Fresh Manna© by Pastor Tim Burt
http://www.freshmanna.org

Malachi 3:10 “…I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!”

Renee and I had been married for just two years when we had our first child Stephanie. Renee was a flight attendant on maternity leave at that time and had planned to go back to work after the birth of our daughter. She did go back for about two trips but came home miserable from each one. I came home from being out of town and found her in the bedroom crying. As I comforted her, she explained that she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom with Stephanie. I told her if that was what she wanted, then we’d need to apply our faith and pray and ask the Lord to direct us that way.

We sat down one day and added up all our ongoing monthly bills and expenses. Then we looked at how much I brought home each month. She actually made more than me and although we would be cutting our income in half if she quit working, we’d still have ten dollars a month left over from my income. I had great peace in letting her quit because I believed from the beginning that was what God wanted for Renee and our daughter. Renee was overjoyed with the fact that I was encouraging her to quit. I told her I was great with it as long as she would stay in faith and not fear during the hard times.

For me, I was willing to face my fears and overcome them with my faith in the promises of God. I was young and naïve, but I believed my faith would carry me through. I was willing to work hard to provide believing that if I did my part God would do His. Our faith was tested a hundred times but we knew we’d have financial challenges because we know the devil’s devices. We knew that the Word said. “The righteous face many troubles, but the Lord rescues them from each and every one.” (Psalm 34:19) That was a promise we had stood on and held to before God many times. We also knew that the Lord promised to rebuke Satan from our livelihood and finances because we had always brought our tithes AND offerings to church – ALWAYS! We knew we could stand on His promise of the tithe. Malachi 3:10-12 “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not shrivel before they are ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord Almighty.

I wasn’t a farmer but I knew this promise applied to us because we were faithful to obey God. We trusted God and took Him at His Word – that He would bless what we put our hand to and rebuke Satan when he tried to steal from us or hinder what we worked toward.

We believed God wanted to be involved with and bless our finances and bring increase to every area of our life. We had read from Deut Chapter 8. In that chapter, God was revealing how He had delivered His children from slavery and the desert to a promised land of plenty BUT, filled with enemies. That sounds like a good news/bad news joke. He promised them He would help them defeat every enemy and take hold of this rich land IF they would learn to obey Him and have faith and trust in Him. Then He told them this mind boggling truth. He told them (paraphrased) “I am not bringing you into this land because you deserve it. “Frankly you are stiff-necked and stubborn.” But, He told them He would bless them because the people in the land He was bringing them into were so wicked that He wanted to drive them out AND because He had made a promise to Abraham to bless them and bring them into a land of milk and honey.

Do you know what the means to you? God does not want to bless you because you deserve it or because you have earned it. Yes He wants you to obey Him but His blessing is going to come because of your faith and trust in His love and promise to you and as you learn to live for Him.

You have to read this for yourself. Deut. 9:1-6 “Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to occupy the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! They are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’ But the Lord your God will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised. “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say to yourselves, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are so righteous!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is doing it. It is not at all because you are such righteous, upright people that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he had sworn to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will say it again: The Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are righteous, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.”

Are you ever stubborn? Do you fail at times in living for the Lord? Do you belong to Jesus? Does this promise extend to you? Absolutely! You qualify for His blessing including material blessings. Wait till tomorrow till you see what that is… By the way, God and Read Deut chapters 7-9.

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt
http://www.freshmanna.org

Published by Pastor Tim Burt
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