Vicit Agnus Noster

Today I was listening to Michael Card's Christmas CD, The "Promise". I do this as I work in order to block out the surrounding office noise. Suddenly I realized that I was listening to "Vicit Agnus Noster". One-hundred percent of my attention was on the music and the lyrics. I was transfixed, hyptnotised maybe. I became somewhat agitated as my three years of Latin education failed me as I tried to translate the songs title and lyrics. It was further frustrating in that I had gone through this exercise times before and I failed to stir up the mental powers to retrieve that which I had already commited to memory.

As I was soon to understand this was part of the plan. I opened Yahoo and keyed in 'Vicit Agnus Noster'. For some unknown but Spirit led reason, I bypassed the first three entries and clicked on the fourth one. I found myself on the Michael Card web page with the songs lyrics and a devotional from Michael Card. I was blown away by the simplicity of the paradox presented by Vicit Agnus Noster, our Lamb has conquered.

Here are the lyrics from the song.

Vicit Agnus Noster

Vicit Agnus
Vicit Agnus
Noster eum sequamur

Did Abraham himself not say
God would provide a lamb
To take instead the punishment
That should belong to man

And so to humble shepherds
Was His glory first revealed
And with His birth a covenant
Made long ago was sealed

Vicit Agnus
Vicit Agnus
Noster eum sequamur

Out of His dark obscurity
The Light of God has shone
And through the meekness of the Lamb
God's strength would be made known

The just and gentle Promised One
Would triumph o're the fall
And conquer by His own defeat
And win by losing all


Had I been able to recall the Latin translation of 'Vicit Agnus' I would never gone to Yahoo and had I not gone to Yahoo I would not have been touched by Michael Card's devotional on the subject. Following is the devotional as written by Michael Card. "Vicit agnus noster eum sequamur." - Dan

(vicit agnus noster eum sequamur is an ancient Latin motto which means, "our Lamb has conquered, Him let us follow.")

Should the motto not read, "vicit leo noster eum sequamur," "our Lion has conquered, Him let us follow?" What is the meaning of the motto as it stands? "Our Lamb has conquered." How is it that we have come to follow One who is predominantly represented as a lamb? Where does the paradox come from that teaches weakness is strength, defeat is victory and poverty wealth? The paradox is rooted in this disturbing image of the conquering Lamb.

Throughout most of the Bible He is not the lamb who conquers, but the one who is Himself conquered. In the Old Testament the lamb is the helpless, innocent substitute and sacrifice. It is slain to be consumed. Its' blood is splattered on the doorposts to mark the homes of the faithful so that the angel of death will 'Passover'(Ex.12). The Old Testament lamb is victim not victor.

Likewise, throughout most of the New Testament, when the Lamb of God appears He seems the most unlikely candidate to conquer. He is born in a stable, like a lamb. He is first recognized by shepherds who themselves have just come from the fields and the birthing of other lambs. Except for a couple of incidents, primarily at the Temple when His "lionish" side surfaces, He is the innocent even weak lamb. He is finally apprehended at Passover and slain precisely during the three hour period when the other Passover lambs are being sacrificed, his own forsaken cries echoing together with the helpless bleating of those other sacrificial lambs. According to exact ritual observance the bones of the Lamb are not broken in the sacrificial process, ironically by two soldiers who couldn't have cared less about ritual observance (Jn.19:31-36). And even as the other lambs are eaten so He had earlier instructed His disciples to consume the bread that was His body. At the moment of His resurrection, when we might expect to hear the roaring of the Lion of Judah, we instead hear nothing but the confused shouts of the women witnesses, whose testimony would have been unacceptable in their own society.

It is not until the close of the New Testament in the book of Revelation that the Conquering Lamb appears. Though still portrayed as being slain, He is yet the One who has conquered.

In the first scene in chapter 5 John is standing amongst a great crowd witnessing an angel flying about with a scroll which no one, it seems, is worthy to open. So caught up is John in the vision that he begins to weep. He understands that if the scroll is not opened history itself cannot unfold.

Then one of the elders standing alongside John in the midst of the great crowd says to him, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah... has triumphed...!" "The Lion" says the elder. So John looks up, blinking back the tears expecting to see just that. But what does he see?

"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain..." John sees not a lion but a lamb, a triumphant Lamb, sitting on a throne. The unfolding of the image of the conquering Lamb has begun.

