Malachi 1:6 – “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?’ says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?”

In Malachi, God states a fact, “A son honors his father, and a salve his master. Then He came to the point.  He took their own words and challenged them.  He still does today!  “IF,” as you declare, I am your father, where is the honor you should be giving me?  He was not looking for words but the commitment of heart and obedience.   Words have power but can be empty if the heart is not in the words.  They continually said the words but kept back their hearts.

Next, He said, “You call me Lord (master); IF I am, then why don’t you have fear and respect for Me?”  They were dumbfounded.   After all, they attended church and said all the right things, wasn’t that what was required?

There was defiled food on the altar. What is that?  It was giving God the second best and leftovers.  Spare Change (money and heart).  Tipping living.  They were allowing the profane to thrive and not shutting it out.  Feasting at tables, they should be overturned.   God accepts no offering that is not pure (whole-heart commitment).

Malachi 2:17 – “You have wearied Me with your words.”  His statement is penetrating, “You say evil is good, and everybody and everything is okay.”  Calling evil good and good evil incurs God’s disfavor, not blessing.

Malachi 3 speaks of the tithe, but it is more than just the ten percent tithe. It is about obedience, commitment, love, faith, and revelation.   God invites us to put Him to the test and prove to ourselves and the world His faithfulness.

Obedience in faith produces an open heaven.

The blessings promised are “until it is Beyond Enough.”  Beyond enough indicates abundance and even lavishness.  But God goes beyond that and promises that the devourer will be rebuked and restrained.   That is a promise of protection from corruption.   That means we have pure offerings that invoke more blessings and greater protection.   It becomes a perpetual cycle.  For His Glory.

Money is not the object.  God is!  Fulfilling the purposes of God is.  The harvest is.  Functioning in power is.

Paul told Timothy to fight the good fight of faith through the personal prophecies he had received.  He later spoke of imparted gifts through the laying on of hands and prophecy.

We have a commission, and Malachi reveals a pathway to God’s person, provision, and power.  Timothy reveals how to function in that.

God is saying to us, “Give Me Your Whole Self.”  Give Me all you are and have, and I will give you Myself, all that I am and have.  I will open heaven, and NOTHING will be impossible or withheld from you. 

Our Part is Obedience and Faith.   We must train ourselves to expect My promises to become a reality NOW!  GOD will not receive superficial offerings but will bless and multiply pure-hearted offerings.  We must learn to Speak to our problems, the Word of God.  Give God your best, and He will do the rest.

May God richly bless you today and every day!