Sunday, November 14, 2010

Spiritual Weariness

A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father , where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect? Says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, How have we despised Thy name? You are presenting defiles food upon My altar. But you say, How have we defiled thee? In that you say, The table of the Lord is to be despised. But when you present blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly? says the Lord of hosts. “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering yon your part will He receive any of you kindly? says the Lord of hosts. Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on my altar! I am not pleased with you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering from you. (Malachi 1:6-10)

And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name," Says the Lord of hosts, "I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart.
(Malachi 2:1-2)


I believe the questions that hit’s the hardest is “Where is the honor due to me?” I cant imagine how it would feel if God himself stopped me in the middle of worship and told me that He would rather I go home than worship Him half-heartedly…ouch. God expects the people to offer the very best of there offerings. Deuteronomy 17:1 “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God”. God is not honored when He is given something that has no value, instead we must give what truly cost us. So why is it that the people refused to give the very best? Malachi 1:13 “you also say, 'Oh, what a weariness!' And you sneer at it," Says the Lord of hosts. And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?

Says the Lord.” The people thought they deserved better (or what they thought was better), so they figured “If God wont give His best, why should we?” What the priests and the people failed to realize is God already had gave His best, Jesus. Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors”. God wants 100% from us and as we have seen from the previous verse He deserves every bit of it. Now you may be thinking one of two things (or maybe both of them).

1. I am exempt from this because I am not a priest

2. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, I know longer have to offer anything.

Lets address the first, when a person gives there life to Christ they become a priest. We are called to share the gospel with the world with the love and conviction of the Holy Spirit.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”.
(1 Peter 2:9)


“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
(Exodus 19:5-6)


“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy” Spirit”.
(Matthew 28:19)



Now for the second, What do we have to offer? Though we don’t offer animal sacrifice, when we choose to follow Christ we offer our lives to Him and his grace.


“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service”.
(Romans 12:1)


If we are called to give our bodies, we must give all of it with a sincere heart. God wants us to want to be with Him. A relationship with someone who feels forced to be with you is not going to be very fruitful. God loves a sincere heart and why should we not be sincere. He does not promise an easy life but He does promise that it will be worth it. The very strength we thrive on to serve the Lord comes from Him. He promises to be the rock that will never be shaken. He does not say we wont face any storms but He will provide as ship that will never sink. May we serve the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul. When you wake up in the morning give the day to God and may it completely be in His hands. The Lord who gave us His life so that we may live deserves our very best. We must not find ourselves clinching to things of this world for that very object is what is keeping us from growing in our relationship with Him.


For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
(Jeremiah 29:11-13)


In His Grip,

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