Hello, welcome to the Wilton Baptist Church, where we worship God, walk with others, and win to the Lord Jesus Christ. My name is Steve Harness. I'm one of the pastors here at the church, and we are pleased to share this Bible message with you today. Thank you for watching and listening. May the Lord bless you. the priority of generosity. Natalie and I, when married, moved to Tennessee, and we were in a church called the Faith Baptist Church. This is a photo of the building there, and sometimes I preach maybe a few times in that building, but there's another building that we helped out in. There was a Christian school, so I was a teacher and also was the youth minister. I was the fourth guy on the staff, and it was not necessarily a large church, but we had a lot to do in that area. And so we were there for three years. And during that time, Natalie and I were really blessed, but I just want to tell you some things about finances from our experience. I was paid $1,000 a month. This is 23 years ago. $1,000 a month. Natalie worked for the, she was like the executive secretary, and she worked half a day, and she would help out in kindergarten. She was paid $200 a month. I mean, this is really, this is the way that it was. And I guess we were paid more in ministry experience. Egg sandwiches and wow, when we would eat out, we would go to Burger King when their double cheeseburger was a dollar. And that was a big deal. And sometimes we'd split the croissant, you know, like, oh man, breakfast, you know, dollar thing, it's on sale this week. So that was us back then. And let me tell you something though. God has always provided what we needed. Now some of you, if you go back like 50 years, depending on your age, you'll be like, yeah, that was pretty good pay, you know, but 23 years ago, I don't think that was pretty good pay. But during that time, we practiced tithing, we practiced giving, and we also practiced giving extra, like, to missions. We would practice that. Now I'm not bragging, I'm just saying this is what we did. I'm making a statement of, of fact and experience to share with you. We paid for seminary. I did one of my master's degrees during that time on that little bit of income. How in the world? I don't know. We look back at that and like, how did that work out? Dollars and cents doesn't always make sense. But I speak to that from experience saying that the priority of generosity that we find in scripture has a way of blessing you in ways that we don't fully comprehend in our lives. There was a pastor who years ago Oh, I'll just go ahead and jump to him. His name is John, Pastor John. He made $18,000 a year. $18,000 a year. This was a long time ago. And he and his wife decided to achieve their long-term financial goals, and they needed a plan for that. So they decided to follow this budget. This is the budget they came up with. $50, $15, and $35. I thought, wow, this is interesting. I've never heard of that. But this is what they decided to do. Fifty percent of their income went toward living expenses. Fifteen percent they gave to the work of the Lord. So tithe and above that would be offerings, maybe commissions, etc. And then 35%, that's a lot, went into savings. 35% went into savings. By the way, just while we're talking about budgeting for a moment, if you are spending more than 30% on your housing, your budget is way out of balance. It should be 30% or less. It really should be, or you're spending too much, not going to have what you need. But they did this 50, 15, and 35. At the end of near retirement, Pastor John, 18,000 a year, ended up with $1 million in retirement. $18,000 a year, 35%. You can look more at their story right there. If you want to flip your phone out, you're like, what happened? What did they do? You can look at the story right there on that QR code to see that. I thought that was really interesting. And if you have more month than money, And it happens to a lot of us, especially if you're starting out and you haven't really grasped some of the concepts that we're talking about. Maybe you've been doing it for a while and still haven't grasped some of the Bible concepts. If you have more month than money, read Malachi 3 every day because it's motivational. This passage is motivational to get your financial house in order. So Malachi 3, let's begin in verse 7. even from the days of your fathers, ye are gone away from mine ordinances." The word ordinances simply means something prescribed. It's a statute. This is 100 years after the temple was rebuilt. The people who were in exile, the Jewish people had come back. The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, and they rebuilt a temple, but spiritual apathy had set in. We've been talking about this the last several weeks. They were sinning against God. They were marrying foreign wives. They were divorcing their wives. So, essentially, what we talked about last week was they were, or the week before, they were divorcing God. They started to replace God with false religion, and now they are, God talks to them, Malachi, my messenger, delivers this message about finances, and he says, you haven't been listening to my ordinances, you've not kept them, that means to watch or preserve them, you've not been living the way that I've told you the basic way to live. and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts. If you return to me, I will return to you." That's always a promise in Scripture. If you return to God, He'll come back to you. If you draw nigh to God, He'll draw nigh to you. It's a great truth. But then, he says, but ye, but ye said, the Lord of Hosts, ye said, in response to that, Wherein shall we return? We don't feel like