Morning prayer at HPC

For those of you who haven't been able to make it out, you still have two days to participate in HPC morning prayer! God has been doing some great things in my heart as I just continue to seek His face and His will. With Miracle Offering this weekend, Chris and I have been praying a lot about what God is calling us to give, both with this offering and Chapter 2. I have been reading some great passages on finances, but theres one that has really been hitting me hard.

Malachi 2:8-12 says "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

This is SO strong! To think that I could rob God scares the daylights out of me! I would hate to steal from Him when He has given me more than I could have ever asked for or imagined! In the scripture He also says to test Him. I may be wrong (all you bible scholars can let me know), but if I remember correctly, this is the only time in the Word that God tells us to test Him- which leads me to believe He must be pretty serious! If I just act obediently and give Him what He asks (and what's already His anyway), He will pour so much blessing on me that I won't have enough room for it?! I don't know about you, but that offer sounds pretty good to me!

So, this week, I pray that God speaks to you and me about what He expects of us financially. Let none of us rob Him of what is His. All of our tithes and offerings are different and cannot be compared... What matters is our obedience to what He puts on our hearts. Whether you are an HPCer or not, God wants us to give to Him and His people. Let's test Him in this and see the power and blessing that comes from obedience!

P.S. Married life is still as peachy as ever. We are truly so happy and so in love... We fall more and more in love everyday. God has given us such favor in dealing with conflict and we have not had a single fight or hint of a fight or argument. We pray that we are able to continue to die to ourselves and keep God first... We're definitely on the right track, and it's all because of Jesus... Gotta love that guy!