The second scene is from chapter 17. John has been transported to the desert where he sees a woman, a prostitute, astride a detestable scarlet beast. A conflict is about to erupt between her dark forces and the Lamb.

v.14 "They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is King of kings and Lord of lords- and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."

The final scene, in chapter 19, takes place amidst the roaring sound of a great multitude in heaven. It is the long-awaited marriage supper of the Lamb, the final consummation of a romance that will last forever between the Lamb and His followers, His Bride. The context is exultant worship. The opening words of the thundering multitude "Hallelujah!" The conquering Lamb is finally wed. History has come to full blossom. It is the Kingdom. It is heaven.

Christmas, the celebration of the first Coming of the Lamb, looks back to the humble stable and the simple shepherds. The setting is a dark, fallen world. He has come to expose through his weakness the impotence of what the world calls power. He has come to show us that it is we who are upside down.

In that sense, Christmas is a preparation for the celebration that will be the second Coming of the Lamb triumphant. The contrast between the settings of the two Comings could not be more extreme. Instead of a silent stable and a bunch of motley shepherds, there will be a resplendent multitude whose praise can only be described as a "roar."

prayer:
Oh Lamb of God, innocent, helpless One, born in a stable, held in shepherds' arms, sleeping in the hay. You are the Lamb, our Lamb, meek, gentle and spotless Victim.

Yet you are the Lamb victorious. You have conquered sin and death. You have overcome the evil one. The throne is Yours. The glory Yours. We look up to see the lion and yet it is still You that we see, both reigning and slain. And You bid us follow.

This Christmas make us mindful of what Your first Coming means. Enfold us in the paradox that is the wisdom of it. Let this Christmas clear our vision so that we might look ahead and upward to Your second Coming. Let us await, a faithful Bride, longing for the feast.

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!

The world recently passed the anniversary of the tearing down of the Berlin wall. This one act provided freedom to a generation that could only dream in their hearts how freedom would feel. This one act provided another generation the ability to accept this new found freedom and do what ever it takes to keep it, nourish it and prosper within its vast opportunities. Sadly as the world observed this event, the world’s press chose to ignore the true architect of the destruction of the Berlin Wall, Ronald Wilson Reagan. Instead they chose to trot out Mikhail Gorbachev as the ‘hero’. To that end I present a tribute, in his own words, to the true hero, the true champion of Freedom, President Ronald Reagan: A Voice for Every Generation.

“America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

“Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose.”

“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.”

“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.”

“Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.”

“I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.”

“The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.”

“Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.”

“The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.”

“It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.”

“Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

“Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.”

“No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.”

“If we ever forget that we're one nation under GOD, then we will be a nation gone under.”

“We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions,”

“Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong.”

“We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”

“Liberalism has nothing more to say, nothing to add to the debate. It has spent its intellectual capital, such as it was-and it has done its deeds.”

“Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.”

“Let us resolve that young Americans will always find there is a city of hope in a country that is free…and let us resolve they will say of our day and our generation, we did keep the faith with our God, that we did act worthy of ourselves, that we did protect and pass on lovingly that shining city an a hill.”

“America is too great for small dreams.”

“Freedom is not something to be secured in any one moment of time. We must struggle to preserve it everyday. And freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

“How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”

“Those doing all the criticizing had their chance. In the four years before we got to Washington they had it all. They had the whole enchilada…they virtually had a free hand and all they could think to do with that free hand was stick it in your pocket.”

“Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way.”

The Drivers Permit or How I Got Pied Like Bill Gates at Penn DoT

The first time was in 1993. Time number two was just two years later in 1995. Nineteen ninety-seven marked the third occurance. Then I had a break. It didn't happen again until the next century. Still I had no problems. Another four year break brought me to 2005 A.D. Sometime between November 2005 and September 2009 I have lost touch with reality. What was routine has now become stressful. What was blase has now become challenging. The mind that used to be a steel trap has obtained more than a little rust and is in dire need of a shot or two of WD-40.

This all hit me in the face like one of those cream pies with which Bill Gates was targeted. I am the father of seven children of which six have obtained the age of sixteen. That in and of itself is not special. More special or rather more amazing is that I am still here to even come to the cream pie moment I had this weekend.

