Are You Robbing God And Being Destroyed In The Process?

I believe that the vast majority of us desire to give our all to Jesus. I believe we want to lay it all on the line and say "Jesus, use me". I believe we are sincere in our desire to love him with all that we are. But I also believe we are lousy with the application of that desire. We have the emotion of it, we feel it, but we don't know how and we get distracted so easily. Because of it, we are falling into traps and we are getting ourselves in trouble. We have to accept that there is some work to this. In order to live by the Word we have to know the Word. To know the Word we need to be meditating on it. After meditating on it, so we have a good understanding through the Spirit, we apply it.

The first words Matthew records Jesus saying are:

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)

We have already considered Joshua 1:8 several times:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 

Meditate on it so that you know what you are suppose to do. Jesus says that we live according to the Word. You notice that to Joshua was given the promise that if he lived by the Word it would result in prosperity and success. There was no greater general than Joshua. Even David did not accomplish what Joshua did.

Considering this I want to point out one possible reason why many Christian are finding it hard to push forward. There are many reasons and most of them come down to Christians not knowing the Word just as Yahweh warned us:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)

We are being destroyed as a result of our lack of knowledge. Allow me to give you this one example.

Do you know that tithes and offerings are not an invention of the Church or of some greedy pastor who wants your money? Do you know that the children of Adam and Eve tithed? Do you know that Abraham tithed? Do you know that these people lived long before Moses brought in the Law? Do you know that there are people today who teach that because we are no longer under the Law that we do not have to tithe? Do you know that these people are cursed of Yahweh? They are being destroyed because of lack of knowledge.

In Malachi chapter three we find Yahweh trying to turn his people back to him. They are in ignorance, not evening knowing how they are offending him. He tells them that they are stealing from him. How are they stealing from him?

You are robbing me of the offerings and of the ten percent that belongs to me. (v. 8) 

In fact, he tells them that because they are failing to bring in their full tithe and their voluntary contributions, the whole nation is under a curse. The lack of tithes was an indication of their heart condition. Tithing is a response of love. It is not part of some religious system but a response to Father's love for us. Lack of tithe shows a disregard of that love and reveals an ungrateful heart. Do you know there are always promises for obedience to the Words of Yahweh:

Bring the entire ten percent into the storehouse, so there will be food in my house. Then I will open the windows of heaven and flood you with blessing after blessing. (v. 10)

Christians should understand that their tithes and offerings are like "food in the Lord's house", the Body of Christ. It enables the work of the Church to go forward. Some people want to act like Yahweh and dictate how their tithes and offerings are used, however, these gifts of love belong to Yahweh and he will take care of them. If there are abuses he will deal with it. Are we really saying that the Lord is incapable of looking after what belongs to him?

No, we only need be concerned with walking in obedience. If you continue reading this passage you will see that Yahweh promises protection and prosperity to those who obey. This is the Word of God. Jesus says we are to live by it. The passage also says that we will be so blessed that nations will look at us and call us blessed. Why are we so stuck on money that we are willing to be under the curse instead of walking in the sweetness of obedience?

This is only one thing out of the entire Word that is causing us to be destroyed because of our lack of knowledge of the Word. There are no short cuts. There is no getting around it. You need to take a good chunk of time every day to be reading, hearing, meditating, memorizing the Word and then applying it every single moment of your days. We live by every word that comes from the mouth of Yahweh and it is by doing so that we move forward in our spiritual growth.

Hey Dry Bones, What Is The Lack In Your Life?

I think more of us are in love with the idea of loving Jesus then with actually loving him. Love is an easy thing to say. It comes with no commitment because to us it only expresses a vague notion of some idea that we have not quite grasped. We like the thought of it but have never measured the cost of it. To say we love Jesus just means that we recognize some value there but we don't really want to think about it much; we have other things to do.

When I fell in love with my wife I wanted to know everything about her (I still do). I grilled her with a thousand questions about her past, her experiences, her likes and dislikes, her hopes, dreams, aspirations. I wanted to hear her opinion on everything. I wanted to know everything because I loved what made her her. Yet, this is a weak and faulty love coming from a weak and faulty heart. How much more should I be consumed with the One who gave up everything to give me his everything?

The truth is, most of us just pay lip service to our love for Jesus. How do I know? Our actions and our priorities reveal our heart. How much time did you spend in prayer yesterday? No excuses, just an honest answer. Write it down on something so you can see the reality of the figure. Now, how much time did you spend, hearing, reading, studying and meditating on the Scripture yesterday? No excuses; write it down. A number of years ago a survey was taken from Christians attending a conference on prayer. Keep in mind that most of the attendees were pastors and their wives. This survey revealed that these Christians, attending a seminar on prayer, spent less than an average of five minutes a day in prayer.

Everything we know and experience comes from Scripture and prayer. Everything about us as Christians come from the Word and prayer. A lack of time in Scripture and prayer reveals a lack of love for Jesus because if we were actually in love we would be consumed with being with him and knowing him. It means that most of us Christians are nothing but dry bones because we aren't even giving the Spirit the tools to work in and through us. Yahweh spoke to his people and told them why they were in trouble:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)

Let the Spirit convict where he must today. This is in direct contrast to what was said as the people were coming into the Promised Land, before they possessed it:

Do not let this book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do what is written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:8)

Are we brave enough to admit the lack in our life? "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." We aren't anywhere near what we should be because we lack two very basic Christian disciplines: Bible hearing, reading, studying, meditating, and prayer. How can we love Yahweh with our entire mind, soul and body when we choose a life of lack? Yet, we are told that prosperity and success belong to those who meditate on and live the Word.

Our prayer should mirror that of the psalmist who prayed:

Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:4-5)

It is a simple decision to allow Jesus' love for you to decide your actions and priorities. "Because you love me so much Jesus I want to know all about you; what pleases you and how I can honour you." It is when we make the decision to make the time for the Bible and to make the time for prayer that we grow in the relationship. I said "make" on purpose. It is something we have to carve out of each day. As we know the Word we will begin to live it. In this we will find the blessing of Jesus' prosperity and successful for our lives and we will go from dry bones to being trees planted by streams of living waters, whose leafs never wither. Is this not our great desire?