Bible League: Living His Word "... Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts..."— Malachi 3:7 ESV Perhaps you have let your commitment to the Lord and to His ways slip. Maybe you have not been serving Him with the same kind of fervor that you used to have. It's not that you don't love the Lord; it's just that you don't show it like you used to show it. Have you been robbing Him (Malachi 3:8), robbing Him of the tithes and offerings He needs to fund His invasion of the earth by the kingdom of heaven? It takes money to operate churches, send out missionaries, start Christian schools, fund mercy missions, and all the other endeavors God uses to transform the earth. You have probably benefitted from these things, but have you done your part to keep them going? If this has been true of you, then it's time to return. It's time to get serious again about what's important in life. It's not really about the money. It's your heart. God wants you to get your heart in the right place. He wants you to place first things first. When it comes to money, tithes and offerings come first and then comes everything else. You should give God the best, not what's left over. Maybe you have been acting like life is all about your wants and desires. You have forgotten that it's all about God and what pleases and glorifies Him. That's why Jesus said, "seek first the Kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33). But maybe you think you don't have the money to give the tithes and the offerings. Has it occurred to you that there's a reason why money is tight? Has it occurred to you that the "devourer" has been unleashed upon you to get your attention (Malachi 3:11)? Maybe it's time to take God up on His offer to bless you if you put first things first. He says, "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need" (Malachi 3:10). Return to the Lord the offerings due His great name, and He has promised to return to you a blessing from His great grace. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingProverbs 7, 8 Proverbs 7 -- Warning Against the Adulteress NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Proverbs 8 -- Doesn't wisdom cry out? Doesn't understanding raise her voice? NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 1 Corinthians 14:21-40 1 Corinthians 14 -- Prophecy and Tongues; Orderly Worship NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's great blessing was upon them all.Insight None of these Christians felt that what they had was their own, and so they were able to give and share, eliminating poverty among them. They would not let a brother or sister suffer when others had plenty. Challenge How do you feel about your possessions? We should adopt the attitude that everything we have comes from God, and we are only sharing what is already his. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Job 38:16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?Some things in nature must remain a mystery to the most intelligent and enterprising investigators. Human knowledge has bounds beyond which it cannot pass. Universal knowledge is for God alone. If this be so in the things which are seen and temporal, I may rest assured that it is even more so in matters spiritual and eternal. Why, then, have I been torturing my brain with speculations as to destiny and will, fixed fate, and human responsibility? These deep and dark truths I am no more able to comprehend than to find out the depth which coucheth beneath, from which old ocean draws her watery stores. Why am I so curious to know the reason of my Lord's providences, the motive of his actions, the design of his visitations? Shall I ever be able to clasp the sun in my fist, and hold the universe in my palm? yet these are as a drop of a bucket compared with the Lord my God. Let me not strive to understand the infinite, but spend my strength in love. What I cannot gain by intellect I can possess by affection, and let that suffice me. I cannot penetrate the heart of the sea, but I can enjoy the healthful breezes which sweep over its bosom, and I can sail over its blue waves with propitious winds. If I could enter the springs of the sea, the feat would serve no useful purpose either to myself or to others, it would not save the sinking bark, or give back the drowned mariner to his weeping wife and children; neither would my solving deep mysteries avail me a single whit, for the least love to God, and the simplest act of obedience to him, are better than the profoundest knowledge. My Lord, I leave the infinite to thee, and pray thee to put far from me such a love for the tree of knowledge as might keep me from the tree of life. Daily Light on the Daily Path Jeremiah 2:13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.Psalm 36:7-9 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. • They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. • For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. • O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, And Your righteousness to the upright in heart. Isaiah 65:13 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." John 7:39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Isaiah 55:1 "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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