The Trust Test July 26. 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The Steward’s Test in Traffic and Scantron Sheets

When income arrives, a spiritual pop quiz begins. Every paycheck tests whether we trust God as provider or cling to self-reliance. Money isn’t neutral—it reveals who we worship. Jesus called wealth “unrighteous” not because it’s evil, but because it’s temporary. How we handle earthly resources proves our readiness for eternal stewardship. The test isn’t about budgets, but about bending our hearts toward heaven’s economy. [07:16]

“If you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?” (Luke 16:11-12, ESV)

Reflection: What does your last bank statement reveal about where your heart truly rests? How might surrendering the first 10% shift your dependence from self to God?

Day 2: Windows of Heaven or Leaky Pockets

Malachi’s challenge—“test me in this”—is God’s only invitation to audit His faithfulness. Tithing isn’t a transaction but a declaration that He owns 100%. Withholding the tithe isn’t frugality—it’s fencing off territory we claim as ours. The “devourer” isn’t a metaphor; it’s the reality of endless repairs and emergencies draining untithed income. Blessing begins when we stop rationing trust. [13:35]

“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” (Malachi 3:10, ESV)

Reflection: What “leaky pocket” expenses consistently drain your resources? How might honoring God’s portion first change your relationship with the remaining 90%?

Day 3: Bread, Wine, and the Tenth for the King-Priest

Abraham didn’t tithe to a law—he gave to a shadow of Christ. Melchizedek’s bread and wine mirrored communion, making the tithe a sacramental act. This ancient pattern shows tithing isn’t legalism but love responding to victory. Every tithe today still flows to Jesus, our eternal High Priest, who turns our surrender into supernatural supply. [24:14]

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” (Genesis 14:18-20, ESV)

Reflection: What “victory” has God given you recently that compels a sacrificial response? How does seeing tithing as communion with Christ reshape your resistance?

Day 4: The Heap Principle—When Leftovers Outgrow Firstfruits

Hezekiah’s heaps of tithes overflowed because obedience unlocks multiplication physics can’t explain. The miracle isn’t the 10% given—it’s the 90% that expands when released from hoarding. God’s math turns scarcity into “abundantly” (2 Chronicles 31:10). The storehouse isn’t a vault—it’s a seedbed where small obediences grow into corporate revival. [35:05]

“As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. And Azariah the chief priest said to him, ‘Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left.’” (2 Chronicles 31:5, 10, ESV)

Reflection: What area of lack have you been managing alone? What would it look like to let your “heap” of obedience become someone else’s miracle?

Day 5: Testing the God Who Never Fails a Pop Quiz

Tithing is the only test where God says, “Cheat off my paper.” His passing grade is guaranteed—if we’ll risk the initial F of fear. Like the single mom’s car starting or the widow’s jar overflowing, God honors reckless trust. The envelope isn’t a bill—it’s a love letter declaring, “I choose Your economy over mine.” [39:01]

“And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” (Malachi 3:10, ESV)

Reflection: What practical step can you take this week to “cheat off God’s paper” in your finances? How might this act of trust become a testimony that outlives you?

Sermon Summary

True riches begins with the call to steward not only spiritual gifts, but material gifts too. God’s grace is multi faceted, and God calls his people to manage spiritual health, physical health, mental health, and financial health for his will on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus frames money as a test in Luke 16. The steward’s test asks whether earthly resources can be handled faithfully before heavenly resources are entrusted. Money is here today and gone tomorrow, but the way it is managed shows whether the heart is ready for true riches. Jesus does not treat money as a merely economic tool. Jesus treats money as a heart issue.

Matthew 6 shows that treasure and heart always travel together. The paycheck becomes a spiritual pop quiz every time income lands in the hand or hits the bank account. The question is not answered by saying “thank God.” The question is answered by what happens to the first part of that paycheck. Visa, the mortgage company, and FPL cannot bless the future, protect the family, or anchor the soul. Only God can do that.

Malachi 3 brings the issue into sharp focus. God, the Lord who does not change, calls his people to return to him through tithes and offerings. The tithe is not a preacher’s invention. The tithe is an ordinance, an ordinary principle of behavior for God’s children. The word means a tenth part, and the number ten repeatedly carries the idea of testing throughout Scripture.

The tension under grace is handled carefully. Christ has taken the eternal curse of the law, and salvation remains fully secure in him. Still, willful disobedience carries real earthly consequences. A child forgiven for playing in the road can still be hurt by stepping outside protection. In the same way, financial disobedience can open the door for the devourer to drain what God meant to bless.

Tithing stands before, outside, and after the Mosaic law. Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek long before Sinai, and Hebrews connects Melchizedek to Jesus, the great high priest. Jesus also affirmed tithing in Matthew 23, while rebuking religious leaders for neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Grace does not lower the bar. Grace raises the bar because the heart has been bought by the precious blood of Jesus.

The tithe becomes an outward demonstration of an inward shift. Fear gives way to faith. Anxious self reliance gives way to peaceful God reliance. Malachi even shows the only place where God explicitly says, “test me in this.” God invites his people to trust him with the first ten percent, watch him rebuke the devourer, and see the windows of heaven opened over the whole life, not just the bank account.

