"God's Economy"

 "For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?" (Ecclesiastes 2:25 KJV) 

  ""Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! "But you ask, 'What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?' "You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!"" (Malachi 3:8-10 NLT)

 Have you ever wondered what it means to cheat God? The King James Version say, "robbed Me," which is pretty much the same, except that no one can really rob God, because everything is from Him, so it all is His anyways! He will still have everything when it all comes to an end. 

 In this instance, we are talking about those who are His, in whatever category you might place yourself, servant, child, follower, believer, or just someone that worships Him; if you belong to Him, then you honor and give Him that which He has asked for; and sometimes, even more! As the saying goes, "You can't out-give God!" 

 So then, how is God robbed or cheated, if everything is His to begin with? One of the speakers, we had at our Men's Conference, spoke about missing the mark, which we commonly refer to as the illustration of basic sin. You have a target placed before you, yet you never quite hit the bullseye, because you always fall short. 

 That bullseye represents the blessings that God wants to pour out upon your life! He really does want to bless you, as much as He can, but you rob or cheat Him out of the opportunity to it, because you just will not even try to hit that mark! How hard is it do give something that you already have? Depending upon what you might think how God is able, it could be easy or hard, based upon your ability to trust Him. 

 Giving is probably the easiest thing we are expected to do, yet there are only a small percentage of people in church that actually give at least 10% of their net; let alone those who give 10% of their gross; which is really what we are expected to do! I hate to say this, put when I was in charge of handling the offerings, I witnessed those that served in the church, seemed to be quite stingy when it came to giving 10%; almost as if serving counted towards giving, so they didn't need to give that much. 

 If you serve God, then you should serve God fully! When my wife and I started going to church, after I was released from jail, after several months we started to serve in children's ministry; but when they discovered that we were not legally married, we were asked to step down. So, what did we do? We got married! 

 If God puts it upon your heart to do something, then you should do your very best to do what He wants! That is the whole point of how we cheat God! He never gives you something to do, if you cannot do it; and even then, if you try and can't, He will provide the way! We are just cheating ourselves out of God's blessings, by not doing what He says...

"Remember this - a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. "For God loves a person who gives cheerfully." And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, "They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever." For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you." (2 Corinthians 9:6-10 NLT)