Put God First

The following is something I shared with our church for an offerring message.

When we lived in Las Vegas, I had gotten a hammock as a gift. I didn't want an ugly hammock stand, so my husband agreed to build a permanent holder for it. We went to the store and bought all the supplies (concrete, metal poles, hooks, etc). He dug two holes, mixed the concrete and poured it into each hole. Then set a pole in each hole and let it dry. Then he attached the hammock to the poles with hooks. Ta-da! It was done!
I then proceeded to sit in it and ... KERPLUNK! I fell flat on my rear as it pulled the concrete foundation right out of the ground!
The foundation was faulty.
It was missing something (i.e. re-bar).
Without that key component (re-bar) it wasn't built to withstand the pressure (of my butt) ;0

Just like in the example of what happened with the hammock, the foundation we build upon with God needs to be strong, and solid, and Right!
How do we know if its right?
We go to the Word.
Where is the Word?
In the Bible.

The Word says we should tithe our first 10% (see Malachi 3:10 if you don't believe me).
So in order to be Right, we need to do that.
We need to tithe our first 10% before we do anything else. Put God and our obedience to Him above all else.

When I was assisting in Children's Church the kids were taught to keep God in front of earthly things like toys, cars, houses, friends, and money.
They even made a little craft that showed a cross positioned in front of the earth, to remind them that God should always be in front of anything on earth.

Well, we need to put God first too!
Our submission to Him is more important than earthly things.
So remember, if you want Joy in life, and all that God has in store for you, put Him first, obey His Word, and bring your tithes into His house as He instructs us to do (remember Malachi?)

How to be strong against the floods

About once a month I have the opportunity to share the offerring message at our church. This is what I shared with our congregation today. I hope it is beneficial to you as well.



In Luke 6:46-49 in the NLT it says,
"So why do you call me, 'Lord', when you won't obey me?
I will show you what its like when someone comes to listen to me, listens to my teaching, and then obeys me. It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built.
But anyone who listens and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floodwaters sweep down against that house, it will crumble into a heap of ruins."

The floodwaters refer to difficult times.
When we experience difficult times (sickness, heartbreak, arguing with our family or spouse, hard times at work, or a decreased income), do we want these floodwaters to destroy us or hurt us because we haven't obeyed God?
Or do we choose to not only listen to God, (read our Bible, go to church, pray), but also obey what His Word is telling us (to tithe), so that when these floods come we are able to stand strong because God is protecting ans supporting us (like a foundation).

Malachi 3:11 says, "your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease".

This tells me that He is protecting us from those floods.

Wouldn't you rather be protected because of your obedience and have abundant crops to share with others?

Instead of being torn apart by the floods and possibly losing your job, your house, your spouse, your credit, or your everlasting life?

I would.

I'd like you to think about that before you bring your next tithes and offerings to God. Remember it in the future as well, because as I've said before, tithing becomes easy with practice. You just do it over and over again and it becomes second nature.

Don't get yourself in a stinky situation

When my oldest daughter was about 2-3 years old she went to a Christian daycare center while I was at work. She had learned about the story of Jonah and the whale, and had some cute hand motions to go with the story. We started talking together about this story and in order to explain it in terms she could understand, I said that because of Jonah's disobedience (in not following God's orders to preach to the people of Nineveh), Jonah had gotten himself into a "stinky situation". She understood this because the belly of the whale must have been pretty smelly and stinky. So that stinky situation for Jonah was the result of his disobedience. I talked with her that she needed to make sure she didn't get herself into "stinky situations" by disobeying her parents as well. It was a great learning tool for a 2 year old, just as it is still a great learning example for adults. Sometimes we get "stinky" situations in our lives. Often it is never our fault, its our boss, our neighbor, our spouse, etc etc etc. Its never our fault. Or is it? Do you think its possible that maybe when things are not going our way, its because we are in fact doing it "our way" instead of God's way? If you'll remember, God's way is perfect. Ours is not [remember the Garden? God had a lovely plan for peace and harmony forever. We screwed it up by doing it 'our way' instead of following His directions and doing it His way.] Just something to think about.

