Thursday, April 13, 2017, 6:58 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Broken and Contrite.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Malachi 1
(Select vv. NIV).
Jacob and Esau
(vv. 1-5)
A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through
Malachi.
“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’
“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord.
“Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill
country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will
rebuild the ruins.”
But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may
build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people
always under the wrath of the Lord. You will see it with your own eyes and say,
‘Great is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’
Jacob’s name became Israel,
and today Israel, i.e. the children of promise, is the church, the body of
Christ, comprised of all those who have trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and
Savior of their lives, whether Jew or Gentile by birth. Jesus Christ is the
ONLY way to God the Father. We, who are in Christ Jesus by faith in him, who
have been born anew of the Spirit of God, who have been crucified with Christ
in death to sin, and have been resurrected with Christ to newness of life, are the
loved of God, i.e. we belong to him.
Esau’s descendants became the
Edomites, who were enemies of God, and of his people, so they represent the ungodly
and the unholy of this world. Esau sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for
a single meal, and then later tried to get his inheritance, but he was not able
to find repentance, although he sought it with tears (See: Heb. 12:15-17). This
is a difficult passage to understand. I believe the Lord is saying to me that
Esau did not forsake his evil ways, or he did not do so in truth (same thing),
i.e. what he had was a false repentance with fake tears or with real tears, but
with worldly sorrow, not godly sorrow which leads to genuine repentance.
Yet, Jacob and Esau had the
same father and the same grandfather, i.e. they were both descendants of
Abraham and Isaac. But being physical descendants of Abraham was not enough.
They had to be his spiritual descendants, too.
And, I believe from this the
Lord is giving me a picture of the church (or the institutional church) here in
America. There are people here who are truly born again believers in Jesus
Christ, who are walking in his ways and in his truth. There are also those who
profess to know Jesus, some of whom are members of some of these ‘church’
organizations (institutions), but their profession of faith is shallow, and it
lacks true repentance. But, I also see that there are those who were born again
of the Spirit of God, but who have since wandered off and need to be brought
back to repentance (Rev. 2-3). Yet, there seems to be a fine line between these
last two groups.
If we study the New Testament
from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, we may soon find
ourselves grappling with truth we had not seen before, because we were taught
differently from our ancestors. We may find, too, that we can’t explain away
many of these verses using the doctrines we were taught as children. Thus, we
then have to face the reality that what may seem uncomfortable or foreign to us
is actually what the Bible teaches. And, what I am speaking of is that
scripture makes it real clear that our salvation is not a one-time deal, and
then we live our lives, and then one day we go to heaven when we die.
What scripture teaches is
that our salvation is progressive. It begins when we first believe in Jesus (we
were saved), and then we are “being saved,” and then it is complete when Jesus
returns for us, his bride (we will be saved). The Bible also teaches that if we
want to have eternal life with God we must walk in the Spirit and no longer
according to the flesh. We must not hold on to our old way of living in sin,
but we must lose our lives (die to sin) for the sake of Jesus and his gospel.
And, it teaches that if we continue in (keep on; practice) sin, we don’t have
the hope of eternal life. As well, it teaches that we must continue in Christ
and in his word, and that we must keep (obey) his word, if we want to have the
hope of eternal life. So, eternal life with God is not guaranteed if we do not
continue in Christ, in his Word, in obedience to his Word, and walk in the
Spirit and not by the flesh.
The Honor Due Him (vv. 6-11)
“A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I
am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect
due me?” says the Lord Almighty.
“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.
“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your
name?’
“By offering defiled food on my altar.
“But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’
“By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. When
you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice
lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your
governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord
Almighty.
“Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such
offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty.
“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so
that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,”
says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. My name
will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In
every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name
will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.
What I believe the Lord is
showing me here is that this describes much of the church (or institutional
church) here in America, and its leaders. Many of them have the appearance of
being on fire for the Lord, but it is surface only. They are wrapped up in
their own lives and are busy entertaining themselves and the people of the
world, and their hearts are far from God. Their lives are not committed to
Christ but to this world. For some of them, their devotion to the Lord is
half-hearted, and thus not fully committed. Many of them, too, are following a
false grace gospel which requires no repentance, no obedience and no submission
to Christ or death to sin at all. So, their worship of God is in vain.
Not only that, but many of
them are on the attack of those who do share the full gospel message (the whole
counsel of God). Or else they are supporting those who do, i.e. they have
partnered with the U.S. government who is going throughout the world killing,
pillaging, and raping people, and murdering Christians, as well as taking over
sovereign nations and bringing the world under the rule of the New World Order “beast.”
And, God is definitely not pleased! In fact, he is calling his church, the body
of Christ, to come out from under these 501c3 corporations (the institutional
church) which are under the headship of the US government so that she does not
share in her sins and in her punishment, but not many are listening.
So, God is going to visit the
USA in judgment, and at the hands of her own leaders, who have handed the
people of this nation over to be destroyed. Our government, though, that we
believe is our government, are not really the ones running the ship here. They
answer to a shadow government of the Elite of this world (the wealthy and
powerful) who are truly the de facto government of these United States. And,
they are deserting our nation, and they are, or they will subject us to
disaster because the One World Order (beast) must have the rule of all of the
earth. Thus, we can’t believe what we read in the news because these Elite own
the news. Most everything is lies or twisted truth (lies).
Our nation is known for their
false flag operations where they create chaotic or disastrous situations so
that they have an excuse to go into other nations in order to take them down,
and to kill Christians, too. I believe our government (well, the shadow
government) was behind this chemical weapons attack in Syria so that they would
have an excuse to go into Syria and strike them. All of this is leading up to
the rule of the beast. And, I also believe that they have something similar in
mind for the USA, and that God will use this to bring people here to their
knees so that they will honor HIM alone as their God and King. And, these will
be troubled times, and yet God will be with those of us who put our faith and
trust in him. And, he will give us all we need to endure, to persevere, and to
be victorious to the end.
Broken and Contrite / An
Original Work / May 13, 2012
I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in
spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.
Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your
Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that
hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.
Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.
No comments:
Post a Comment