October 19, 2010 The First Family 2

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil!

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. As I said I am going to be writing the evening before for a while, or trying to. Anyway, it is raining here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. Please pray for the family or families who have lost loved ones in a fire Monday evening in Harrisburg, Pa. The first report has five killed, four of them children. Today's message is for Tuesday and that is the day we pray for cures for Cancer, failed kidneys and all those other diseases. Please also pray for Pastor Tony and Ruby, I have not heard from them for a while. Praise report, Eleanor Saylor had a safe trip to her old home town and is back home safe and sound. Please keep Daniel Saylor in your prayers as he now must return back to Ohio from Central Pa. Pray for those with cancer, Diane, Kathleen, Ronald, and I am sure I am missing a few... Please pray for Pastor Charles...

The First Family 2: Genesis 4:2 - Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil! 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the first born of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. (NIV)

Let's now take a look at the scripture of today and see what we can find. First I see that Abel is the younger of the brothers. Both of the brothers were farmers, one working the earth and one with livestock. Notice that today we still have farmers that work the dirt and have livestock. I wanted to bring that out as so many, many things are the same today as back then, except with the exception of the Amish, I think most others use tractors, etc., to farm... I will need to check for sure on that with my good friend Oliver Ogden as he is one of the best read people that I know and an excellent person on the history of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home of a lot of the older religions. But with that said, farming was never easy work, not an eight hour a day type job. So let me move on, for this scripture is not about their farming of the fields and livestock but about what they gave to the Lord.

Cain brought in good fruit from his work as an offering unto the Lord, while his brother Abel fat portions from some of his livestock. Then we see that the Lord looked with favor on the offerings of Abel, but with Cain and his offerings, well, the Lord did not look with favor on them.

Ok, what does that really tell us today? It tells me we should give of our best, give off the top to the Lord. Over the years I had to learn that you give to the Lord first, and give Him what is due Him and I found out you cannot out-give the Lord. I have heard people say, "I cannot give to God for there is nothing left after I pay the bills and in some cases there was not even enough to pay the bills." Folks, if you give to God first, you will have enough to pay God and if you do it in faith you will soon find you have enough to pay the bills. The Bible tells us in Malachi this.

Malachi 3: 8 - "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me." "But you ask, 'how do we rob you?'" "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse, the whole nation of you, because you are robbing me. 10 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 blessings that you will not have room enough for it." (NIV)

Folks, if you really want to please God we need to live daily for Him and we need to give good things to Him. Let's talk about some of the ways we give to God. We of course support our church and we need to do that, and we also need to help others. Remember, our Lord said we are to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Having a food pantry, and thanks for all of you who support it, we have found that a lot of people when giving food to the pantry will empty their own shelves, and while that is good, some folks, and they are few, are just emptying out the outdated things. We also need to be very careful for we do get things in that have been opened and some used out. Of course we need to pitch it. Remember, also if you are taking clothes to the Salvation Army or other places like that, take good clean clothes. If something is not fit for you to wear, then don't expect others to use it. I have also seen really good stuff sitting out for the trash that would have been great for the Salvation Army. Remember, folks, when you are giving to your church, give from the top, when you are giving "things" to people you are really giving it to God, so think about it when you give it, would you give it to God?

You can see this all in just those few scriptures. Give unto the Lord, your best, for after all, He gave you His best, Jesus. Can someone say Amen on that one?

Dear Father in Heaven, You gave us the Best, You gave us Jesus and Jesus, You gave us Yourself. Help us to always give to You and others only things that are good. While, Lord, we don't always give new things, help us to give good things, things that we would feel honored to give to You. Bless what we give, dear Lord. Please honor our prayers this day, Lord, and those on the prayer list, please heal. Thanks for safety for the Saylors. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Now folks, and this is a good day to say this. Go forth and share those blessings.
Love ya, Pastor Dan.