Monthly Archives: December 2023

Battles, Bible, Conflict, Correction, End Times, Family, Fighting, God's Will, Home, Love, Relationships, Scripture

FATHERS AND CHILDREN

MALACHI 4:6

“‘He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction.’”

One of the things we teach in the ministry I am serving with, Every Man A Warrior, is father-son and father-daughter time. Most men don’t spend time with their children, thus the breakdown of relationships. When fathers do spend time with their children, they need to do a few things. They need to make it safe, ask questions, make it about them, pray with them, shut up and listen and finally, speak building blocks of truth in their lives.

Isn’t it amazing that Malachi talks about father and children in his very last sentence? He is still speaking about Elijah (whom we mentioned in yesterday’s blog). We are not told how he will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children or the children’s hearts back to their fathers, but he does. Why? So the Lord “will not come and strike the land.” Let’s look closer at what this means.

APPLICATION

When family units breakdown, society crumbles. I am not just talking about the single households. I am talking about the extended families – Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Parents, children, aunts, uncles, cousins. The biggest breakdown today is faith, or should I say lack of faith. When one person in the family is walking with the Lord and others are not, it can cause extreme division.

Lest we be surprised, our Lord talked about this in Matthew 10:21-22. “‘21 Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 And you will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

Another passage is in Luke 5. Verses 51-53 are Jesus’ words again. “‘51 Do you think that I came to provide peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; 52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’”

Now, before you decide to throw in the towel, look back at today’s verse. The Lord says through Elijah He will draw families back together in faith. I believe that. I know faith unites. May we all pray that for all of our families. May we be united in the love of Jesus and rejoice in what He has given us.

Father, thank You for this final promise in Malachi. Praise You for families and what they mean to You and eachother.

P.S. For my frequent followers, I will be taking a short break after today’s blog. I will pick back up on January 1. Pray that the Lord shows me where to go to next in our daily study. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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Belief, Bible, God's Will, Looking, Messiah, Prophesy, Return, Scripture

LOOK WHO’S BACK

MALACHI 4:5

“‘Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.’”

Isn’t it exciting when you are told someone you know and love is coming to see you? I can remember as a child being told that my favorite uncle (Uncle Don) or my Grandma Carter was coming to see us. All us kids would get so excited. We would ask all kinds of questions: When are they coming? What time will they be here? Are they bringing us anything? (that was the important one, lol).

Elijah is going to return. The Lord said so right here. There are so many sources to read on this. Most, if not all, of the early church fathers (Tertullian, Cyril of Alexandria, etc.) spoke at length about this verse. We know John the Baptist came in the “spirt and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). But we are also told Elijah will return again “before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.” No one knows when, but he’s coming.

APPLICATION

In two separate occasions, Jesus spoke of John the Baptist as having come as Elijah. I encourage you to read Matthew 11:7-15. Jesus is pretty clear there to the people in speaking about John. And over in Matthew 17:11-13 we read these words from Jesus about John and the second coming of Elijah. “11 And He answered and said, ‘Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.’ 13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.”

That’s a lot to grasp, isn’t it? Who and what is Malachi referring to as he gives us the Lord’s words in today’s verse? Well, this is probably one of the clearest prophecies we have from Malachi, in my opinion. Elijah will return before the Lord returns to judge the earth. This will be a post-rapture event.

You and I will not be here to see his return. We will be either already passed into glory or will have been raptured. Let me be blunt – you don’t want to see Elijah return. That will mean you will face this great and terrible day of the Lord. No one wants that. Come to Jesus now and meet Elijah in glory, not here.

I am thankful, Lord, for the promises of Scripture and the clarity of it.

P.S. For my frequent followers, I will be taking a short break when we finish Malachi after tomorrow’s blog. I will pick back up on January 1. Pray that the Lord shows me where to go to next in our daily study.

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Accountability, Belief, Bible, Commands, Forgetting, Joy, Law, Obedience, Scripture

REMEMBERING THE IMPORTANT STUFF

MALACHI 4:4

“‘Remember the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.’”

I have to admit that my memory is slipping a bit. I make a lot of lists to keep me from forgetting stuff. I am thankful for that Note app on my iPhone. I work hard at memorizing Scripture because I believe that will help my memory. But I still forget things that are important to me or others (Sorry, Chris).

The statute and ordinances which the Lord is referencing in verse 4 were not unknown to the people. They had heard them from the priest and scribes. They probably did not have their own copy, but they were expected to know and obey them. These had been around since Moses. That’s a long time. There was no excuse for forgetting them.

