Malachi 3:6-18

6 {A Call to Repentance--} "I am the LORD(Self Existent and Eternal Jehova God),(This is a major fact that we must grab hold of. God is our LORD. Not our baby sitter, OUR LORD.

He is in control,

He is sovereign God,

He is the Alpha and Omega.

Our lives here on earth and eternally in Heaven.

We are rooted and built on Him. He is LORD, not me. His will be done, not mine. We should obey HIM, not the reverse.) and I do not change.(God is the same today as He was at the very birth of the universe and He will be the same eons from now. God will never change.) That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed. (We should be glad that God never changes, His love for us is eternal, His mercy is everlasting. If God changed His mind about us and His decision to create and love us, we would not still exist.)

7 Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my laws and failed to obey them. (This is a sad commentary on the heart of mankind. We have failed since the very beginning and continue to mess up, to sin, right up until this very second.

We are all sinners and fall VERY short of the Glory of God and His Holy Will in our lives. We must remember that at our very best, our most right moment – that all our best is like an old pile of stinky, dirty rags when compared to the rightousness of God) Now return to me, (turn back, return to the starting point) and I will return to you, "(“REPENT, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” – sound familier? John the Baptist proclaimed it, it was the first message Jesus Christ brought as He began His earthly ministry, and here it is again.

Repentance is absolutely necessary for a right relationship with God. What is True Repentance? I like to use scripture to verify scripture. 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 gives a really good definition of God’s kind of repentance. “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land. I will listen to every prayer made in this place,”(NLT)

Repentance is when God’s people become humble in the presence of mighty God, pray and seek God and TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, He will hear us and restore us.

Repentance is more than “feeling guilty” it requires a total yielding to God, a total desire to seek Him out in every aspect of our lives, the knowledge that is given to us by God to know we have failed and a desire to turn away from our wrongdoings and turn to HIM, nothing else – not the world, not a medicine – but turning toward our Mighty GOD.) says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, 'How can we return when we have never gone away?'(We seem to have been troubled by this question for several thousands of years. How can fallen man reach God?

By doing good? NO!

By trying REAL HARD? NO!

By being a kind person? NO!

By Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone? YES!

God knew that there was a uncrossable chasm dug between Him and us by the sins that so easily destroy us. He knew that we could not reach Him on our own and He loved us far to much to see us die an eternal death, without any hope, so HE MADE A WAY. Jesus Christ.)

8 "Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated (defraud, rob, steal) me! "But you ask, 'What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?' "You have cheated me of the tithes (a tenth part) and offerings (an offered up present, given in sacrifice) due to me. (We need to be aware of the ways we fail God, how we steal from Him. Failing to sharing the resources He has given us is a major way Christians fail God today.

We have developed a pride of and love for money that is appalling to God. So many people ask “Why is my church not as effective as the early church? Why don’t we do more to help the youth, the elderly, the hungry and the poor? We should, shouldn’t we? The answer is yes, but the funds are not there because God’s people do not return to Him the tithes and offerings they are commanded to.)

9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. (God calls this a curse. He knows that much Kingdom Work is being undone because of our greed.

He knows that we are missing out on a true blessing by hoarding our funds. He know that His Holy Spirit is being quenched because the money that He gave us to do the work is not available because of our sin)

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse (depository house, today – the church) so there will be enough food (meat, fresh leaf, food) in my Temple.(Here is what God wants the heart of a good steward to do. Bring your tithe to the storehouse, the church. This is first priority. Before special offerings, before other “charitable giving”, before anything else, give to God. The storehouse is responsible to distribute the funds as the body of believers decides, NOT THE INDIVIDUAL. To many times a person tithes a lot of money and thinks they are the directing voice of the funds. This is not so. The tithe is church driven. The OFFERING, which is given above and beyond your tithe can be directed as you choose, but not the money given to the store house.) If you do," says the LORD Almighty, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you! (Here is God’s promise for those who are faithful in their giving and their entire walk with God. God Almighty promises to shower down blessing on you! The flesh says you cannot afford to give, God says you cannot afford not to! God will give you more and more as He finds out that He can trust you to do HIS WILL with what you are given.)

