The Thief and Those Who Are Cursed

The Thief and those who Are Cursed
God is very clear when He identifies non-tithers as thieves, as people who are
cursed.
When parents curse a child for something he does wrong, that curse wreaks havoc
in his life for as long as he lives. Genuine conversion to the Lord Jesus is the only
thing that can free him from that torment.
Imagine what happens when God Himself labels a thief as cursed.
Obviously He does not curse anyone. But when you persist in being a thief, you’ve
chosen to be on the team of the chief of thieves — the devil. And when you live in
the devil’s territory, God has no way of defending you. God has the authority to
deliver a person only when he, of his own free will, decides to move into God’s
territory! Then the Lord of Hosts comes into action and frees him from the devourer
and the curse. But as long as he remains a thief or lives in the territory of the devil,
his future will be governed by that curse.
It has been determined that the devil has no authority over the faithful ones of God
(Psalm 91). But when it comes to thieves, he has unrestricted freedom to destroy
and to lead them to hell.
The curse that God prophesied is addressed to the thieves of tithes and offerings.
The Devourer
This is how the devourer works. When there is theft a thief is present, and when a
thief is present, the devourer is at work to curse the work of people’s hands and
destroy the fruit of the earth.
It’s important to notice the name that the Bible uses for God in this passage. When
the authors of scripture referred to God, a common expression was: the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Israel—but in the text above we see
that God is referred to as the Lord of Hosts.
Why is this?
When the Bible uses the term Lord of Hosts it’s referring to God as the Supreme
Commander of the Armies of Angels. This makes us think of war, since the job of
an army is to defend its country and people. By identifying Himself as the Lord of
Hosts, God is declaring that He is the defender of the health, prosperity and wellbeing
of His people, His nation, His Kingdom.
This war is a battle that heaven wages against the powers of hell in defense of
God's people.
When it comes to people’s finances we’re not dealing with a simply case of a little
more or a little less prosperity. It’s battle between Light and darkness. After
creating all the marvelous wealth of the earth, God entrusted it to Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden and gave them Divine authority to rule over all things.
But with their disobedience, the devil seized their authority over the earth and
began to rule it himself. And yet the earth remains the property of the Almighty
and He gives it to those who obey His Word.
The faithful not only push themselves to stay far way from sin, they also regard the
Lord of Hosts as Lord of their lives! And when you give to God what is God’s, the
Lord has an obligation to fulfill His promises of abundance in your life.
A person’s intellectual capacity is not important, neither is a noble birth, whether a
person is white, black or Hispanic, young or old, male or female, widowed, single,
educated or uneducated...
None of this matters to God!
What pleases God is obedience to His Word by faith!!!
The Lord of Hosts has personally commanded His armies to fight against the
devourers who dare to touch the wealth of the obedient.
The armies of the Almighty are always ready to defend those who have made the
Lord of Hosts the Lord of their lives.
Because of this the people of God have the obligation to take back what belongs
to God.
It is totally unacceptable for the children of darkness to rule over the children of
Light!
Is it just for the children of God to be slaves of the children of the devil? This was
the situation of the children of Israel in Egypt!
In the Garden of Eden, Adam offered the devil his authority over the earth on a
silver platter. But in the Garden of Gethsemane the Lord Jesus was separated from
the Father and the Holy Spirit in order to rescue Adam’s former authority.
The tree in the middle of the Garden with the forbidden fruit belonged to God. It
represented the tithe. When he touched that fruit all communion with the Creator
was immediately lost.
The same thing happens when a person touches God’s firstfruits. When Adam and
Eve were expelled from God’s presence, they were immediately transferred to the
devil’s side. In other words, they were under the yoke of the one who came to kill,
steal and destroy: the devourer.
But when a person begins to obey God with his tithes and offerings, he is
immediately transferred to God’s side. Then God’s will comes to pass: Return unto
Me I will return to you...
And from that moment on that person has armies of angels under the command of
the Almighty to enable him to take possession of the Kingdom of God and all its
blessings.

Bishop Macedo