APPLICATION

Joshua 1:8 tells us, “‘This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success.’” This verse is the third verse we memorize in the Every Man A Warrior study. It is key to what we teach about Scripture.

While we are not under the Law anymore as Christians, we still have to obey the Lord’s commands all through Scripture. For instance, Deuteronomy 6:5-7 still applies to us today. “‘5 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.’”

If we will remember God’s commands and obey, we will be blessed. If we don’t, we run the risk of falling into sin which always has its consequences. I have heard it said, “Joy never precedes obedience.” So, remember His commands, obey them and receive joy. We all want more of that, don’t we?

I have joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. Thank You, Lord

P.S. For my frequent followers, I will be taking a short break when we finish Malachi in two days. I will pick back up on January 1. Pray that the Lord shows me where to go to next in our daily study.

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Allies, Battles, Bible, Crushed, Defeat, Enemies, Fighting, Following, Protection, Scripture

CRUSHED UNDERFOOT

MALACHI 4:3

“‘And you will crush the wicked underfoot, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I am preparing,’ says the LORD of armies.”

Okay, this is going to sound weird, but the instant image I got when I read this verse was someone crushing a lit cigarette with their food on the ground. You’ve probably seen someone do it, too. That lit cigarette is smothered and crushed by the bottom of their shoe. Usually there’s some rubbing also to make sure the fire is out. I know – not a very biblical example, but you get the picture.

The Lord is not crushing cigarettes, but He does say the wicked will be crushed that way by His followers. He will give them the strength and power to smother out the fire of the wicked. They will lose all their strength. “On the day I am preparing” is an unknown day. We can rest, however, in the fact that He is preparing it, so it will be right on time.

APPLICATION

Psalm 68:21 says, “Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies, the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.” We have that promise. Just like He promised the children of Israel to crush the wicked, He will crush our enemies today. In Luke 10:19 we are told when Jesus was talking to the seventy-two disciples He had sent out, “‘Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.’”

Now, this is an important point – you have no power to do this on your own. The power, the authority, all comes from Him. He is the one crushing them, not you. So, if we have that power through Him, why do we fear? We have no reason to. He is our strength. It is His heel that crushes them.

The whole time Jesus was on earth Satan was trying to find a way to bring Him down. He even used one of Jesus’ disciples (Judas Iscariot). The devil thought he had won when Jesus was crucified and buried, but his head was crushed by the heel of the Savior on Resurrection Morning. Jesus is just as triumphant today. Trust Him.

O Lord, my God, I praise You for crushing the wicked and my enemies. I have nothing to fear with You so near.

P.S. For my frequent followers, I will be taking a short break when we finish Malachi in three days. I will pick back up on January 1. Pray that the Lord shows me where to go to next in our daily study.

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Bible, End Times, Messiah, Righteousness, Scripture, Sunrise

A WINGED SUN

MALACHI 4:2

“‘But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and frolic like calves from the stall.’”

One thing I like about hunting early in the morning is watching the sun rise. Depending on where I am hunting, I can usually watch the sun creep up and then burst onto the landscape around me. Recently I was watching that on a frosty morning. As the sun touched the frosted ground and grasses, the frost melted away. The heat, that I could not detect yet, evaporated the ice.

Many scholars say Malachi is referencing the coming of the Messiah in this verse. He is called “the sun of righteousness.” And I especially like the next phrase – “with healing in its wings.” The winged solar disc was a common symbol then for the sun god. Perhaps Malachi borrowed from that image for this phrase. We do know that Jesus will come quickly and will bring the heat of judgment or the warmth of His love, depending on the person’s decision whether or not to follow Him.

APPLICATION

Just as the sun gives warmth and light to the world to allow it to grow and prosper, the Son brings the same to us. He calls Himself the light of the world in John 8:12. “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.’” Don’t you want that?

This Son, unlike the celestial sun, never sets. He is always present in your life once you accept Him as Savior and Lord. Isaiah 60:19 says, “No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor will the moon give you light for brightness; But you will have the LORD as an everlasting light, And your God as your glory.” That’s pretty amazing.

The choice is yours. You can either continue to walk in darkness and incur the wrath of God through the Son of righteousness or you can embrace His love and receive the warmth of His rays. I need that embrace every day. I am sure you do too.

Father, send down Your beams of light and fill our hearts with Your love.

