God Never Changes and His Grace Still Calls Us Back

Welcome Just Hindaway Tagalog Sermon Podcast, your daily dose of

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And now here's your message.

You're listening to a message from Victory. God's character, commandments

and promised blessings do not change. Discover more about this

truth in week three of our series remember this.

Today, we're going to talk about giving.

We're going to talk about money, so we're going to

touch on that and I'm trusting that God will speak

to us.

I know God has blessed us. God is using us

to be a blessing.

But I believe God wants to God wants us to

excel even in the air area of giving. There's a

verse in the Bible that says, just as you excel

in everything and speech in faith in all areas of life,

make sure the Bible says that you don't neglect this area,

that you actually excel in the grace of giving. And

I hope more and more God will give us that

desire that faith before when I was just starting out

in my walk with God.

Every year we will fast every year we will write.

Down our vision, things that we're believing God for for

the coming year. We're going to do that again this January,

and most of what we write really are things we

want to receive, until my pastor talked to them and said,

why don't you write also the amount that you're going

to believe God for to give away the following year.

Have a giving vision, not just a getting vision. Okay, well, Mopero,

you challenge God, you you as God, to give you

the faith that every year, Lord, increase my capacity, increase

my ability to be a blessing, that I will not

just be able to give my tithe, but I'll be

able to actually go beyond and be able to contribute

to the things that you're doing around the world. So

that's what we're going to talk about today, and I'm

trusting that somehow it's God who will just put that

desire in our hearts and give us the faith to

excel in this area.

We have your Bible with you.

We're going to read from verse six of chapter three

Malachi Chapter three, verse six to twelve. It says, for

I the Lord do not change. Therefore you, oh children

of Jacob, are not consumed from the days of your

father's you have turned aside from my statutes and have

not kept them, and have not kept them. Return to me,

and I will return to you as the Lord of Hosts.

But you say, how shall we return? Will man rob God?

Yet you are robbing me. But you say, how have

we robbed you? And your tithes and contributions. You are

cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me. The

whole nation of you. 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 Host.

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 rebuild the divire 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 Host. Then all

nations will call you blessed, for you will be a

land of delight, says the Lord of Hosts.

I like verse six.

It says, for I, the Lord, do not change. When

I was in New Belt, we have a student leader

who was diagnosed with a mental disorder and It came

out after a year of the student leader being with us.

The first year it never showed up, there was no sign,

there was no episode. But after a year it started

to show up. One time I received a call and saying, Pastor,

can you come to the house of this girl because

this girl was acting violently and the family doesn't know

what to do. They said, we think maybe there's a

spirit something like that. I said, okay, cast out the spirit.

I'm coming gets anyway, so because I'll go.

But so first time Papalitna personality character, this young woman

used to be so gentle and so kind. Pastor, we're

gonna anatalagan and the koma described the comma demonstrate also,

and then it was not the last time. It happened

again in another place. This time it's in a public area.

So we're beginning to be so concerned already. It's so

hard to be with a person like that. It's so unpredictable.

You don't know if if she's going to be harsh,

if she's going to be violent, or or going to

be loving and kind. I think at this this time

she's already healed as far as I know. But as

I think about that. Now, that's with our student leader.

Now think about if God, with all his power, is

also like that, constantly evolving and changing in his character.

Can you imagine if God, who is all powerful, it

is also like that, is changing his character day after

they depending on his mood, depending on agandyng gizigna. Okay,

but Giza, he will keep his promise to you.

But if not, maybe he will.

Decide to just bring you curses today because you did

not read your Bible.

It's so scary.

So it's hard to worship a God who is so unpredictable.

You'll never know what is going to be like for

you the following year. That's why I like what Arthur

Pink said. Is a theologian, and here's a quote from him.

He said, God has neither evolved, grown, nor improved all

that he is today he has ever been and ever

will be. He cannot change for the better, for his

already perfect and being perfect, he cannot change for the worst.

How many of you are glad we are serving an

unchanging God. He's unchanging when it comes to his promises.