we've been apart from God. We don't feel like we are away from God. What are you talking about? And God says, no, you've been apart from me. And I'll show it to you. I'll prove it to you. He says, will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? We've been robbing you, God, where at? How? In tithes and offerings. So a few months ago, we had a message where John the Baptist was preaching about repentance, and we had this idea that was drawn out of Luke chapter 3 about the barometer of the soul. Money is a barometer of the soul. It reveals a lot about our love, affections, our desires, and priorities. And essentially, that's what he's saying here is, okay, you say, why isn't God blessing me? Where is God? I'll show you why God's not a priority. Just look at what you're doing with your money. Will a man rob God? It's what they've been doing. He says, because of this, you've been cursed with a curse. for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation." He says, bring the tithes into the storehouse. The word tithes simply means a tenth. It means a tenth part. The word offerings means contributions for sacred uses. That's what an offering is. That's what it means. Contributions to sacred uses. He says, bring all the tithes, in verse 10, into the storehouse. The word bring means to come in or to go in, to draw near. We looked at this two Sundays ago as the idea of if I'm going to bring a sacrifice or an offering to God, I have to get close to Him before I can do that. Otherwise, it's just empty ritual and it is meaningless. It has no meaning or depth to that. So bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith." Test me. Examine this. Try it for six months. Try it for a year. See if it really is true or not. Prove me now herewith, he says. that the Lord said to the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. The word pour is a beautiful word. It means empty out. Could you imagine all of heaven being emptied out into your life? That's what that verse is saying. And he says, I'm gonna do this if you're generous. And I will rebuke, that means to force back or to repress the devourer. In 1 Peter 5, 8, we're learning in that passage about Satan, our adversary is a devourer. He's walking about seeking whom he may devour. And he says, I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground. Neither shall your vine cast your fruit before the time of the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed. For ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts. Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? What have we been saying or doing against God? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God. What profit is it? that we have kept this ordinance. They were concerned about money. Okay, we're going through this religious ritual, taking our sacrifices and just doing it. It's meaningless to us now. The revival of a hundred years ago, that's long forgotten. It's been several decades and What's bringing these sacrifices done for us? What's bringing these tithes and offerings done for us? You see, their priority was their love for their money and materialism. And he continues then, in that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts, and now we call the proud happy yea, They that work wickedness are set up, they that tempt God are even delivered. We had a message about that from chapter two about right was wrong and wrong was right. Go back and look at that. But the idea here is generosity. generosity. God notices generosity. Some people say, well, tithes and offerings, you know, tithes, that's an Old Testament concept. That must be the law. That must be the law. You can think that if you want to. But the law, there were people like, Moses gave the law. Abraham practiced tithing. Melchizedek practiced tithing about 1,500 years before the law. Or, I mean, 400 years before the law. A long time before the law even came about. And so, it's not just like a law concept. It just means giving a tenth. I believe, I believe that it's a great place to start, 10% when it comes to giving. And ultimately, no matter what you believe about tithes and offerings, let's use the word generosity. If you're not a generous person, God will not be generous with you. That's the bottom line. People like to categorize tithes and offerings, all this stuff, and make arguments for why they're stingy. It doesn't matter. God blesses generosity, and He does not bless ungenerosity or non-generosity. So you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. I'm not just talking about tithes and offerings to the church. You make donations to other people. You want to help other people out. You want to help other organizations out. Now, I love ministries like Focus on the Family and Answers in Genesis and Noah's Ark. Go look at those things. Go see those things. Support those things. Samaritan's Purse, here's a tragedy. They sweep in with money and food and water and things that's needed and give the gospel. Support those things. But listen, nobody supports this local church or other local churches except for the people that live in that local church. or in that local area or who come to that. National organizations, they always get what they need because they're national organizations, but God's local church is only supported by the members, the attenders, the people that are there. And so tithes and offerings are very important, and generosity is so important in the Christian life. So what does generosity do in us? In verse 8 we read, it demonstrates faith in God. It demonstrates faith in God. So if I'm going to bring a tithe and give an offering, then I don't need that 10%, or I don't need that 