Privileged

On June 23, 2025   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Malachi 3: 10

[T]est 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.

Isn’t this what you want to hear God say?  He invites us to hold His feet to the fire.  Did you know about this?  Crazy, right?  Let me put this in context for you.

Recently I was in a small group where one person told another that I am a minister. Well, this person was immediately energized with questions. It was as though he had stored up questions and now he had a minister in a setting where he could get those answers. Here is the question I have, “If you could have a minister’s attention for a time, what question would you ask?” I was surprised by his, but perhaps I shouldn’t have been. He asked me about tithing.

People think of Malachi 3: 10 as being about tithing, but is it? Maybe, instead, it is about the blessing. Look again at today’s text. What do you hear in God’s voice? Is He demanding, stern? I hear a father who is desperate to bless. This is the part of the verse I wanted the gentleman to walk away with, that Yahweh wants to bless us. Some people hear a command. Some hear a blessing. What makes an individual hear it differently? What do you hear?

The man’s follow up question was about the distinction between the New and the Old Testament. How, he asked, is the tithe carried over from the Old to the New? I find this question dumbfounding. The answer is John 1: 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is the Word, the whole Word. That is one of the things my book, Journey Through the Bible, was intended to show. Honestly, who among us is willing to throw out the Psalms or Proverbs? What about the book of Isaiah or Genesis? Even without this epiphany, I think that is an entirely wrong question. Here’s why.

Tithing did not begin in Malachi. Abraham (when he was still called Abram) tithed (Genesis 14: 20). This was before the Old Covenant. It predates the law. Therefore, even though we have been relieved of the curse of the law, the principle of tithing remains. Further, if you will read that passage in Genesis, you will again see a connection between blessing and tithing.

Here is what I think the real question is and what I believe lies at the root of tithing. I think that love is the basis of tithing. Because He loves me, I tithe. Because I love Him, I tithe. It is such a small honorific to give to Him to remind myself of my love for Him and His love for me. My friend, Chuck Goldberg, adds another insight to tithing. Love, he says, is one side of the tithing coin. The other is respect. Wow! Don’t you find that a powerful statement? We tithe out of respect for our God and Father.

God said, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house,” (Malachi 3: 10a). That’s enough for me. He said it, that ended any debate for me. However, I want to tithe because of love and respect. That is the real key. Do we tithe because of a law or because we want to? If one tithes out of duty or obligation, then perhaps the burden feels heavy. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11: 30). So, if tithing feels like a burden, you may need to adjust your yoke. Jesus said to go to him and learn of him, so ultimately we all need more of him, his words and his teachings. Then we will receive rest and be free of the burdens we’ve allowed to weigh us down (read Matthew 11: 28 – 30).

Please, don’t allow tithing to be a burden to you. If it is, talk with Jesus. Ask him how to make it a delight. Be blessed!

Do you want coaching? Have questions? Reach out to us, Ivey Ministries Coaching.

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Melchizedek

On July 27, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 110: 4

The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Melchizedek is an interesting figure. He appeared in Genesis 14: 18 after Abram defeated the three kings. Interestingly, though, Melchizedek is mentioned more often in the New Testament than the Old. When Abram returned from the battle, Melchizedek, the King of Salem and High Priest of God, brought out bread and wine to Abram. Abram, in turn, gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the spoils of war. Very interesting indeed!

First, let us not miss that Salem means peace. So, this Melchizedek was the King of Peace and Jesus is called the Prince of peace. Also, the bread and the wine foreshadow the communion which is the remembrance of Christ’s body and blood being broken and spilled for us. Today’s verse speaks of Jesus that he is forever a priest according to the standing and ways of Melchizedek. Jesus’ priesthood is of the order of Melchizedek.

We can glean many things from today’s passage and those other passages about Melchizedek to which it points, but it cannot be missed that a very important aspect is that Abram gave a tithe of all to the ministry which represents the coming Lord and High Priest.

People really get hung up on tithing and it truly amazes me. I find it harder and harder to teach or preach on tithing because it increasingly seems that it is like breathing, meaning it is just something we do but not something that generally needs a great deal of discussion. When I am pressed to discuss it, I hardly know what to say. Father Abram set the example. Melchizedek brought him out wine and bread, symbolically the broken body and spilled blood of our beloved. How can that remembrance not invoke in me a desire to lay my pittance upon the alter that received my Lord? How is ten percent of anything of more value than my precious Jesus? Abram was only looking forward to the coming Lord. In our day, the Lord has already come and endured horrendous suffering for each of us. Is that not enough to motivate us to replicate Abram’s simple act? And really, should it even take thinking of Jesus’ sacrifice to spurn me to such minuscule action? What of his and the Father’s kindnesses to me today and every day? What of the promise of eternity in their presence? If all God has done for us does not inspire us to a desire to bless Him, then what could He ever do to earn our generosity? You see, I just don’t get it.

We should consider it an honor to support His ministry. We should race each other to the alter to give into His work. I am not unsympathetic, it’s just that I don’t understand the hesitancy. I am blessed, without a doubt, and I bless God that I am able to add my little bit to His offering plate. I could not do it without His grace and help and I know that. I am nothing in myself, but our God enables us to be a blessing and I thank my God that He allows me to be a contributor. It is a joy we should all experience. It should bless our hearts and just feel good to get to partner with God.

Bless the Lord and bless you. I know I am preaching to the choir today. You are the people who give. You are the blessing God has sent. I bless you today in the name of our Lord, Jesus, who is the Christ, the one who has saved and anointed us into his own ministry. May you continually wear his loving grace as a cloak about your shoulders.

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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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