11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not shrivel before they are ripe," says the LORD Almighty.

12 "Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight (delightsome, pleasure) ," says the LORD Almighty.

13 "You have said terrible things about me," says the LORD. "But you say, 'What do you mean? How have we spoken against you?'

14 "You have said, 'What's the use of serving God? (Sound familiar? Have your ever thought this? Especially during a tough time? Why did I work so hard for God and receive this cancer? This Huge financial problem or why is my family falling apart? WE must understand that Gid Loves us and most of what we are troubled by is a direct result of one of or a combination of three reasons:

1. We live is a sin stained world. This world is not perfect and thanks to the sin of mankind death and suffering have entered into our reality.

2. We are reaping the fruit we have sown. When we make bad choices and do wrong things there will be bad results.

3. We have a enemy who is all about stealing, killing and destroying.

Satan is against you. He is your accuser Jesus is your hope and

restoration.

God loves you and desires to deliver you from each and every bad situation you find yourself in. Yes, He knows and even allows these things to occur, but usually we are the reason for them, not Him.) What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the LORD Almighty that we are sorry for our sins? (the fact is there is much to gain by being obedient to our Lord. Peace, Joy, Love for a few. Assurance, Hope and trust are a few more. The thing we need to understand is that it is NOT our trouble that is our problem; it is our RESPONSE to our trouble that is our problem.)

15 From now on we will say, "Blessed are the arrogant." For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them go free (delivered, escape, release or rescue) of harm.' "

16 {The Lord’s Promise of Mercy--} Then those who feared (to fear morally) the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what they said.(God knows the very intent of our heart. He is all knowing, all seeing and able to hear our every word. He knows. We cannot hide the truth of our heart from Him, so don’t try. It is of no use to try to deceive God. He knows. You only lie to yourself about the sins in your life, God is not deceived.)

In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him. (Here is a principle we do not like to think about – The Book of Life is full of the names of those who belong to God. There is a written record. Is your name in that Book?)

17 "They will be my people," says the LORD Almighty. "On the day when I act, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient and dutiful child. (This is the promise to all whose name God has recorded as faithful and true. We will be spared from the wrath of God that is to come. We will not experience this tribulation and pain. Just as a daddy protects his child and seeks to shelter them from all trouble, so God promises to deliver us.

Think about this text for a moment. Let is sink in. God say’s that His children are His Own SPECIAL TREASURE.

We have not only value and worth – we are the most valuable thing in all of God’s expanse! This is a great deal of HOPE in this scripture. If our heart belongs to God we are more than flesh and bones – we are indeed more valuable that diamonds and platinum. We are GOD ALMIGHTY’S MOST VALUED TREASURE!

You are a diamond, not a lump of coal

You are a beautiful jewel, not an old piece of limestone

You are a great treasure in the Hands of our Holy God

On another note, I will put on my pre-trib, pre-mil understanding of the end times and, through that “filter” be strengthened that God will spare us from the end time tribulation period. This will be 7 years I will not have to go through because God has promised me that on the day He chooses to act, I will be spared.)

18 Then you will again see the difference between the righteous (Just) and the wicked (morally wrong, a bad person), between those who serve God and those who do not." (On that day, the day God chooses to begin the end of this plane, He will separate the righteous from the unrighteous, the sheep will be separated from the goats, His children will be delivered to Him and a very different existence awaits those who have not come to know Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.)

The True Steward

1. The true steward understands that God is our Sovereign and Mighty Lord

2. The true steward understands that he has fallen short of God’s perfect will for his life.

3. The true steward seeks to return to God’s presence.

4. The true steward joyfully returns to God a portion of what he has been given by God.

5. The true steward understands the mission of their church and knows that their giving, financially, spiritually and physically, is God’s plan to support the mission of the church.

6. The true steward knows the blessings of true obedience.

7. The true steward loves God and desires to complete His Will in their lives.

8. God provides for the needs of a true stewards, delivers them from trouble, gives them hope and eternal life.

Are you faithful in what God has given you? If not, why not?

God is calling you to Him right now! How will you respond?

I plead with you to let your answer to the Lord God Almighty always be “Yes, Lord, Yes!”