15%, or I don't need whatever it is that I'm giving. I'm trusting God to meet my needs, so I'm going to give that back to whatever God is doing. It's also a delightful act of worship. In verse 10, they were bringing the tithes and offerings to the storehouse, the tabernacle before the temple, and the temple here in the setting that we're talking about, the rebuilt temple, was a place of worship. And as part of their worship, three times a year and other times of the year, and then weekly even, they would come, if they were in their own locality, it'd be through their synagogue, and they would bring their tithes and their offerings. And that would support the Levites, that would support the priests, that would help them supply all that was needed, the upkeep and all the care for those facilities, whether it would be a synagogue or the temple or the tabernacle before that. And so it is an act of worship. Anytime you give or bring an offering in your church, Don't think of it as like, hey, I'm paying a bill, or I'm just checking off a list or something. No, it's like when you pray, or when you read the Bible, or when you sing to the Lord, or when you say, Lord, here's my life, and just use me in some way. It's part of worship. When you bring and give, that's part of worship. Lord, take this bit, like the widow with two mites. Take this, multiply it, use it for the glory of God. It's an act of worship. worship, and then number three, it displays God's power to others. God said to these Hebrew people, okay, if you get this, if you get your financial house in order, if you start to be generous, that's the barometer for how I know that you've been abandoning me all this time, besides all the spiritual adultery that we looked at last time. He says, if you would do that, then I will exalt you and all these other nations will see they have everything they need. God is with them. God has provided for them. He's given them direction. And they're not living purposeless lives. But I'm going to exalt you because you are now living with generosity. You see, it conveys the understanding that everything belongs to God. But when we're not generous, we steal from God. Verse 8, we're cursed by God. I don't want that. I mean, my goodness, that is some intense language there, that the non-generous person is cursed by God. Not only that, but we're poor managers, we lack faith, and our work lacks purpose. Let me illustrate that. Moreover, it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful. Stewardship and managing. That's the same idea. We're managing what God's entrusted to us. It's on loan. It's all temporary. We're not owners. Our American culture, we love ownership. I understand that. Oh, I think it's a Bible concept. We own in a sense like we're going to be responsible for what God has allowed us to have, like small business or I own my home, things like that. But you know who really owns your home? God does. You know who really owns that business? God does. You know who really owns your bank account? Well, I do. I work for that, though God does. I understand the sentiment of personal ownership. It's a Bible concept, but ultimately for the Christian, it goes beyond the here and now, and it goes beyond even the material that we see. It belongs to God. Christian stewardship is really nothing. Somebody said this. It's really nothing less than all we do with all we have. The amount Jesus is talking about is a pretty big amount, 100%. Stewardship is not just about how much of what I own will I give to God. It's not about 10, 15, 20, or 25 percent. It's not about that. It's about how much of me I've given to God. We steward our time. We steward our resources. We steward our money. We're managers of it. It's on loan. Everything we have is on loan. It all belongs to God. Stewardship is not about paying dues. This person said, sometimes I wish it were because that'd be much easier. Just tell me how much I owe and I'll pay the Lord just like I pay the bill. But that's not what it is. It's different. Fundamentally, stewardship begins with giving 100% of who I am to God. And then, let me tell you something, it makes it a lot easier to be generous when I see that it does not belong to me. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The world and they that dwell therein, for he hath founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods. So all managers manage. All managers manage. Stewards steward. Managers have plans, they have processes, and they have budgets. I mentioned all these resources because it helps you get your financial house in order so that you can become generous and you can have all or more. than even what you could ever imagine to be able to bless other people. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth. This is an amazing concept. Think about this, that top line. Our work lacks purpose when we're not generous. If I don't have an outlet to give, if I'm not interested in helping and blessing other people, then why do I work? I need the money, you know, for me, myself, and I. That's not a good motivation. I just need it for my, just my family. I'm just gonna bless my kids. Okay, that's getting warmer. It's for somebody else. But there's other people around us. There's other venues that need help. And God blesses those who are generous. God notices generosity. Let me tell you something. It thrills my soul to be able to give. Sometimes Natalie and I will talk, like, hey, let's help this person out. I'll give you, I'll just, this is not a real example, but hey, here's, let's help this person out. They need some help. Let's give this person $1,000. They really need, I love when we can do that. I absolutely love