Today is the last Sunday of the Church year. Today’s Scripture is from Malachi 3.
There were those who neither feared the Lord nor saw the value in it. They mocked God and following the way of righteousness.
They shall be Mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares His son who serves him.
Malachi 3:17
This, of course, is nothing unique to that time. We see it all too often – and we expect it among unbelievers, but the fact is that it is common many times among believers as well!
If we believe in God and know Him to be our God and Savior; if we worship Him as Lord; if we claim to be His disciples, we must act as He dictates and live as His Word prescribes. We must show in our actions the righteousness that sets us apart in our Faith. We must live out our distinction.
This is not a blasé matter as many Christians take it; but rather a fundamental Truth: Faithful people must produce faithful fruit. If our fruit stinks, we must examine the state of our hearts and our faith. And when we find rot, confess and receive a new, righteous heart, focused on Him.
God says that when we fear the Lord and esteem His name, we shall be His treasured possession! And we fear and esteem Him when we put our faith and trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior!
We are His treasured possession! How wonderful!
May our fruit reflect that reality in Jesus!
“Lord, we love You. We fear You. We esteem You. We believe in You. We trust You. And we want to live in the fruit of our righteousness through faithful living by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Help and move us to produce good, righteous fruit that reflects our status as Your treasurer possession so all we meet may be drawn to You, too. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
“Good things come to those who wait.” Or so the saying goes. That’s not always the case, but there is occasional truth to it.
There are some things that are worth the wait; worth the effort; worth the suffering and pain. Some things that you can endure when you know what the end result will be.
Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
Luke 21:28
Building a home; working out; extra hours at work for the promotion or uprooting your life for a big move to accompany a new job; enduring surgery and recovery for a now-working knee or chemo so you can ring a bell; years of intense study for that degree and accompanying job in your selected field; or the big one, the pain and suffering from pregnancy and childbirth for the precious baby that comes from the result.
Our text for today gives us another, bigger picture one: some of the things that will take place in the End Times. Pain, suffering; betrayal; war; death. So many terrible things that are a part of the Last Days.
Are we are in the “now and not yet” times. The things prophesied exist now and will continue until Christ returns.
These are not things to look forward to, but they are things that we can and will endure because we know what the End is: utter and complete consummation of the victory of Jesus and a New Creation where pain, suffering, crying, mourning, and death are no more. Ever!
When Jesus gained the Victory on the Cross and through the empty Tomb, that victory was and is real for all time – but the full realization and consummation of it is not yet. There will still be more pain and suffering. There will be more crying and pain. There will be more war and death.
But those will end!
Forever!
And that’s what we look forward to! That’s why we can endure and do all things through Christ Who strengthens us!
We can see all the bad that is and will happen and still, as God’s redeemed and save, “straighten up and raise [our] heads, because [our] redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
We can (and should be) bold and confident facing all the challenges and sufferings now and to come because we know the End of the story. The End because of His story. The Beginning through what He finished on the Cross and in the empty Tomb.
“Straighten up and raise your heads” because He’s got this and will get you through! Jesus’ victory is proof. His victory is key. His victory has already happened over all these things to get us through all these things.
Eyes forward. March on. Bring it!
“Thank You, Lord, for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant us to remember the End is certain so when we endure trials, temptations, and sufferings we can not only endure them, but straighten up, knowing the consummation of our redemption is drawing near! In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
You kinda gota feel for those that God calls. Whenever He does, whole lives change.
One minute you’re simply living your life, and the next you’re building an ark; or going to Pharaoh and demanding the release of the Israelites. One minute you’re attending sheep and the next made a king; or in a field and then made a prophet.
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Exodus 3:11-12
This is for certain: when God calls, things change; and usually in big ways.
When God called Moses he was living his quiet life with his father-in-law. He had had an and privileged, exciting youth and then had to flee for his life. And now things seemed finally at peace. Things had settled. This was a nice life. This was a comfortable life. This was a life to get on board with.
But it wasn’t the life which God had in store for him.
Moses was just doing his daily duty and sees a burning Bush and hears the Lord. God has a call for him: Go “to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10).
Seems ridiculous. Comical. Beyond understanding or belief.
Me? Lead Your people.? I can’t even speak correctly and You want me to go and address Pharaoh; whose family tried to kill me, and get him to release the people of Israel, his slaves?
This has to be a joke.
And yet it wasn’t. Moses tries to get out of this several times. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” But God answered him in the best way, “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12). This is who I am and I will be with you through it all. It’s not just you going, it’s Me going. It’s not you speaking, it’s Me speaking. You ask, “Who am I?” I’m telling you who I Am. “I Am that I Am” (Exodus 3:14). I am YHWH. I am God. And I will be with you.
What more do you need? What more could you possibly want?
When God calls you to something, know that He will be with you too.
And not just for the huge life changing things, but for all the things that you are enduring. And the proof? Jesus! “Lo, I Am with you always, even to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I Am with them” (Matthew 18:20).
God’s promise to be with us is true; now, for us, every day. And Jesus is the proof.
When we believe in Jesus; when we trust Him; He makes sure to accomplish everything that He has planned. It may disrupt our lives in little ways and in huge ways, but when they’re disrupted in His ways, nothing is ever the same; things are always better. When God is involved, everything changes. We who were sinners has been changed into Saints through faith in Jesus. We who only seemed to know how to rebel, when filled with the Holy Spirit, accomplish great, godly things.
