Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Test Me: Just the Facts

Test Me:  Just the Facts
Mal 3:6-12 - 6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’  “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

1.  Tithing predates the law
Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, Gen. 14: 18-20 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High,     Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And praise be to God Most High,    who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
2.  Tithing was not altered by Jesus
Luke 11:42 - “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
3.  Tithe is a test to trust God’s word.

Mal. 3:10 - 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
4.  Tithe is a symbol of the whole and is holy. 
Leviticus 27: 30 Contemporary English- Ten percent of everything you harvest is holy and belongs to me, whether it grows in your fields or on your fruit trees.
5.  Tithe is 10% of your gross income.
Mal. 3:10 - 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
6.  Tithe is the only thing God will allow us to test him in. 
Mal. 3:10 - 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
7.  Tithe is one of the main ways God uses to activate his blessings.  …and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
8.  Tithing aligns you with God’s system and God’s economy.
Gen. 8: 22 Common English- As long as the earth exists, seedtime and harvest, cold and hot, summer and autumn, day and night will not cease
2 Cor. 9:6-8 6 Contemporary English-Remember this saying,    "A few seeds make    a small harvest,    but a lot of seeds make    a big harvest."  Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give. But don’t feel sorry that you must give and don’t feel that you are forced to give. God loves people who love to give. God can bless you with everything you need, and you will always have more than enough to do all kinds of good things for others.
Gal. 6:7,9 - Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
9.  Tithing rain down blessings.
Mal. 3:10 - 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
10.      Tithing supports your house and God’s house. 
2 Chronicles 31: 10 put it. …”Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.”
Mal. 3:10 - 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
11.      Tithing helps you keep first things first
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
12.      Tithing breaks the hold of selfishness. 
Hag. 1: 4-6 NIV- “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
13.      Tithing is the starting point of giving as you purpose in your heart
2 Corinthians 9:7  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
14.      Tithe when you get paid
Luke 18:12 - English Standard Version (ESV)12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
15.      Do I tithe instead of paying bills?
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
16.      What if I want to tithe but my partner doesn’t?
Amos 3:3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
Matthew 18:19-20 18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[a] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[b] loosed in heaven.  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
17.      Tithing test the covenant relationship between me and God

Mal. 3:7, …Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

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