that. That just blows my mind. It's amazing. You know, for a guy who made $1,000 a month, that's a big deal. And I love that we can do that on occasion. By the way, I hope there's not a line after the service. Please don't make a line, applications or something, you know. But wouldn't it be awesome to be like, oh man, I want to help with that project. Here's $2,000. But this person, they need transportation. Here's a vehicle to give to them. I know a man who's given over 10 cars to different people. I love that. I think it is amazing. God blesses generosity. God notices when you are generous. That is a real concept here in this passage. What does God do when He notices? Number one, He opens the windows of heaven." A lot of people will quote this verse or preach through this verse, you've maybe heard this before perhaps, but he says, bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meats in mine house and prove me, now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, test it, examine this, and see if I will not open you the windows of heaven. and pour out a blessing that there be not room enough to receive it. Just think about this, if God would open the windows of heaven in your life and for you in response to your generosity. Now from the time of King Hezekiah on, special storehouses held grain that people would bring in, and it would be their payment of their tithes. And so it could be lean-to's along the side of the temple. It's very possible. There's different speculation about exactly how this would be. And so they would bring the crops in, and the picture that Malachi is giving is, okay, There's not been enough at the temple. You haven't been supplying like you should because God's not been a priority. But if you do that, then the Levites, the priests, the temple, it's gonna overflow. And you know what they did with the extra? Would help other people. Those who didn't have what was needed. Maybe some food. I mean, they're bringing grain. That would be there in the aggregarian society with culture, like needing, you know, grain. That'd be how they would bring their tithes. They'd bring bushels and stuff like that of wheat. Blessings from God, however, are not all financial. We think, okay, so then are you saying if I give a bunch, then I'll have a bunch returned? It could happen, but sometimes the blessings are intangible that we see in our life. God particularly pours out his blessings on those who know how much they need him. That's a great statement. But think about this. God doesn't bless us just to make us happy. He blesses us to make us a blessing. Warren Wiersbe. great Bible teacher. That's true. God blesses us to be a blessing. When we're a blessing, then He'll bless us. We can bless others. We can help others then with generosity. He opens the windows of heaven. Number two, He rebukes the devourer. He rebukes the devourer. Notice in verse 11, I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts." Think about the vine casting its fruit. For about eight years, I've been trying to get apples to grow at my house. And let me tell you something, this picture makes me happy. These are my baby apples I've been eating. And I've asked Natalie to make a pie out of these apples. This has taken eight years. So in like year four, this, This honeycrisp tree was budding and blossoming. It was about to produce, and I was so happy. And then my neighbor's tree, during a storm, fell on it and killed my tree. I'm like, no way. During the storm, the kids are like, dad, you ran out. It was thundering lightning. I ran out and was pulling this tree off of my tree because I'm like, it killed my baby apples. I was really upset. So that tree died. This is a wine sap. I couldn't find a honeycrisp, so I put a wine sap in. This is four years later now. So it took about eight years and we harvested 40, apples off of it. I was so excited and maybe next year to the 200 I'm learning about pruning and things the right way. So when it says the fruit's not going to be cast before it's ready, that's the idea is. Is, okay, the frost isn't going to kill it ahead of time. A neighbor's tree isn't going to destroy it ahead of time. You're not going to have the fruit fall off and rot or other things happen. You're going to be able to get a harvest. And so that's just a beautiful thing. God can bless you in other ways, not just in the financial terms. So God said this to Israel. This happened after a drought in Amos 4. So he's judging them, trying to get them to come back. to God. An enemy army was coming for Judah, and this is in Joel, that which the palmer worm hath left hath the locust eaten, that which the locust hath left hath the canker worm eaten, and that which the canker worm hath eaten hath the caterpillar eaten. You have the idea of a lot of devouring taking place. God says, if you're generous, then your crops, they're going to be alright. They're going to be blessed. the prairies back in North Dakota all the way to Texas in July 1874. This is the Rocky Mountain Locust. This is an actual photo. I mean, I guess they had photography back then, about 50 years old by that point. But from all the way from Canada down to the northern part of Mexico, these Rocky Mountain Locusts on July 3rd, I believe it was, swarmed down from the Rocky Mountains and just consumed and consumed and consumed. One farmer said that you could not even see the sun because of the amount of locusts that were flying through the air. Another one commented and said it was like this giant white cloud just coming through the air. And when they came, they would ravage entire communities and take all the crops. They would eat everything in sight. As I was reading about this, it