Because I have this many teens I have been priveleged to have the same amount of teen drivers. It is reasonable to think that I should have the routine down as to what is needed in order to have a newly turned sixteen teen aquire a learning permit. Sure, through the years Penn DoT has wrinkled the playing field by trying to make me responsible for counting a number of hours driven by my teen before a representative of the state certifies that the flesh of my flesh and the bone of my bone is permitted to drive on the potholed Pennsylvania hiways and byways. What Penn DoT doesn't realize is that no child of mine is getting behind the wheel of ANY vehicle that has my name printed on the owners card by their computer regardless of how many hours they may or may not have driven while my fanny is in the seat beside them. There is no magic number just a magic feeling. A feeling that only I can experience. I must say that the feeling does and will waver from time to time. One of these times is the first time they drive down the street in my car while I am left behind on my knees dialing up the person-to-God direct-call phone line. Penn DoT has also made it possible for the medical world to harvest teenage body parts from these young drivers as long as the teen says it's OK and I sign a form and swear that I am of sound mind. Chew on that one awhile. They are asking the parent who is about to turn over their $30,000 vehicle, the future of their insurance premiums and their very solvencey to a cell phone carrying, texting, music loving child if they are of sound mind. Lord have mercy! Now back to my story.

It is reasonable to think that I should have the routine down as to what is needed in order to have a newly turned sixteen teen aquire a learning permit. Micah turned sixteen on September 5th. Shortly there after he and I make the Mecca-like oblgitory journey to Penn DoT so that he can get his permit. We get there park enter the building, go to the application testing room and it is then and only then that I realize that Micah needs a doctor signiture on his application. Just like all the other times. I believe this signiture is needed only because the state may want to harvest body parts at some point in the future and with these signatures they are guaranteed a predetermined standard of quality. Well we got the checkbook (that was an automatic, dealing with the state, need a checkbook) but we ain't got no doctor approval. So home we go. Fast forward two months.

Why two months? 1) A physical 2) Band 3) Dauphin County Library System 4) Band 5) Apathy 6)Band. We finally get our act together, find a weak spot in the band schedule, i.e. the end of the season, and begin our trip all over again. I even reviewed the steps to take by a prospective applicant on page one of the PA Drivers Manual. I checked off each step we were going to follow once we left Penbrook. We were a little late, say 9:30ish but it was Saturday and we had the time. We got to the Penn DoT building. Being the good parent and the law abiding driver that I am, in route I only had to scream at two other drivers and critique their driving to my sixteen year old driver wannabee. Once in the parking lot at Penn DoT I was forced to make a decision as to whether I wanted to stick around and teach my son to drive or spend 7-12 with Bubba and the boys at the State Penn. It is amazing what one woman behind the wheel of a car trying to find the perfect parking space can do to a sane man trying to get a drivers permit for his son.

We triumphantly enter the building with no outstanding warrants for us. Being the savy, experienced parent I quickly slash through the rooms occupants and press the magic green button the spews out a number by which we will be identified for the next few minutes. I get number 75. I'm sure there is no reason for us to be seated. This should go quickly. I stepped around the partition and was transported to Ellis Island. Then and only then reality pied me again. "Ding! Now serving number 54." Fifty-four! My computer-like mind quickly deduced that there were twenty-one people in front of us. If each one took 10-15 minutes to process, Micah and I were in danger of missing Thanksgiving. Much to our benefit the A-Team was working this Saturday morning. We only had to wait about an hour. I cannot even begin to tell you aout the people with which we waited. One was a self-appointed ambassador of good will. She was constantly jumping up to explain the process to anyone that walked in and looked puzzeled. All I know about another was that when he took his wife/girl friend/daughter to the counter and gave the attendant his license as proof of identy, the attendant said in a voice loud enough to silence the room, "What are you doing here? This license is suspended!" Pied, buddy.

Number 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, we ready ourselves, "Ding! Now serving number 75." We dash to counter #6. We grandly present all of our paper work to the clerk with the ralization that we are only moments away from getting a permit. The clerk reviews our form. She tells me that I can fill out the parental permission form and I do not need to have a notary seal placed on it. She has Micah take the eye test. Then and only then does she look at us and say, "I need your birth certificate and Social Security Card." Ready, aim, fire! The splatter of the pie was every where. I feel that the same silence that covered the room like a blanket just minutes before, returned. I could feel the people saying, "What kinda idiots are they?" "Such a nice boy with a stooge for a father." "It must be their first time." Had I not been married I probably would have proposed to the clerk as she lovingly said, "Go get the things you need and come back. When you do, don't get another number, just come directly to my counter and I will put Micah on a machine right away." Don't you just love a woman who can take charge of a situation and make it right.

