Several prophecies are in the third chapter of Malachi. It begins with the prophecy about John the Baptist (which was fulfilled in his ministry) and continues with a number of precious prophecies about the Lord.
However, we are concerned with Malachi 3:7–12, in which the Lord tells us, “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will a man rob God?” It is not that we take something away from God, but we defraud Him if we do not give Him what He requires of us.
“Will a man rob” (defraud) “God? Yet you are robbing” (defrauding) “Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed Thee?’ In tithes and contributions” (offerings). “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing” (defrauding) “Me, the whole nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me 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 there is no more need.” The margin reads, “not room enough,” and the King James Version says, “not room enough to receive it.”
“Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts. “And all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.
In the first commandment is a principle that is taught throughout the Scriptures: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. Mark 12:30. We must learn that focusing every area of our lives on God is one of the most important things that can happen to us. We cannot be focused on the world. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. I John 2:15–17. The man who is focused upon God will have permanence.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of (living) water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:1–3.
Everything a man in this life receives from God depends upon his focus. A man may be a believer, yet he may believe for something because of a selfish motivation. Then he is not delighting himself in the Lord so that he might receive the desire of his heart. Rather, he is simply enduring the Lord in order to get the desires of his heart. If you focus on the world, you will find it to be a passing scene. But if you focus on the Lord, you will endure forever. If you meditate upon His Word day and night, He will make your way prosperous. Whatsoever you do shall prosper.
A man’s focus determines the measure of blessing he receives from the Lord. Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek ye first,” and in the Greek it reads, “Seek ye only first the Kingdom of God, and all these other things will be added to you.” It is a matter of focus. He promised that when you focus upon His Kingdom and upon His will, these other things will happen to you. A man should be diligent about his business. Nevertheless, when the Lord is first in his heart and he really seeks Him first, God will bless his business and bring him numerous contacts. His contemporaries of equal ability will fail while he succeeds. The reason he will succeed is not measured by anything visible; it is intangible and invisible in that his heart is focused upon God.
This focus on God was what made David reputed, by the testimony of the Lord Himself, to be a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). David said in the Psalm 57:7, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.” Whatever else happened, good or bad, his heart was fixed and focused on the Lord. When he sinned and was rebuked, he was quick to repent, and God was quick to forgive. He was a man after God’s own heart because he was focused—his heart was fixed on God.
Although you might have many interests, the longer you walk with God, the more your interest is focused only on the Lord. You might have to do many things, yet you do them incidentally because your heart is focused on the Lord. God will keep blessing, if you do not worry about other things and simply focus on the Lord.
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord taught about focusing the heart, saying, “Do not lay up your treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and thieves break through and steal, but lay up your treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19–20). In other words, be sure you put all your interests in the right place so that you are focused on God.
In Luke 18:18 is the story of a rich man, a ruler of the Jews, who asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life. The Lord knew that his interest was upon too many things to serve God, and it was necessary for him to change his focus. Therefore, the Lord said to him, “Go sell all that you have and give it to the poor; then come and follow Me.” He went away sorrowful, because he had too many possessions and interests which he was focusing upon. In essence, the Lord told him to get rid of all the other things that were absorbing his attention and set his attention on the Lord alone. This seemed to be deadly; nevertheless, the Lord would say the same to you. If you want to walk with God, you must be focused on God. If you are focused on something else, you will have to eliminate it to walk with Him.
The basic root of selfishness is deeper than many people think. It is easy for someone to praise God from one side of his mouth and from the other side to voice that which is for his own blessing, a deep ulterior motivation within his spirit. You should understand what you are living for. Ask yourself what you are actually focused on and what you really want. There may be something you do not have, yet your desire for it may exceed your desire for the Lord. It is not always what you possess that hinders you. There are more people who want something and do not have it, than there are people who want what they have. It is said that success is getting what you want, but happiness is wanting it after you get it. Many people do not have what they want and are not pleasing God because their desire for those things supersedes their desire for the Lord.
