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Today is Thursday September 30, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Malachi. If you would like to read today's chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this link onto your browser: http://www.imfollowingjesus.com/bible-september-30

P.S. I am going to change up the format a bit in the devotions, starting today the message will look a little different, but still have the same feel to it. Thank you and God bless.

Today's Message: Serving God
The Book of Malachi is the thirty-ninth book of the Old Testament/Bible, the final book of the Old Testament, and contains four chapters. The author of the book is Malachi and it was first written to Israel. The purpose of the book was to call the nation to repentance and return to righteousness in order to restore the nation. What we are to learn from the book is that it is not enough to repent, if we want all of God's blessings upon our lives we must show Him that we want Him in our lives. God is a loving and forgiving God, but if we are not sincere in asking Him for forgiveness God will not hear or see us. “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” - Malachi 3:16-18.

The first generation of Israelites that returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple had died, and with no direction or instruction to the new generations the people had lost sight of God and really had no idea what purpose God had for them as His people. Many had developed an attitude of religious formality toward God and began questioning God Himself. This easily lead to the toleration of evil, including witchcraft and sorcery, in the Temple. Through God, Malachi addresses these people, “I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.... A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible....For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.” -Malachi 1:2,3,6,7, 11, 12.

The problem here was that the people were relying on these false religions to tell them who God was and how to live instead of seeking the answers from God Himself and now God is seen as someone who is evil and only picks a certain kind of people to be His people. This is false, God loves everyone He created and will allow anyone into His family, regardless of race or financial status, but they must first seek Him through Jesus Christ. “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” - Romans 10:11-13.

God has something to say to the wicked religious leaders who use Him in a wicked way to prosper for their own financial gain, “And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.... For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.” - Malachi 2:1-3,7. God is addressing the priesthood, the religious leaders, whom are men of God as well as those whom are spiritual priests (teachers, missionaries, prophets, etc.) They have kept His Word hidden and created their own ideas of what it means instead of letting the people read and learn for themselves. People look to these spiritual leaders for guidance and direction, but only get deceived because they are telling lies. Heads up to those religions who use other books as God's Word, if churches do not encourage you to read the Bible or read from the Bible in the church then they are deceiving you.

There is nothing more satisfying than serving God, it is amazing the feeling of accomplishment you get when you, from the bottom of your heart, serve the Lord. The word serve is defined as, to render assistance to, to be of use to someone, and to be of help. In other words, when we serve God, we are assisting Him, we are representing Him through us, and helping Him show others just how important and rewarding it is to have Him in our lives. So, if we as Christians are not living our lives as the example that God wants us to be you can imagine why so many people reject Christ and think that it is no different than living their lives the way they are living now. We are representatives of Christ, do not be ashamed of it, embrace it, God blesses all who wholeheartedly serve Him. Part of serving God means that we are to also give tithes and offerings, through Malachi God said, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” -Malachi 3:6-10.

We are to give tithes and offerings to our church, a true church of God serves God for the spiritual needs of the people, tithing demonstrates our love and gratitude to Him as our Savior and Lord. Returning just one-tenth of all our income to God expresses our faith that all we are and all we have belong to the Him. Think you can not afford to tithe? You can not afford to tithe, God promises that He will bless us, if we put Him first, including tithing. Tithing is more than just giving money, the word tithe is also defined as a tenth or very small part of anything, in other words, tithing also means giving God a tenth your day each day. When we serve God wholeheartedly there will be so many blessings given to us that we will be overflowing with blessings. “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.” - Psalm 119:2. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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