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01.04.2012 Religion

TO THE INFINITE POWER

01.04.2012 LISTEN
By Edwin Nii Ayerh Adjei

Proverbs 3:9-10
Honour the Lord with your wealth(Possessions-NKJV) with the firstfruits of all your crops(increase-NKJV); then your barns will be filled to the overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

In Basic School, right through to Senior High School, I remember we learnt a subject in Mathematics known as Indices. In Indices, we learnt that a number or a variable, say “x” is the index of another number or variable, say “y” and is written as y x . The common expression related to this subject in reference to my example will be “y raised to the power x”. The significance is that the power of “y” will ultimately be the “x” number of times that “y” can multiply “y”. For instance, the number 2 will no longer be 2, but 8 if it is raised to the power 3(ie 2 3=2*2*2=8); meaning, 2 has grown from its initial strength and value of 2 to the strength and value of 8 because of the “power 3” that aided it.


In our lives as Christians, God in His own wisdom and love has provided us with the same principle for increase through the covenant opportunity of firstfruits and tithing. The great news is that the “power” to which our wealth, possessions and increases will be raised is not limited to 3 or 8 or 99 or 500 or 1000. That power is infinite! It is the power of God to prosper; it is His faithfulness; it is His love, compassion and generosity.

Before I go on to explain why the power that multiplies our possessions, wealth and increases is infinite, let me ask a simple question; which human being, at the time he or she was born, had anything in his or her hand or mind? Which human being brought something into this world? The simple answer is none! We brought nothing into this world. The Bible says in Psalm 24:1 that “The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein”-NKJV. Deuteronomy 8:18 also reads, “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…” This tells us that our wealth, possessions and increases which will be multiplied by our Lord God if we honour Him with our firstfruits and tithe are not ours to begin with. They all came from Him in the first place. As have been discussed so far, it is pure robbery not to honour God with your tithe and Malachi 3:8 affirms this when it says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me. But you ask, 'How do we rob You?' In tithes and offerings.”


Secondly, for those who think they are not doing any work which yields economic benefits so they are not required to honour the Lord in firstfruits and tithes, James 1 :17 tells us that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes from the Father of light…”. This scripture and the phrase “all your increase” in Proverbs 3:9 make me believe personally that you don't have to benefit economically from just the work you do before you can honour the Lord. If I don't have a job, but by God's grace I get money here and there to provide for and support me, as little as it may be, is it not an increase? Does it not add to and increase my life? I did not work for it so I don't deserve it but I have it. Won't it then count as a gift and for that matter, a good and perfect gift coming from the Lord? Why then must I behave as if God is extorting from me? Moreover, when I give my firstfruits and tithe to God, it is to honour Him. To honour someone, then the person must be someone you love, someone with whom you have a quality relationship and not an oppressed one. This is what we do and prove when we give firstfruits and tithes.


Now to explain why the “power” that increases our wealth is infinite, the foundational scripture says, “…then your barns will be filled to overflowing…”. The phrase “to overflowing” means that your barns will be moved from a state of receiving a constant measured refill to a permanent state of progressively increasing and overflowing refill. That is, whenever your barns – bank account, investments et cetera – are refilled or increased, not only will the refill or increase exceed the capacity of your barns, but it will also exceed the level of the former refill so that if for instance, the former refill exceeded a capacity of 5000units by 2000units making 7000units, the current refill will exceed not only the capacity of 5000units but the former refill level of 7000units and it continues unabated.


“…your vats will brim over with new wine…” also means that whenever God does something new in your life - and rest assured that He will if you honour Him - not only will the new thing replace the old things in your life but it will also be far better and bigger and greater than the old things. The principle in effect is this: Give Me a little portion of what I have given you and I will increase what I have given you. Give Me again, a little portion of what I have increased for you and I will increase it even more; and continue in that manner.

A very practical example can be taken from the life of Abraham. As most of us know, Abraham was a man who was called by God and with whom God had a covenant which was for him to walk blamelessly before God and God in turn promised him a lot of great things including a land flowing with milk and honey. In pursuit of this promise, Abraham went into battle which he won. From the spoils of this battle, he gave a tenth to Melchizedek, the Priest of God Most High. These events took place in Genesis 14. In Genesis 15:1, the Bible tells us that, “After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.'” What do we learn from this?


First of all, God says, “I am your shield”. This means that after He had blessed Abraham, He made sure that He protected the blessings He had given to him by ensuring that nothing – no attacks from the devil, evil spirits, demons; no economic downturn, schemes of human beings, nothing at all – could take away or destroy these blessings or his life.

Secondly, God said to Abraham that, “I am your exceedingly great reward.” This means that God rewarded every work Abraham did exceedingly greatly if there is ever an expression like that. That is, he did not receive a normal reward or what his efforts actually merited; he received unimaginably more. These mind-blowing blessings were evident in the life of Abraham. He was made exceedingly wealthy, nations came out of him, generations that came out of him were greatly blessed, the line of the Messiah was through him among others, all because he was faithful to God. When he had the opportunity to give a tenth of what God had blessed him with, he gave it in faith without thinking twice.


God doesn't want to extort from you or oppress your life. Remember as we discussed, the earth is His and everything in it. He doesn't need your money or anything. He already has everything. When you give to God, you are not doing Him a favour. As a matter of fact, He established this principle to bless you indefinitely. The covenant of tithing is to tell God, “Lord, I acknowledge You as the source of all I have and all I am and I thank You for all of it.” Once God sees that you trust Him in this respect, all He does is to open the floodgates of heaven and keep pouring down His blessings and protection on you. He never stops if you never stop!

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