Fellow Soldiers of the Cross!
From the beginning of creation, there is always something, special, designated to God for His Sovereignty on earth! In the Garden of Eden, He told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life, because His Eternal Life is in it! During the Wilderness wondering, God told the people of Israel to offer unto Him, yearly scarifices with non-blemish animals! In the New Testament, He told Israel to worship Him, and bring their full tithes to the storehouse, so there may be meat in His house to meet the needs of His house.
Don’t Eat The Forbidden Fruit…
The point is this: Don’t eat the forbidden fruit of your Garden, it belongs to God! God created you to have "dominion" of the earth and "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it" Gen 1:26-28. In the Garden of Eden, there was no lack then and no lack now! 2:7-14. To open the windows of Heaven and have your need met with "overflowing blessings", is to live in the present day Garden of Eden! Malachi 3:10-12. The forbidden fruit is the 10% of your monthly income. v10. The Tree of Life has the Life of God in it, and so is the fruit (10%) thereof. Gen 2:16-17
Now let’s travel back in time, to the passage of history, when Adam and Eve sinned against God in His Garden. They both ate the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Life. God counted it against them, rejected them from His presence, and drove them out of the Garden. To be doubly sure they don’t sneak back in at night and eat more fruits, He puts an Angel with a flaming sword to guard the entrance of the Garden of Eden. Gen 3:22-24
For I Am The Lord, I Change Not…
What a smart God He is, even to protect His interests from Satan on earth. In the last Book of the Old Testament, He told the house of Israel these Words: “ For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed…Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation”. Mal 3:6-9.
To rob God at gun point, of His 10%, is to break the Covenant of Malachi 3:10! Malachi 3:10 is His means of multiplication of His Garden on earth to meet your need and the need of His Sanctuary! You see, God can not multiply His Garden on earth without His 10%! To bless you with an “overflowing blessings”, in His Garden on earth, is a Covenant between Him and His creations! You are in charge of His creations! Your Garden of Eden is your portion on earth! Your portion on earth includes your spouse, children, house, car and everything that belongs to you, except His 10%!
God Created You to Have Dominion On Earth.
In Genesis 1:26-30, God made it clear that He created you in His own “image, after our likeness” to have “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth…” The deal cannot be better than that! The blessings upon mankind to look like God, think like God, create like God and have “dominion” over all His creation is endless. You see, God gave away all His five days of creations to mankind to rule and reign over on earth while He watches from Heaven! He puts man in charge of all the luxury of His creations including “the good Land…where there is gold…bdellium and onyx stone”. Gen 2:10-14. Again, God created you and me to control His wealth on earth. All He is asking us to do is to fellowship with Him in person with our tithes and offerings.
No Lack Then, No Lack Now!
In Genesis 2:7-14, God, again, made it clear that in His earthly Garden of Eden, there is no lack at all. All the daily needs of Adam and Eve were met without reproaching. In Malachi 3:10-12, God commanded the house of Israel to: “ Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts”.
Thus God’s Covenant of Malachi 3:10-12 remains! There is no lack in the Garden of Eden in His presence then; there is no lack during the Wilderness wondering, and there is no lack now, says the Lord God Almighty!
To open the windows of Heaven, to your life and business on earth, requires that you do your part of the Covenant written in Malachi 3:10. God says: “Heaven is my Throne, and the earth is my footstool…” Acts 7:49 The whole earth is God’s Garden of Eden! The more praises, tithes and offerings you offer to Him, the more He expands His Garden in your life and on earth! Your Garden, your portion, called inheritance, is only a slice of His entire earthly Garden on earth!
God Has Corporations On earth.
God’s Heavenly wealth came with His creations! The only way He can multiply and use it on earth is to use you to cultivate His Garden. Let’s take a look at a corporation that makes a yearly budget. From the budget stand point, the corporation orders raw materials, hire workers and buys machinery necessary to produce its products. The products are sold worldwide to make money, not just enough to balance the book, but also surplus to maintain the building, increases workers salary and open more locations.
Where do you think the earthly corporation gets its idea if not from God? In the Heavenly, God does not need your money! On earth, He needs the 10% of your income to run His Corporation, called church or ministry. Your tithes and offerings provide for the Priests, Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists and all the workers of the House of God.
The light, water, phone bills, mortgage payment and building maintenance are paid monthly, and if there are any leftover, foreign missions are taking care off. Now judge for yourself! Does God deserve a House to fellowship with His chosen people on earth? Do His bills need to be paid in time? If you ask me: If a corporation pays its bills, and then you pay your bills, God deserves His 10% to pay His Bills! Saints of God, that is all God is asking for, anything else is secondary!
The Bottom-line: God’s Historic Fellowship Remains!
You see, at the beginning of creation, in the Garden of Eden, God comes at the cool of the day to fellowship with Adam and Eve. During the Wilderness wondering of Israel, He dwells in the Tent of meeting with cloud by day and fire by night to lead His people. In our days, He dwells in our hearts with His Spirit. His pre-historic fellowship at creation still remains!
Wherever the people of God meet, the idea of fellowship is still the same! Fellowship brings us closer to other believers in the presence of a Holy God! Our closeness to God brings relationship! Our relationship with Him brings His presence! God’s presence brings His anointing upon us for His service on earth!