P.S. For my frequent followers, I will be taking a short break when we finish Malachi in four days. I will pick back up on January 1. Pray that the Lord shows me where to go to next in our daily study.

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Accountability, Bible, Conviction, End Times, Fire, God's Will, Judgment, Promises, Scripture

HOT DAYS

MALACHI 4:1

“‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,’ says the LORD of armies, ‘so that it will leave them neither root nor branches.’”

I am really enjoying the weather right now. I like cool and cold days. Why? Because I can always add another layer of clothing to keep warm. But in those hot summer days, it is difficult enough to take off enough clothing and still be able to go out into public. I don’t want to get arrested, lol.

A day is coming that will be the hottest yet. The Lord said it will be “burning like a furnace.” In fact, He said this day will turn all the evildoers into chaff, the ash that is left after an intense fire. Nothing will be left, even the root and branches will be gone. God’s judgment came that way then and still comes that way today. Nothing’s changed.

APPLICATION

I hunt on a piece of property that has been clear cut (all the trees removed for harvesting). Sometimes the lumber company will do a controlled burn afterwards to burn up all the debris left from the logging machines. I can tell they did that in some areas, but not in all. There are still a few trees standing and some logs and limbs lying around. It looks pretty barren as it is. I cannot imagine a scene like the Lord describes in today’s verse.

As believers in Jesus, we do not have to be concerned about being burned up into chaff. We will not face the wrath of God in judgment. Jesus took that upon Himself. As Isaiah says in Isaiah 53:4-5, “4 However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, and our pains that He carried; yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, struck down by God, and humiliated. 5 But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; the punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

That should leave you very thankful. As we close in on the end of Malachi (we started the last chapter today which only has six verses), take some time to reflect on the promises we have in a Savior who died in our place and then conquered death and is seated at the right hand of the Father. We certainly serve a glorious King.

Thank You, Father, for sparing me the punishment I deserve. Christ covered that with His blood.

P.S. For my frequent followers, I will be taking a short break when we finish Malachi in five days. I will pick back up on January 1. Pray that the Lord shows me where to go to next in our daily study.

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Bible, Judgment, Righteousness, Scripture, Wickedness

CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?

MALACHI 3:15

“‘So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.’”

Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between things. Take for instance, identical twins. During my years working in children’s homes and on church staffs, I got to work with several identical twins. Most of them could be distinguished between after I got to know them better. There was one pair, however, that I never was able to tell apart. And, of course, they would use that against me whenever they could, lol.

The Lord is not talking about identifying twins in today’s verse. He is, however, saying that we need to be careful to distinguish between the righteous and wicked. One serves Him and the other doesn’t. Now, mind you, that wicked one may profess to serve God. Watch their actions. See how they compare to Scripture. God knows their hearts and will judge them accordingly.

APPLICATION

There are so many verses in Scripture that show us the contrast between the righteous and the wicked. Here are just a few:

Proverbs 13:5 “A righteous person hates a false statement, but a wicked person acts disgustingly and shamefully.”

Proverbs 13:6 “Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, but wickedness brings the sinner to ruin.”

Proverbs 18:5 “To show partiality to the wicked is not good, nor to thrust aside the righteous in judgment.”

Matthew 25:46 “‘These (the wicked) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’”

I think you get the picture. The wicked and the righteous do not belong together. God will separate them in judgment. We must separate ourselves also. Now, I don’t mean we should not reach out to them and try to win them to the Lord. We should. We just can’t live like them. We can just hang out with them and do what they do. We must be holy as He is holy.

Do you know any truly wicked people? I have known a few. In a couple of instances, when that person walked into the room, I felt a chill. Their glances were almost always like darts fired from hell itself. Most people are not wicked. They are just deceived and blinded by the evil one. Pray we can be good laborers in the harvest and bring some of these home.

Father, I praise You that I am counted among the righteous, not for anything I have done but because of Your Son.

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Bible, Compassion, Faithfulness, Family, Goodness, Rescue, Scripture, Suffering

THE COMPASSION OF A FATHER

MALACHI 3:17

“‘And they will be Mine,’ says the LORD of armies, ‘on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will have compassion for them just as a man has compassion for his own son who serves him.’”

I have one son whom I love dearly. I would do anything for him and his family. I believe he knows that. A few months ago, while our daughter-in-law was out of town, he got sick. He called me and said, “Dad, I might need you today. I’m not feeling well.” I, of course, said, “If you need me, I’ll be right there.” We hung up, but he called back within a few minutes and asked if I could come right then. My wife and I dropped everything and took off. I would have done anything right then to get to him. He needed me.

