"First Things First"

"He hath shown his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen." (Psalms 111:6)

 I know that it is said that Malachi 3:10 is the only place in the Bible where God says, "Test Me and see," but I am not so sure that is totally true. As far as I can see, the entire Bible is God's way of saying, "Test Me." From the very first introduction of God's awesome power, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." It is as if He says, This is a test, now who is it that you are going to believe? Over and over we read of testing man's faith; but with each testing of faith, there is a test of God's wonderful amazing power. But if you wanted another direct example of God saying it, then I would point you to David speaking for God in Psalms 34:8, saying, "Taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed in the man that trusteth in him." It is pretty much the same; each situation requires that we step out and into a relationship of trusting in God. Each one requires us to walk in faith, at least long enough to see that it works, that it is real, and that He is all that He says that He is. You really cannot discover His power and might unless you walk out your faith in Him, because before you can see His power you have got to taste! That is what taste actually means, to try it and see for yourself. We cannot know or see the power of His works by taking the words of others, we must experience His power in our own lives, first hand. This is what it means to have a personal relationship with the Lord; all other forms that are not personal are called religion, where we are religious people guided by other people; when what we need to be is God's children guided by God...

""Now search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now, and search from one end of heaven to the other. Has anything as great as this ever been seen or heard before? Has any nation ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire -as you did -and survived? Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation be means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes. "He showed you these things so you would know that the LORD is God and there is no other. He let you hear his voice from heaven so he could instruct you. He let you see his great fire here on earth so he could speak to you from it."" (Deuteronomy 4:32-36) NLT