Weekly Bible Memory and Meditation

Malachi 3:6-12

 6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever 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. 

9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 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 there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I 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.

1.     Am I like the Israelites, always turning away from God and doing what is right in my own eyes?

2.     God says that when I sin against Him, He will return to me if I return to Him.  What are some of the things that keep me from quickly repenting and returning to Him?

3.     In context of this verse, the Lord says that if we begin to give tithes and offerings to the Lord, then that constitutes us returning to Him.  Have I ever considered how serious my giving is to the Lord?

4.     Verse 9 says that if I withhold tithes and offerings from the Lord, then I am under a curse.  Have I ever felt like I, specifically my finances, was under a curse?  Was I tithing during that time?

5.     Many people decide to give God “whatever He lays upon their heart”.  However, am I bringing the “whole” tithe (literally translated a tenth) into the storehouse (church)?

6.     Have I ever “tested” God with my finances?  If, so what did the blessings of God look like for me?

7.     In the middle of a recession and when it is hard to make ends meet, why is God so interested in my money?  Does He need my money?  Why does He want me to give it back to Him?