In the Psalms, we do not find such requests as this, “O God, give me this; O God, give me that.” David, a man after God’s own heart, a man whose heart was fixed on God, was always saying, “I bless You, Lord; I love You. You are so great to me.” David always prayed that God would be magnified. The Psalms are characterized by one deep undercurrent: “My heart panteth after Thee like the hart panteth after the water brooks. When shall I appear before Thee?” (Psalm 42:1–2). The cry of the Psalms is a hunger after God. David hungered after Him because his heart was fixed on God.
When God calls you to sacrifice, many times He is calling you to face the fact that you are basically selfish and have never focused on the Lord. He said, “Bring your tithes and offerings into the storehouse and prove if I will not bless you. I will do everything for you. I will rebuke the devourer for your sake. Your vines will not abort and cast their grapes ahead of time.” Everything you do will prosper if you meditate in His word both day and night.
Look at the commands that God gave Joshua: This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.… then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 2:8. What a word for a general! “This is the way you will receive wisdom and insight, Joshua; simply worship God and meditate on Him day and night. Never forget that your greatest problem is not killing Canaanites, but keeping yourself basically, essentially, and primarily focused on God.”
You cannot do that unless you love the Lord with all your heart and withhold nothing from Him. You cannot tell God that you need Him because the tribulations are coming and you do not have enough food stored. How will you get through the tribulations? Only God can be your refuge and strength. Focus on Him and He will take care of you. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5. We read in Psalm 37:5: Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
You cannot afford to be focused in the wrong direction. If He is to be your Lord and God, you must serve Him with all your heart. Examine all your loyalties. Examine your interests. Examine your idols. Is self perched on the pinnacle in your worship of yourself? Are you placing everything else ahead of God? If you are, it is time to spoil your images. It is time to face them and get rid of them. Remember, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” (Mark 12:30). That is what a walk with God involves. It is not a series of doctrines or ways of ministering. Although you are being given sound scriptural teachings, and this is a day of revelation, essentially you walk with God because He is first in your life. Because you love Him first, everything else will come forth.
Anyone who is a wise observer knows that many of the marriages which are entered into, even with love, fail. A marriage can succeed, not because of the love a couple has for each other but because of the focus they have on God first. When God is first and His will is first, their love can be enduring.
Many Scriptures verify this principle. God has to be first. You cannot serve Him with mixed loyalties. There cannot be mixed motivations. The Lord asks you to give your very best to Him. Many a person comes to the Lord to give Him old habits and responses such as temper and lust. That is not what God needs. He takes these things and buries them in the sea of His forgetfulness. But what about laying everything on the altar that could rival Him—every blessing He has put in your life? God will test your spirit to see if He is really going to be first. You must give Him everything, even the good things.
It was that way with Abraham. What a heavy heart Abraham must have had when he walked up the hill to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to God; it must have grieved him deeply when he tied up his boy whom he loved more than his own life. Racing through his mind, like a jackhammer hammering away, were the thoughts of the promises, the things that God said would be—that in Isaac all his seed would be blessed. Then his hand lifted the knife. Suddenly an angel stopped him, and he saw a little ram caught in the thicket. That day God revealed Himself to Abraham by another name: “Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides” (Genesis 22:14). Abraham took the ram that the Lord had provided, and he offered it up. From then on he had it made. Abraham said, “Lord, all that I am, all that I have, and all that You have given me is Yours.” That day God said, “Abraham, all that I am and all that I have is yours,” and Abraham walked with God.
The day that you relinquish selfishness, telling the Lord you are His and you will serve Him, that is the day you will tune into the fact that He is yours.
We are in a day of acceleration. The Word is becoming richer, revelation is deeper, and impartation is greater. The Lord is bringing us into deeper revelation and a deeper word. We have only begun.
Perhaps you would like to know what you as a member of the Body could do. There are many things you can do that will set you in motion and bring forth your ministry. As an illustration, one of the greatest gifts God has given to this generation is an apostolic word to guide us into the Kingdom. This word is a miracle word coming directly from the heart of God. In much humility I am dedicating my entire life and every breath that I have to this word. You too can help send forth this word by helping to print it. You can be dedicated to Body ministry that will back up your pastors and bring forth young ministries. You can pray concerning the vision you have. Lift up your eyes and no longer look down at your own path. Believe for the walk that God has for the entire Body.