Heres my latest devotion about hope and change... Malachi 3:1-3 I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, *Religion without change is dead. During Malachis time, religion had mutated into a set of old, dead rules far removed from the heart of God. It had no power to truly change the heart of mankind and brought tears to the eyes of the Creator. Yet in their hypocrisy, God had a plan. He would send His Son to the earth to institute the kind of change that was sorely needed for thousands of years. The messenger spoken of here is John the Baptist. He was sent to prepare the way for the people, to get them ready to meet the Master of the universe, the King of all of creation, Jesus Christ. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the Lord came to His temple. Do you remember what happened when Jesus traveled to Jerusalem and came to the temple? Do you recall how mad He was with the money changers and the hypocrisy of it all? In essence, He freaked out and turned over the money tables and rebuked them harshly. They were desiring to have their Messiah come to them, but sadly, many did not recognize their God because of their evil behavior and straying heart. *The Bible asks a series of tough questions regarding the first coming and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Who can stand and endure His appearing? Will mankind really want to see Him face to face? The first coming did not really go well! They executed Him with trumped up charges that had no basis in truth or reality. When He comes for the second time, mankind will once again fight Him tooth and nail. Do you realize the most famous battle the world has ever known has not even occurred yet? This is the Battle of Armageddon. The entire world, every army from every nation on earth controlled by the Antichrist, will gather in Israel to fight God and His chosen people. This time, Jesus Christ will not come as a suffering Messiah in human form, but rather, He will come as the Creator of the universe with the power to destroy them with one word from His mouth, one breath from His lips, one glance from His fiery eyes. What will Jesus Christ be looking for when He appears in the clouds? People who have changed hearts and changed lives because of the power of God in their lives. *Jesus is in the life changing business. The Bible uses the word repent for change. The Christian must turn away from their sins and toward God. In these verses, we find Jesus cleansing people and washing them up. He wants to purify and refine us. The soap mentioned here signifies cleansing of our souls. One people group is mentioned specifically in this text and that is the Levites. Today, this would include anybody who serves the Lord fulltime in Gods ministry and church. Why start with the preachers? Simple. The preacher has great power to lead the people toward God or lead the people astray. Pastors have great power in our society to help or hurt people by what they preach or do not preach, and how they live. In Malachis day, most of them had turned cold and indifferent to God and the holy scriptures. The same is happening today among too many of them. In the end, God is looking for people who will bring offerings to God in righteousness. In other words, God wants each of us to change and become more like Him, righteous, seeking truth, loving justice, and refusing to adopt the ways of the world.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 12:18:41 +0000
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