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Friday, June 10, 2016
This sign was made with a laser machine for a customer's kitchen. We have placed Scripture verses on note cards throughout our home as aid to memory but I must say this would really get your attention! However read closely and you will see there was a slight proofing issue.
"We Need A Malachi!"
Message Summary: God's response concerning what wearies Him is so interesting and so appropriate for our times, "By saying, 'All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and He is pleased with them'."
Listen to this
message on your
audio player."You have wearied the Lord with your words. 'How have we wearied Him?' you ask. By saying, 'All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and He is pleased with them' or 'Where is the God of justice?' (Malachi 2:17).
The other night we were at a picnic and met a young couple who have a son named Josiah. When introduced I immediately said, "We sure need a Josiah in our day" referring to the Biblical king. Several months ago we wrote a message titled "Josiah For President".* As our country goes through the process of selecting a new leader we sure need one with the qualities of Josiah, though it presently appears that is not in the works for this election year.
However
we also need a Malachi (or many of them). Malachi is not a name I hear
often but I regularly visit with a young man named Malachi, who is an
engineer in one of our companies and a committed Christian. He has two
brothers also named after Biblical prophets, Isaiah and Zechariah. Now
Malachi is a hard-working young husband seeking to live his life
responsibly and we really do need young men like him. But today I want
to consider how we need those with the characteristics of Malachi the
prophet, willing to faithfully proclaim God's message regardless of how
popular or unpopular it may be among its hearers.The Biblical prophet Malachi served God about 100 years after the end of the Babylonian exile (about 440 years before Christ came). His name means "my messenger". The temple had been rebuilt and the walls of the city were now secure after the cooperative team effort during Nehemiah's leadership. The people had experienced two separate moves of God's Spirit several years earlier in both Ezra's and Nehemiah's lifetime. These times of revival were marked by repentance, reforms, and a renewed attentiveness and adherence to God's Word. My, don't we need that kind of revival today!
But now once again the people had lapsed back into indifference and needed the stirring voice of a prophet of God. I am sure thankful for such voices today that remind me of what really matters!
Last Sunday we had a move of the Spirit in our church in which our pastor called the congregation to special prayer. Such moments of the Spirit's moving refreshes us by dissolving indifference as it chips away at the hardness that creeps into our lives over time. Our prayer should always be: "Lord, keep reminding me of what really matters for eternity!!!"
Malachi uses a very interesting writing style that consists of an indictment from God against the people, "You have wearied the LORD with your words."
This was followed by a question from the people, "How have we wearied Him?"
God's response concerning what wearies Him is so interesting and so appropriate for our times, "By saying, 'All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and He is pleased with them'."
These very words (or more correctly, the sentiment of these words) are so common today in the moral confusion and anarchy that abounds today. Isaiah 5:20 states, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."
Now let's be clear; God never wearies of listening to sincere prayers from a seeking heart. He delights in our words of praise and never wearies in taking care of His children. But teachings like, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and He is pleased with them" most certainly wearies Him.
I don't want to weary God with my words. Today let us earnestly be conscientious of this charge from our Lord God who has said, "I the LORD do not change" (Malachi 3:6).
In what ways do our words "weary" God?
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father,
we pray for a sincere heart that is sensitive to Biblical
truths as they apply to our lives. We struggle with forgetfulness and
indifference – twin enemies of a living vibrant relationship with
You. We earnestly seek You for spiritual revival; revival that
includes messengers who challenge our indifference toward modern
accepted philosophies of this world rather than the life-changing
godly truths of the Gospel; revival for those who sit in the church
pews week
after week who hear the Scriptures expounded upon but leave
unyielded to the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Revive both
the messenger and listener so that our lives are a demonstration of the
reality of a vibrant walk with Your Son, Jesus, our living Savior and
Lord. Amen.Note: Another study will need to deal with the second part of this verse regarding what the Israelites said that wearied the Lord which is, 'Where is the God of justice?'
Concerning our message today and the statement that wearies God, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and He is pleased with them" we are reading a book titled "A Sad Departure" which is written by a Bible-faithful pastor in the Church of Scotland. He chronicles the sad departure of his denomination from being a Bible-faithful group to essential apostasy. Of course what he observes is the case with many churches and denominations in America as well.
Yesterday morning we dropped off some supplies to our Amish friends and the farm usually provides some interesting photos.
The kids are out of school for the summer and having some good clean fun such as Eli riding the pony bareback. Soon they will be swimming in the pond in the background!
While the kids played Brooksyne helped Anna Ruth pick peas. It looks a little like a jungle since we have had so much rain. She and Brooksyne are having to untangle the rows since the tendrils overlapped row after row. A friend of Anna's was coming over to help with the hulling after we departed to our next company visit.
An interesting photo of the big calf and the little goat.
It looks like the goat is keeper of the house!
We shared a photo with a similar name but very different meaning.
Yesterday we drove by the junction of Calvary and Fellowship in Lancaster, PA.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Revive Us Again" Video Homecoming singers
* "Josiah For President"
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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