He is unchanging when it comes to his purposes. He

is unchanging when it comes to his character. That is why,

in spite of our sins and shortcomings, we still receive

God's goodness and blessing today. Because God is unchanging. God

is faithful, just like these people. They have a long

history of unfaithfulness and rebellion. God said in verse seven.

Yet God, yes he dealt with their sins. Yet God

never stop pursuing and loving them up to this point

that they have turned away from God and they've committed

a lot of offenses and evil and sin.

God's message for them was.

Still return to me, and I will return to you.

God was still reaching out. God was still pursuing them.

God was still telling them, Yes, you've done so many

bad things to me.

You've offended me many.

Times, but I want you to know I'm still willing

to have you back.

Amazing.

I'm so encouraged. God is unchanging even when it comes

to his purposes. You know, pattern waysness. Sometimes I would

use ways and sometimes I would miss my way. I'm

talking to my wife, I would misurturn. Oh gamalaehameh so

well ana pro mag calculat.

No, he will not.

Change your destination. He will just find a better route again.

Now that you miss your turn, you know God is

the same way with us. Sometimes we miss our turn,

sometimes we disobey, but you know, God is unchanging. His

purpose for you is still the same. Yes, it might

take you a longer time. Yes, he might deal with

your sin. But God is faithful to you. God is loving,

God is patient. God is not easy to be angry.

The Bible says God is a faithful God. Amen, very

comforting message. What I like about God is the lord

paran sand which principle No, if he's going to bring

up a sin, he will encourage you first.

Then after he bring up the sin.

He will encourage you again because he wants you to

know that he is bringing up that correction, not because

it's mad that you, but because he loves you. And

that's what we're going to see here. Because he started

with an encouragement. I'm a God who is unchanging. I'm

committed to you, but you are not committed to me.

And so he brought up the sin. So he said

return to me. And the people were so clueless about

what God was talking about because in their mind, we

are not going away. We've never been away. We're still

in the temple. We're still offering you our sacrifices. What

are you talking about that we should return to. You said, oh,

let me give you one specific example. Let's talk about

your tithes and your offering. And this is relevant to

us today. This is relevant to them at that time.

This is relevant to us today because you know, there's

a survey that was made of all kinds of churches,

including Victory and according to that survey, only thirty percent

of people who regularly goes to church regularly gives their

tithe thirty percent. So we just know there is a

message from God for us today. But again, this is

the heart of God is because he wants He wants

us to return to him.

He wants to bless us. That's the spirit behind this.

Let me talk about the word robbing, rob, because God said,

you're robbing me, and they cannot believe what they've heard

because during that time, the word rob and the Hebrew

word it doesn't mean that it's just somebody who's taking

something away from another.

It's actually a violent word.

The word rob and Hebrew means to oppress, pillage, or plunder.

It's a picture of a very powerful and wealthy.

Nation coming to a weaker and poorer nation, taking over.

That's the picture.

But but mahina haayomali at kyo, they will come and

attack you, and they will get all your money, all

your animals.

All your wealth and your gold.

They will rape the women, they will kill the men,

and everybody will be subject to slavery.

That's the picture.

It's so violent, a picture of a powerful country taking

over a weaker one.

And they cannot.

Believe because they said, how can we do that to you,

because you are more powerful than us. I believe this

is what God was trying to tell them in Matthew

twenty five. Let me divert a little Matthew twenty five,

verse thirty seven to forty. Here's what Jesus said. Then

the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we

see you hungry and feed you, and thirsty and give

you drink? When did we see you a stranger and

welcome you, or naked and clothe you verse thirty nine?

And when did we see you sick and in prison

and visit you? And the King will answer them. Truly,

I say to you, as you did it to one

of the least of these my brothers, you did it

to me. Whatever you do for my people, whatever you

do for other people, you're doing it to me. So

when God said you're robbing me, whatever implication of that,

not giving their tithes, they're not really doing it to God.

They're doing it to the people of God.

Now, every time they give their tithes and their contribution,

it's not only for the purpose of running the operation

of the temple, but it's really to address the needs

of the community because during that time, the priests the

temple will provide food for the widows, the poor, the orphans.

