Malachi 3:6-12 
God is concerned with how we spend, save and share our money.
6. “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed”. 
There is a New Testament verse speaks of the same concept.
Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
When God met Moses in the burning bush He gave His name as “I AM THAT I AM”.
 “I AM” is conveying a meaning that God always present.
He is always present and He never changes.
We have an unchanging God in a constant changing world.
Sheer existence of nation of Israel is always linked with God’s existence.
I. ROBBING GOD (8)
Tithe started with Abraham in Gen 14:20.
“And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”
Abraham started giving God the tithe – Jacob followed – Moses instituted
Lev 27:30 “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.”
Tithe is an act of worship over the centuries in the life of Israel.
It is an act of worship today – the meaning and the purpose never changed.
God does not need our money because He owns everything in the world.
When we bring our gifts as act of worship with grateful hearts it pleases the Lord.
II. ROBBING OURSELVES (9-11)
The consequence of robbing God of His tithe will result into losing of His blessings in our lives.
In obedience to God’s Law people brought tithe of everything into a designated place in the temple at Jerusalem for the sole purpose of supporting God’s ministry  (Levites & priests).
Since Israel is not fulfilling their part God also cannot fulfill His part.
God says bring the whole tithe to Him so that He can bless us much more.
One Industrialist said “If you give because it pays, it won’t pay” 
God will open the floodgates of heaven (Gen 7:11) when we give our share.
The key here is that we give with a grateful and faithful heart.
There is no financial freedom if God is not included in our planning.
Prophet Haggai tells us in 1:6 “You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
This is how we are robbing ourselves of God’s blessings in our life.
III. ROBBING OTHERS (12)
Prophet Malachi says that Israel was robbing other nations of the opportunity to tell them how great their God is.
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we have a mandate to support His ministry.
God says bring the whole tithe into His storehouse means cheerfully giving what we can.
Mission of every bible believing Church is to support the mission work in the world.
When we keep giving cheerfully, willingly and faithfully the Lord’s work keep moving to touch many people with the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
When we don't give we deprive unbelievers the opportunity to hear the Gospel message.
We give - they hear -  they are saved - they are also blessed as we are blessed with forgiveness of sins through Lord Jesus Christ.
We do rob unbelievers the joy salvation for not doing our part.
God loves a cheerful giver to His ministry.

2 Chronicle 7:12-16
“If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
4 conditions to fulfill: if you humble, pray, seek God’s face and turn from wicked ways
THEN-means we are activating God’s response based on fulfilling those conditions.
This is God’s restoration process – He is ready to restore HIS people.
I.  I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN
God is willing to restore the status of repenting people of Israel.
But God loves to hear prayer from a genuinely repenting heart.
Those prayers will be answered according to His will and purpose.
Though God is so close to us, we need to keep in mind that HE hears from heaven.
That means there will be delays in His response.
Sometime it takes a long time for the reply to travel from God’s dwelling place
II. FORGIVE THEIR SIN
First response from God towards restoration process is granting forgiveness.
We know for sure that sin keeps corrupting us daily in some fashion or the other.
Because we live in a sinful world sin always impacts our life.
Before Christ, God was forgiving the Israelites through their faithful obedience to the Law, offering sacrifices for sin, and approaching God with reverential fear and worship.
Today God forgives us thru Lord Jesus Christ.
We are justified once – sanctified all the days of our life.
III. HEAL THEIR LAND.
In the healing process, a person gets well from physical sickness.
Healing can be physical, financial and spiritual.
It is not just blessing with good crop but providing relief for all aspects of hardships.
Healing is one of the process reflecting God's blessings upon His people. 
Not just their lands but also their families, their societies and nation as a whole.
Historically speaking God blessed the Israelites only after they repented for their wickedness.
God is ready to heal their spiritual blindness also.
Spiritual blindness is far more dangerous than the physical sickness.
Physical sickness leads to the death of the body but spiritual blindness leads to eternal death of the soul.
CONCLUSION
1. God will see each and every one who comes there – He will take notice of each individual.
2. God will hear every word of prayer offered at the temple.
3. God has chosen and consecrated the temple after dedication.
4. God’s abiding presence and God’s heart is with His temple always.
When the temple was functioning as a place of worship and sacrifices, God’s presence was there in the temple and at the temple.
God’s presence was removed because of their rebellion and wickedness.
There is no more temple of original magnitude.
As we are under the new covenant, we become His living temples – our hearts.
God is assuring us that our hearts are chosen and consecrated for Him.
He lives with us, He lives in us and He is with us always.
God’s promises are true today in each and every believer’s life as long as he/she is fulfilling the conditions cited in the verse.
Add your name to this verse
“If (my people) your name here, who is (are) called by (My) Christ’s Name, will humble (themselves) himself /herself and pray and seek (My) Christ’s face and turn from (their) his/her wicked ways, then (I) God will hear from heaven and will forgive (their) his/her sin and will heal (their) his/her (land) life.”

