Home »
Grace takes you to a place of well being and wholeness that is peace; for it is where God wants you to be. And, it is to make it all possible, that on the Cross, He took it all, so that you may have it all. But, on your side, there is a process involved in receiving it in your life. It is why God’s word declares that, He who would love life to see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil to do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. [1 Peter 3:10,11]
Peace and prosperity are derived from the same root word in the Hebrew language, and point towards wholeness in you, a balanced fullness that leads to an experience of peace within you. It comes as you seek and pursue it, for it does not happen automatically. But then again, pursuing peace does not imply a chasing after it, in order to make it your experience. Rather, it is becoming aware that the God of peace is with you, and also that He is a God of order, and never the author of chaos, confusion or disorder. It is why in your life, to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness needs to be your priority. For, it is the divine order that will see all other things being added unto you. [Matthew 6:33] God comes first.
The book of proverbs in the Old Testament also reiterates the same truth, with the emphasis on giving to God, to describe together with it, the blessing of overflowing abundance that accompanies it. [Proverbs 3:9,10] But, the important truth that needs to be assimilated through it all is that, whenever the Bible talks about money, or material possessions, it addresses primarily, your trust and faith in God. It was by faith that Abel brought unto God a better offering. Without faith it is impossible to please God; and the one who comes to Him, must believe that He exists and rewards those who draw near to Him in faith. And, it is your faith that overcomes the world.
In the kingdom of God, it is faith or trust in God that comes first, while your substance, possessions and money, take the last place in the ladder of prioritization. And, at the very centre of the Bible is the verse that declares , It is better to trust in God, than to put confidence in man. [Psalms 118:8] It is the central truth of the scriptures, declaring the need for God confidence; and not putting your confidence in man, also includes not trusting in yourself, or having self confidence, at the expense of God.
Defining faith :
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. [Hebrews 11:1] It can also be said to be your positive response to the revelation from God. For, it takes faith to receive from God, and faith to give to God, and also give up something for God, without withholding it with a tightfisted attitude. For then, at the end of the equation, it would sadly find you being the loser. It was Abraham’s faith that led him to give to God, and he was blessed in every way, is how scripture records and describes his life of faith. [Genesis 24:1] And earlier, in his encounter with Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God, after a remarkable victory, you can see how Abraham was inspired to give a tenth of everything unto God. The incident is of special significance, for it is where the law of first mention finds its place, in the area of tithing, to establish the truth concerning it.
The principle of tithing :
Tithing is the privilege of giving unto God, as an offering, a tenth of all that He has blessed you with; and it all began with this act of Abraham’s . Today, the truth of it has been distorted in the minds of many, to make them offer it very grudgingly, or worse still, in an attitude of contempt, likening it to paying a commission unto God, for favors that they have received. Little do they realize that, all that they have in their lives belongs to God, the Creator and Possessor of all that they think they own ! But, it was not the attitude with which Abraham gave an offering, and need not be yours too. For, the truth underlying giving a tithe unto God, as an offering, is so much greater.
Response to revelation :
The blessing pronounced by Melchizedek, the Priest of the Most High God upon Abraham, was a revelation truth that renewed the mind of Abraham, and inspired him to respond by giving a tithe as an offering to God. And, understanding the two aspects of the truth that is revealed through the blessing, will lead you to know what a great privilege it is to bring an offering unto God.
1. He is the Possessor of heaven and earth :
Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth. [Genesis 14:19] It is how Melchizedek, the King of Salem, imparts to Abraham, the revelation concerning the nature of the God Most High. He is the Possessor of heaven and earth. It is reaffirmed in the scriptures that go on to say that, all the silver and gold on earth is His, and so is the earth and all its fullness. The truth is therefore that, all that we bring as an offering unto God already belongs to Him !
How can this truth be understood ?
In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. [John 1:1-3] In simple terms, everything on earth, everything good, has been created by God. Chaos and all that is evil, on the other hand is the handiwork of the devil, the evil one. It was the entrance of sin, that opened the door to it; and sin basically, is a trusting in your own self, instead of trusting God with the issues of life. It was not the divine plan or design though, of the God, who always wants what is best for you, in life.
The Eternal Word that the apostle John talks about is Christ, who is the source and head of all. It is the truth that the apostle Paul declares in his letter to the Colossians. For by Him all things were created, that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things; and in Him all things consist. [Colossians 1:16,17] Through Him and for Him were all things created, and He is also the Lord God who is your Sustainer. He does not take away His hands, once He has created you. He continues to care and provide for you. It is very unlike the pattern of the world, where in the making of any product, the manufacturer or the one who makes it, stops with that, while the marketing and maintenance that needs to be done next, is usually by someone else. But God carries you through, from the very beginning, until the very end.
Carried by Him, even in your mother’s womb :
This is the abiding and everlasting truth. He is the Lord who has carried you, even in your mother’s womb; and He promises not to let go, even when you are old and gray haired. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and deliver you. [Isaiah 46:4] What a blessed assurance of loving care it is – from the God who loves you forever. You may find it difficult to carry your child when he or she is not a small baby anymore ! And by the same token, it also has to be said that, you and I need to be around when our children are young enough to be carried. For, the time will soon come, when the little one who tightly clutched your hand on the way to school, will grow up, and want to be seen as an independent person, who no longer needs to hold the parent’s hand, even if you want to do so !