There's no essss, there's nothing like that support system for

people like them. So, in effect, when they don't give

their tithes and their contribution, they are like depriving, oppressing,

and plundering other people of the blessings that God has

intended for them. God made this system that God will

bless his people, so that the people of God will

be a blessing. And then that blessing will meet a need,

and then it will bring it bring growth, it will

bring the advancement of the Kingdom of God. How many

of you know God wants you to be blessed Because

God wants you to be a blessing. That's our calling,

that's our destiny as people of God. That's something we

need to claim. That something we need to declare. That's

something that we need to have faith for that. Lord,

I will not stay where I am.

You will bless me.

You know why, because you've called me to be a blessing.

That's the purpose of the blessings we have. It's not

to flaunt. It's not for us to hoard, and it's

not for us to spend it all to ourselves. It's

for us to share it with the others. And so

God said, return to me. How talk about your tithes

and offering. You're not bringing your tithes and in the process,

you're turning away from me. Because the Bible says where

your treasure is there, your heart will be also. So

if you're not giving your treasure to God, you're giving

it to someone else, and before you know it, you're

very far from God. Just like what happened to them,

they are still in the temple Magazawa means I don't know, yes,

Mamma magazawams and they are still under the same roof

staying together, but the love is no longer there. That's

the picture of these people when it comes to their

relationship with God. They are still at the temple. But

God said, your love for me is no longer there.

Let's talk about the tithe. Tithe means ten in Hebrew,

it means the ten percent. And and God said, bring

the full tithe, not partial, not nine point ninety nine full.

Not the last first, not the leftovers, the best.

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse. Bring the full

tithe into the storehouse, that they may be food in

my house. Now, I mean nentwered someone he who emailed

me and then says, been a pastorrient, but I have

some questions about tithes. And one of the questions he

asked me, he said, isn't that Old Testament that's lower

under the grace?

Now we're not under the law.

Well, first of all, the tithe was before the law

because it was practiced by Abraham, and then it was

part of the law through Moses and then New Testament

Jesus himself. There's a verse in the New Testament where

Jesus himself said that the tithe is right in look eleven,

verse forty two. He's talking to religious leaders. He said,

but all to you Pharisees, for you tight mint and

rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love

of God. This you ought to have done without neglecting

the others. He did not abolish that. He actually said,

you're right in doing that. The problem with you is

you have a legalistic mindset that says, as long as

I fulfill my duty of giving the ten percent, I

can do whatever I want with the ninety. So when

there are needs around you, and love and justice demands

that you meet that needs, you are not willing to

go beyond the tithe And God was telling them you

became legalistic, it became a rule. You failed to get

the spirit and the heart behind it. It's for you

to be a blessing, not to fulfill a requirement.

So go beyond.

And so I answer my friend who emailed me, who said,

we're not under the law anymore, we're under the grace.

I said, you're right. And guess what. Because we're no

longer under the law, which is ten and we're under

the grace, we're expected to give more. He did not reply.

Because now that we are under the grace of God,

because of what Christ is done for us, because God

has been generous to us, we are expected to be

generous to others. That's why you will read verses in

the Bible where it says Paul said, I want you

to know the grace that God has given to the

Macedonian churches.

He called it grace. It's a grace of giving though

they are extremely poor.

I'm you're familiar with the story this group of people

from this church in Macedonia.

There is a project going.

On to answer the needs at the time for the

churches that Paul was ministering to. And they pleaded with Paul,

and they said, we know we are going through tough times.

We know we are in a financial crisis.

We know we are extremely poor, but please don't exclude us,

don't take away this privilege from us. And Paul said,

I have to tell you what the Macedonian churches had done.

They did not use their situation as an excuse not

to be a blessing. Instead, they rise up in faith

and they said, Lord, we will not dictate our situation

to determine we will whether we will be a people

who are gene resort not. We will not allow our

financial situation to determine what we can do and not

do we want you to determine that for us, Paul said,

And so he wrote to the church in Corinthians and said, guys,

as you excel in everything, make sure, like the Macedonian churches,

you also.

