TEXT: ‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “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! Put me to the test!’ (Malachi 3:10 NLT) THOUGHT: Of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses, the eighth says, ‘You shall not steal’ (Exodus 20:15). In the last book of the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi asks, ‘Will a man rob God?’ (Malachi 3:8). The way that the Children of Israel robbed God was by withholding their tithes or the tenth of their income. There was a two-fold knock-on effect to their actions. Firstly, individually and as a nation, they ended up living under a curse, not under the blessing God had always intended. Secondly, the Temple was affected because the priests and Levites ended up living off the land and neglecting their ministry, instead of being fully supported by God’s people through their giving.1 Malachi threw down the challenge to bring all the tithes into God’s House and prove the truth that giving their tithes would cause them to be better off, because God...
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TEXT: ‘Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light”’ (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT) THOUGHT: “Come to Me” is one of the most wonderful promises in the Bible. God has provided these blessings, but it is up to each individual whether they will receive them. As the slogan says, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!” How many times do we miss out on God’s best because of what others have wrongly told us or because we think we know better than God? The Queen of Sheba came to see for herself whether what she had been told about Solomon’s kingdom was true or just another exaggeration1. She discovered it was much better than she had been informed or had even imagined. Two days before I became a Christian, I told the person witnessing to me that I did not need God and there were things wrong in the Bible. Yet just two days later when I saw...
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TEXT: ‘But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized’ (Acts 8:12) THOUGHT: There is a fundamental difference between religion (which usually believes in a god) and Christianity. The difference is Christ! Religion puts the onus on a person to do enough good to earn heaven, whereas Jesus has done it all for us because we could not, and it is ours by faith. Philip, scattered by the persecution in Jerusalem, travelled to Samaria and started evangelising. His message was clear and concise. He preached about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. Later, when he met the Ethiopian chancellor, he preached Jesus to him.1 The cause of that persecution is recorded. The religious authorities said, ‘We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man’s name! They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go’ (Acts 5:28, 40 NLT). The result of their threats and beatings, far from being like water to put out the gospel flames, became fuel on the fire that caused the message to...
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TEXT: ‘And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil’ (John 12:3) THOUGHT: The Bible records Jesus visiting the house of Lazarus, Martha and Mary on three separate occasions.1 The first visit was before He raised Lazarus from the dead and the last was shortly afterwards. The first and last visits are similar but there is one fundamental difference that makes the last visit something special. Today’s Teaching focusses on these two visits and what happened while Jesus and His disciples were there. 1. Welcome – ‘A certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house’ (Luke 12:38) The question is, “Would you welcome Jesus into your house or more importantly, into your life?” Martha welcomed Jesus and offered Him and the disciples hospitality. Little did she know that within a year or so Jesus would return and raise her brother from the dead. We may not see the need for Jesus right now in a physical or material way, but He knows the future and life was certainly better for Martha to face tragedy with Jesus in her life. We may wrongly think, that Jesus would not want to come into our home or life because of our past, but He made a promise that if...
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TEXT: ‘Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness’ (Psalm 145:3 NLT) THOUGHT: Psalm 145 contains seven statements about who the Lord is. In Part 1 we studied the first three: The Lord is great; The Lord is Gracious; The Lord is Good! We need to remind ourselves of these truths daily, for they will surely lift our spirits in testing times. Part 2 unpacks the final four statements. 4. The Lord Upholds – ‘The Lord upholds all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down’ (v14) It would be wonderful if Christians lived perfect lives, but we do not. When we are tempted to be critical of others’ shortcomings and failures, we need to remember we have this treasure in an earthen vessel.1 We can easily fall short too. Just as Peter cried out when he began to sink beneath the waves and Jesus took him by the hand2, so too the Bible promises God’s intervention to help us when we fall. ‘The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand’ (Psalm 37:23-24 NLT). Some wrongly think that God’s hand is there to slap us...
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