We dashed home. Ann had the necessary forms ready and handed them to us as were drove down the street just like the Pony Express. I don't think there was any lasting or long term brain damage done to Ann by the side mirrors on my truck. We returned to Penn DoT and went directly to the processing room. I could feel the daggers from those holding numbers 89 to 105 as we went directly to counter #6. Good to her word, my favorite Penn DoT clerk set Micah up on a machine. Seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds later Micah returned to counter #6 where I heard my favorite clerk state, "You can only take the test once a day. You may return again on Tuesday." Micah got pied. He failed. We get to do this all over again.
- Dan

My Favorite Christmas Album

This week I was able to purchase a copy of my favorite christmas album of all time. Your Heart is Where Christmas is Found. I first heard this album in the early 1990's when I attended a Truth concert at Christian Life Assembly of God in Camp Hill. In those days everything was cassette tape so that's what I bought. Over the next couple years I got other copies of the tape and gave them as gifts. Then CDs came along and as tapes were replaced I had fewer and fewer places to listen to my Truth Christmas album. Since about 2003, the only place I could go to listen to it any more was in our van. Last Christmas we replaced the van and with it went my last tape player of any significance. I had been looking for this on CD but since it is OOP, that's out of print for those of you who have never scoured the internet for something you really have to have, very good and very scarce. I could find people that would sell it to me for $150 but occasionally love does have limits. I perservered and found it last week for a bargain price which was still probably twice what it cost new.

What could be so special about this that would make someone write a blog about it. To me this album captures everything that Christmas is. There is only one other album that does that and that is John Michael Talbot's, The Birth of Jesus - A Christmas Celebration.

The first track is Celebration of Joy. This starts out with heralding trumpets announcing Joy to the World. The angelic voices of the female members of Truth transport the listener into the stable as they sing The First Noel and Angels We Have Heard on High. They bookend the piece by concluding with the trumpeting of Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

Caroler's Song tells the Christmas story from the manger to our homes. It craftly weaves familiar Christmas lyrics into the songs refrain that keeps you singing it long after the CD stops spinning.

Track three is a combination of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. This is done as only
Johnny Mann or Percy Faith could do.

The title track Your Heart is Where Christmas is Found is huge. It's part, O'Henry's 'Gift of the Magi', part Peter, Paul and Mary 'Christmas Dinner' and part seasonal magic. The song tells of those less fortunate ones in life and how the community of God takes care of them at Christmas. There are so many object lessons in this song that you'll need to listen to it over and over to be truly touched by it. God will minister to you through this each time you listen to it.

Track five is a very tradition rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful. Truth conclude this traditional carol with a new verse of praise.

The Nashvill String Machine is the orchestra used throughout the album. Track six features their talents as they provide upbeat renditions of Silver Bells, a song first featured in the Bob Hope movie 'The Lemon Drop Kid', and Carol of the Bells.

The cost of the album is reclaimed when the track seven is heard. This is the most thought provoking Christmas song ever written, sung or heard. The Way He Came touches your mind, stirs your heart and refreshes your soul with the magnificance, the true wonderment, the true amazement of how God chose to reveal Himself to us. It leaves you with a sense of awe and in a state of worship.

A quick paced version of Sleigh Ride rivals that of The Boston Pops.

Truth performs an accapella medley of all-time classics O Little Town of Bethleham, Away in a Manger and Silent Night. They prove once again that the most beautiful instrument man has at his disposal is the human voice.

The album is brought to a fitting conclusion with O Come, O Come Emmanuel and Michael W. Smith's Emmanuel. The mystery of the Middle
East is captured with the use of castinets. The intro provides the feeling of riding upon the back of a camel crossing the desert. As the whole of Truth joins in on Emmanuel, breaking in singing "Rejoice" with the same enthusiasm that the angels used when they appeared to the shepherds. This track weaves a tapestry of music and lyric that leaves your heart and spirit panting for more.