Excel in the grace of giving. Great God. Praise God.

You're excelling in your career. Praise God. You're excelling in

your business. Praise God.

You're excelling in your parenting and your marriage and all

these things that you're a part of an involving But

make sure you don't neglect this area.

Make sure you excel in the grace of giving. I

mean of you here. You want to excel in the

grace of giving.

Gustamoong Lord, grabby Lord, and in the you enabled me

to give ten thousand this year. Next year, Lord, bless

me so much to the point Lord, next year, gustoyl

be able.

To give forty thousand away. Lord.

Next year, Gusto O, Lord, I'll be able to give

one hundred thousand pesses away. Bro Sina maka Ela and John.

The Bible says, it's more blessed to give than to receive.

I would rather be on the side wherein I'm praying

to God and say Lord, sho particar blessing a particalarly

blessed Indina Socide Lord Gina Brie blessed Amrie, blessed Am.

God wants us to be on the side wherein we

are going to be the givers. It's not bad to receive,

but it's better to give. My pastor taught me that, Savina,

you know how to grow in generosity. Start with a

little that you have. So I set aside thirty pesos

tight score a three hundred pesos allowance God the time

twenty years ago, I started tyting as an eighteen year

old college student. Twenty years ago, I'd been doing this

for twenty years. I'd been tighting for twenty years. I

started with dirty pesos. Aside from the thirty I set aside,

I think ten or fifteen pesos young shak ten pesos,

and I started praying every week, actually every month, Palna

every month, Lord Sinoptico ilbrinam shake. I set aside ten pesos.

God is faithful, God grew it until such time I

can set aside one hundred pesosic e librid to Lord

Sinopeticar blessed them one hundred. There was a time when

somebody blessed me with a pound pilot. I'm not sure

if you still know that. That's the earliest version of

iPad analogue black and white. But I felt like it's

up for me. I'm just a channel. So I started

praying to Lord God, who needs this? Who can I

give this to? And I felt like God gave me

a name and I gave that to that person. The

feeling is different. It's so different. Psychograb Lord didn't Mayahmad,

but I was able to give away pound pilot. Lord

can use me more, use me more. How many of

you know that God will honor your faith. God will

honor your faith if you if you say, Lord, I

want to be a blessing, I will honor you.

Tight.

We should not be legalistic. The tithe is not the ceiling.

Tight is the floor, not the ceiling. That's why God

corrected the virus. He said, you're being legalistic.

Compute ten ten point one. Get the spirit behind it.

The tide is a training whel you know, and teaching

my daughter how to ride a bike with four wheels

because she still can't ride it. One will that would

help her to get started until she can ride it

on her own. We can remove it already you know,

as a Christian, the tide is the basic. It's a guideline.

It's a training will to get us going into disgrace

of giving. But it's meant for to propel us to

increase our faith, to teach us dependency on God, so

that when we learn to depend on God, look to

him as our source.

And begin to have the faith to give, it will

grow and grow until.

You know what, we can ride without those training wheels.

I'm not so concerned anymore with the tithe. I want

to give to missions. I want to give to real life.

I want to give to campus ministry. I want to

give to the needs around me. God wants to make

us a blessing Amen. Last thing I want to talk

about is the storehouse. The storehouse means treasury, that's where

the money is kept. When I was in New build

there's this woman who messaged me in Facebook and said,

can I ask for your bank account? I felt like

God spoke to me and I want to bless you.

I want to send you money. Hey, you're not from

our church. God spoke to you. I believe it's the Lord.

I gave my bank account and true enough, that month

a significant amount of money came in second month again,

third month it happened again. But I'm bothered already because

it's pretty big. So I have to message her and

say thank you. It's a blessing. God will bless you.

I just want to ask you, is this your tithe?

And she said yes, And I said, you cannot give

this to me. The tithe doesn't belong to me. It

belongs to God, and we are not to decide where

to bring it. God already decided where we need to

bring our tithe. It's to the storehouse. And for me,

my conviction is the local church where God places you.