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Key Takeaways

1. Money reveals the real trust The paycheck becomes a heart test before it becomes a budget decision. The first portion shows whether God is treated as provider or whether material creditors get the first honor. The bank statement can preach a painfully honest testimony about fear, trust, and worship. [07:16]
2. The tithe is God’s portion Leviticus calls the tithe holy, which means set apart for the Lord. The first ten percent is not treated as leftover giving, but as God’s claim on the increase he already provided. Honoring what God calls holy trains the heart to see income as stewardship, not ownership. [29:18]
3. Grace raises the giving bar Grace does not make the heart less accountable to God. Jesus consistently moved obedience deeper than outward law, bringing the issue into motives, loves, and trust. If the law called for honor with the tithe, grace calls for a heart that gladly gives because it has been bought by Christ. [27:27]
4. Withholding feeds anxious self reliance The spirit behind withholding is not neutral. Fear says there will not be enough, so the hand tightens around what God placed there as a test. Tithing breaks that cycle by choosing God’s provision over the fleshly instinct of self preservation. [20:48]
5. God invites the test of faith Malachi presents the startling moment where God says to test him. The tithe becomes a two way test, where the giver steps out in faith and God proves his reliability. The promise is not merely more money, but protection, provision, and freedom from the devourer’s drain.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:40] - Introducing True Riches
[02:45] - Life Is Full of Tests
[03:31] - Jesus and the Steward’s Test
[06:20] - Treasure Reveals the Heart
[10:44] - Malachi and the Tithe
[14:23] - Ten Percent and Testing
[16:13] - Consequences Under Grace
[22:27] - The Old Testament Objection
[23:39] - Abraham and Melchizedek
[26:17] - Jesus Affirms the Tithe
[31:28] - God Says Test Me
[37:10] - The Tithe as a Trust Test

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Malachi 3:6-12
“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 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?' Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.” [10:56]

Luke 16:11-12
“If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?” [03:37]

Matthew 6:19-21
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [06:20]

Matthew 23:23
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” [26:17]

Observation questions

In Malachi 3:6-12, what actions does God call his people to take, and what promises does he attach to those actions? [13:04]
In Luke 16:11-12, what contrast does Jesus make between “unrighteous wealth” and “true riches,” and what does faithfulness have to do with both?
According to Matthew 6:19-21, what is the connection between treasure and the heart, and what are the two places Jesus says treasure can be stored? [06:20]
What repeated question shows up when income arrives, and how is that question answered in a visible way rather than with words alone? [07:16]

Interpretation questions

If money is a spiritual test and not just an economic tool, what does that suggest about why financial decisions can reveal spiritual maturity or spiritual struggle? [05:03]
Malachi says, “Return to me,” and then connects that return to tithes and offerings. Why might financial obedience be described as part of returning to God rather than merely funding religious activity? [12:10]
Jesus says the Pharisees should not neglect tithing, but he also rebukes them for neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness. What does that reveal about the kind of heart God wants in giving? [26:29]
Grace does not lower the bar but presses obedience deeper into the heart. How might that change the way a believer thinks about giving, trust, and worship? [27:27]

Application questions

When a paycheck comes in, what usually gets first attention in real life? What does that pattern reveal about trust, fear, or worship in this season? [07:44]
If the bank statement told the truth about the heart, what story would it tell right now? Where does it show trust in God, and where does it show anxious self-reliance? [08:01]
Withholding can be driven by fear that there will not be enough. Where is that fear most likely to show up personally right now: bills, debt, family needs, future plans, or something else? [21:03]
The tithe is described as an outward demonstration of an inward shift from self-preservation to God-reliance. What would that shift look like in a practical way over the next month? [30:23]
Jesus connects treasure and heart. What is one financial habit that may be pulling the heart toward earthbound security instead of heavenly trust? [22:08]
God says, “Test me in this.” What makes that invitation hard to accept personally? Is it past disappointment, lack of margin, fear of not having enough, or difficulty believing God will provide? [31:28]
If someone wanted to begin honoring God more intentionally with money, what would be a wise and honest first step for this week? [39:01]

Sermon Clips

33s

#TitheTrustTest

“``God does not change. He is the lord of hosts who keeps his promises. He still honors the test of the tithe. It is not a tax to fill a church budget. It is a trust test designed to free our hearts. I know one thing for certain, god will pass when you test him in this. The only question is, will you?”

69s

#MoneyIsHeartIssue

“It often surprises Christians to discover just how much the Bible talks about money. In fact, scripture contains more than 2,300 verses on money, wealth, and possessions. Jesus spoke about money in roughly 15% of his preaching. You could say it was his favorite sermon illustration. He used it 11 of 39 of his parables. It was his most frequent topic but he didn't speak about money because he was obsessed with it or because he wanted us to accumulate vast wealth. He spoke about it because he knew, Jesus knew that money is fundamentally a heart issue. Money is a heart issue. He knew that it's one of the most common reasons someone will choose not to follow him. And he warns us of this heart issue.”

66s

#PaycheckPopQuiz

“You see, there's a recurring heart test in the Bible that many believers don't even realize they're taking. And you take this test every single time you get paid. The moment income lands in your hands or hits your bank account, a spiritual pop quiz begins. The test is just one simple question. Who do you think for your income? Now the correct answer isn't multiple choice. It's not fill in the blank. It's not a spoken recited phrase like, thank god. I got paid. No. Your answer needs to be demonstrated. It's demonstrated by what you do with the very first part of that paycheck. That's your answer to the pop quiz.”

66s

#HeartOfGiving

“Now let's talk about Jesus for a minute because it sure would be great if we could just see you should tithe and read in our Bible, but it's a little more abstract because Jesus' mission was not to enforce ordinances. That wasn't that wasn't his mission. His mission was to transform our hearts. It was to address heart issues. He came to move us away from self love and toward loving god and loving others. And in those two ultimate commandments, the entire law is fulfilled, he says. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What we do with our money is the truest demonstration of our love. The question is, do we love god as much as we love our wealth? Tithing is a test of the human heart. That's my point.”

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