And that's why Your Heart is Where Christmas is Found is my favorite Christmas album. - Dan

Watch -------- Prepare -------- Rejoice -------- Behold!

Delp Family Traditions - Advent

I know it’s a tradition because we do it every Advent season at the Delp house. As often is the case, I do not know when the tradition even began. I know where it started but I do not know when it started. I do know it did start though because we did it last year, we are planning on doing it this year and I know we will do it again next year.

What is this tradition? Advent is the season that precedes Christmas, that heralds the coming of our Savior. During this time we individually prepare ourselves, our community and our church family for the celebration of the coming of the promised Messiah, the Christ Child. What happens at our house is something special. Each evening during Advent, after the last dish is dried and the last pajama is snapped, we take a few moments to sit quietly to read scripture, God’s word, and other inspirational, thought provoking holiday readings. Reading these things help us to slow down and enjoy not just the fleeting twenty-four hours of Christmas day but the four weeks leading up to the 25th of December. However, it’s even more special than that. We do this all by candlelight. We light our Advent Wreath and then everyone holds their own candle by which to read. Our home is transformed from one in the middle of the mad dash to Christmas Eve to a warm glowing tabernacle of tranquility.

It gives us a sense of belonging and a sense of security to each year explain the meaning of the Advent wreath. To explain to young ears that as the days grow shorter and darker, the Advent Wreath grows brighter until finally at the very time of the year when days are the darkest, the Advent Wreath is at it’s brightest and the Christ Candle is lit to celebrate the Promised One.

I guess this is truly what a tradition is. We do not know when it started or why. What we do know is that if it ever ceased to be we would miss it and be all the poorer for it. May God bless our traditions and keep them close to our hearts.
- Dan

Watch -------- Prepare -------- Rejoice -------- Behold!

I got the following off my Rebecca’s Facebook postings. As I read it it was screaming at me, “Blog-me, Blog-me!” So here goes:


This past Saturday started out much like any other Saturday I have had while living at home through the school year. Doing chores, singing along to music and running errands. I was desperately looking for something to do that night since, really, what 19- year old sits around on a Saturday night?

I received a text from a girl friend of mine from H.S. who was unexpectedly home from school for fall break asking if I would like to join her at the movies. Naturally I jumped like a fish into water at the chance. She asked to go see the new comedy 'The Invention of Lying' starring Ricky Gervais (of the British Office), Jennifer Gardner and a star-studded cast including Tina Fey, Edward Norton, Jason Bateman, Patrick Stewart and even Oscar winner Philip Seymor-Hoffman. I hadn't heard much about the film and thought it sounded like a laugh out loud grand old affair.

Boy was I wrong!

If I was to ever walk out of a stupid overpriced movie that should have been it.
The whole story was a replica that MOCKED EVERY SINGLE FORM OF CHRISTIANITY!!!!

For those of you who have not seen the film the plot in a nutshell is; Everyone in the world is incapable of telling a lie. People are extremely honest and even sometimes brutally about how normal their lives are or someone else's looks. Until one day, the lead character Mark is sitting next to his mother while she is dying. His mother is laying in her hospital bed saying how scared she was to enter into an afterlife of nothingness and darkness. Mark cannot bare to see the most important woman in his life suffer, so he 'lies' to her. "You will be surrounded by people you love when you get there mum. You will see dad again and everyone has their own mansion. You will be young again, and you will dance. You always loved to dance."
The mother is comforted by this, since everyone only can tell the truth and dies at peace with a smile on her face. The Doctor and nurses in the room were also hanging on to every word that Mark had said, believing that it is all the truth. This causes an uproar. Masses of people flock outside of Mark's house begging for answers. Mark then sits down and writes ten rules about how people should live their lives. He claims that a 'man up in the sky' speaks to him. This ‘man’ told him all of these things and that he uses Mark as his messenger. The plot pretty much just goes from there proving that society is gullible enough to believe this man and everything he says.

I was appalled on so many levels at the arrogance of Hollywood filmmakers who think they have the right to blatantly tell those in society that do have faith in a greater power they are being lied to. Why? Why are we forced to be accepting of whacked out religions like Scientology and other controversial issues when they cannot tolerate our beliefs? When did Christians become the bad guys? I silently sat in the dark movie theater while people laughed and apologized to our Lord and Maker in my mind. He loves us so much that he was willing to SACRIFICE HIS ONLY CHILD so that we can share in His everlasting Light. He has giving us the gifts of wit, and humor, of writing and telling stories (if you know me at all you know how powerful I believe stories can be) and how have we repaid Him? By making a film that mocks His very existence?

