“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and in offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:8-10
It is the beginning of the year and interestingly enough, I have been reading The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity, by Edwene Gaines. Ms. Gaines, an ordained Christian minister, wrote the book to encourage 4 core spiritual laws of seeking prosperity from God—having vision, forgiving others, goal setting, and tithing. For those of you who do not understand the concept behind the spiritual law of tithing; modern-day tithing is the relinquishing of the first 10% of all your earnings to the place, institution, or in some cases, the person, you receive your spiritual guidance from. It is a gift of gratitude to God for His overall blessing in your life and finances. It is distinctly different from an offering because, although both are acts of free-will and can be loosely defined as charity, the tithe is a concrete percentage of your income, obligatory only by your faith in God.
The concept is not new, it is older than the Bible itself, and even those who do not believe in God, offer 10% of their annual income to charity as a way of lowering their tax base. It is a voluntary offering found throughout the Bible, and there are numerous examples of the blessings received, for what is considered by most Believers to be, a mere 10%. However, for those who prefer to belabor the law of tithing, today’s passage is one of the few places in the Bible where God asks believers to “prove” Him. In Malachi, the final book of the Old Testament, God rebukes the priests for corrupting His Word and Believers for robbing Him. However, He offers Christians a perpetual dare to “prove [Him] now,” by tithing 10%, so that He can open the windows of heaven to bless us far beyond our sphere of understanding. Blessings so powerful, the Bible says, “you will not have room enough to receive it!” Think of it; showers of blessings like rain, just for you!
It is the beginning of the year; if God has taken the time to tell you that He will bless you with a continuously open hand, if you relinquish 10% of your income, shouldn’t you at least try it for 1 year to see how His truth and this spiritual law manifests in your life? L.
Study Reference: Malachi 3:6-12, Proverbs 3:9-10; Luke 6:38
From: "Sowing The Seed." In The Master's Hands: 365 Daily Devotions For Everyday Living.
Copyright © 2014 by Lavona E. Campbell
It is the beginning of the year and interestingly enough, I have been reading The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity, by Edwene Gaines. Ms. Gaines, an ordained Christian minister, wrote the book to encourage 4 core spiritual laws of seeking prosperity from God—having vision, forgiving others, goal setting, and tithing. For those of you who do not understand the concept behind the spiritual law of tithing; modern-day tithing is the relinquishing of the first 10% of all your earnings to the place, institution, or in some cases, the person, you receive your spiritual guidance from. It is a gift of gratitude to God for His overall blessing in your life and finances. It is distinctly different from an offering because, although both are acts of free-will and can be loosely defined as charity, the tithe is a concrete percentage of your income, obligatory only by your faith in God.
The concept is not new, it is older than the Bible itself, and even those who do not believe in God, offer 10% of their annual income to charity as a way of lowering their tax base. It is a voluntary offering found throughout the Bible, and there are numerous examples of the blessings received, for what is considered by most Believers to be, a mere 10%. However, for those who prefer to belabor the law of tithing, today’s passage is one of the few places in the Bible where God asks believers to “prove” Him. In Malachi, the final book of the Old Testament, God rebukes the priests for corrupting His Word and Believers for robbing Him. However, He offers Christians a perpetual dare to “prove [Him] now,” by tithing 10%, so that He can open the windows of heaven to bless us far beyond our sphere of understanding. Blessings so powerful, the Bible says, “you will not have room enough to receive it!” Think of it; showers of blessings like rain, just for you!
It is the beginning of the year; if God has taken the time to tell you that He will bless you with a continuously open hand, if you relinquish 10% of your income, shouldn’t you at least try it for 1 year to see how His truth and this spiritual law manifests in your life? L.
Study Reference: Malachi 3:6-12, Proverbs 3:9-10; Luke 6:38
From: "Sowing The Seed." In The Master's Hands: 365 Daily Devotions For Everyday Living.
Copyright © 2014 by Lavona E. Campbell
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