That's the storehouse for you. So if you're not part

of victory, that's your local church. Give your tithe to

the local church.

I'm not God. I cannot receive that storehouse.

Now. The problem because they're not giving their tithes and

their contributions. They're not giving their tithe to the temple,

to the storehouse. Here's what's happening. Because they are not

bringing it to the temple, they are bringing it to

another temple. Every time we would what belongs to God,

we are bringing it somewhere else. We're bringing it to

a different temple. We're bringing it to a different storehouse.

Some of us are bringing it to Megamol. Some of

us are bringing it to vacation.

Some of us are.

If we don't bring it to the temple, we are

bringing it to another temple. If we're not bringing it

to the treasury of God, we are bringing it to

a different treasury in honor of a different God. That's

called idolatry an idol. You might think that idolatry is

just in the Old Testament, erecting statues, bowing down. That's idolatry.

Idolatry is not limited to that. Idolatry is trusting someone

or something other than God for everything that you need.

An idol is something or someone that we trust or

value more than God. So if I trust my work

or my business to give me security rather than God,

if it's incredible, I believe easy for me to spend

thousands of pests and millions of pests and expanding my

business because that's where I put my security for my future.

And I'm having a hard time giving my tithes to God,

then my business is my idol, not God.

He's not my God.

I don't look to him for security. I don't look

to him for my needs. I'm looking to this if

I can spend thousands of pestes to clothes, gadgets and

vacations and improving my looks. But if I'm having a

hard time being generous to the work of God, then

in exposing our money shows us what.

We truly, truly worship.

I believe God sent that message to them because God

wants to set them free, and I believe the same

way for us today we're hearing this message. You know why,

because God wants to set us free from idols. As

idols are bad. They will promise everything, but they will

fail to deliver. Maybe for some of us, where our

treasure is our bank account invest but you're hoarding it.

That's the treasury, that's the temple, that's the security, that's

my idol, because I feel security if I have this,

and these things are not wrong.

These are good, but it becomes wrong when it becomes

the ultimate in our lives.

God wants to set us free from that because there

is no savings account that can stop cancer or accident

or death. Only Jesus is our short salvation. He is

only our short security. He's the only one who can

really give us happiness and meaning in life. Only Jesus

can do that for us. God wants to set us free. Imagine,

if you are not enslaved to any idol, you will

be free to follow God.

You will be free, you and I will be free

to honor him.

I want to end in Second Corinthians, Chapter eight, verse

seven to nine. But just as you excel in everything,

in faith and speech and knowledge, and in all earnestness,

and in our love for you, see that you also

excel in this act of grace. Also, to paraphrase, Paul

was saying, as God prospers, you make sure you raise

your standard of giving, not just your standard of living.

I know you have a new to tooth, but have

you increase your giving? For verse eight, I say this

not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness

of others that your love also is genuine. I'm going

to go back to that because he said, I'm saying

this not as a command for you, but this is

to give you the opportunity to prove your love for God.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I said, though he was rich, yet for your sake

he became poor so that you, by his poverty, might

become rich.

What an amazing guy.

We had a couple in our victory group who this

year their daughter went through an operation. I think I

mentioned it once here. At that time when we're praying,

weighing all options, they've decided that they will go with

the operation this year, or else they might not have

the chance next year a two year old daughter, for

their daughter not to be able to walk properly because.

Of some things that needs to be fixed. Now.

The reason it was a hard decision because it will

cost a lot of money, which they don't have. It

will affect everything in their life, their work, their schedule,

their routines, I mean everything. It will be a huge

inconvenience and discomfort. They might get into deaths, huge death

in the process of doing this. They don't know where

the money will be coming from, but they pray to

God and they went.

Through the process.

You know, in spite of all the inconvenience, in spite

of what it will cost them, They've decided to went

through the operation. You know why, because their daughter is

more important than anything they have, more important than their career,

more important than their comfort.

They love their daughter more than their car.