I do not mean to give the impression that I am an overly zealous Catholic, when honestly I am a very mediocre Catholic. I have gone through my own phases of doubt and questioning what it all is worth. At the same time, I love my faith. There have been moments in my life where my relationship with God was the only thing that helped me to stay standing. I hate myself for spending money on a film that basically slapped me in the face for that relationship.

I guess what I am trying to say here is that I am ashamed that we as a society have reached this all time low. - Rebecca Ann Delp

Thanks Rebecca and Amen! - Dan

The Widows Story or God's Promises Revealed

The white haired widowed ran her knurled bent fingers over the number keys on her solar calculator that she received as a bonus for obtaining a long ago cut up credit card once again. Only this time she entered the numbers from the bottom of her column to the top somehow believing that if she keyed them from a different direction the total displayed by pray fully pressing the summation key the total would increase. The sigh that escaped from her inner being when she pressed that “equals” key combined with the telltale drooping chin and shoulders validated what she already knew. No matter how she added them the list of numbers said the same thing, “Projected income was not enough to cover known expenses!” for the coming year.

Her story was all too familiar. Year after year there never seemed to be enough coming in to cover all that needed to go out. Income increased by “cents”. Expenses increased by “dollars”. Medical expenses increased as high summer thunderheads, creating the same havoc in her life that the storms wreaked on the farmers crops.

Auto expenses were up. Taxes kept threatening to steal from her the very home she had spent most of her married years working to obtain. Utility bills were riding on the up escalator. Income was waning. Happiness was sinking. Hope had become a dying ember.

She pushed the well worn balance sheet and judgmental calculator across the table and asked to anyone listening, “What do I do now? It just doesn’t add up.” As she pulled out twenty-plus identical budget sheets from her ragged cardboard folder she sighed again, “I don’t know how I’ve been able to make it all these years? Each year I seem to have the same problem. Will it ever go away? Will it ever be different?”

What a miracle was witnessed that day! The folder full of yellowed budget sheets, eraser chaff and broken dreams stood as a monument to God’s faithfulness. The glowing numbers on the calculator that just minutes before seemed to condemn her to another year of struggling now shown the light of God’s promise upon the very evidence being used to dishearten and destroy.

“Can’t you see how you’ve been able to make it?” “Can’t you understand the miracle here?”, I softly spoke. The first line item on each and every one of the budget sheets was the widow’s tithe. The ten-percent. That for which God asks was always number one in her budget. None had ever been erased or altered. The tithe stood at the top of the budget as a beacon, as a steering light to all of her financial decision for each of her years. That line item was the non-negotiable part of her spending plan. God honored that in the first year, in the second year, last year and ever year in between. God is the same today as He was yesterday and will be the same tomorrow. If He is that way, so are His promises.

God tell us in Leviticus 27:30 that “all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy unto the Lord.” He continues defining the tithe in Leviticus 27:32 where He says, “And concerning the tithe of the herd or of the flock, even of whatsoever passes under the rod, a tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.” When you are faithful to God, in this case the widow was faithful with her finances and that which the Lord sees as holy; God honors that and blesses you. Do not misinterpret what was just said. I did not say that you should give in order to get. That is not why we give. God loves a cheerful giver, (2 Corinthians 9:7) one who gives freely of whatever resources for which they have been provided, not the one who gives grudgingly or out of compulsion.

So knowingly or unknowingly the widow was being obedient to God’s wishes. Her tithe came first and was never compromised. As promised, God blessed her by providing for her needs each and every day for over twenty years. Did He prosper her? It depends on what you consider prospering. She didn’t have diamonds and gold. She will never be found in the upper stratus of society. She did meet every bill. There was always money for the necessities and mysteriously there was always enough left for the extras.

We are never to test God and His promises (Matthew 4:7) however God challenges us to put Him to the test when it comes to giving. Malachi 3:10 says that we are to bring our tithes into the storehouse and put God to the test. If we do that, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out the blessings so much so that there will not be room enough to receive all of them. Is this prosperity giving? No this is the Word of God. The widow’s situation is a tangible example of this in action in our lives today. - Dan