Wisdom Wednesdays: Honour The Lord With Your Firstfruits

"Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." Proverbs 3:9-10

The Lord requires obedience not sacrifice. If you are looking for your blessing on this earth, check yourself and see if you are being obedient to the word of God. That sounds like a given but that is one of the main reasons that we are unable to receive the blessings that God has in store for us. We block our own blessings. Many of us are feeling squeezed by the current state of the economy and are looking up to the heavens hoping that Jesus opens one of the windows and pours out a blessing just for us but the truth is it's high time you display the wisdom given to you by God by fulfilling your half of the word.

Stop being stingy and stop placing God last. You wouldn't be standing there looking at the collection plate contemplating giving God your last dollar had you done what the word says, give him your firstfruits. He will make sure you have what you need(to obey these words definitely requires you to activate the measure of faith he's given you, so you better check yourself).

Stop thinking about how precious your dollars are- think about the precious work that the Lord is urging you to invest in. Invest in the kingdom where a return is guaranteed, "So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." and the only thing you lose are the things that you don't need, you don't have to worry about Bernie Maddoff. The Lord wants to give you back everything that the devil stole from you.

When you enter the church don't you want to see bibles? Don't you want oil for the preacher to anoint you, bread for communion? Don't you want the lights on and toilet paper in the bathroom? Well, none of that stuff is free and God was so kind of enough to ask you to participate in the building and maintenance of his church (he doesn't need you and when you refuse he will certainly raise up another to do the word and receive the blessing) you are too wise to join in and too worried about what the preacher is doing with your money.

Be wise and obey the Lord. Let God deal with the man of  God if he is misappropriating funds, but you be wise and obey the word. You, be wise and be blessed so that when God is dealing with you can be blessed both in this earth and in eternity.

TESTIMONY TUESDAY: Practicing What I Preach

Yesterday, I suggested that you use Valentine's Day as an opportunity to get Jesus involved in your personal life by using I Corinthians 13 as a way to gauge whether or not your relationship is functioning the way it ought to.

Of course I couldn't recommend this course of action without trying it myself.

Here are the results:

Last night after watching a little bit of television, I asked my husband if we could sit down and read a chapter from the Bible. His eyes bulged and his neck stiffened a bit. "Which chapter?" and "Why?" he asked. I gently whispered, "I Corinthians 13, you know it is Valentine's Day, isn't?"

I would like to say that old wounds were healed, I would like to say that we are now moving forward and upward but our discussion wasn't as fruitful as I had hoped for. I apologized for sometimes behaving "unseemly" and not always being kind in my longsuffering. But he skirted the issues by repeating that lovely yet awful statement, "You know, that I love you." Which, in translation means "I don't always do what I should and I may never but that doesn't take away from the fact that I love you."

Of course this is not to say that I all good and he's all bad. We both have our shortcomings. While I'm now willing to admit that  I'm not perfect, that I am not the best wife I could be he is not ready to do this yet.

I repeatedly reminded him that I Corinthians says our love should look like this but it look like a mess. He continued to avoid the fact that we don't demonstrate our love the way that we ought to. I think the disparity between our perception of our relationship is because I am actively striving to serve the Lord and he is not.

I was a little disheartened by the fact that he wasn't moved by the word and his lack of interest in investing more into our relationship. Should that move me away from the gospel, should that deter me from striving to loving him the way that the Lord says I should.

No, it should not and I will not let it. Instead, it has inspired me to love him more, to love him harder, until he sees the glory of God in me striving to love him though he fights against the glorious love of God.

Be blessed and please testify about what the outcome was of your discussions.

But The Greatest of These is Charity

As you celebrate love today do not leave the Lord out of this celebration. Instead sit down and evaluate your relationship. Do you love the way the Lord says you should? Does your partner love you the way that the Lord says you should? How can you love the way that God requires?

I can only answer one of those questions for you: How can you love the way that God requires? By first loving God. God is love and he has loved you long before you ever thought about him. So, as you use this day to celebrate your love for man be sure to see where man's love falls short and how God's love is able to fill the gap.

I have not yet met all the requirements, I still seek my own things, I am still puffed up and have yet to master that longsuffering and kindness go together. But I am striving. This post is a refresher for me, reminding me of what I need to be striving for.

On this Valentine's Day I pray you take a moment to recognize who love is and what love is supposed  to look like.

I Corinthians 13

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.