Author Steven Lake
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| The Blessing of First Fruits Saturday, September 22nd, 2012 6:39am Keywords: (None) |
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| Lately I've been unwittingly embarking on an experiment in God's gracious hand of blessing. Unwittingly in the fact that I didn't embark on it through my own choice. God laid it on my heart and I followed. The concept of "First Fruits" is this. It's the first of whatever you have (house, car, etc) and whatever you gain or are given (ie, income, gifts, your time, etc). Several examples of God's blessing from the observance of First Fruits is as follows. About a week back I was counting money in my wallet and knew to the penny how much I had. Come to find out later after a trip to Goodwill and a brief $1 purchase, $20 had vanished from my wallet. I looked around everywhere, but couldn't find it. So I assumed it got dropped. And yes, I even counted my reserve cash (emergency money) and my Tithe. Well, the next time I got paid, several days later, God laid it on my heart to give to him first. Not just give my tithe, but have that be the first bit of money to flow out of my wallet before anything else. So I obeyed. Within 20 minutes I'd found the $20 I couldn't find before despite my hunting. Another example of this comes a few days later. I got up that morning and had the thought of first fruits on my mind. So, instead of checking the news and other stuff first thing like I usually do to wake up before doing anything else, I hauled out my bible and read. Within 10 minutes a whole series of things that were creating troubles cleared up and fully resolved themselves. I have several other examples of this, including extra work when I needed it most, a payment to me coming through where I wasn't expecting one to show up, and so much more. Prayers started being answered left and right when I began following the principle of first fruits. It's talked about in the bible right along with tithe, and sometimes side by side or in conjunction with it. There's also cursings mentioned for those who don't do it. Not always, but certainly often enough to make one take notice. So follow the principles of First Fruits in your life and watch the treasury of blessing in heaven open for you. Now this isn't to say, "I do this, and God will do that for me". It's simply following God's law and being blessed for your obedience. It isn't "payment" for our actions, but rather rewards for following his word. Those rewards can be physical (monetary, healing from illness, free repair of car, prodigal coming home, etc) or spiritual (answers to prayer, greater faith, a better relationship, etc). So follow God's law of First Fruits and you will find yourself showered with blessings from heaven, and a better relationship with God, and most importantly with Christ. :) |
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