For God’s Little People

 

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. (Luke 2:1–5)

Have you ever thought what an amazing thing it is that God ordained beforehand that the Messiah be born in Bethlehem (as the prophecy in Micah 5:2 shows); and that he so ordained things that when the time came, the Messiah’s mother and legal father were living not in Bethlehem but in Nazareth; and that in order to fulfill his word and bring two unheard-of, insignificant, little people to Bethlehem that first Christmas, God put it in the heart of Caesar Augustus that all the Roman world should be enrolled each in his own town? A decree for the entire world in order to move two people seventy miles!

Have you ever felt, like me, little and insignificant in a world of seven billion people, where all the news is about big political and economic and social movements and outstanding people with global significance and lots of power and prestige?

If you have, don’t let that make you disheartened or unhappy. For it is implicit in Scripture that all the mammoth political forces and all the giant industrial complexes, without their even knowing it, are being guided by God, not for their own sake, but for the sake of God’s little people — the little Mary and the little Joseph who have to be got from Nazareth to Bethlehem. God wields an empire to fulfill his word and bless his children.

Do not think, because you experience adversity in your little world of experience, that the hand of the Lord is shortened. It is not our prosperity or our fame but our holiness that he seeks with all his heart. And to that end, he rules the whole world. As Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” And he is always turning it for his saving and sanctifying and eternal purposes among his people.

He is a big God for little people, and we have great cause to rejoice that, unbeknownst to them, all the kings and presidents and premiers and chancellors and chiefs of the world follow the sovereign decrees of our Father in heaven, that we, the children, might be conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ — and then enter his eternal glory.

GIVING WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVES BENEFIT YOU!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY DECEMBER 04, 2022.

SUBJECT : GIVING WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVES BENEFIT YOU!

Memory verse: "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have no love, it profits me nothing." (First Corinthians 13 vs 3.)

READ: Second Corinthians 9 vs 6 - 8:

9:6: But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 

9:7: So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

9:8: And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

INTIMATION:

Some people have been giving faithfully for a long time, but they've been doing it with a wrong motivation. For instance, they've been taught they should tithe out of obligation and they've just been paying a bill, or they've been doing it to appease God. That kind of giving benefits the church you are giving to, but it isn't going to benefit you in this life. You won't get returns on that giving. You have to plant your financial seed with a cheerful heart, motivated by love, because your gift is ruined when you give with the wrong motive.

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul makes it clear that your motive counts.

I don't know how any Christian can read this passage and still think we are of necessity to tithe, or that we are cursed if we don't. It says we're not supposed to give "grudgingly, or of necessity." If the reason you pay a tithe is because you don't want to be under a curse, then you are paying out of necessity and it isn't cheerful. It's paying hush money to God.

We have seen that the Scripture tells us not to give grudgingly or of necessity because God loves a cheerful giver. The dominant motive for giving under the New Covenant should be a cheerful heart. We should be giving because we want to, not to pay God hush money. Your giving must be out of love for Him and for all He has done, and is doing for you—a response to God’s magnanimity in your life.

The apostle Paul, in Second Corinthians 9, ends his teaching on giving by saying, "Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift" (vs 15). Some translations say "indescribable gift." This summarizes why we should give back to the Lord under the New Covenant: because He has already given us beyond measure. God has provided everything for us, and our giving is actually an expression of appreciation for all that He has done for us. It goes back to the Scripture in our memory verse that says nothing we do is of any benefit unless it is motivated by love. Again the motive behind our gift is more important than our gift.

It would also build your faith to see a return come from giving with the right motive. We saw earlier that the Lord talked about this saying, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the Lord of Hosts, "If I will not open the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it." (Malachi 3 vs 10.)

As far as I know, this is the only instance in Scripture where the Lord says "Try Me." Basically, He's saying, "Try it, and see if it doesn't work!" Nearly everything else He said was a command: You shall do this, or you shall not do that. But when it comes to tithing, He said "Try Me." 

In my considered opinion, He said it this way because He knows it is scary for people to take a portion of what they need to survive and give it away. When you are dependent upon money to pay bills and buy food, it's hard to move your trust over to a God you can't see. God knows that about us, so He said, "Try Me." Then why not you try Him, and see if He will not do what He says He will do: “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: has He said, and will He not do? or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23 vs 19.)