was so sensational to think about how incredible, I mean, billions, not thousands or millions, but billions of these came through that land and farmers would go out and try to save their crops. They would take blankets and put them over some of the crops to try to save just anything they could. And the locusts ate the blanket, then they would eat the crop. They would go and these locusts would just, in a matter of hours, just totally destroy a farmer's lifetime of work. Whether it was trees or grain or some other crop. And there were sheep herders around there as well. And the locusts came and ate the wool right off the sheep. Some people were saying that even their clothing, they would get around them and just eat the clothing right off the people. It was such a bizarre moment in American history. Here's what the reporter at the time said from the New York Times, or New York Times correspondent. He said, they beat against the houses, swarm in at the windows, cover passing trains. I guess trains couldn't even get traction on it because there's so many of them just everywhere. They couldn't get traction to move, so everything's at a standstill. A lot of people died because of lack of food. Families dying all over the place because of this. And notice that last phrase, they work as if sent to destroy. From back in that time. He said that back in 1874. These locusts worked as if they were sent to destroy. God says, okay, if you're generous, I will rebuke the devourer. You're not going to have a problem with somebody taking everything that you have like that. The Bible talks about Satan be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil is a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour in a spiritual sense he's after our soul of course but just think about that analogy of devouring there. Does Satan want you to waste your resources so you can't help with spreading the gospel? I would say an absolute yes. He wants you to waste what you've been given so that you can't help with the gospel ministry. So that you're unable to help give out tracts or send missionaries or have the gospel preached somewhere. Absolutely he would. Now Haggai was about 100 years before Malachi. And here's near the end of the completion, I mean he started preaching because they needed to finish the temple and he kind of motivated them to do that. But they were having the same problem back then even. That guy said this, you have so much and bring in little, you eat but you have not enough, you drink but you're not filled with drink. I mean they had that consumerism mentality, but I never have enough. ye clothe you, but there is none warm and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put into a bag with holes." It's like, okay, I'm earning, I'm working, but where's it all going? I don't have what I need. Where's it all going? Because their priority was not God. Sometimes we devour our own resources. I've been guilty Are you ever guilty of that? Okay, shopping. Sometimes, you know, shop till you drop, baby. We gotta shop, shop, shop, shop, shop, shop, shop, shop, shop. And can you put too much stuff into your cart sometimes? Does anyone even go to the store anymore? You know, with all the online shopping? Sometimes we do, it's kind of rare, but anyway. How about online shopping? Oh man, I could be good at this. I've had to stop. Oh, that looks nice. Put it in the cart, put it in the cart. May not buy it, but put it in the cart. Window shopping, bad idea, bad idea. How about entertainment? Americans are consumed with entertainment. How much money do we waste on entertainment? I gotta go, it's the newest thing. The newest film, it's the newest video game, it's the newest this, it's the newest that. And waste, and waste, and waste. We can be consuming the resources ourself. I almost put a Dunkin' Donuts picture up. If we stop for Dunkin' Donuts every time we drove by one, whoo, we'd spend a lot of money. Because they're like all over the place. But do we need to spend $6 every day on a fancy latte? You know what I'm saying? I mean, I'm just talking practical here. We can consume a lot more. of what God has given. Go get one if you like. That's fine. I'm not saying it's a sin or anything, but we can consume too much. How about if it's on sale? Have you ever done this? Oh man, I don't even need another birdhouse. I don't need another birdhouse, but it's a really good deal. My birds have all the birdhouses they need, but I can't pass it up. It's a good deal. It's a good deal on that birdhouse. And I never use the birdhouse. You fill in the blank with anything else. You see what I'm saying? We can buy stuff, we don't even need it. Well, I have my garage full of this stuff. Do you ever use that stuff? No, no, but it was a good deal. Have you used it in 10 years? You probably don't need it. You know what I'm saying? We can, this is a good deal though. We can consume what God has given to us, even with good intentions, and it's good to plan ahead, save ahead, I'm all for that stuff. Sometimes we do that obsessively and we waste what God has given to us. He opens the windows of heaven. He rebukes the devourer. He exalts his people. Notice in verse 12, all nations shall call you blessed. For you shall be able to light some land, saith the Lord of hosts. That never happened. That never happened. You know, after chapter 4, God takes 400 years before he talks again. They didn't turn back to God. They didn't get their financial house in order. They didn't become generous. They did not go back to the Lord. Instead, they continued after their false idols and their false religion. What a sad thing. What a sad thing. He said, but if you return to me, I'll