Day 365
OYB - December 31
< Dec 30
Devotional Old Testament New Testament Psalm Proverb
"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the Lord Almighty, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!"
As we end this year and begin the new, we remember the promises of God concerning tithes and offerings. The tithe, or tenth, was instituted by God to remind us that we are just passing through this world on our way to an eternal city. The tithe of our income is holy money, and withholding it from the Lord actually means we are robbing Him (Malachi 3:8). How significant is a tenth of the tiny income we receive on earth when compared to the glories to come?

Some of these future glories include "a pure river with the water of life . . . a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month," and a city where "there will be no night . . . for the Lord God will shine on them" (Revelation 22:1-2, 5).

As you begin a new year, put your priorities in order. Give God His holy tenth. Remember: You are getting ready for eternal, heavenly blessings that are so great you will never be able to contain them all!
Malachi 3:1-4:6

The Purifier

1“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. 2“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts. 6“For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

7“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

You Have Robbed God

8“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! 10Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. 11Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts. 12“All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

13“Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and escape.’ ”

The Book of Remembrance

16Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. 17“They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” 18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

Final Admonition

1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” 2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. 3You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.

4“Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

5“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

Revelation 22:1-21

The River and the Tree of Life

1Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

6And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

7“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”

8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9But he *said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.”

The Final Message

10And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.”

12“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

14Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

16“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

18I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

20He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

Psalms 150:1-6

PSALM 150

A Psalm of Praise.

1Praise the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty expanse.

2Praise Him for His mighty deeds;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

3Praise Him with trumpet sound;

Praise Him with harp and lyre.

4Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.

5Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with resounding cymbals.

6Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Proverbs 31:25-31

25Strength and dignity are her clothing,

And she smiles at the future.

26She opens her mouth in wisdom,

And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

27She looks well to the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

28Her children rise up and bless her;

Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:

29“Many daughters have done nobly,

But you excel them all.”

30Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

31Give her the product of her hands,

And let her works praise her in the gates.