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THE WISDOM KEY TO PROSPERITY
1. Give of your best to the Lord - Pr 3:9-10
Proverbs 3:9-10Amplified Bible (AMP)
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth
And with the first fruits of all your crops (income);
10 Then your barns will be abundantly filled
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
2. In the OT, that involved paying tithes and putting God first
a. When tithes were not given, it resulted in hardship - Mal 3: 8-12
You Have Robbed God
Mal 3: 8-12
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings [you have withheld]. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, this whole nation! 10 Bring all the tithes (the tenth) into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test 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 [so great] a blessing until there is no more room to receive it. 11 Then I will rebuke the devourer (insects, plague) for your sake and he will not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor will your vine in the field drop its grapes [before harvest]," says the Lord of hosts. 12 "All nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a land of delight," says the Lord of hosts.
Footnotes:
- Malachi 3:10 In ancient times special storehouses were established in the temple to receive the tithes of the harvest. If the people were not faithful, the priests could not continue to serve and perform their duties.
- Malachi 3:10 I.e. support for the priests and their families.
- Malachi 3:11 In return for their faithfulness God promised protection for the harvest.
b. When God was not first, likewise - cf. Hag 1:6-11
Haggai 1:6-11 Amplified Bible (AMP)
6 You have planted much, but you harvest little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you do not have enough to be intoxicated; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns wages earns them just to put them in a bag with holes in it [because God has withheld His blessing]."
7 Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider your ways and thoughtfully reflect on your conduct!
8 Go up to the hill country, bring lumber and rebuild My house (temple), that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says the Lord [accepting it as done for My glory].
9 You look for much [harvest], but it comes to little; and even when you bring that home, I blow it away. Why?" says the Lord of hosts. "Because of My house, which lies in ruins while each of you runs to his own house [eager to enjoy it].
10 Therefore, because of you [that is, your sin and disobedience] the heavens withhold the dew and the earth withholds its produce.
11 I called for a drought on the land and the hill country, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands."
3. In the NT, it is not that much different
a. Put God and His kingdom first, and we enjoy His providential care - Mt 6:31-33
Matthew 6:31-33 Amplified Bible (AMP)
31 Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, 'What are we going to eat?' or 'What are we going to drink?' or 'What are we going to wear?' 32 For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness
[His way of doing and being right-the attitude and character of God],
and all these things will be given to you also.
b. Give cheerfully and liberally, and God will empower us to give more - 2Co 9:6-9
2 Corinthians 9:6-9 Amplified Bible (AMP)
6 Now [remember] this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to others] will also reap generously [and be blessed]. 7 Let each one give [thoughtfully and with purpose] just as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver [and delights in the one whose heart is in his gift].
8
And God is able to make all grace [every favor and earthly blessing] come in abundance to you, so that you may always [under all circumstances, regardless of the need] have complete sufficiency in everything [being completely self-sufficient in Him], and have an abundance for every good work
and act of charity.
"He [the benevolent and generous person] scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever!"
9 As it is written and forever remains written,
-- Do we give to the Lord the "first fruits" of our time, energy, and money?
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