Giving out of fear is the same thing as giving "grudgingly," and giving out of manipulation and condemnation is the same as giving "of necessity." Giving with those motives profits you nothing. 

Unfortunately, you sometimes hear ministers in church or on television manipulating people into giving "of necessity." I have actually heard preachers in meetings, and on television say things like "If anyone gives a specific amount within the next ten minutes then God is going to open the heavens and pour out all kinds of blessings." That's not fundraising, it's bribery! Some preachers will call for the first 100 people or any number they choose, and ask them to give a specific amount, and God will do a specific thing for them. Again that is not in any way, an exercise of faith. It is giving of necessity, giving to receive a specific thing. That is "barter."

Besides, Jesus already opened the heavens for us, and nothing we do changes that. God has already given us indescribable gift. Sure enough, in the instance above, when the ten minutes were up, the preacher would say, "I believe the Lord is extending the window another seven minutes." Or they will say, "You have got to take this opportunity now and get into this giving in the next five minutes, because after that God is going to cut off His blessings." But the blessings of God don't come with expiration date. I'm telling you, it would be funny, if it wasn't so pathetic, how some believers are manipulated into giving.

Christians shouldn't fall for that kind of coercion. The only giving that is acceptable to God is that which you purpose in your own heart and give cheerfully—not grudgingly or of necessity. You aren't going to buy prosperity from God, or force Him into blessing you, just like you don't need to pay Him protection money to keep the curse of the law out of your life. All of that is manipulation and condemnation, and giving with those motivations profits you nothing.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for Your indescribable gifts freely given to us. No one knows Your mind to instruct You. O Lord, endue me with the mind of Christ that I may do all things out of love for You, and for my neighbor, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Long-Awaited Visitation

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.” (Luke 1:68–71)

Notice two remarkable things from these words of Zechariah, Elizabeth’s husband, in Luke 1.

First, nine months earlier, Zechariah could not believe his wife would have a child. Now, filled with the Holy Spirit, he is so confident of God’s redeeming work in the coming Messiah that he puts it in the past tense: “he has visited and redeemed his people.” For the mind of faith, a promised act of God is as good as done. Zechariah has learned to take God at his word and so has a remarkable assurance: God “has visited and redeemed!” (Luke 1:68).

Second, the coming of Jesus the Messiah is a visitation of God to our world: The God of Israel has visited and redeemed. For centuries, the Jewish people had languished under the conviction that God had withdrawn: the spirit of prophecy had ceased; Israel had fallen into the hands of Rome. And all the godly in Israel were awaiting the visitation of God. Luke tells us that another old man, the devout Simeon, was “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25). Likewise, the prayerful Anna was “waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).

These were days of great expectation. Now the long-awaited visitation of God was about to happen — indeed, he was about to come in a way no one expected.

ARE WE CURSED FOR NOT TITHING?

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY DECEMBER 03, 2022.

SUBJECT : ARE WE CURSED FOR NOT TITHING?

Memory verse: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." (Galatians 3 vs 13.)

READ: Malachi 3 vs 8 - 11:

3:8: "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. 

3:9: You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me. Even this whole nation. 

3:10: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the Lord of Hosts, "If I will not open the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 

3:11: And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field." Says the Lord of hosts.

INTIMATION:

Let's us review the Scripture we read today which is the classic passage used to teach on tithing. The prophet Malachi is among the postexilic prophets to Judah (the southern kingdom), and wrote the Book after the return of the children of Israel from exile, and abandoned those godly principles and practices they were used to before they were exiled. 

During Malachi's days the people ignored God's command to give a tithe of their income to the Temple. The Levites (who were the priests) lived off these gifts, and when the people stopped giving, they were forced to work to earn a living, thereby abandoning their God-given responsibilities to care for the Temple and the service of worship under the laws God gave them through Moses.

Nearly everyone who teaches on tithes cite this passage. Usually it is used like a club to beat people into submission. But there is a huge difference between the punishment that came for disobeying the law under the Old Testament, and the grace that we live under the New Testament. 

