How To Put God First.
I would like to welcome all the first-time guest that are tuned in online and we are excited that you have joined us.
Now the message that I am going to share this morning is going to be geared toward our church Victory Outreach Cape Town. So, if this is your first time, we really welcome you and we are so glad that you have tuned in.
As a matter of fact, you picked the perfect time to be a guest because I am going to be sharing how you and I can get blessed.
How many here can use a blessing right now?
Come on now.
OK lets read.
“The conviction of putting God First”
1 Kings 17:13
13 Elijah said to her, “Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.
14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family
This morning I would like to speak a message that I believe the Lord has placed upon my heart for our church and the title is “The conviction of putting God First”
Some of you may be wondering if we forgot to receive the tithes and offering. We didn’t forget.
We will be doing the tithes and offering at the end of service, so please once I am done preaching, don’t log off. Stay tuned so we can worship the Lord with our giving.
Now before I get into the message, I would like to give you a little background of what is taking place in this portion of scripture.
In verse 1 we see that Elijah announced that there would be no rain or dew in next few years, so this caused a famine in the land.
Now during this famine, the widow woman and her son were down to their last meal.
She only had a handful of flour and a little olive oil in a jug.
She was on her way to gather a few sticks to make a fire so that her and her son could eat their last meal.
Now on her way to gather these sticks she ran into Elijah.
Elijah asked her for a little water and a piece of bread, and she replied in verse 12 – I do not have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering few sticks to take home so I can make the last meal for me and my son.
Then we see what Elijah told her go in verse 13 which was our opening scripture.
Let me read it again:
13 Elijah said to her, “Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.
14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family
There are a few things that I would like to point out in this passage of scripture and then I will be done.
- There widow woman had a need.
We see that the widow woman was down to hear last meal. She did not know if she was going to have another meal the next day.
She was gathering a few sticks so she could cook the last meal for her and her son.
The famine had caused her to be in a tough situation.
The famine had caused her to not have any more food.
The famine had caused her to only have only a hand full of flour and a little olive oil.
I am not sure if you have ever been in a place where you don’t know where you are going to get your next meal?
I am not sure if you have ever been in a tough financial situation and you are not sure how you are going to take care of a need?
Well that is where this widow woman found herself.
Today because of the situation that we are facing, there are many people that have lost their jobs, they have been retrenched from their job and they are not sure how they are going to meet a specific need.
They find themselves in a tough situation.
That is how this widow woman was.
Now she runs into Elijah and he asks her for a little water in a jar, and she was going to fetch the water, then Elijah also asks for a piece of bread.
She then tells Elijah I do not have any bread only a little flour and a little olive oil and once we eat this meal me and my son don’t have anything else.
You would think Elijah would say oh man ok it’s ok you don’t need to make anything for me, go ahead and take care of yourself, but he said ok do what you were planning on doing but make a small cake for me first and when you do this is what the Lord says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.
That leads me to my next point
- God gave a promise during the tough situation.
Now even though there was a famine in the land and the widow woman in need as she was down to her last meal, The Lord God Almighty made a promise to the widow woman.
Elijah told her if you go home and bake a cake for me first, this is what the Lord says. ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
Now the widow woman had a choice to make, she could have said ok that sounds cool but does the Lord understand that I am in need and I am down to my last meal or she could be obedient a trust God to meet her every need.
I think we need to give the widow woman a little credit because if I am down to my last meal, I am not sure if I am going to be thinking about giving someone else some first.
The widow woman chose to be obedient and she did what Elijah had told her.
She took God at His Word during a tough situation.
Her bank account was empty, her cupboards were bare, and she was down to her last meal, but she stepped out and trusted the Lord anyway.
God had given her a promise.
Even though the situation looked tough, God had given her a promise.
Have you ever found yourself in a place where you did not know how a certain need was going to be met?
The thing that you and I can learn from this is, no matter how the situations may look, we should continue to put God first.
- God came through on His Promise
The last thing that I want to share is that God came through on His Promise.
Even though it was a tough situation and there was a famine in the land, it did not stop God from coming through on His Promise.
