Contributions – Praying Pint

You looked for much

“Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”

“But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the LORD, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the LORD’s.”

“ Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the LORD; from each its best part is to be dedicated.”

“For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord,”

Malachi 3:6 “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 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. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.

1 John 3:17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

1 Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

Haggai 1:9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.

Giving is one of the blessings God allows us to share. He supplies and then tells us to set aside the first of it and be prepared to give it to our church and those in need. Yet scripture is clear on man’s heart. We choose to serve ourselves first and God and others second with what is left over. However God expects us to give first. Many go through life without knowing the true blessings that comes from a heart desire to humbly serve God through giving. We are not to give out of our excess but out of what comes in first. The guide for us is to give 10% to support ministry (our church) and then above this offerings of thanks, and then contributions for those in need. (those special needs that others have and that God is leading you to give towards.) You can hear His whispers of guidance in giving if your heart is set to listen. If we follow this guidance with a single purpose in our heart to honor Him, blessings flow. Purpose to give of your firsts.

What to Confess

“If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

“Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.”

“Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.”

Psalms 32:1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.

Luke 11:28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.

2 Corinthians 5:19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Jeremiah 31:18 I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God. For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.

Hosea 7:14 They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me.

Lamentations 3:8 though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;

Luke 16:15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Jeremiah 2:35 you say, ‘I am innocent; surely his anger has turned from me.’ Behold, I will bring you to judgment for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’

1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Psalms 38:18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.

Psalms 51:3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

There is much for us to learn about sin. Throughout our lives we continue to learn how we sin against God. That is, we do, if we stay in His word and seek to follow Him. How do we know if we sin if our heart, mind, and soul is focused on what our culture says is acceptable, permissible, and lawful if we are not feeding on God’s word with a desire to humbly serve, honor and glorify Him. Don’t we sound a lot like those who do not confess, do not acknowledge, try to conceal, or say I am innocent of sinning against God? Do we think we can plead ignorance when God’s word is so readily available? Certainly not. Look at those who cry out to God and have not acknowledged their sin before Him. “He shuts out my prayer”. Scripture says if we confess our sin He is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Believing in Christ also means following Him and following Him means we want to know how to serve, honor and glorify Him, and this means we want to know our sin, confess it and do it no more. Do you want to grow closer to God? Ask Him to show you your sin while you are reading His word, while you are thinking about His word, and while you are living out everyday.

It Doesn’t Hurt To Give

We will not neglect the house of our God.

Nehemiah 10:32
“We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers ‘houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law. We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.

Malachi 3:7
Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return? ’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you? ’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 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

Are we robbing God? A good questions was asked in Malachi “Will man rob God?” The answer yes “In tithes and contributions”. Why is it we try to hang on to more and more and give less and less. Do we really think that 10% is the expectation? What would give if someone gave their life to save you, your wife, your children, your parents, other family members, friends?????? Isn’t this exactly what God did through Jesus Christ? A heart that meditates on this thought will have everything at the ready to give. Not only that, they will purpose to give more. I am reminded of other scripture that says “what does it profit a soul to gain great wealth if at the end of his life he loses his soul for eternity”? This part of our existence is so short compared to eternity. Keep your eyes on eternity, purpose to hear the leading voice of God in giving, and obey His leading.