God will help you out of debt

Have you ever heard the Bible story about the widow's oil? Its found in 2 Kings 4. To paraphrase it here, a woman's husband had died. He owed a bunch of money to a man. She didn't have any money though, or any food. The man told her she had to pay it and if she didn't he would take her sons. She went and sought guidance from Elisha. He asked her what she had in her house (her resources). She said nothing but a few drops of oil. He told her to go ask all her neighbors for empty pots. Then to go in her house, close the door, and start filling the pots. She wasn't to stop until every pot was filled. She did this and as soon as the last pot was filled, the oil ran out. Elisha then told her to go sell the oil and use the money to payback the man with whom she had a debt. Then the extra money could be used for her and her sons. When it was all said and done, she had enough money to buy a lot of food for her and her sons, her sons weren't sent into slavery, and the debt was paid off.

In this story we can see that God, through Elisha, showed the widow how to pay off her debt. Often times, as was the case in this story, we have to put our 'hand to the plow' to fulfill God's work. We can't just sit and pray and hope it will be accomplished. We can pray, and God will DIRECT us HOW to accomplish it. Some sort of ACTION is usually required. The action isn't on God's part either. Its on OUR PART. God could have easily erased the debt from that man's memory. Or He could have multiplied the oil in her house by himself. But he wants us to have FAITH in Him, and that usually requires us to be tested in some sort of way. Its very easy to be 'faithful' when everything is right. But when things go wrong, that is when our faith really shows through. So instead of just multiplying the oil in her house, he required her to do something. She had to gather pots from her neighbors. Now you know as well as I do, that in a town like this, all the neighbors already knew her situation. They knew her husband died and they knew she had no money. So they would probably think she was crazy for asking for empty pots ("why do you need a pot, you don't have anything to put in it?!"). So it wasn't just action that was required such as walking door to door and carrying the pots. She had to humble herself to ask for something and not worry about what those people were thinking when she did it. Her trust in God had to be so great, that it would not be overshadowed by any discomfort that was caused by carrying out what she was told to do. Because she did this. She was obedient. God's blessings flowed, and flowed, and flowed, until there were no more pots to contain it. Only then did it stop. When we are stretching our faith, He will meet those needs just as He met the widow's needs. If He did it for her, He will do it for you. In Acts 10:34 Peter says "...of a truth I perceive that God is no respector of persons." This means if He did it for others, He will do it for you as well.
Deuteronomy 28:9 says "If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in His ways, He will establish you as his holy people as he solemnly promised to do." Deuteronomy 28:12 continues, "He will open to you His wonderful treasury of rain in the heavens, to give you fine crops every season. He will bless everything you do; You shall lend to many nations, but shall not borrow from them." God wants you to be a LENDER, NOT A BORROWER. I like how when we keep this verse in context with the preceding verses (28:9), it is all related to our OBEDIENCE... connect the dots here... it takes ACTION on our part.
If we are OBEDIENT to God, we can be put in a position to become lenders, not borrowers. Remember... we can be put in a position to become lenders, not borrowers. This doesn't mean its going to happen overnight. It may take time. It also doesn't mean its going to happen to everybody. Your hand has to push the plow, your work is going to be involved. So its up to you whether you can or can't. If you are currently a borrower, work on paying off your debts. Once your debts are paid off, your obedience and faithfulness to God can allow you to then become the Lender. This isn't a fast-food, instant gratification scenario. It will take time to move from one position to the other. Keep pressing through and you will reach the goal of becoming debt-free.

Debt-cancellation is for today-its not just some neat OLD story from a book written a long time ago. Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever." He did it before (with the widow), He'll do it again!

God is willing and able to bless you with miracle debt cancellation. But I bet there is going to be some ACTION involved with it! ;)