Pay It Forward - Malachi 3;10

"Bring the full tenth into the storehouse  so that there may be food in my house. 'Test Me in this way,' says the Lord of Hosts. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven for you and pour out a blessing for you without measure."

The prophet Malachi accuses the people of Israel of robbing God (vs. 8) because they did not pay their tithes.

The tithes were used to support the priests and Levites, whose ministry was essential if Israel was to be faithful to God in its calling as His chosen people.

Because their land was cursed by drought and pestilence (vs. 9,11), they felt justified not giving their tithes.

Although their negligence to give their tithes may have seemed justified, God reveals, quite dramatically, that these natural disasters were not the cause of their disobedience but the result of their disobedience.

So God dared them to pay it forward!

Updating Your To-Do List - Haggai 1:5

"Now, the Lord of hosts says this: 'Think carefully about your ways.'" 

The work of rebuilding the Temple had ceased for about ten years by order of King Artaxerxes of Persia (Ezra 4:24). Near the end of this ten-year cessation period, Haggai the prophet received a message from God to incite the repatriated Jews to complete the rebuilding of the Temple.

Haggai told the people in no uncertain terms that their priorities were out of order and as a result, nothing was working right in their lives. They sow much but harvest little; they never have enough to eat or drink to satisfy themselves; they can't hold on to the money they earn (vs. 6).

Why does nothing go right in their lives?

The Complacency Conundrum - Revelation 3:15-16

"I know your works, that you are neither cold or hot. I wish that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth."

While the church in Sardis was chastised for its dearth of spiritual vitality, the spiritual condition of the church in Laodicea was repugnant because it was lukewarm--neither cold nor hot.

So why is the reprimand of the lukewarm Laodicean church more severe than the reprimand of the dead Sardisian church?

The Edge of Darkness - 1 John 5:17

"We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one."

The book of I John is a book of contrasts.

John begins by contrasting darkness and light. He declares that "God is Light and there is absolutely no darkness in Him" (vs. 1:5).

In addition to the contrast between light and darkness (see also vs.2:8-11), John makes several other contrasts: the world vs. God's will (vs. 2:15-16); obedience vs. disobedience (vs. 2:4-6); truth vs. lie, passing away vs. remaining forever (2:17); Christ vs. antichrist (vs. 2:22); God's children vs. the devil's children (vs. 3:7-10); love vs. hate (3:11-15); the Spirit of Truth vs. the spirit of deception (vs. 4:1-6); life vs. death (5:12).

It seems that from John's perspective, there's not a lot of gray area to the Christian lifestyle. With John, it's light or dark, truth or lie, right or wrong.