The motivation for tithing today is out of appreciation for what God has done in our lives. It should come as a response of love from the heart, out of a desire to bring God into your finances, and bless people. We don't tithe in an attempt to keep the law. In fact, it would be a bad idea to even try.

Now, look at Galatians 3 vs 10, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." The apostle Paul quoted Deuteronomy 27 vs 26 to prove that, contrary to what the Judaizers claimed, the law cannot justify and save; it can only condemn. 

You are cursed if you don't keep all of the law. You can't just keep some of it, or do the best you can and God will make up the difference. No! If you don't keep every letter of the law, then you are cursed! And because everyone has broken the commandments, everyone stands condemned. The law can do nothing to reverse the condemnation. This is why Jesus came, because we are absolutely incapable of keeping the law. It's impossible.

The Scripture, in Romans 3 vs 20 - 24, says, "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

The people who are trying to say to you that you are cursed if you don't tithe are missing the point. You either trust the grace of God, or you reject Jesus' sacrifice and put your trust in your own performance of the law, and forfeit God's grace. You have to be 100 percent perfect; never making a single mistake in thought, word, or deed for your entire life, or you have to humble yourself and receive the gift of God's grace. Trying to satisfy the law by paying a tithe isn't going to help.

The apostle Paul continued his teaching in Galatians 3 vs 11 - 14, saying, "But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them." Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Yes, we are redeemed from the curse of the law! This passage couldn't be any clearer. It's true that the verse in Malachi 3 says "you are cursed with a curse" if you don't tithe. But this is exactly what we have been redeemed from. The whole idea that God is going to punish you for not paying a tithe is completely unscriptural. 

Some preachers will say, "If you didn't pay tithe, God would take it from you in doctor's bills, or He will make your car break down, or something else like that. In my considered opinion, God doesn't relate with us that way under the New Covenant. Christ freed us from the curse of the law. God is not coming against you. He is not going to take money from you if you don't tithe, but you have denied yourself of the opportunity of godly prosperity. Trying to pay off God like He's some kind of mobster is the wrong motivation. You're not going to benefit from that kind of giving.

It's also worth mentioning that the passage in Malachi 3 vs 8 - 11 says the curse comes from robbing God in tithes and offerings. The ministers who use this verse to teach about tithing from a law perspective conveniently overlook that you also have to give offerings to keep the law. There are so many offerings, that all together outnumber tithe. So if you are trying to live by the law, you are cursed unless you are giving all the offerings.

Prayer: Abba Father, nothing I do can be enough to thank You for all You have done for me. All that is within me bless Your holy name. Endue me with the spirit of perfect obedience to Your instructions and commandments, knowing that it is all for my own good, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

Mary’s Magnificent God

 

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (Luke 1:46–55)

Mary sees clearly a most remarkable thing about God: He is about to change the course of all human history; the most important three decades in all of time are about to begin.

And where is God? Occupying himself with two obscure, humble women — one old and barren (Elizabeth), one young and a virgin (Mary). And Mary is so moved by this vision of God, the lover of the lowly, that she breaks out in song — a song that has come to be known as “The Magnificat.”

Mary and Elizabeth are wonderful heroines in Luke’s account. He loves the faith of these women. The thing that impresses him most, it appears, and the thing he wants to impress on Theophilus, his noble reader of his Gospel, is the lowliness and cheerful humility of Elizabeth and Mary as they submit to their magnificent God.

Elizabeth says (Luke 1:43), “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” And Mary says (Luke 1:48), “He has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”

The only people whose soul can truly magnify the Lord are people like Elizabeth and Mary — people who acknowledge their lowly estate and are overwhelmed by the condescension of the magnificent God.

TITHE IS A SELF-SACRIFICIAL GIVING FOR OUR BENEFIT!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY DECEMBER 02, 2022.

SUBJECT : TITHE IS A SELF-SACRIFICIAL GIVING FOR OUR BENEFIT!

Memory verse: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3 vs 16.)

READ: Second Corinthians 9 vs 6 - 7:

9:6: But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 

9:7: So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

INTIMATION:

The entire Gospel comes to focus in our memory verse. God's love is not static or self-centered; it reaches out and draws others in. Here God sets the pattern of true love, the basis for all love relationship. When you love someone dearly, you are willing to give freely to the point of self-sacrifice. This was what God did—sacrificially offering His Son for our sin due to His love for us. We are expected to love Him in return, and sacrificially offer to Him as He did for us.