They're willing to sell the car if that will contribute

to the money they need for the operation, because they

love their daughter more. I think that's what Paul was

trying to say when he said, this is not a command.

I'm giving you an opportunity to prove your love for God.

Because if Jesus is your greatest treasure, money will simply

be money for you. You can let go, you can

give away because it's not your greatest treasure. Jesus is

your greatest treasure. Money is not my security. Money is

not my source of approval. It is not my source of.

Happiness and meaning in life. Jesus is.

If Jesus is our greatest treasure, we will be free

from the love of money. We will be able to

give away, We will be free to trust him. We

can be willing to go through the inconvenience and the

discomfort of the moment. You know why, because of our

love for God. And you know why we can love

God that way because He first loved us. The Bible says,

we love because He first loved us. If we really

encounter the grace of God, if we really encounter Jesus

in our life. The overwhelming love of God will result

in our hearts love for God and for people. We

will be able to love amazing what God has done

for us. Though he was rich, he became poor. Think

about that for a moment. Jesus came, died on the

cross and gave everything just for you because he wants

you to be made rich in every way. That's the

heart of God. That's the heart of God. That's why

God said, return to me, return to me, and I

will return to you. In fact, he gave a promise.

He said, test me, and this he doesn't have to

do that. God doesn't lie. If he give a word,

it's true. But to encourage them even more, he said,

test me in this and see if I will not

open the windows of heaven and pour out so much

blessing to you that there will be no need left

looking back. Twenty years of by the grace of God,

following God die. You know young Isan tradition. I mean Magasaua.

Every every year December thirty one, before the fireworks, we

would come together and we would share our thanksgiving list

things are grateful about for the year. It's amazing that

for the twenty years we have so many things that

when we look back, grabbing them all in pair that

time grab not so we don't know we we I mean,

we are just believing by faith. We don't know where

it's going to come, We don't know how it's going

to be met.

But praise God. Look at this now.

It's a testimony of faith. It's a testimony of the

faithfulness of God. God wants you and I to experience

His goodness. We can only do that if we step

out in faith and allow Him to move in and

through our lives.

Amen.

Can we just take a moment right now? Can you

just come before the Lord and not be in a hurry,

but allow God to speak to you today? Allow God

to speak to you and ask God, Lord, how do

you want me to respond?

What are you showing? Lord to me and my heart?

Lord, we thank you for your word, Thank you for

your heart. You are a good father. You are a

great God.

Lord.

Latina desire Mosam and mabutilan and Lord, thank you for

teaching us to trust you, to depend on you, to

rely on you because you are a God who's committed

to us.

Lord, I pray that we would learn more and more

to trust in you.

To trust your heart, to trust your character, to trust

your word, to trust your promises.

Lord. I pray we will be a people who will

be faithful to you. God.

We thank you for your word today, and I pray,

Lord God, if there's an area of our life Lord

that needs to be aligned to you, Lord, reopen our

hearts for those of us here.

Lord God.

If we are guilty of robbing you, we repent before you.

Starting today, Lord God, we will be faithful to you.

We will honor you with our wealth, with the first

fruit of everything that we have. Lord, thank you for

calling us to be blessed so we can be a blessing.

And that's what we're going to do. We thank you

Lord that as we do that, Lord, that you will

bless us as you have said in your word. You said,

test me in this and see if I will not

open the flood gates of heaven. God, we thank you

for the precious promise. We declare that by faith, we

speak that over our lives, our families, our situation right

now in the name of Jesus. Thank you for your

promise that you will rebuke the devour.

Lord God.

We thank you, Lorgod for breaking any curse Lord got

running through. Lord at our lives right now. God, we

thank you Lord for the covenant of blessing that we

have in Christ.

Lord.

We thank you Lord God. I pray for every person here, Lord,

for everyone the US needs.

Lord. I pray that you will show yourself faithful. Lord.

I pray that you will use that as a testimony

of faith and faithfulness, and they will testify as well

that you are a faithful God. So thank you, Lord, God.

I pray give us a grateful heart. Lord God, to

be grateful and every season and every situation.

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