The Lord compares His compassion for the people with that of father to his son. I can relate to that. God’s love for us runs deep. The Hebrew word for “compassion” is chamal, which can mean to spare or have pity. But here, it is best defined as compassion. The Lord knew their need and came to them, much like I did for my own son.

APPLICATION

I love what Lamentations 3:22-23 says about His compassion. “22 The LORD’S acts of mercy indeed do not end, for His compassions do not fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” And we have David writing in Psalm 51:1, “Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;

according to the greatness of Your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings.”

Do a word study on the Lord’s compassion. You may be amazed how that word is used throughout Scripture. In the Old Testament, the word is used over forty times. One of the greatest demonstrations of our Lord’s compassion is found in John 11:35 where it simply says, “Jesus wept.” We see the outpouring of His compassion for his friend, Lazarus.

God shows His compassion for His children every day, just like we earthly fathers do our children. When we see our children suffering, we are quick to respond, right? Well, God is even quicker because He knows what’s coming. Don’t you wish you could see that far in advance. Well, maybe not. Let’s leave that up to Him.

You are a compassionate God, and I thank You. Your compassions are truly new every morning.

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Bible, God's Will, Heaven, Promises, Remembering, Scripture

BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE

MALACHI 3:16

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened attentively and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and esteem His name.”

After two experiences with chemotherapy, my memory is not what it used to be. In times past I could remember a phone number if I had dialed it once. I could remember events on my calendar without problem. But now, I rely on written lists and my phone to keep me sane. I need a book of remembrance, perhaps.

The one spoken of in today’s verse is interesting. Now, the Lord does not need a book to remember things. He does not forget anything. That book is for us. Notice who it says it is written for. It says, “and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and esteem His name.” Their deeds were recorded. Ours are recorded. Let’s look at some other verses where a book or books are mentioned.

APPLICATION

In Daniel 7:10, Daniel says, “the judgment was set, and the books were opened.’ John says in Revelation 20:12, “The books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Back in Exodus 32:32, Moses says to God, “If not, blot me out of Thy book which Thou hast written;” David prays in Psalm 69:28, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written among the righteous.” Finally, our Lord bids His disciples in Luke 10:20, “‘Rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven.’”

Enough evidence of a book or books in heaven? I think so. We have nothing to fear if we are in Christ. Sure, some of our worthless works will be burned up, but our name is there. It is recorded. How? With the blood of Christ. When we give our lives to Him, our names are recorded. Our deeds may be written down, but our names are there. We are in the “good book,” lol.

I wonder if God thumbs through that book occasionally just to “catch up.” You think? Of course, He doesn’t need to, but maybe He just gets a little kick out of seeing what we have been up to. Oh yea, He already knows that, too.

I am forever grateful that I am in that book, Lord. Glance at it every once in a while.

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Accountability, Arrogance, Bible, Judgment, Obedience, Punishment, Righteousness, Scripture, Wickedness

UPSIDE DOWN

MALACHI 3:15

“‘“So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also put God to the test and escape punishment.”’”

There is an amusement attraction in Pigeon Forge, TN which is an upside down house. Everything inside that house is upside down. And people pay money to go inside. Now, that really doesn’t make any sense, lol. Life seems upside down at times, doesn’t it? Nothing makes sense. Everything is contrary to how things should be.

The murmuring people of Israel were claiming these falsehoods in verse 15. The arrogant were being called blessed. The doers of wickedness are built up, testing God and escaping punishment. The sad thing was they were saying these things to excuse their own bad behavior. If the world was so bad, nothing they did mattered. Sound familiar?

APPLICATION

Proverbs 21:24 says it well. “‘Proud,’ ‘Haughty,’ ‘Scoffer,’ are his names, who acts with insolent pride.” All around us today we see the same thing going on. Sometimes we may say to ourselves, “How can these wicked people get by with all this stuff they are doing?” It’s hard to imagine God tolerating them.

We see that explained in Isaiah 55:8-9. “8 ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD. 9 ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” We will never understand the mind of God, therefore we will never understand why He allows the wicked to continue.

The real question is more personal. What are you doing that displeases Him? How are you living out your faith? What are you representing today for Christ? We are not responsible for the behavior of others, only ourselves. So, stop pointing your fingers at them and look inward. Check out yourself. Let others look at you in amazement as you live for Jesus.

I know I can only be held accountable for myself, Lord. Help me reflect Your glory.

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