“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”
Genesis 2:9
God longs for man to have someone to share his life with. He wants him to be able to provide for his home and family, and to have good health. You should learn to see the blessings of God through faith. The blessing does not just come through your own hard, work, but you can also receive blessing when you look to the tree of life, which is Jesus. When you have close fellowship with God and He gives you a word, it sows a seed into your heart. The promise of this will grow into a reality for you.
For example, you can receive the promise that says, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). You can confess that this word is for you, and that you believe that God will prosper and bless you. This is when all your needs will be met, because you will have conquered by faith.
God always wants the best for us. However, in order to know what is best, you must actually experience it as He gives it to you. For example, your ear has to hear new words and your tongue has to taste new foods. In the same way, no one will ever know what the blessings of God are like without having experienced them first. How can we know what they are, without having experienced them?
The Word of God declares that wisdom “is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.” (Proverbs 3:18). God treats us just like He treated Adam and Eve. They had a choice to eat from the tree of Life or from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. God also gives a choice to every one of His children. That choice is the decision to give tithes and offerings. If you are faithful in this area of your life, you will be taking from the fruit of the Tree of Life. If you do not tithe, you will be taking from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You will only struggle to decide which tree to eat from if you live by logic and earthly thinking. If you live in obedience, surrendering your tithes and offerings, you will eat of the tree of life and be blessed. Each offering that you give is registered in the heavens.
The Word of God also says, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this’, says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it’” (Malachi 3:10).
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
I recognize that the biggest crisis that I experienced in my life was the result of using a sum of money for a business matter rather than give the tithe in church. That same day all the financial blessings in my life were stopped. Even though I prayed, fasted, and did spiritual warfare, I could not seem to prosper. God revealed to me that all of the economic oppression had come upon my life because I had failed Him in my tithe. It wasn’t until I repented and was reconciled with God that He could bless me again. God does not need anyone’s money, but He always looks at our hearts in this matter, testing our faithfulness and commitment to Him.
A few days ago I was speaking with a pastor from Argentina and he told me, “Pastor, do you remember that it was one year ago that I gave a covenant offering and my petition was to have a new house? Exactly a year later, in the same month I had given the offering, the Lord gave me a house just as I had asked for.” Covenant offerings are the seeds that you are sowing that will later return fruit to your life.
TODAY’S DECLARATION
“I have tasted and seen God’s blessing is the best for me. Therefore, I will be faithful in surrendering my tithes and offerings.”
Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume One.
TODAY’S BIBLE READING
- Old Testament: Leviticus 14-15; Psalms 42
- New Testament: Matthew 19:1-15; Acts 26:1-18
