HAPPY THANKSGIVING dear one!

When things go wrong in our lives, we should evaluate whether we are dishonoring God in some way.  God is always concerned about the conditions of our hearts.  We should continually ask ourselves, “Is God’s Word first place in my life?  Am I doing things because I love God or because I feel obligated?”  While God expects us to HONOR HIM through obedience, He also wants us to obey Him because we love Him.

1 Samuel 2:30 declares,

• Those who HONOR GOD will be HONORED BY HIM, but those who despise Him will be lightly esteemed.

We HONOR GOD by HONORING HIS WORD, which means that His Word weighs heavily in our lives.  We can’t HONOR GOD without knowing His Word.  To despise God’s Word means we don’t consider it when we’re making decisions.  

Family, there is HONOR that comes from God alone ~ the blessing, which causes us to be successful in every area of our lives.  Jesus said to the Jews who were persecuting Him in John 5:44 (NLT),

• No wonder you can’t believe!  For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the One Who alone is God.

It’s important that we HONOR THE LORD with our substance and the first fruits of all our increase, according to Proverbs 3:9-10.  To HONOR GOD means to obey Him.  Abraham gave his tithe because He loved and appreciated God, not because of any law (see Genesis 14:11-23).  This took place 500 years before there was a tithing law.  

The covenant between God and Abraham is an everlasting covenant (see Genesis 17:1, 7).  God made a covenant with Abraham and his seed, which is Jesus (Galatians 3:16-29).  We are heirs according to the promise because we believe in Jesus.  

The law carried a curse with it ~ if the commandments were broken, a curse followed (see Leviticus 27:30-34; Numbers 18:24, 26; Deuteronomy 12:6; Malachi 3:6-9).  Because of Jesus’ blood sacrifice, we’re now redeemed from the curse of the law.  Jesus became our High Priest, Who received our tithes out of love.

Remember, Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that He didn’t come to do away with the law but to fulfill it.  Love is the fulfillment of the law (see Romans 13:10).  Tithing is a love action.  We tithe because we love God and appreciate the things He does for us every day.  When we give our tithes with a cheerful attitude, not only does God love a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7), but we’re demonstrating that God is our source of supply and as a result, He blesses us.  

Honoring God today,

Lisa Gordon

Assistant Pastor

Jesus City Church