Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: ‘Trusting God”
Our Bible verse for today: “Test Me in this way, says the Lord of Hosts. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.” Malachi 3:10 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Take your eyes off of yourself.”
When we’re going through tough times it is basic human nature to turn our thoughts inward. We tend to believe we have to focus more intently on ourselves in order to deal effectively with our problems.
Unfortunately this can lead a person to become very self-absorbed. We convince ourselves that since our own issues seem so overwhelming, we don’t have the time or energy to be concerned about other people and their problems. But in the Bible God shows us a different way.
As an example, in Malachi chapter three the prophet taught about money and tithing. Evidently many of the people had come to the conclusion that their own financial needs were such that they could not afford to obey God’s command to give a tenth of their income to the church (a tithe). But through Malachi God told the people to simply obey Him and trust Him in this matter. Even though it might not have seemed possible or practical, He told them to trust Him, do what He commanded, and He in turn would bless their socks off.
God was telling the people to take their eyes off of themselves and off of their own problems, and to focus instead on obeying Him and blessing others.
Jesus spoke to this as well. In Matthew 6:25-34 (The “Do not worry” passage in the Sermon on the Mount), Jesus taught that rather than obsessively worrying about food and clothes, housing and car payments, money and bills, He said “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”
God teaches us very clearly that He does not want us to be self-absorbed, focusing exclusively or even primarily on our own problems. He wants us to take our eyes off of ourselves and to focus instead on obeying Him and blessing others. When we do that, He assumes responsibility for all the other issues of our lives.
The best approach is always to simply trust God and obey Him. That doesn’t relieve you of your responsibility to make good choices and of being actively involved in solving your own problems, but it does open the door for God’s full blessings in your life. “Test Me in this way, says the Lord of Hosts. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.”
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 