We have been taught to believe that the tithe is mandatory. We were told that we owed God a tenth of our income and if we didn't pay up, we'd be cursed. Not tithing, we were told, is the same as stealing from God. "You're robbing God," they will tell us, and God is going to get you." Fortunately, none of that is true. God loves us independent of our performance, which includes whether or not we tithe. New Testament giving isn't a debt or an obligation.

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul reveals that we are not of any necessity to give. I don't know how any Christian can read these passages, and still think we are of necessity to tithe, or that we are cursed if we don't. It says we're not supposed to give "grudgingly, or of necessity." If the reason you pay a tithe is because you don't want to be under a curse, then you are paying out of necessity and it isn't cheerful. It's paying hush money to God. 

Some ministers are vicious about tithing. They harp on the curse of not tithing and talk about the wrath of God. Disappointingly this is not right. Yes, tithing is a biblical principle that existed before the law, and curses on tithing came from Moses. Abraham paid tithe over 400 years before the law came. 

Abraham wasn't living under the law, yet he tithed. I believe very strongly that we are supposed to tithe too because it is to our own benefit of letting God into our finances, and actually it should be our starting point. It's unwise not to tithe, but God will still love you if you don't.

The teaching on curses of not tithing is based on prophet Malachi's preaching to the children of Israel after their return from exile and their abandonment of those godly principles and practices they practiced before they were exiled. (See Malachi 3 vs 8 - 11.) During Malachi's days the people were not giving tithes, so the Levites went to work to earn a living, thereby neglecting their God given responsibilities to care for the temple and the service of worship. I will discuss those verses in detail later.

Some people, reacting against the ‘curse’ teaching, have swung in the completely opposite direction and say that the tithe was an Old Testament thing. They don't think it has any bearing on our lives today. I don't believe that is true. In the New Testament Book of Matthew 23 vs 23, Christ talked about tithing, and this shows it is a fundamental biblical principle. 

Christ admonished the scribes and the Pharisees who were very precise and faithful about giving ten percent of their money to God, but were neglecting the weightier matters of justice, mercy and faith. Christ said these things they have to be do without leaving the others undone. Therefore, they should do the right things as well as pay their tithes.

Since God doesn't send payment overdue notices, it is easy to take care of other financial responsibilities while letting our gift to Him slide. Giving to God first out of what He has allowed you to have demonstrates He has first priority in your life. It's always tempting to shortchange God because we think we won't get caught. But our giving shows our real priorities. When we give God the leftovers, it's obvious that He is not at the center of our lives. It's absolutely important to give God the honor of having first claim on your money, time and talents.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are our Sacrificial Savior. For the love You have for us You gave Your Son to die for our sins. Endue me, most Loving Father, with the spirit of love that I may give sacrificially to You in demonstration of my love and faith in You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Prepare the Way

 

He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16–17)

What John the Baptist did for Israel, Advent can do for us. Don’t let Christmas find you unprepared. I mean spiritually unprepared. Its joy and impact will be so much greater if you are ready!

So, that you might be prepared . . .

First, meditate on the fact that we need a Savior. Christmas is an indictment before it becomes a delight. “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). If you don’t need a Savior, you don’t need Christmas. Christmas will not have its intended effect until we feel desperately the need for a Savior. Let these short Advent meditations help awaken in you a bittersweet sense of need for the Savior.

Second, engage in sober self-examination. Advent is to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24). Let every heart prepare him room . . . by cleaning house.

Third, build God-centered anticipation and expectancy and excitement into your home — especially for the children. If you are excited about Christ, they will be too. If you can only make Christmas exciting with material things, how will the children get a thirst for God? Bend the efforts of your imagination to make the wonder of the King’s arrival visible for the children.

Fourth, be much in the Scriptures, and memorize the great passages! “Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:29)! Gather ’round that fire this Advent season. It is warm. It is sparkling with colors of grace. It is healing for a thousand hurts. It is light for dark night.

Happy new month of December 2022.

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