Stealing from God

This morning in our weekly prayer time, my coworker shared with me this verse:

"I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers 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?'
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse -- the whole nation of you -- because you are robbing me. 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. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the Lord Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the Lord Almighty.

Malachi  3:6-12

Here are the two things that he pointed out in our talk:

1. God does not change -- this message is not just for the people hearing this message the first time it was spoken, and this message is not just for those who heard it before Christ came. This is for us too.

2. When we decide not to tithe our time, our money, or anything else that we have received from God, we are keeping something from God that belongs to him. We are stealing from God. When we deny ourselves a Sabbath -- when we do not choose to set aside time for God, we put ourselves under a curse. When we give less than that one-tenth tithe, we put ourselves under a curse. When we keep the blessings and joys that God gives to us all to ourselves, we live under a curse. But when we give back at least what God has asked, the floodgates of heaven will open. And then just imagine what a blessing it will be if we give beyond what is asked of us!

This convicted me, because I am so busy sometimes that I neglect what is most important. And I have been known to hoard the blessings that God gives me.

But I was encouraged, because I have had a taste or two of what it is like to be blessed beyond all expectation in the simple act of giving what is asked of me.

So I just wanted to share that, and encourage everyone to tithe. Give generously of what we have received from God. My prayer is that you will live in a delightful land, and you will be recognized as blessed by all who see you.

And our joy is being able to invite others to share in that redeemed, blessed life!

So it has been a year . . .

Well, I have tried three times now to write about this year since the earthquake. The first one sounded sadder than I am. The second one sounded contrived -- not like me at all. And the third was still too sad. This is all I can muster for a fourth attempt:

When I think about how much has been lost, I am sad. When I remember all the grief, exhaustion and fear that I have seen in the eyes of so many in the last year -- that still remains in the hearts of many sweet friends -- my heart hurts.

And there is still so much work left to do.

But, I am hopeful. I think we are hopeful.

Last year was really, really terrible. And the scars on the land and on people hearts are deep.

But it was also a really wonderful year. We are healing. And God is so, so good. He is faithful, and he is full of mercy.

He is always good, always faithful, always merciful and always with us and in us and for us.

I lift my eyes to the hills --

where does my help come from?

My help come from the Lord,

the maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip --

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over [Japan]

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you --

the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm --

he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.