonetheless, Christ, through grace, showed him mercy. How is it that the Lord was willing and able to show such kindness to this man even while he was torturing and murdering Christians? The mercy of the Lord and of our Father is beyond comprehension. Jesus poured out on Paul superabundant favor and blessing. It certainly was not because Paul earned it. It comes just from the Father’s deep love.

Paul, unlike so many modern Christians, was able to receive God’s abundance. Why? I believe the answer is two-fold. I think that one of the reasons Paul was able to receive God’s abundant, beyond measure grace is that he, first, completely knew that he was unworthy and undeserving. This freed him to just receive by grace. He did not try to earn God’s favor because he knew that he was way beyond that.

Secondly, I think that Paul was so humble and grateful that his heart was wide open before the Lord of grace. I deeply desire for the church to draw close to God just as Paul was intimate with him. We see the abundant love and grace that the Father has for us. Now if we can sincerely open ourselves to him the way Paul did, we might also walk in the kind of grace that was afforded Paul. Let us not wait for God to knock us off our donkeys though. Let us all, with blind faith, reach out to the source of all and invite him into the deepest part of our beings.

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Free Admission

On January 11, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Hebrews 4: 16

Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Do you know that you can enter God’s throne room? Do you realize that you are actually invited to do so? Father God has made access to him available to each one of us so that we may receive the help we need. Not only that, but we are also to enter boldly with confidence. He is our Father not a far off, removed deity. We can be like any child entering her Father’s office. Children just barge into their parent’s offices without waiting just as if it was their own office. In like manner, we are to go boldly to our Father’s office to talk with him and get whatever we need whenever we need it. There is no guard at the door and you do not have to make an appointment. He is waiting there for you even at this moment. Whenever you can free up your schedule, He is available. See yourself in your mind’s eye striding purposefully into throne room. Walk in as a privileged guest, not as a meek servant. Have your audience with the God of the universe, your Dad, and receive all that you need for this day.

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Abide Securely

On January 8, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 3: 23 – 24

Then you will walk in your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid.

Those two verses contain some very nice promises. I imagine that every person would greatly desire the security and steadiness spoken of in those two short verses. They really include a rather large promise. But the first word of the passage indicates that there is something which precedes this divine security. The entire third proverb is about wisdom and Verse 21 tells what leads a person to this specific kind of protected existence. We are directed to pursue wisdom and understanding and specifically to keep sound wisdom and discretion. By wisdom, God created all the heavens and earth. By them, we live in His secure place. We are to live a discrete life, following God’s wisdom and his ways. Wisdom is found by those who seek her. She is found through the pages of his word and meditation therein. Nothing can replace the time we individually spend with God’s word. He is His word and He reveals Himself to us in these pages. Seek wisdom for she will guard your way and be a lamp unto your feet. You will live in peace and comfort.

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The Exalted Life

On January 7, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 2: 20

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.

So many times we try with all our might to be like Jesus. We pray to the Father to make us more like Jesus and ask Jesus to help us conform ourselves to his image. As is clear in this passage, though, that is not what we are to do. We don’t have to be like Jesus. Isn’t that a relief? We are taught to surrender our lives to him so that he lives through us. This is a very atypical thought for a society like ours. Our society tends to be very “self” oriented and because we have been indoctrinated into this thinking we strive with all our might to accomplish lofty goals in ourselves. While it is laudable from one perspective, that really is the worldly perspective. God never called us to be saints apart from himself. He called us into deep relationship with him wherein he lives an exalted life through us. It is his job to live the life of Christ through us as we are the Body of Christ. Our task is to get out of ourselves. It is, in a nutshell, to get ourselves off of our minds. If we listen to our language we sometimes find that the pronoun “I” is much used, even overused. It is not so much a question of what God wants you to do, but rather what you will allow Him to do through you. “I” no longer live. “I” am dead. The life I now live is the life of Christ in me. If we, the church, can get this message deep down into our spirits, we will most certainly see an enormous change in ourselves, our churches and our community.

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Powerful Implants

On January 6, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

James 1: 21

Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

The Amplified version of the Bible says that the Word of God, implanted and rooted in our hearts has the ability to save our souls. It is our hearts to which the Word of God must be sown. It is one thing for us to know the Word with our minds and with our intelligence but that is not the way in which we have been instructed. The Lord God is telling us that we must implant the Word into our hearts. Once we do, it has the power to heal our souls. God has not called us to an intellectual relationship with him. He has called us to intimacy through the communion of our hearts with His. Only then can we receive all that He has designed for us. Only then can we walk with him. Only then will we be able to really know him and his plan for our lives. He cannot minister to our deepest needs if he is consigned to our minds and our intellect. He wants to be close and intimate with each of us. When we open up our hearts to Him and to His word, then all the power of heaven comes to reside in our deepest being, leads us and save our souls.

Yesterday’s Word of the Day encouraged us to put on the characteristics of God. Today’s Word has us putting off that which is not consistent with the nature of God. In each case we can only succeed through the power and grace of Jesus. When we fill up with Jesus then we have, within us, the power to put off the negative attributes and put on the glory. Jesus implanted in us is the key to our success.

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