Malachi 3:5 (KJV) Taking Matters into Our Own Hands

Malachi 3:5 (KJV)

And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

 

I am struck with the depth of God’s judgment in this passage. I think most believers wouldn’t be too surprised by God’s witness against sorcery or perhaps even adultery because we know that to be closely connected to idolatry.[1] The one that struck me most was God’s promise to be a witness against those “that oppress the hireling in his wages.” This is a practical, down to earth application and one that those involved in unions[2] have taken upon themselves.

 

Have you noticed that almost exclusively, unions are socialist and practically anti-Christian? It’s as if they have a grudge against God for not standing up for them against their bosses. Communism, which is certainly anti-God, is supposedly a people’s movement meant to promise the hireling fair wages. It’s not what happens, but it is the promise.

 

I wonder in how many other areas we have dismissed God and taken upon ourselves to take care of ourselves. I wonder in how many areas we have, perhaps even unwittingly, blamed God for our circumstances and therefore taken from God the right to manage those circumstances. And I wonder how much we have lost in the sense of God’s protection, care, and provision because of it.

 

#GodsJudgment #BiblicalTruth #FaithAndWork #ChristianResponsibility #TrustInGod

Taking Matters into Our Own Hands: The Unseen Sins God Judges

 

---

[1] If the modern believer spiritualizes it that way, he can then avoid the conviction against modern promiscuity he likely engages in.

[2] I worked as a union Ironworker and loved the work a lot. I know many union men who are conservative, good men. Many of them are Christians, moral and strong family men. But the unions themselves all have an agenda that is socialist at very best. They will eventually destroy the very people they are paid to speak for.

Call to Action

• What steps can you take today to ensure you are relying on God's provision and not just your own efforts?

• Write down one area in your life where you need to trust God more.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6400 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Malachi 3:5 (KJV) Taking Matters into Our Own Hands

Malachi 2:15 (KJV) Marriage Matters

Malachi 2:15 (KJV)
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
 
I wish to note this chapter specifically says it is to the priests. 
Malachi 2:1 (KJV)
And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
 
There are applications I am sure that point directly to the Leviticus priesthood. But this is the final book of the Old Testament and, in the New, Jesus makes all believers the priests of this age. 
 

And then I note that the chapter speaks specifically about the issue of “putting away” or divorcing one’s wife. It’s the priests who were getting divorces. It was the priests who were guilty of profaning the covenant of their fathers by marrying the daughters of strange gods. God said, Malachi 2:16 (KJV) 
For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: …
 
·       Marrying those who are not of the faith
·       Carelessly or treacherously treating the wife of your covenant and
·       Divorcing or putting away your wife
God opposes these. But why? “That [HE] might seek a godly seed.” 
 
In the case of the Jews that seed is Jesus. The marriage covenant among the Jews was critical to preserve the heritage through which God had elected to deliver Jesus, His Son, into the world to save them which believe on His name. 
 
By way of application to the modern-day priest, the New Testament believer, our marriage vows, who we marry, how we behave in our marriage, and that we are faithful to those vows, is critical to delivering the gospel purely and powerfully to generations to come. 
 
It doesn’t matter how culture changes its views on the institution of marriage. God has not changed His. 

 

#GodlyMarriage #BiblicalFamily #FaithfulVows #ChristianPriesthood #MarriageCovenant #marriagematters

Marriage Matters: Guarding the Godly Seed

Call to Action

• Are you honoring your vows and treating your spouse with the faithfulness and respect that God commands?

• Spend time with your spouse today, discussing ways to strengthen your relationship and ensure it aligns with God's design. 

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6400 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Malachi 2:15 (KJV) Marriage Matters

1 Corinthians 3:11 (KJV) The Only Sure Foundation

1 Corinthians 3:11 (KJV)

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

 

Not that other foundations haven’t been attempted.

 

Of course, there are other foundations. For instance:

- The foundation of pantheism

- The foundation of animism

- The foundation of atheism

 

If we were to agree that all the religions of the world, except theism, fall into one of those three, then we can move on to suggest that among theists exists a multitude of foundations that have been attempted concerning Christ:

- He was a prophet

- He was an example

- He was a teacher

 

Debates have been argued since the first or second century concerning His deity.

 

Our position is that the Bible’s position is: He is the Son of God; 100% God and 100% man.

- As man, He died in our place.

- As God, His death is sufficient to redeem us from our sin.

 

It is grand to build on Christ. But God warns us to take heed how we do it.

- The Islamic building won’t do.

- The cultic buildings of Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, monotheism, modalism, and etc., won’t do.

 

Even among the redeemed, we ought to be careful how we build.

