Saturday, January 16, 2016

Listening to each other encourages God to listen

6“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings...
 9You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10Bring 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 there will not be room enough to store it. 11I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12“Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
16Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.
17“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.  (Malachi 3)

Thoughts: If we listen and return to God, He will return to us.  One way we return to God is by giving to Him.  One sign of true belief is a willingness to not just give a little (as the people were doing) but sacrificing- giving 10%,  A lack of belief leads to division and separation from God's blessing.
      One other special thing here- is found in verse 16 about the remnant who remained faithful and feared God.  It says they talked with each other and the Lord listened and heard.  When people who respect and trust God have fellowship together, listening to each other- God also listens.  When we listen to each other, God listens to us and calls us His treasured possession.  

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