Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to the last week of the month of September 2022. My prayer is that God will secure all that is yours and all that He has appointed this year for your enjoyment for you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
I offer that prayer for you because it is in keeping with the words of David’s Psalm that says, “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.” (Ps 16:5NIV) Who secured David’s inheritance in life for him? God! And who alone is able to secure our inheritance, profit, job, position, joy, peace, relationships and lives for us? God! And that is why we must learn to daily entrust everything that we have and that concerns us to Him.
However, as we trust God to secure our lot in life for us and keep us from being robbed or cheated, we too should see to it that we are not stealing from others or robbing them. The word of God says, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” (Eph 4:28NIV) So, in whatever way you are stealing from those around you, you have to stop it.
You know that we don’t have to carry a gun to steal from people before we steal from them. Anytime we take for ourselves what we are not permitted, authorised or privileged to take from others, we are stealing. Also, anytime we refuse to pay people, organisations or governments duly for services they have rendered to us or for jobs they have done for us, we are stealing from them. And these things will certainly affect the security of what belongs to us to one degree or the other.
Also, as we trust God to preserve our lot for us, we need to be careful that we are not stealing from Him. How do we steal from God? Is it by taking money for ourselves from offering bags or by breaking into a church meeting place and taking for ourselves the money or facilities there? Yes, by doing any of these things we will be stealing from God. And that will affect our safety and the safety of our possessions. But stealing from God is more serious than those. It also involves keeping back for ourselves what we should have given to God’s servants who are ministering to us.
Why did God call the Jews of Malachi’s day robbers? Was it because they broke into the temple’s treasury and stole things from there? No! It was because they would not give to God’s priests that were ministering to them the tithes and offerings meant for their upkeep. And why were they told to give these priests their tithes and offerings? It was because God did not give them any inheritance in the land and had commanded them to devote themselves to serving all the people. So, by not giving to those priests what was meant for them, the people were robbing them and also robbing God who had chosen them to serve them. No wonder they and their possessions were not safe from the activities of devourers. (Cf. Numbers 18; Malachi 3:8-12)
In like manner, the Lord has commanded us to take care of those He has sent to minister to us with our resources. Therefore, when He was sending out His apostles to preach, He did not give them any money to take along. Also, He did not leave any money for them when He was ascending into the heavens. And that was because He expected those that they were serving to take care of them. His words were, “The worker deserves his wages.” So, if those that they were serving would not take care of them, they would be stealing from them. That, of course, as the Lord points out, will keep the blessings of their ministries from fully settling on them. (Cf. Luke 10:1-7; 1Cor 9:14; Gal 6:6)
So, if we do not take giving to support our ministers of God seriously (AND ONLY FEW OFTEN TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY IN MOST OF OUR CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLIES), we are stealing from them and stealing from God. How, then, can we expect the blessings of their ministries to fully work in us or expect the things God has given to us to be kept safe from devourers? This explains why brethren hardly prosper in material things in assemblies where their leaders are not joyfully and adequately cared for. Such brethren may be devoted to staying away from sin and walking in righteousness. But they won’t prosper as brethren who are not as devoted to living in righteousness as they are but who are devoted to caring for their leaders.
Well, the point of all this is that if you are robbing God by robing His ministers of the things you are supposed to give to them or do for them, the manifestation and security of your prosperity will be adversely affected. So, repent now and begin to do what is right. Otherwise, Satan won’t stop seeing opportunities to steal from you.
Have a lovely week.
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