Good morning to all on this 1st Sunday of October! The mornings are crisp and clean here in Georgia and we are able to take advantage of the warm afternoon sun. The rains from the tropical storm have not hit us yet. Waine and I are in Thomaston this weekend enjoying old friends. We were supposed to be in Jamaica and God kept us here. It was a pretty intense week and God saw us through it as He always does. On any particular day there are a million things that Satan would have me worry and obsess about and that's when I remember that God loves me just the way I am; warts and all. He loved me even when I was a sinner and now that I have been saved by grace, I am free to live the abundant life that He puts in my path daily. Continue to lift me up in your prayers. Lift my family up in your prayers as I do you.
We have finished Peter and I am lead to read Malachi, the messenger. Malachi 1 verses 1 - 14, "An oracle: The Word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. "I have loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'How have you loved us?' "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" the LORD says. "Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals." Edom may say, "Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins." But this is what the LORD Almighty says: "They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD. You will see it with your own eyes and say, 'Great is the LORD--even beyond the borders of Israel!' "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'"You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty. "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will He accept you?"--says the LORD Almighty. "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. My Name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my Name, because my Name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty. "When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD. "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations. Amen! May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.
My husband often tells the story that when his family would have guests, the best and unbroken cookies would be offered to the guests. The family would then eat the broken cookies. This is what God is asking us in this chapter--why do we give Him our broken cookies? God never gives us "Broken Cookies". God always give us His BEST--starting with His Love and the sacrifice of His only Begotten Son Jesus. We were created out of and through LOVE We were created out of pure LOVE--God's motivation was to have an object (us) that He could bestow all the LOVE He possessed. He walked with Adam and Eve; He delighted in their company and they in His. They communed together and boy what conversations they must have had. There was neither strife or contention. There was no hunger or anxiety. There was no hurt of disappointment. Just LOVE. Then we let sin enter the picture and God still doesn't give up on us. He asked "Adam where are you?" not because God didn't know where Adam and Eve were physical or spiritually. He wanted Adam and Eve to reflect where they would be without the love and protection of their Maker. God gave Adam His best and in return Adam gave God "Broken Cookies".
I am challenged daily not to give God my broken cookies. Not to just come to Him when I am tired and scared, but to give Him my first fruits of the day. To offer myself daily when I am clear thinking and have lots of energy. To praise Him when all is "going" right and to praise Him when calamity walks into my life. To praise Him when the way is crystal clear and when there are forks and bends in the road. To offer on His alter myself daily knowing that there is always a "ram in the bush". That is the Faith God wants from us. God knows that as we mature, we will stop giving Him our broken cookies and instead we will offer up ourselves daily. When we do that He only sees the "Best Cookies", hallelujah! He loves us through all of our imperfections and looks on our hearts. Praise God. To know Him is to Love Him. To love Him is to serve Him. To serve Him is to serve you.
Now may the LORD bless you and keep you. May the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Stephanie
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