TDW 09-05-08 Test Me and Hold On and Freely Give!

By: Eddie L. Long
(Test Me and Hold On!)

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try 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 such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:10

When you give a tithe, you are bringing it to God’s earthly “storehouse,” the local church. There God does not spend your money; His people spend it to provide for the facilities and tools they use to build up and serve His kingdom on earth. God does not need your money as much as you need to give it. God is looking for your faith, and anything related to giving away your money will take faith!

That is why He was saying in Malachi, in essence, “Try Me. Believe Me! If I can get you to exercise your faith through your money, then I will have you covered everywhere else. You will have plenty of faith to believe Me for anything else after that.”

If you have given the firstfruits of your income and that has stretched your faith, God will give it back to you in a heartbeat. Tithing is not about the money. The most important aspect of faithful tithing is that it proves you can handle more blessings without the blessings handling you. It is practical proof that you put God above your money.

Once you have proven yourself faithful to give, God will tell you secret things and share fresh ideas that no one else will believe, and your faith will grow in giant leaps. He will share incredible insights with you because you have proven that you have enough faith to walk where few—if any—have gone before.


Holy Father, I accept Your challenge and I dare to prove Your Word is true. I will tithe my firstfruits to You with joy and faith, knowing that You will honor Your Word and pour out a blessing to me so I can be a blessing to others. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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By: Henry T. Blackaby
(Freely Give)

"Freely you have received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8b)

There is no room for misers in God’s kingdom. When we begin to struggle in giving what we have to others, we have forgotten where we received our possessions. Every good thing we have ever received has come from God (James 1:17). All that we have acquired has been dependent upon His grace (1 Cor. 4:7). Job accurately summarized our condition: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, / And naked shall I return there. / The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; / Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

We easily assume a sense of ownership of our possessions, as if they were things we earned ourselves, thereby giving us a right to them. Jesus reminds us to be prepared to give our possessions as freely and joyfully as we received them. It should be a pleasure for us to give what we have to others (2 Cor. 9:7). We ought to be a conduit through whom the Lord can pour His blessings, knowing we will disperse them to everyone around us. Sometimes we claim we are trying to be good stewards of our resources when actually we are being selfish.

If you struggle to give freely to others, you have become more attached to the gift than to the Giver. The account of the rich young ruler shows the tragedy of becoming too attached to worldly treasures (Luke 8:18–24). Meditate on all that your Lord has given to you (John 3:16). Resolve to express your gratitude to Him through your giving.