King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: True Freedom
Date: Friday September 30, 2011
Chapters: The Book of Malachi, Proverbs 30, Psalm 106:25-45
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Hello My Friend/Guest,

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God...What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” - I Corinthians 6:9-11,19,20.

Freedom always comes with a price, anyone who has spent time or knows someone who has spent time in jail knows that breaking the law comes with consequences. Everyone has to pay a price for breaking the law, no matter how good a person thinks they are at getting away with things, eventually they will get caught and do time one way or another. The price for the unrighteous is the death penalty, but Jesus Christ has made a way for the unrighteous to avoid the death penalty. He paid the price with His own blood. All who believe in Christ and receive Him are justified, set free from the death penalty. Now, the question of true freedom that glorifies God will be settled by the believer recognizing to Whom they belong to and yielding to the Divine Guide Who resides within them.

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 written to Israel. The time line for these events took place approximately between 440BC and 410BC. The purpose of the book was to call Israel 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 God's blessings here on earth we must render to God what is due to Him. “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 3:10.

Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and now that prophecy was to cease he speaks clearly of the Messiah, and directs the people of God to repent and return to the law of Moses while they were in expectation of the coming of Christ. Through Malachi, God addresses those whom have been questioning Him and halfheartedly serving Him, particularly the priests.

“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. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts. Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.” - Malachi 1:6-10.

The problem here was that the people were relying on 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 certain kind of people to be His people. Does this all seem a little familiar to you? It drives me nuts when people say, “I'm Catholic, I've got it covered.” Being Catholic or any other religion gets you nowhere with God! He is begging all to realize that the only way to be covered is with the blood of Christ. He does not care what color you are, how rich you are, or how wicked you were. He is a Father to those who believe and receive Christ as their Savior. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 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 10:9-13.

Now, God has something to say to the wicked religious leaders who were using His name to prosper for their own financial gain. He continues to address the priesthood, they kept His Word hidden from themselves and the congregation and created their own ideas of what it means instead of letting the people read and learn for themselves.“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.

People look to men of God for guidance and direction, but when they are not reading and following God's Word themselves all they are doing is deceiving those who are truly trying to live in the Word of God. 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 themselves in the church service then they are deceiving you. A good sign that you are not hearing the true Word of God is how they preach the Gospel. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” - I John 4:1-3.

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, true freedom comes when we wholeheartedly serve Him. God continues to address those who were halfheartedly serving Him, but this time He includes an incentive. “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 3:7-10.

Yes, 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 God 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 belongs to the Him. 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 time each day. When we serve God wholeheartedly there will be so many blessings poured upon us that we would feel like we did not deserve any of it. Now, that is true freedom, knowing that we are not worthy enough to be blessed by God, yet He loves us and blesses us even more. To live a life with Christ in it is true freedom and very rewarding, most of all it gives us everlasting life. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” - John 5:24.

Today's Prayer:
Dear God,
Lord, we can live in such a way that our limitations define us and guide us in all that we think, do, and say to the point that we feel like prisoners. Or we can recognize our true freedom when You accomplish Your will in our lives as when we humbly serve You. The constraints we place on ourselves can be lifted by the power of Your Holy Spirit as we give You all that we are and wholeheartedly devote ourselves to You and Your service. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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