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Gloria Copeland
“Therefore, as ye abound in every
thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in
your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.” 2 Corinthians 8:7
How do you give to the Lord?
Do you just drop some money in the plate at
church without much thought?
Or do you just write a check to God at the first
of every month and pay Him like you pay all your other bills?
You need to think about that because how you
give is a matter of deep concern to God. He’s particular about how offerings
are given.
He won’t receive just any old thing however you
feel like giving it.
In Malachi, for example, God refused to receive
Israel’s offerings. They were bringing Him their defective animals, their blind
calves and the injured ones they couldn’t do anything else with — and God said
it offended Him.
He told them, “You
don’t have any reverence or honor for Me, and I’m not going to accept your
offering.”
That kind of thing didn’t die out after the book
of Malachi. Many today don’t have any reverence for God at offering time.
People wait for the preacher to beat them over
the head until they feel so guilty they have to reach down in their pocketbooks
and get some money out.
But I want you to know, that’s offensive to God.
In fact, He spoke directly to a friend of mine about it. The statement He made
to her so impressed me, I wrote it down word for word.
“It grieves Me when the Church
takes offerings, He told her. I said to worship Me. Don’t take from the people,
but let them bring their gifts and worship Me. Then they will see the fruits of
their giving.”
If you and I want God to be pleased with our
offerings, we’re going to have to do what the Apostle Paul wrote about in 2
Corinthians 8:7.
We’re going to have to learn
to “excel in this grace of giving” (New International Version).
We’re going to have to quit being casual about
it and to learn to give with faith and reverence in worship.
Next time the offering plate is passed, don’t
just drop your gift carelessly in the plate.
Get serious. Determine to obey God. Worship Him
with your money and be thankful. He’ll do more than simply receive it, He’ll
open the windows of blessing for you.
Scripture Reading: Malachi 1:1-14
Kenneth Copeland Ministries' mission is to minister the Word of Faith, by teaching
believers who they are in Christ Jesus; taking them from the milk of the Word
to the meat, and from religion to reality.
Malachi
1 The Message
(MSG)
No More of This So-Called Worship!
1 A Message. God’s Word to Israel through
Malachi:
2-3 God said, “I love you.”
You replied, “Really? How have you loved us?”
“Look at history” (this is God’s answer). “Look at how
differently I’ve treated you, Jacob, from Esau: I loved Jacob and hated Esau. I
reduced pretentious Esau to a molehill, turned his whole country into a ghost
town.”
4 When Edom (Esau) said, “We’ve been knocked
down, but we’ll get up and start over, good as new,” God-of-the-Angel-Armies said, “Just
try it and see how far you get. When I knock you down, you stay down. People
will take one look at you and say, ‘Land of Evil!’ and ‘the God-cursed tribe!’
5 “Yes, take a good look. Then you’ll see how
faithfully I’ve loved you and you’ll want even more, saying, ‘May God be even greater, beyond
the borders of Israel!’
6 “Isn’t it true that a son
honors his father and a worker his master? So if I’m your Father, where’s the
honor? If I’m your Master, where’s the respect?” God-of-the-Angel-Armies is calling
you on the carpet: “You priests despise me!
“You say, ‘Not so! How do we despise you?’
“By your shoddy, sloppy, defiling worship.
“You ask, ‘What do you mean, “defiling”? What’s defiling about it?’
7-8 “When you say, ‘The altar of God is not important anymore;
worship of God is no longer a priority,’
that’s defiling. And when you offer worthless animals for sacrifices in
worship, animals that you’re trying to get rid of—blind and sick and crippled
animals—isn’t that defiling? Try a trick like that with your banker or your
senator—how far do you think it will get you?” God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you.
9 “Get on your knees and pray that I will be
gracious to you. You priests have gotten everyone in trouble. With this kind of
conduct, do you think I’ll pay attention to you?” God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you.
10 “Why doesn’t one of you just shut the
Temple doors and lock them? Then none of you can get in and play at religion
with this silly, empty-headed worship. I am not pleased. The God-of-the-Angel-Armies is not
pleased. And I don’t want any more of this so-called worship!
Offering
God Something Hand-Me-Down, Broken, or Useless
11 “I am honored all over the world. And there
are people who know how to worship me all over the world, who honor me by
bringing their best to me. They’re saying it everywhere: ‘God is greater, this God-of-the-Angel-Armies.’
12-13 “All except you. Instead of honoring me,
you profane me. You profane me when you say, ‘Worship is not important, and
what we bring to worship is of no account,’ and when you say, ‘I’m bored—this
doesn’t do anything for me.’ You act so superior, sticking your noses in the
air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when
you do offer something to me, it’s a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do
you think I’m going to accept it? This is Godspeaking to you!
14 “A curse on the person who makes a big show
of doing something great for me—an expensive sacrifice, say—and then at the
last minute brings in something puny and worthless! I’m a great king, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, honored
far and wide, and I’ll not put up with it!”
The Message (MSG)
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