Nehemiah 10:37 “Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. 38 A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. 39 The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept. “We will not neglect the house of our God.”
“WE WILL NOT NEGLECT THE HOUSE OF OUR GOD” There is no shortage of sermons about tithing, first fruits, and offerings, so I will not belabor you with it friends. The message, or rather the question that has been gnawing at me considering what I have seen, heard, and read lately is “Are there still Prophet like Elijah? Are there?

Are there still men and women after God’s heart like David, Deborah and Esther who said in Esther 4:16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
Do we still have men like Elijah who called down fire upon the Prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:16-45.
“We will not neglect the house of our God” The house of God is neglected when evil is perpetrated in our midst and we turn our eyes away. We neglect the house of God when, truth, justice, compassion, love, and kindness has taken the backseat in our services, offerings, and daily living – Christlike living.
We rob God when we shortchange what is due, the right thing, for what is convenient for us to the detriment of another and God’s Kingdom. God is looking for men and women, you and I to strip off our camouflage, stop deceiving each other and start living right, SEEKING FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS wholeheartedly, and not our own kingdom on earth.
1 Corinthians 3:10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
Hmmm! Friends your work and mine, can it, will it pass the test? Lord have mercy on us we plead!
14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. 16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
That brother you are cheating, the organization and business partner you are defrauding, and the employee you refuse to pay their wages, yes! These are all God’s temple and should not be neglected.
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours,22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
Lord raise up Elijahs in this generation, men and women after your heart, to build up your Kingdom, your body, and temple, rid your sanctuary of pest and parasite – the prophets of “Baal” operating in disguise in the temple . Please count us worthy to be one of such Lord. Clothe us in your power and grace in, and enable us Lord to care for your house in Spirit and in truth with love.
Shalom! Shalom! Shalom!