Good day dear friends.
We had a wonderful Sunday yesterday as we praised God, God blessed us, and we received five new members! God is good!
We thank God for our artisans. We had our local artists display their talents with our visitors and this made our Open House month even more special.
We pray this morning for those facing surgery. Our sister Jessica Homesly is having surgery at the Surgical Center this morning at about 7 a.m. We continue to lift up Beth Yolland who is fighting her last battle with cancer. May the Lord grant her peace during this difficult moments. May He be with her husband and family.
Our sermon was on Malachi 3:7-10 on the tithe. The title of the sermon was the same as this morning's devotional. It was based on a story shared by a pastor who went to a game with his daughter, then about ten or so, and he gave her five dollars to buy a snack. She returned with a bag of Skittles and he asked her for some and she hid the bag and said, "No! These are mine, get your own!" He thought to himself, "Doesn't she realize I gave her those Skittles? Doesn't she know that if I wanted to, I could take away those Skittle from her? I could also buy her cases of Skittles so she could eat so many of them she would get sick of Skittles! Or I could see to it that as long as she lived under my roof she would not see another bag of Skittles. (Being a pastor he knew this would be an illustration) Then it occurred to him that we're sometimes just like that with God especially when it comes to money. We think we can tell God, "This is mine, get your own," when we don't realize that all that we have is God's, not ours. Every participant in worship received a bag of Skittles to further illustrate this point.
We continue that study with our study guide for today:
Monday: Read Genesis 4:1-16. This contains references to the first offerings to God and sadly, the first murder. Could that murder have been tied in to the giving between these two brothers. Why or why not?
Here are selected verses from that passage:
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it." 8 Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.
This was shared in the sermon yesterday: Cain and Abel were the first sons in the Genesis story. Both raised by the same parents. Both taught to worship God and to return to God in the same way. Yet when it was time for this first offering, notice Cain bring "an offering," and Abel brought "the firstlings...their fat portions." While scholars might argue, well this is just the classic battle between farmers and shepherds, let's just study the offering. Abel's heart showed a relationship of trust and obedience to God while Cain was more of an obligation offering. The implication is almost that Cain brings an afterthought, leftovers if you please, to God's table. Abel, it seems, cannot do enough to show his love towards his God. And this carries over into their relationship as well. Cain, because of this snub by God in regards to the offering, is angry at God and at Abel and God realizes this and tries to deal with it, but the only solution as far as Cain is concerned is to murder his brother. Thus the first murder in the Bible is fratecide, the murder of brother by brother. Could this have been tied in to the offering?
I believe it was, because the way we approach our giving and living towards God is centered on our relationship or lack therof, with God. Those who love and walk with God, don't think twice about tithing. The relationship of trust says, "God will and has already, provided, I will return to God what is God's." Those who want to fight with God will say, "This is mine, get your own!" As we told our neighbor yesterday, you can fight with God, God is big enough, but we aren't going to win. And another awesome truth: We can't outgive God!
PRAYER: God of good, bring me into full relationship with You. Let me trust You for all that I need. Let me praise You for all that I already have and let me share with You, that which is Yours. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
Blessings,
e.v.