- We must not build on a denomination.

- We must not build on a movement.

- We must not build on personality, pastor, or practice.

 

Always, always return to the foundation, the source. Build on Christ. And as you build, return frequently to Christ, through His Word, to make your labor sure.

 

#FoundationInChrist #BiblicalTruth #ChristAlone #FaithfulBuilding #GospelFoundation

The Only Sure Foundation: On Christ Alone

 

Call to Action

• What steps are you taking to ensure your faith is firmly anchored in Christ, the true foundation?

• Share your journey and insights with us in the comments.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6400 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 Corinthians 3:11 (KJV) The Only Sure Foundation

Malachi 1:2-3 (KJV) Divine Inheritance

Malachi 1:2-3 (KJV)

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.

 

I have read that a man once approached Charles Hadden Spurgeon with this objection, “I do not understand why God hated Esau.” To which Spurgeon is supposed to have responded, “I don’t understand why God loved Jacob.” This concept is repeated a few times in the Bible, including Romans chapter nine and is offered as a proof text for the Calvinistic doctrine of election.[1]

 

This text is not speaking about individuals, but about nations; Jacob being the nation of Israel and Esau being the nation of the Edomites. Specifically, the text references the geographical location of the nation of Edom, its mountains, its wilderness, and its heritage.[2]

 

Israel was placed in a land filled with good natural resources. Esau’s lot was less productive. The text has nothing to do with eternal judgment. Whether one could make an application of future eternal judgment, I think, is questionable. What I believe is certain is that God did not intend this passage to apply to individuals and that the hatred spoken of is not meant to be emotional angst against an individual, but more like the distribution of an inheritance. Because one child is given a greater portion of a parents’ estate does not imply the parents hated for the one who received less. 

·       Perhaps the parents recognized the skills of the one to be more capable of using the inheritance. 

·       Perhaps the parents recognized that the one who received less would have been injured by the greater inheritance. 

·       Perhaps there were circumstances involved in giving a portion of the inheritance to one or the other that others in the family were not aware of.

 

The people of Israel have never been any better or any worse than any other people. God did not choose to bless them because they were greater or better. God chose to bless them as the one nation that would deliver to the other nations the Word of God and the Saviour of their sins.

 

God did not hate Esau. He chose to save Esau (those who would be saved) through the seed of Israel - Jesus. He also chose to save Israel (those who would be saved) through the same seed.

 

#GodsLoveAndJustice #BiblicalElection #NationsInScripture #DivineInheritance #SovereignGrace

Divine Inheritance: Jacob, Esau, and the Heart of God

---

[1] There is a biblical doctrine of election. I do not believe the Calvinist’s doctrine and the Biblical doctrine are the same.

[2] I think this refers to the natural resources of the region.

Call to Action

• Have you considered how God's decisions impact your understanding of His love and justice?

• Share your insights and encourage one another in faith.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6400 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Malachi 1:2-3 (KJV) Divine Inheritance

1 Corinthians 1:18 (KJV) The Irreconcilable Line

1 Corinthians 1:18 (KJV)

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

 

Notice the distinction of the Word of God:

- Them that perish

- Us which are saved

 

This line divides people to such an extent that it is irreconcilable except that the Lord performs a miracle.[1]

 

Notice too, the source of the divide. It is those that perish who have the animosity. They view the position of the saved as foolishness. On the other hand, the saved seek only the redemption of the lost.

 

I confess that the sin nature gets the best of the saved from time to time. It’s natural to lash back against those who’ve lashed out at us.

 

Years of attacks, threats, and persecution have left many Christians in a defensive stance. Then too, years of perceived influence, at least here in the United States, have created a sense of privilege, a right to be the leading voice. Perhaps we’ve forgotten this world is not our home.

 

It’s natural, but it’s not spiritual. It’s not godly. It’s not biblical. God’s heart, I remind you, sent His Son from glory to die for us, “while we were yet sinners.” If we turn to fight the sinner, we’ve lost the purpose of our calling.

 

The preaching of the cross is the power of God. Are you saved? Do you believe it?

 

Then the only response appropriate against the actions, words, or attacks of them that perish is impassioned, caring, continuous preaching of the cross.

 

#PreachTheCross #PowerOfGod #SavedByGrace #LoveThyNeighbor #GospelTruth

The Irreconcilable Line: Preaching the Cross

 

---

[1] I rejoice to report this miracle happens frequently.

Call to Action

• Are you saved and living out the power of the cross in your daily life?
• Take a moment each day to pray for someone who opposes your faith.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6400 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 Corinthians 1:18 (KJV) The Irreconcilable Line