It’s not because we are so great in and of ourselves. For we can do nothing in ourselves outside of the Vine, Jesus. But because He promises that He is with us, all things are possible; all things are done; all things are blessed. All things that He desires.
What a blessing that is!
“Thank you, Lord God, for calling us to things that are greater, even if they are not as comfortable; and for making sure they are all accomplished because You are with us; because You accomplish; because You do. Remind us that You are with us through every aspect of life from the small to the life-changing; and let us rely on You and Your Spirit in every case. Through faith in Jesus and in His name. Amen.”
We have nice China and silverware. When we were engaged we were told that’s what couples register for so they can entertain properly.
I think we may have used it 2-3 times in our 34 years of marriage.
So [Zacchaeus] hurried down and received Him joyfully.
LUKE 19:6
You may have noticed, we are not China and silver folks. Paper plates and paper towels for “napkins” works just fine, thank you very much!
Our home is small, but warm. It is clean, but not we don’t keep it in a perpetual state of readiness.
We’re just not the “entertaining type” of people.
Not knocking, of course, those who are! I am amazed by those who do – and enjoy it!
It makes me wonder what type of person that “wee little man,” Zacchaeus was.
We know he was a man of means and wealth due to his career. We know that he was despised because of it, too.
But was he an “entertainer”?
Probably? I wonder.
What we do know is that this man wanted to see Jesus and when Jesus invited Himself to his home, Zacchaeus was excited and “received Him gladly!”
Did he worry about the state of his house? Did he wonder what he would serve the Lord? Did he fret about what Jesus would think of him when he welcomed Him into his home?
I don’t think so.
He “received Him joyfully!”
The heart of Zacchaeus was joyful and glad to have the Lord come to him! His heart received Him before his house did. His heart was prepared, whether or not his house was.
Indeed, the Lord wanted Zacchaeus’ heart, not his home; his mind, not his meal; his soul, not his stuff; his strength, not his station.
Jesus wanted salvation for Zacchaeus and when that was accomplished, others were blessed through Zacchaeus as well!
What would we do if Jesus invited Himself into our home; into our lives; into our hearts?
Would we be concerned about all the preparations that need to be made; worry about the state of it all, or would we set those aside and “receive Him joyfully” regardless of how much of a mess everything is. How much of a mess we are?
Here’s a newsflash: Jesus knows the state of your heart. He is fully aware of the mess that is there.
And because of His love for you invites Himself into your mess anyway!
We may be horrified by the thought, rightly disgusted with how bad we are and unprepared for the Holy One to enter; but He wanted to come anyway.
So receive Him joyfully through the power of the Holy Spirit; for when He comes, lives are transformed! Through faith in Jesus, your life is already transformed! You are already saved! You are already able to see all the areas of your life that are wanting and seek ways to correct and improve through Him!
You are forgiven through the Cross! You are saved through faith in Jesus! He wants to come to you in every way – mess and all! Because of Him we can receive Him joyfully – always!
“Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving us and pursuing us; inviting Yourself into the mess of our hearts and lives. We receive You joyfully and recommit ourselves to a life transformed by You through the Holy Spirit so that our sanctification can also be a blessing to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
The day we remember the importance of Scripture as the only source for knowing God and the Way of salvation in Jesus.
Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32
The foundation for faith. The cradle for comfort. The lamp for living. The Word and the Way.
Ok, I’ll stop.
But it’s important.
Through Scripture we learn about Jesus who sets us free from sin. Free from the Law which condemns. Free from death itself.
All of us were slaves to sin and the Law.
In Jesus we are free and saved.
That’s not just “a big deal,” it’s the only deal that matters!
Jesus is the only Way of freedom and salvation. If we “abide in [His] Word, [we] are truly [His] disciples” (John 8:31) and He sets “us free indeed” (John 8:36).
Believe in Jesus. Follow Him. Trust in Him. Abide in Him. Be free in Him.
A truly reformed life and eternity follows!
“Thank You, Jesus, for setting us free from the law of sin and death. Thank You for that Truth of eternal life and present living. Help us to hold tightly to You in our lives and share You for the lives of others. In Your precious name do we pray. Amen.”
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.”
2 Timothy 3:14
Today’s Scripture is one of my favorites. From the Scriptures “which are able to make wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15) to “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16) to people accumulating “for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3).
So much good stuff.
And so applicable for today.
False teachers who lead people astray are everywhere. “Pastors” and “preachers” who teach what they want instead of what God says. They align themselves with the culture instead of with the Christ; with the world instead of with the Word; with the secular instead of with the sacred.
And people follow them instead of Him.
This is a travesty. This is idolatry. This is heresy.
It does not lead people to paradise but to perdition.
We are called to “continue in what [we] have learned,” – i.e., continue in the Holy, inerrant Word of God and nothing else.
But to “continue” in something means we also need to have learned it in the first place.
We need to constantly and consistently be in the Word, for It is the only rule and norm for living and the only Word that leads to Christ Jesus, the Savior.
Everything else is just for “itching ears” to satisfy sinful hearts and a fallen world.
Continue in the saving Word of God, through faith in Jesus!
Every day. In every way.
“Thank You, Lord, for Your precious, holy, perfect Word, which makes us ‘wise for salvation through faith in Jesus.’ Grant us to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest It daily, so we may dray closer to You, know how to live holy lives, and be ready for all that comes our way. Help us identify false teachers and teachings and instead cling to You, live You, and teach You. Every day. In every way. In Jesus name. Amen.”