I am not sure who I am speaking to today.
Even though the situation may not look good and you may be down to your last meal, God is still faithful to His promises.
You may have run out of money and your bills are due, God will come through. God is still faithful to His Promises.
You may have gotten retrenched and you are not sure how your needs are going to be met, if we put God first, He will come through. God is still faithful to His promises.
Now is not the time to take break from giving, now is the time to continue to put God first.
The widow woman had a conviction to put God first even when the situation did not look good.
Why because she had a conviction to take God at His word and put Him first in her giving.
You and I should have the conviction of putting God first with our giving no matter how the situation looks.
I like what I heard Elder/Pastor Tom Vasquez say Our convictions shouldn’t be based on what the outcome will be, but our convictions should be based on obedience to God.
This is the type of conviction Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had. They had a conviction that was based on obedience rather than outcome.
They had made up in their minds that there were not going to bow down to the image of gold that the king had set up regardless of the outcome.
Regardless of the outcome, their convictions were based on obedience.
That is how you and I should be with our giving.
When you and I put God first in paying our tithes and giving an offering, even in the midst of a tough situation, we are telling our finances that we put God first and we will not bow down and put other things first because of the situation around us.
Regardless of the outcome, our convictions tell us to put God first in our giving.
Our decision of giving is not based on situations or the outcome, but it is based on obedience.
The exciting this is when we put Him first, He will come through.
The famine did not change God’s faithfulness.
The circumstances do not change God’s faithfulness.
The situations do not change God’s faithfulness.
If God promised you and I that he will open the windows of heaven, then God will remain faithful to His promise regardless of the situation.
The widow woman chose to be obedient to the word of God and the Bible says, So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
Thank you Jesus.
Let’s say a word of prayer.
Tithes and Offering
Well this morning we have an opportunity to put this message into practice because I have the privilege of being able to receive our tithes and offerings.
What an opportunity to put this message into practice.
When you and I are faithful in our giving, especially in a tough situation, we are telling our money to worship God.
Yes, it may be a tough season right now, but let us continue to be faithful.
This is not a time to be excused from giving.
Why because your giving goes toward making a difference in the lives of families that are hurting, individuals who are hurting and souls that are getting saved.
Now like I said this message is more for our church Victory Outreach Cape Town, but if you are a guest online you can also put the principles that were covered in this message to practice.
Now is not a time to take a break in your giving. Why because souls are still hurting, families are still looking for answers and souls are being saved.
Yes, even during the pandemic our free recovery home is still operating. Where lives are being transformed by the Power of God.
Yes, even during the pandemic we are getting calls that families need help because their child is using drugs and they do not know what to do.
Yes, even during the pandemic we are still doing our radio show every week on CCFM where lives are being ministered to and souls are being saved.
I was sitting the office with Chavaan and he said hold on pastor I got a call. After the call was done, I happened to ask how did they here about the home and he said the radio show.
How is this made possible? It is made possible through your giving.
So let me encourage you with this. Remain faithful in this season and God will pour out abundant blessings upon your life.
The Widow Woman gave of what she had, and God came through.
She gave of what she had in a tough season and God came through.
There is still a need during the situation that we are facing.
Families are still crying out for help.
People are still bound by drug addiction and are looking for a way out and we have the answer.
Stay faithful in your offerings
I would like to encourage you to not only give your tithes online, but you can also give offerings.
I know many of us are used to coming into the house of God and we give our offering in the basket, but now that there are no offering baskets being passed around, let’s remember to be faithful in our offerings also.
We are doing good as a church with the giving of our tithes online and I want to encourage you to also to remember to be faithful in our offerings.
If I can share with our church this morning that our tithes are pretty consistent, but we have seen an 89% decrease in our offerings since we have been in lockdown.
Let’s remember that the bible says that we should be faithful in our tithes and offerings.
So I encourage you not only be faithful in paying your tithes online.
You can also EFT an offering, you can also snap scan an offering, you can also give an offering via your banking app.
You may have to give twice, but that is ok, you will get a double blessing.
Come On Now.
Daniel 3:16 –
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.
17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand.
18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
