Get Close To The Lord

DECISIONS, THEY ARE YOURS, MAKE THEM # 2

Deuteronomy 11:26-28a
“Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God,”

A lesson for Christians today.
The message spoken to Israel through Malachi needs to be considered by Christians today.

Oh, the spirit is willing.
At the close of World War I, people realized that God had brought deliverance from the enemy. Liquor and gambling were outlawed. And many sincere people made promises to God. A great program was launched to share Christ with the world. Many missionaries went out to the far reaches of the world. The preachers, under fiery sermons, saw multitudes turned to Christ.

But the flesh is weak.
Too soon many forgot. Within the next 25 years the people of the United States drifted back into sin. Prohibition was voted out. Immorality and immodesty are on every hand. The drug culture and rebellion are on all fronts. Every one is doing that which is right in his own eyes. God’s ways have ceased to be our ways. We have forfeited all right to expect God to continue his blessings on us.

A warning from God.
God does not leave His people without warning. He had given the Jews instruction that they should remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; but they had forgotten it. Listen, we are not exempt from this same obligation as pertaining to the Lord’s day.

Hebrews 10:25
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

Just how faithful are we in the services of the house of God? God had warned the people about the putting away of their wives.

Malachi 2:14-16
“Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 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. For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.”

God says - “I hate divorce.” And yet today we seem to think that for just any old reason we have the right to run down to the judge and get a divorce.

Then the people stooped to the low ebb to rob God in their giving.

Malachi 3:8-9
“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."

God had told the people of their obligations to him. Yet they had miserably failed. They were just giving God the leftovers. A pitiful plight. People now sleeping in the dust of the grave began their downfall when they failed to observe God’s laws. Listen, when God’s people turn from God to sin, God closes the windows of heaven. God will not hear your prayers. Then you sink to the low level of blaming God for your plight. God has even sent some to an early grave simply because of continued sin.

God withheld his blessings from his rebellious people. Should He bless us any more than they? Or are we to anticipate a similar treatment? How do we stand today in regard to the sins charged to Israel? How do we stand as regarding the Lord’s day? How do we stand on this business of love, marriage and divorce? How is our status in honoring God with our substance? The whole point is a question. Why don't Christian people just decide to keep their eyes on the Lord instead of constantly trying to take things into our own hands?

Russell Stolp
Chaplain, CFO

Psalm 37:4 "Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.