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Tithing primes the pump and gets the flow of finances going.

Mal 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, NKJV

Why was the tithe so important ? Because it was the Divine Plan of economic prosperity.

It established the priesthood , which was the intermediate intercession between the people and God.  This covered atonement for sin, restoration to righteousness, Healing for the body, and justice between members of the family of God who had legal disputes. It provided for the oversight of marriage and divorce. The priesthood had the oversight of the distribution to the poor and the widow and the orphan and the foreigner. In addition to all these responsibilities, they were required to teach the people in the Word of the Lord. The Levites were priests and singers and musicians in the temple plus they had the oversight of the maintenance of the temple mount.

The Priesthood and the Temple gave the people national identification as must as the King did.

2 Chron 7:12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying,’You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’

19 “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 “And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say,’Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ 22 Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’”  NKJV

I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes Mal 3:11. Who is the devourer?  He and his forces are the enemies of your soul, your prosperity, and your health.

* Eph 6: Principalities, Powers, Rulers of the Darkness of this world, Wicked Spirits in the heavens,

Demon Spirits from hell, Fallen Angels, and people of this world working in cooperation with them.

Jesus taught that they have only one purpose.

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  NKJV

If we walk according to God’s Word by honoring Him with our tithes, offerings, and firstfruits. And if we live a clean holy life, we have the promise that the Lord will rebuke the devourer and give us authority over all the works of the enemy.

Luke 10:18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”  NKJV

The command is to bring the tithe to the storehouse. And the storehouse is the place you are spiritually fed.

Gal 6:6  Let him who receives instruction in the Word [of God] share all good things with his teacher [contributing to his support]. AMP

Offerings are above the tithe. Offerings include, support for the poor and the widow and the orphan and the stranger.

Acts 6:1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.

NKJV

Rom 15:26 For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. 27 It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. NKJV

Offerings for ministers of the Word of God, both domestic and foreign both home and abroad.

Phil 4:14 Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress. 15 Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. 18 Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet‑smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. 19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. NKJV

Firstfruits offerings

Lev 23: 9 Adonai said to Moshe, 10 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘After you enter the land I am giving you and harvest its ripe crops, you are to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the cohen. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before Adonai, so that you will be accepted; the cohen is to wave it on the day after the Shabbat. 12 On the day that you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a male lamb without defect, in its first year, as a burnt offering for Adonai. 13 Its grain offering is to be one gallon of fine flour mixed with olive oil, an offering made by fire to Adonai as a fragrant aroma; its drink offering is to be of wine, one quart. 14 You are not to eat bread, dried grain or fresh grain until the day you bring the offering for your God; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live. CJB

Remember, when Job pled his case to the Lord, he said that he was a friend of the poor, widow, the orphan, and the oppressed . And in the end he was restored with twice as much as before.

Job 31:16 “Have I refused to help the poor, or crushed the hopes of widows? 17 Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans? 18 No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father, and all my life I have cared for widows. 19 Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes

and the needy with nothing to wear, 20 did they not praise me for providing wool clothing to keep them warm? 21 “If I raised my hand against an orphan, knowing the judges would take my side, 22 then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place! Let my arm be torn from its socket! 23 That would be better than facing God’s judgment. NLT

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Please pray for these faithful people this week.

Missionaries: Ivan Tait family

Priscilla Ouellette & Choir

Staff: Tara Sanchez and adult dance team