OMBS7 BibleStudy: How do you care for the Lord?

Words. Use them right and they'll move mountains. Use them wrong and they can cause your entire life to go up in smoke.

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PRAYER - "The Lord Hears"

Our Creator listens. The Spirit who made the worlds is attentive to our voices, and hears every word we speak. We all have times when it seems "the heavens are brass," but don't you believe it! Not a word escapes Him. He who knows the number of the stars and calls them all by name, who sees every sparrow fall, and knows the number of the hairs of your head - He hears you!

2 Chronicles 7:12 - "...the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer."

PRINCIPALS -"Melchizedek"

Abraham warred against (Iraq) and (Iran) to avenge their siege on Lot and the city of Sodom. He recovered people and possessions. Melchizedek brought bread, wine and blessings for Abraham, who gave him tithes of everything recovered. This Melchizedek, "king of Salem, priest of the most high God," was not Christ, but a type. Both were king and priest of Jeru-salem. Melchizedek's offering of bread and wine portended Jesus' offering His body and blood at Calvary.

Psalms 110:4 - "The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."

PRINCIPLES - "Pitching Toward Sodom"

There is a lot to be said for how you pitch your tent. Our predispositions forecast our destiny. Our attitudes presage our behavior. If we have an eye for the world, we will eventually follow it. If Abraham had kept his mind on his past, he might have gone back to Ur of the Chaldees. Lot was already in trouble by the time he pitched his tent toward Sodom. Be careful which way you face. Shun the very appearance of evil.

Genesis 13:12 - "...and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom."

PROPHECY - "Father of Many Nations"

God told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. Through his natural son, Isaac, came the nation of Israel, which later divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. From his surrogate child, Ishmael, it is difficult to say exactly how many nations descended, since Ishmaelites comprise a large segment of the Arab world among the nations of the Middle East. Thirdly, the Gentile church is a holy nation, descended from the faith of Abraham.

Genesis 17:4 - "...and thou shalt be a father of many nations."

For two years, scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Stanford University examined the 4.2 pound meteorite for traces of organic molecules and carbon compounds - the building blocks of life on earth. They believed the rock formed under the Mars' surface about 4.5 billion years ago. While NASA officials flaunt these outrageous interplanetary rocks, why doesn't someone wave some photos of

* the mysterious shadowy remains on Mount Ararat where the Bible says Noah's Ark landed, or

* the Ziggurat ruins of Babel, twenty-five miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, where the Bible says the ancient tower of Babel was built, or

* take any tour bus in Israel to see the fallen Jericho walls. I saw them with my own eyes, even though the secular tour guide was emphatic to say they were not the Jericho walls of Bible fame!

* We even have video footage of Pharaoh's chariots and other artifacts laying on the bottom of the Red Sea!

Amazingly, nobody wants to believe these stories, because they come from the Bible, but they can believe that mankind evolved from absolute ZERO to a ROCKET SCIENTIST in a few billion years. Not a chance in trillions.

The same people who deny the God of miracles nevertheless believe in millions of random accidents far more fantastic than any miracle in the Bible! It is the fool who says in his heart "there is no God."

14 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? ReadMore click here

How do you give to the Lord?

Do you just drop some money in the plate at church without much thought? Or do you just write a check to God at the first of every month and pay Him like you pay all your other bills?

You need to think about that because how you give is a matter of deep concern to God. He’s particular about how offerings are given. He won’t receive just any old thing however you feel like giving it.

In Malachi, for example, God refused to receive Israel’s offerings. They were bringing Him their defective animals, their blind calves and the injured ones they couldn’t do anything else with—and God said it offended Him. He told them, “You don’t have any reverence or honor for Me, and I’m not going to accept your offering.”

That kind of thing didn’t die out after the book of Malachi. Many today don’t have any reverence for God at offering time. People wait for the preacher to beat them over the head until they feel so guilty they have to reach down in their pocketbooks and get some money out.

But I want you to know, that’s offensive to God. In fact, He spoke directly to a friend of mine about it. The statement He made to her so impressed me, I wrote it down word for word.

It grieves Me when the Church takes offerings, He told her. I said to worship Me. Don’t take from the people, but let them bring their gifts and worship Me. Then they will see the fruits of their giving.

If you and I want God to be pleased with our offerings, we’re going to have to do what the Apostle Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians 8:7. We’re going to have to learn to “excel in this grace of giving” (New International Version). We’re going to have to quit being casual about it and to learn to give with faith and reverence in worship.

Next time the offering plate is passed, don’t just drop your gift carelessly in the plate. Get serious. Determine to obey God. Worship Him with your money and be thankful. He’ll do more than simply receive it, He’ll open the windows of blessing for you.