Morning Musing: Malachi 3:14-15

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“You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping his requirements and walking mournfully before the Lord of Armies? So now we consider the arrogant to be fortunate. Not only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God and escape.’”‬ ‭(CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

What’s the point? When was the last time you did something and came away asking that question? It’s frustrating to work toward some goal only to discover that your efforts appear to have been wasted. That’s frustrating in whatever part of life it happens. It’s particularly disheartening, though, when it comes to religion because of the inherent connection to ultimate meaning and purpose we seek there. Well, the people of Israel were wrestling with this very thing. Let’s join them.

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Morning Musing: Malachi 3:10

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“‘Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way,’ says the Lord of Armies. ‘See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things we see people being instructed not to do several times in various places in the Scriptures is to test God. We are not to hinge our devotion or obedience to Him on his doing something we want Him to do. He is not at our beck and call. He is God and we are not. In light of this, seeing Him actually command the people to test Him on something here should cause us to sit up and take notice. Well, sit up, and let’s take notice.

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Standing Out

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The early church was just different from the people around them. This didn’t make life easy for them, but it did keep them in line with what God had designed them to be. As we continue in our series, Telling Our Story, this past Sunday we talked about the fact that as a church today, we are called to stand out still. What are some ways you can stand out as a follower of Jesus?

Standing Out

Have you ever known someone who was comfortable in his or her own skin? There are some people who have the gift of being content with who they are. That’s not the case for most of us. Most of us have little doubts or insecurities that keep us constantly trying to hide one thing or another that we don’t like about ourselves. But those people who are just comfortable and positively confident because of it stand out.

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Morning Musing: Malachi 3:7-8

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“‘Since the days of your ancestors, you have turned from my statutes; you have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord of Armies. Yet you ask, ‘How can we return?’ ‘Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me!’ ‘How do we rob you?’ you ask. By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Our boys fight all the time. They are brothers, so that is somewhat to be expected. It’s hard to say what the primary cause of their fights is, but if I was to offer one suggestion it would be that most of their fights come when one has taken something the other claims is his. It’s hard to be relationally right with someone you feel has taken something from you unjustly. That goes with three brothers and it goes with God too.

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Morning Musing: Malachi 3:6

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“Because I, the Lord, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Yesterday, we talked about the fact that when God comes, it will be for judgment. More than that, He will serve as both the judge and the star witness for the prosecution. We talked through the various injustices against which He will serve as a witness. It all ultimately directed us to three points, I said. The first point was that getting religion wrong invariably leads to getting issues of justice wrong. There is a direct connection from one to the other. The second point was that this whole trial scene in v. 5 was fundamentally unjust because there was no one to speak on behalf of the accused. That led us to a third point…which we are going to talk about this morning.

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