exalt you. If you get your financial house in order, I'll lift you up. And your testimony, I'll exalt you. All these other nations, They'll see that I'm your God and I'm doing something in your life. Let's make the application to us then. Can God exalt us if we're living the way that God wants? Yes. Can he bless and provide everything that we need if we are responsible with what he's entrusted to us? Yes. Shall be given unto you good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over. Shall men give unto your bosom? For with the same measure that you meet with all, it shall be measured to you again. God promises to bless generous people. Jesus said that in Luke 6. We'll look at this, Lord willing, sometime in next year as we're going through the book of Luke next year. But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly. He which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. God promises to bless. Generous people God is able to make all grace abound toward you that ye having always all Sufficiency and all things may abound unto every good work as it is written. He hath dispersed abroad He hath given to the poor his righteousness remaineth for ever Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, the increase then of your fruits of your righteousness, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God." Get the idea then, when we're generous, when we're responsible with what God has given to us, we can give thanks. God, you've provided, you've met my needs, you've provided everything we need. And we've been able even to help other people and serve them because of what you've done in and through us. One of the red kettles, these will be coming out in a short time. One of the red kettles that Salvation Army in Boston displayed over the holidays back in 2015 had a widow that deposited a $1,800.50 worth engagement ring. And the wedding band was attached to it. And she put a note. Here's what the note said. The anonymous woman said that she wanted to donate the ring to honor her late husband's memory. She said, I'm hoping there's someone out there who made a lot of money this year and will buy the ring for ten times that it's worth to help the Salvation Army. Here's what happened. A donation inspired another Massachusetts widower to donate $21,000 for the ring. He gave that to the Salvation Army in the hopes that the ring could be returned to the original owner. Sadly, however, the owner didn't come forward. She said they didn't know who it was. She didn't get the ring back, but they kept that money. They kept that money. And the idea was that generosity bred generosity. It motivated others to be generous. Your generosity motivates other people. It sets a good example. You think about in your home, if you set a good example with finances, your kids will follow that. If you've had poor examples, maybe you're following that example. But if you set a good example, your kids can follow a good example. And it may motivate others as they see you give. And then if you help someone and they say, wow, this is amazing, then they may give. It's like a chain reaction that could take place when we become generous people. God opens the windows of heaven to pour out a blessing. He rebukes the devourer and He exalts His people. Here's our response. Let's take a moment to visit with the Lord. And you can still look at the screen if you would. Just look at these two questions. Two questions as we conclude and before we pray. God notices generous people. He notices generosity. Here's our first question. God, I will be a generous person. With your help, please help me to see how I can best help other people. With your help, God, I will be a generous person. I want to be a generous person. Anybody like that, just raise your hand. My hand included. I want to be a generous person. Yes. I think every Christian should have that as a goal. be a generous person. Thank you. Our second question is this, Lord, would you rebuke the devourer? I don't want to be a devourer. Lord, rebuke the devourer. I don't want to waste or consume what you've entrusted to me. Lord, rebuke the devourer, whether that's the adversary, maybe some other situation, but Lord, I want to be responsible. Rebuke the devourer in my life so that I can be a blessing to others Anybody like that rebuke the devourer. That's your prayer. Yes. Yes Yeah, turn back Satan turn back all those things that you may covet after turn back from those things And let's focus on serving the Lord with our finances being a generous person father. We thank you for your word today. Let us be generous people, whether it's tithes and offerings, whether it's helping projects or helping people, giving things away of little or of significant value. Let us see those around us in need. Let us see ways to advance the gospel. Let us see ways to really point people to you, that they would see Christ in us. that as you exalt us, they would see something different about those Christians and their generosity and their kindness and their compassion and their interest in others. Lord, we thank you for Malachi's message and how we can make this application to our lives today. I pray for each person here and those watching at home that we could set our houses in financial, our financial houses in order that you be glorified Thank you for listening to this Bible message today. What are the next steps? Well, if you have Bible questions, want to know more about Christianity, or have some other question, please reach out to us. We'd be glad to provide a Bible answer to you. This ministry is pleased to come to you weekly, and it's only possible through your prayers and gifts. Thank you for your support.