Saturday, November 10, 2018

Make the Picture the Reality



Malachi 2:13-16 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

Our church has now been going through the Minor Prophet book of Malachi for several Sundays and last week Pastor Kyle continued in chapter two by first recapping that the proper response to God’s love is to give Him the best and the first of everything because our Almighty Maker deserves our honor, praise and respect for His loving protection and caring provision. Stop robbing God of His due and don’t rob others because in doing so, we rob ourselves of the blessed life the Lord has for us. Secondly, every Christian is a priest (in the royal priesthood of Believers), who represents the Sovereign Creator of Heaven and Earth to their world. Royal priesthood, do not allow corruption in the kingdom of God. There are times when everything seems to be going great and then they are not going so great. We must never lose sight of hope because the Lord God has blessed us all with miracle after miracle and life is going to have struggles; that is the reality of life.

It’s easy to look at he pictures of great moments in people’s lives and think of happy times. But, photographs are just images and memories. How do you make the picture the reality? We are constantly fighting to keep these ideals a reality, day in and day out, through the lenses that God sees us through.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Today Bible passage reminds us that the two most important relationship covenants in life are: (1) our relationship with our Heavenly Father God, (2) our relationship with our spouse.  God created the family. Equally yoked Christians go to church and take their children to Sunday School in order to produce godly offspring. This is not about nominal “checkbox” Christianity, but someone who believes and walks faithfully with the Lord. Marriage to Jesus as the bride is the church’s number one priority, but the marriage to your spouse  is our greatest earthly gift from God. It is natural to protect your treasures in heart and mind. Do not stop remembering to cherish your covenant vows, made before God, to your spouse.

Let’s continue Pastor Kyle’s message on making the picture a reality in the next post.
In Christ, Brian

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