Carried by Him when you are old :
But, the Lord who has carried you in your mother’s womb, and is carrying you even now, promises to do so even in your old age. He is your Creator, and also the Sustainer, and in Him all things hold together. And therefore, if you feel that your life has fallen apart, and everything around you is shaking, all that you thought you could rely on in life, He is there as your strength and shield, making you stand upright in your situation. God remains your true security in life, as you put your trust in Him. For, everything else in your life, your finances, material possessions and property, the people and family whom you count on, can all be removed owing to one reason or the other. And, anything that can be taken away from you can never be your real security in life. But, God is your Creator, who has promised you that He will never leave or forsake you. And, He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion, for He is your Sustainer. Above all, He has promised to be faithful, even when you and I are faithless ! To such a God as this, what offering can ever be enough ?!
Upholding all thing – by the power of His word :
God has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made all the worlds. Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the power of His word, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty. [Hebrews 1:2,3] Sometimes you can observe in a family, a person who has the gifting to keep the unit, in all its various colors and differences together ! And sadly, it is why, the relationships do not remain the same, when the person passes away. But, a very different scenario comes into play, when it is Christ, the Son of God, who lives forever, holding it all together. He is the legal heir, the legal owner of all, having authority over all things. And therefore, it is by the power of His word that all things hold together.
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto Him. And by faith, when you believe and put your trust in Him, in a relationship with Him, He gives you authority; and, it comes to you through His word. It is why hearing and meditating upon the word of God is so very important. The centurion, understood it very well, as he came to Jesus, for his servant to be healed, as he was himself a man who was under authority, and so had authority. Therefore, with a revelation of the truth regarding the power of the word, spoken by the Lord, he was able to ask of the Lord, to just say one word, that his servant may be healed. [Matthew 8:5-13]
The word of God, even today, is the seed, which when planted in the soil of your heart, in a conducive environment, even if it is twenty years later, will surely bring forth fruit. And, it is by the word that all godly things come to you. ‘It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God,’ spoke the Lord Himself, to overcome the temptation of the devil ! [Matthew 4:4] You may be battling a hundred problems right now, but hearing one word from God, and a revelation concerning it, could be the solution, the answer that floods you with peace and joy. He who holds the world together, will hold your world, speaking to you through His word, giving you grace that is sufficient to abound in every good work. He spoke and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. [Psalms 33:9] Such is the power of His word, and the promises that come to you through it.
‘Be still…’ :
Then He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still’. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. [Mark 4:39] The Lord spoke, to make a great difference in the atmosphere, one that astonished the disciples, who were with Him. And today, in the boat of your life, you can stand up to say, ‘Peace, be still’. You have a voice, and the Lord has given you the authority to speak His word, to see quietness and peace rule in your situation. It is why you can say in the midst of your pain, ‘By His stripes I am healed’. When you are weak, you can say, ‘I am strong’. And, when you are poor, you can say, ‘I am rich’. It is an acknowledgement of the truth that, He that is in you is greater; and therefore you can now proclaim, not the status quo but restoration. The supply which comes to you, according to His glorious riches is what you confess, to see a removal of poverty and lack in your life.
‘The Lord is my shepherd; and therefore I shall not want’, is what you can declare along with the psalmist; and not because no need is going to arise in your life, but because the Supplier who provides for your need is with you. He is the God who with foreknowledge has already made provision for your need, even before it arises in your life. Therefore, when you know that you have such a God, you will not be afraid of the need ! And, this is the God, unto whom you bring an offering ! There is also a second aspect in the blessing of Melchizedek, one that addresses the victory that Abraham had just achieved.
2. ‘He has defeated your enemies for you’ :
‘And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand’. [Genesis 14:20] God’s blessing upon you, sees Him being your Protector, your shield and your exceedingly great reward. That his victory over his enemies came from God was the revelation truth that Abraham received through God’s blessing that was pronounced over him by the priest of the Most High God. It set the record straight, to renew Abraham’s mind, so that he may not get vainly carried away in his own estimation ! And, it applies certainly even today, in your life and mine.
When you are enjoying the blessings of God in your life, take care to remember, that it is not your ingenuity or skill, but it is all owing to the grace and favor of God, pure and simple ! Abraham was a shepherd and not a professional warrior. Yet, he had won an impossible and improbable victory over five kings who had trained armies fighting for them. It was a supernatural victory, and one that the Lord had brought about. Therefore, it was the revelation truth which may have been initially humbling, but served to bring about a transformation within him, by renewing his mind. And, it was then, with a right attitude that Abraham responded to God’s revelation, to bring an offering unto Him. The Lord has also spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, to give you the right perspective, and attitude that needs to prevail in you regarding the blessings in your life, lest pride and boasting that is not from Him, enters to derail you.
What is your boast ?
Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts, boast in this – that he knows and understands Me…. [Jeremiah 9:23-26] Crystal clear is the Lord’s counsel, regarding the necessity of putting your trust and dependency upon Him, for it is His grace that has made all other things available in your life. He is not against your education, your material wealth, or physical strength, but it is by His grace that is new every morning, that everything works together in you, to give you good success.
You may have forty years of experience in doing a job, but depending on your experience alone, will see you fail some point or the other. For, it is by depending upon His grace that is new every morning, that you will be able to apply the knowledge of your years of experience, on that particular day, in your work. Thus, the Lord clearly establishes what needs to be your platform of strength in this world. It is a growing from strength to strength in your knowledge and understanding of Him that the Lord commends, and desires to take place in you. It was what was happening in Abraham, as he received the blessing that Melchizedek spoke over him. And, progressing to a deeper dimension of this truth will find you experiencing a love that has been lavished upon you, for you are His child, known by Him and loved by Him, eternally !
He knows you !:
It is not just about your knowledge of Him; for, He knows you, very uniquely, very specifically, and very specially. And, when He comes again in glory, to the trumpet sound, and with myriads of angels and saints, He is coming for you. You will know it so very surely, and it will be the experience of every child of His, who knows Him, and is known by Him. Landing in a crowded airport that is milling with people, your eyes look out, to search for the eyes, the faces of your loved ones, in a sea of faces, to make a connection that results in a smile so big, that it lights you up from the inside ! The eyes of the Lord are on you even now, searching out for you, with an everlasting love. And, even when you taste victories in your life, it is all by His grace, nothing but grace, and nothing else but grace ! In your times of trouble and strife, it is He stands with you, to make you win and overcome. It is the revelation truth that needs to renew your mind, and transform you, even as Abraham was.
The psalmist David too, knowing the revelation truth of the majestic greatness of the Lord God, who had carried him and protected him, to establish him on the throne, after years of turmoil , declares , He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. [Psalms 18:17,18] And, it is recorded elsewhere in the psalms, regarding how the Israelites gained possession of the land of Canaan, not because of their might, but all by the grace and favor of God Almighty. [Psalms 44:3] Abraham’s mind was renewed by the revelation, that the God Most High was the Possessor of heaven and earth, who had defeated his enemies, to give unto Him an offering, as a grateful response, knowing well that nothing was ever going to be sufficient to offer unto Him.
A positive mind and a willing heart :
A transformation in your attitude regarding giving to God an offering, is what God desires, that it may be with a willing heart, and never out of compulsion. Moses, met with God in the mountain, to hear from Him, and receive instructions, that were very specific in nature about the construction of the tabernacle. And, provision to build it was to come from the people, but not forcibly, Moses spoke to the people saying, ‘This is what the Lord commanded, take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering unto the Lord, gold, silver and bronze’. [Exodus 35: 4,5] It was with a willing heart, aligned with and obedient to God’s word, that the people brought forth an offering. May it be the prayer of your heart today, that God would do His work of grace in you, that you may give to God in accordance with the truth of His word, so that it may be a blessing in your life and in the lives of others.
It was with a transformed heart that Abraham gave a tenth as an offering, and later on, in obedience and faith, was willing to offer his son, on the mountain where his faith was tested by God. King David too, acknowledges with gratefulness the privilege of being able to bring to God an offering, in his prayer unto Him. From being a shepherd boy to becoming a king, it was all about the grace and favor of God, was the revelation truth that humbled and transformed him and raised him up, to be able to give to God, 3500 tons of gold towards the construction of the temple of God. [1 Chronicles 29:12–14] David knew that wealth was given to him for a purpose; that God’s temple may be built, so that generations after him would be blessed.
‘For this child I prayed’ :
But for the Lord’s favor and grace, she would not have had a child born to her, was the revelation truth that Hannah knew deep within her heart. It was why she was able to dedicate Samuel, towards serving the Lord, as an offering unto Him, as she worshipped in the temple, ‘For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition, that I asked of Him. Therefore I also have given him to the Lord, for as long as he shall live’. [1 Samuel 1:27,28] Children in your life and mine, are an inheritance from the Lord. And, when you offer your all, your family and everything that God has blessed you with as a sacrificial offering unto the Lord, it is a sign and an act that comes out of a renewed mind, in faith and loving submission. The apostle Paul, declares how it was by God’s grace that he was called, even in his mother’s womb, and how it was God who was pleased to reveal His Son to him, that he may preach to the gentiles. [Galatians 1:15,16]
And, it is in faith, that Paul is able to declare :
‘For, I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until the Day’. [1 Timothy 1:12] He is able to guard all that you commit unto Him, for He is the Creator, Sustainer, and the One who holds all things together. He alone is your Source, the Possessor and Protector, who causes you to prosper. And, to such an awesome God, what can you bring as an offering, but yourself, wholly submitted, a willing sacrifice. May the revelation truth of God renew your mind, that you may pray the prayer of Hannah, offering yourself, and all that you have received from Him as a grateful response. And, let every trace of pride be removed, that you may offer glory and praise to the Most High God, who alone blesses you and gives you victory. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
