Day 8: Obedience
"Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer[a] for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts."
Happy --Day of Thanks Everyone!
I'm always amazed how God can be "tested" and "proven" over and over again when we are obedient to his request.
I have always declared that I want to be a kingdom (and community) financier, meaning that if the kingdom of God and His church or my community has a need, I want to be able to supply the funding to meet the needs of God's house or the community. With this type of desire in my heart, I can't be a stingy person and I always need to have my ears tuned into God so that He can tell me where the need is and how to meet it.
[I realize that some of you reading this post may still be a little shaky about giving and may have a warped precept and extreme distrust when it comes to finances and giving because many church institutions and leaders within the church have manipulated, controlled, misused this concept of giving for their own pockets to get fat. I am not talking about that. I'm talking about going to God's source (the Bible) and seeing what He says about your obedience in financial giving.]
At the beginning of this year, I had a dream that in the future I was writing out a check of several thousands of dollars to a church to fulfill its need. I have been following this church since I was about sixteen years old. The pastor of this church is my shero and an amazing woman of God; through her ministry, God touches the lives of so many families in their community. Her church is an excellent ground into which to sow seed.
Shortly after I published my book, God told me that I was to send a copy of my book to her and write out a check of a specific amount as a seed for the future amount of money that I would be sending to her ministry. It was totally a prophetic act of trusting the Lord and obedience because I didn't really have the amount of money for which God was telling me to write the check and I surely had some upcoming bills that were due. I signed a copy of my book, wrote a letter to my shero thanking her for all the years she has blessed my life and explained to her what God had told me. I had no idea if she would receive my book and the letter but I was determined to be obedient to what God had told me to do. I prayed over everything and went to the post office the same day and sent everything by postal mail.
A few days later, on a Monday night, I was invited to attend a prayer call with one of my besties. On the prayer call, a young lady with the gift of prophesy who I have never met before, was praying and started giving a prophetic word to the participants on the call. She started speaking to me and said, "I see that you have a type of self-help book. With it, God is going to blow your mind. This book will get into the hands of [she named a pastor] and it will be big." She went on to prophesy several other things that evening to me which were mind-blowing and directives for my next steps. Without me saying a word to her, she knew I had a book and told me that my book would reach the hands of the pastor who was my shero's pastor.
The next week, I started receiving checks in the mail from people saying that they wanted to make sure my needs were met. God even commanded another person, a widow woman, to bless me with enough money to pay my rent for the entire month. Just as God told Elijah to go to the hidden ravine and that He would supernaturally command a raven to feed him meat in the morning and evening, God was feeding and supplying me, supernaturally, through the ravens both day and night so that I could rest (see Day 1) as He instructed. I had received back more than double of the money God told me to sow into the life of my shero. All my bills for the month were completely paid in full. (Talk about a pressed down and shaken together blessing!)
And the blessing doesn't even stop there. A few days later, I received a package in the mail. It was a gift from my shero. (Omg! I was like a kid getting candy for the first time.) She sent me a signed copy of her new book with a thank you and a declaration of blessing over my book. (I was in a state of pure bliss!) God has truly blown my mind and is proving that He has opened up the window and has poured out blessings until there is no need. Nothing has been or will be lost or aborted during this time. Nothing is devouring my blessings. There is food, shelter, bills are paid and up to date, opportunities for new doors are constantly being open. All this from one act of obedience! It is amazing. I am believing God for financial breakthrough and the clearing of ALL my debt by the end of this year. I can't wait to report on that victory!
As I am giving thanks for obedience for financial breakthrough, I am inviting you to sew into the ground of great houses of worship that are meeting the needs of the community, especially during this time of COVID where many are without food and jobs and on the brink of losing their shelter. There are two houses of worship that I constantly pour into because of their mandate to meet the needs of the community and for their mission to go after the "misfits" and show them the love of Jesus: Pastor John F. Hannah's church, New Life Covenant South East in Chicago, Illinois (https://pushpay.com/g/newlifesoutheast), and Pastor Sheryl Brady's church, The Potter's House of North Dallas (https://pushpay.com/g/tphndfrisco?src=hpp). I have watched these churches supply food to families and essential workers, pay bills for folks that have lost jobs during this pandemic, and still minister a timely word to folks that needed to hear from God in the midst of this crisis. You will never regret sowing into these good grounds; you will be more than abundantly blessed and a blessing to so many people and families during this time.
Love Ya
Have a great day of thanks!