2 Chronicle 7:14
All those who accepted Lord Jesus as his/her personal Savior and washed in His precious blood, had the assurance of forgiveness became God’s chosen people like the Israelites.
As God’s chosen and special people we bear His Name, ‘Christians’.
The Lord wants us to live as His people among the world’s people.
We have to admit that all is not right with our Christian walk.
We might have deviated from the path of discipleship and succumbed to the worldly ways.
We might have lost our first love for Lord Jesus
“If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways,”

1. “HUMBLE THEMSELVES”
Humble in the presence of God is entirely different from all other situations.
A. We do not consider ourselves having any worth before Lord Jesus
We are giving up our will, our rights and our self before a holy God.
We are submitting voluntarily to God’s authority and rule.
B. Humbling before God is also to acknowledge our sinfulness.
When we humble before God we recognize our unworthiness and sinful condition.
Today many believers compromise with the world and behave like non-Christians.
They are giving wrong message to the unbelievers around them.
Life goes on as usual for them without any visible change in their life style.
Their faith in Christ remained just a concept but never practiced.
The main reason I believe that they have no fear of God.
They never grasped and understood the holiness & righteousness of God.
For all purposes such believers are talking Christians not doing Christians
They are taking a Holy God for granted with such attitude.
2. PRAY
"Prayer is essentially a means by which God’s people can communicate with God”.  
When we humble ourselves we recognize that we have a sinful heart and we pray.
God loves a person who humbles and seeks Him in prayer.
Tax collector in the New Testament prayed with humility and feeling of unworthiness & sinfulness.
We need to have the same attitude of the tax collector when we approach God in prayer.
Prayer comes natural to a person who fears God.
Prayer is a spiritual discipline.
We have to admit that many of our prayer life is literally on life support.
3. SEEK MY FACE
Seeking His face means to be in His presence no matter what.
It is like giving up everything to be in the Church with fellow believers.
Is it possible with our busy schedules and priorities?
We know for sure most many of us do not make to the church on time.
That means we are taking God for granted.
It is not seeking God’s face but it looks like as if God is seeking our face.
A. “Seek My face” means that God is not too far away.
Face to face communication removes the distance between human and God.
B. ‘My face’ speaks of an intimate relationship with a holy God.
When we seek His face, we are submitting that we are not hiding from Him.
We discover face to face, God is also loving, merciful, gracious and forgiving God.
4. TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS
The definition of right and wrong keeps changing every day by the minute.
What was wicked and sinful in 1960's is OK today.
We are living in a political correctness world.
Our God is an unchanging God, and what He considers as right and wrong does not change with time or with any generation.  
We understand that sinful heart is wicked – leads to a sinful life style – hinders our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord is speaking very clearly to His people to turn back from their wicked ways.
God desires that His people to return to Him and repent for their sins.
Repentance is an opportunity that how far we have come away from the Lord.
By our actions, thinking and mixed up priorities in our life.
Repentance enables us to see our sins for what they are.
My personal conclusion is that we are slowly losing sight of a Holy God.
Our hearts are becoming callous and devoid of fear of God in us.
This is an opportunity for all of us to dig deep into our hearts and see if any offensive ways in our Christian walk.

Luke 4: 1-13 - Humblings and Testing with Temptations.

 Looking at the full context of Jesus’s temptations there is a lot to learn. During the time, Jesus went through his temptations as a means of his Purifications. His divine nature was not involved but His human nature.  We see the clear context of Devil in this verses and his form was fully exposed. As Christians, we also pray “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”. We are to pray that we may not be tempted, for we are poor, weak creatures of flesh and blood.

Luke 4: 1-2

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 where for forty days he was tempted[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

           - Jesus was also spending the 40 days in Wilderness as Israel spent time in Wilderness without food and drink.
           - Note that if Jesus was hungry and if food was the only reason, then God could have provided the manna in the desert. Jesus was made hungry to go through the rigorous testing just as the jews were tested in the desert.
           - As Duet 8:2 says “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.”
           - Here also Jesus was tested to know his hearts desires and was made pure after going through the trails in the Wilderness.
           - It is very important that the Citizens of the Heavelnly Kingdon also have a bit of temptations so that God know where you stand. Also check out this World and how things are going bad. You also need to stand and know where you stand.

