Throw Away The Thimble
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Malachi 3:10 (New International Version, NIV).
If we are consistently faithful in giving our tithes and offerings, God is faithful to multiply back to us what we give. Many people believe this, but only to a certain degree. So many of God's people live below their means because they have been duped by the devil. He has told them that God only sends the big, outrageous harvests to the preachers and ministers. He has said that God didn't really mean he would do this for every tither, just certain ones. He has told others that God will indeed bless them, but just enough to get by on.
Hold it right there. What does Malachi 3:10 say? It says that God will throw open the windows, or floodgates, of heaven and pour out a huge, immeasurable harvest. It does NOT say that this would only be done for some people or that the blessing would be just a little bit.
The New American Standard Bible (NASB) states it like this:
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. (emphasis mine)
Pour out a blessing for who? It says it would be poured out for YOU! How much does it say will be poured out? So much it will OVERFLOW! In the NIV it says there will be so much that there will not be room enough to store it. Now, that's a lot!
II Kings 4 tells about a widow who was about to lose her two sons to the creditor. The Prophet Elisha tells her to collect as many containers as she can find. Let's see what happens:
Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” II Kings 4:2-7 (NIV)
Imagine what would have happened if the widow and her sons had such low expectations that they only collected a couple jars. People, we have to get rid of the thimble mentality that assumes that God will only trickle out a meager, pathetic blessing, barely enough to fill a thimble. Our Father is in the business of excess. He wants to overflow your storehouses, not your thimble! Throw away the thimble! Enlarge your vision. Increase your level of expectation. The Word gives plenty of scripture to build your faith in this area.
Philippians 4:19 (Easy-to-Read Version, ERV) says:
My God will use his glorious riches to give you everything you need. He will do this through Christ Jesus.
Luke 6:38 (The Passion Translation, TPT):
Give generously and generous gifts will be given back to you, shaken down to make room for more. Abundant gifts will pour out upon you with such an overflowing measure that it will run over the top! Your measurement of generosity becomes the measurement of your return.
Meditate on the Word concerning God's faithfulness to increase your seed sown. Stretch yourself in this area. Then, begin to speak what you have been studying. Call in your harvest. And watch God send you a blessing so huge that you cannot contain it- no matter how big your container is.
