Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Promises, Promises

Malachi 3:7 - Return to Me, and I will return to you."

Oh, the promises! How can I possibly put into words what God has already written? Malachi 3 is just one chapter describing what it is like to become a child of God. It describes the moment we first know Him as our Heavenly Father. 

A messenger is sent. It is a person who knows the LORD of lords. We become aware of God, accept Him and are filled with the Holy Spirit (vs. 1).  The LORD whom you seek will come to His temple...we are His temple when we invite Him to reside within us. He brings along His Holy Spirit to live in us as our guide.

But then He purges us...a sometimes painful, difficult process, to contine to remove the impurities we have developed before we have been placed in His loving hands. He refines us, as scripture tells us (vs 2, 3) the refining process is so that we might be made into His righteousness. THEN our offerings back to him will be pleasant.

Oh how hard it is to explain the importance of this relationship with an Almighty God who cares so much for us. How hard a word it is for some to know that without this relationship we are aliens because we do not fear Him. Sometimes the truth is unbearable. 

The prophet Malachi speaks about Israel but it is also referring to us. He says God is the LORD and He does not change, but we have turned against Him by not desiring to follow after Him. But here's the promise: there's always time to go back. And when we do He will return to us!

He tells us we have robbed Him in our disobedience and have spoken harshly against Him. But one verse spoke volumes to me: Malachi 3:10 "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. And try Me now in this." Although it refers to tithing, like in church, I believe what He is asking is that we give all of ourselves to Him and not to hold back. All He wants is us. When we give our all, He gives back His all. He asks us to try Him in this and we will see. When we do this He is our defender against our enemies. He will be our provider in all we need for any circumstance. People will see this and wonder what we have that has blessed us so. "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8

But what about those people in the world who don't know God and appear to be blessed beyond measure with all they seem to have need of? I guarantee their lives are still missing something that no amount of  "stuff" can provide. If all this stuff was taken away, where would be the hope? Where would a person turn? Only God can provide for our every need.

We cannot truly serve God without first knowing Him and knowing what He requires. We need to know the intimate details about Him...and we need to find these out on our own. A clergyman can guide us in that direction but cannot be the end all word for us. We have to meet Jesus face to face. Where, how?

Verse 16 tells us that a book of remembrance was written for those who feared Him.  I've read that this book may very well be the Bible itself. What a great place to being searching for Jesus. It's for meditating on...on His name as verse 16 concludes. That's how we find this Jesus. This Book is so we have an idea about God's character, His grace, His mercy and yes, His judgment upon those who do not fear Him, who do not love Him with all their hearts, souls and minds. To those who take God to heart, take Him seriously, give Him a chance, learn about Him, He tells us..."They shall be Mine." That is an awesome promise.

I have always believed that for us to appreciate the good we must first experience some bad so we can treasure the good when we have it. We think we have it all without God until we meet Him and learn about Him. I experienced the goodness of God in my own life and it is darn hard to turn back even when things don't look that rosy. I know that God is up to something, always in His time, and if I persevere through struggles only good will come out of them, even unto death.

Turn to God, return to God. He is there for all in either category. All we need to do is seek and find. Get out that book of remembrance and seek Him while you still can.

Malachi 3:17 - "They shall be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."

3 comments:

  1. Malachi 3:10 speaks NOTHINN to me. I am a Gentile saved by grace under the New Covenant. The Law and tithing were never commanded to me or other Gentiles.

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  2. So glad you were talking about "giving all of ourselves to Him," because that is what He asks of us ... and "all He wants is us." So, so true.

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  3. TO RUSSELL, as far as what I was speaking about in this blog, it was what I believe God desires from all of us as believers--that of giving our own lives as a sacrifice. That is the most important "tithe." We give ourselves to Him first and foremost. And when we do He gives back to us. Yes, we are saved by grace…a free gift.

    Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

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