Luke 4: 3-4

3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’[b]”

           - Satan was tempting Jesus to use his power as Son of God,  to make food than depending on God.
           - Satan was also asking that you have been hungry for 40 days and you did not get any help from God.
           - Jesus mentioned that he was going through the trails for a reason and not for having food.
           - He quotes - Duet 8:3  “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
           - Jesus Christ used one right weapon of God against Satan and it was the Word of God.

Luke 4: 4-8

5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’[c]”    

           - Jesus was told that if you bow down to him, then he would not have to die on the cross
           - Satan was trying to make a bribe with Jesus so that he can give Him everything to stall the salvation, and this did not work

Luke 4: 9-13

9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.
10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[d]”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[e]”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

           - Satan also used some verses from the Bible to make Jesus follow him.
           - Satan uses Psalms (Psalm 91:11-12) 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

           - God does take care of people, but you should not really test Him.
           - As the Bible says - ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’

Conclusion -

           Today, in life we are also faced with many temptations and we need to make sure how we tackle our temptations. Temptations are good but it should not deliver you to evil but need you need it as a means for God to humble you and know where you stand.

           Also the Word of God was the effective weapon for Jesus against the Devil.

2 Chronicle 7:14
This is the first of the three messages based on verse 14.
Temple Worship is an Integral part of most of the religions
Some religions use symbols or idols and some don’t.
Tabernacle was the designated place of worship where God met with Israel.
This Tabernacle was entirely designed by God.
First eleven verses of 7th chapter of 2 Chronicle describe the dedication of a Temple.
Tabernacle became temple at Jerusalem built by King Solomon around 936 BC.
God’s glory descended upon the temple as a sign of His presence because God is a Spirit.
In 12th Verse we read God chose the temple for Himself to manifest His presence and glory.
Verse 13th God says Israel is His people.
‘IF’ before a verse always speaks of a condition in the Scripture.
Verse I. “If MY people, who are called by MY Name”.
Deuteronomy 7:6&8 give us the definition of “My people”.
A. Holy People: Set apart for His exclusive worship and service.
God gave them the exclusive privilege to His divine glory – They were walking on the holy ground indirectly – Every time they saw God’s glory they were literally in His presence.
B. Chosen People: They were from all the peoples of the world (Deut 7:6).
C. Treasured Possession: Most dear to the heart of God (Ex 19:5 & Zech 2:8)
D. Redeemed People: God redeemed them from Egyptian bondage.
Verse I. “If MY people, who are called by MY Name”.
Deuteronomy 28:10 “Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the Name of the LORD, and they will fear you.”
Almighty God identified them as His own before the gentile nations.
It was a special privilege for them to be called by God’s Name.
People of Israel were most feared people because they were called by His Name.
THE APPLICATION
People of Israel were under the old covenant.
Today whoever accepted Christ as Savior and Lord is under the NEW COVENANT.
All Believers are under the New Covenant through our Lord Jesus thus “My people”.
Everyone is a God’s creation but believers in Christ become God’s exclusive people.
HOLY PEOPLE: Set apart for His exclusive service.
Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthian church says that Christ sanctified us to be holy people.
He says in 2 Timothy 1:9 that Lord Jesus saved us and called us to a holy life.
WE ARE CHOSEN PEOPLE
In 1 Peter 2:9-10 we read that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God for declaring His praise.
Christ called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.
Peter says we were not God’s people but now we are because of Christ’s mercy & grace.
Apostle John says in John 15:19 that Christ has chosen us out of the world.
The selection process is purely based on the grace of God and by our faith. 
We are chosen to be the most privileged people to have an eternal relationship with Christ.
REDEEMED PEOPLE: Forgiven people - God redeemed us from the bondage of sin.
Apostle Paul says in Gal 3:13 that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.
In Tit 2:14 we are redeemed people from all wickedness.
And most importantly we bear Christ’s Name and we belong to Him
It does not matter we are born in a Christian family - have a Christian name – Baptized in a Church and attend a Church regularly.
A passive Christian cannot claim a relationship with Jesus.
One must accept Lord Jesus as Savior & God and has the assurance of sins forgiven.
We are chosen to have a relationship with Christ – we are chosen to be God’s living temples – we are chosen to live our lives for the glory of God.
Though we are saved by His grace and belong to Him we still live in a sinful world.
As Apostle Paul says we have to live out our salvation daily as "My people".
God is saying to every believer in Jesus Christ that he/she is God’s exclusive people.
Are you included in that exclusive body called “My people”?