God's got something........

I have been up very early this morning. HopeAnn is very sick, I would so covet your prayers for her today. We are not exactly sure what is going on, it's some type of serious infection. I spent three hours yesterday driving around and waiting in lines at three different Pharmacies only for them all to tell me they did not carry the prescription that her Dr. ordered! So, finally they called her in a new one and bless her heart, she is so sick. I've never seen her like this before. It makes me very sad to see my girl's not well. I was in tears yesterday as I felt so frustrated with the wait at the dr's and then the whole prescription deal and my Hopie getting worse and worse by the hour, she needed that medicine in her......it was almost to much and then I thought of those momma's....the ones who don't have access to medicine's and dr's.......how scary it must be. How dare I be so upset when there are momma's all around the world tonight holding sick children with no hope. Breaks my heart.....oh it breaks my heart.

So, she awoke at 4am this morning and by the time I got her all settled back in bed, it was one of those.......do I go back to sleep for an hour or go ahead and get up?

Well, I got up and my oh my has the Lord spoken to me this morning.

I pray my sleepy hands type this correctly! I've been in Malachi this morning, the whole book, not just one chapter. I have read bits and pieces before but never sat down and dug through the whole book. Thankfully it's only like 4 chapters, so it wasn't overwhelming! And just remember, that it's like 5:30 am so my theology isn't very deep......meaning, I'll do more research on the people behind everything later on, right now, I'm just at the heart of God, not the mind. Oh does that sound right? I don't know.....you know what I'm saying right???

Malachi means, "My Messenger".....I love that alone!

Here is what I love about this book, Malachi: God is very serious, he's a take no junk God in this book! I love His sarcastic tones and it's almost a bit funny at times! I know.....that's bad, I shouldn't say that! But listen.....in Chapter 1 verse 4, well, wait, let me back it up and debrief you.

God's love for Israel was so real and strong, but apparently His love for this Edom town, was not so much. (I know it has something to do with Jacob and Esau, again something I'll look closer at later today) Like......God said, "I hate it".....ouch. But basically, Edom people are not God's people because they were so full of evil things. And they had a fate from God....destruction. But apparently they were a little prideful. Hmmm....imagine that!

In verse 4 the people of Edom say this, "Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.".......now, when I first read that, I thought, "well, good for them, they are a strong determined bunch of people." But Ya'll.....LISTEN to what God says, v4 cont. "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. v5 You will see it with your own eyes and say 'Great is the Lord-even beyond the borders of Israel!'

Now, I could totally see these people, just like SO many people in our world today, "But God just loves...He just loves, loves, loves." That's how the people of Edom felt, they thought that no matter what they did, cursing God, turning their backs on God, complaining to God...that God was just going to love them and have mercy on them as they rebuilt their walls. But God said, "Um....no, you try to put those suckers up and WATCH me tear them down!" Harsh.....isn't it? It's not the side of God we see very often, but I think there is so much we can take from this to our society today. We have "Edom's" all around us.

As I continued on through Malachi, it only got worse. (I say that in a good way) It's almost like the tone throughout this book is......"I've had enough." You know how when your kids are whining and whining and whining......and you kinda echo back to them their "tones"...like when I hear "MOOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYY" for the one thousuandth time in five minutes...I'll say, "TTTTTAAAAYLLOOORR"!!!! =) That's how I feel God is speaking to these people, He's just had ENOUGH.

As I got into Chapter 2, I read this as God was speaking to the priests, "If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name....." (eeeerrrr, stop right there)........What I saw was this, God gives convictions....it starts with listening, but there's a BIG difference between listening and getting your heart into a place that honors the NAME of God. God takes this very serious. I think about all those sermons that my poor preacher has preached that has fallen on deaf ears.....they are "listening" but they are not listening with their hearts. How many times have you heard your preacher take a stand on something and then there are those who say, "Well, that does not apply to me." That is a spirit of pride, just like the people of Edom had.

I've seen through this book that God's messengers....they are real and God takes it VERY serious when we don't listen. Those messengers that have a pure heart and a righteous heart, that long to bring honor to the name of God. Those that their sermons line up with scripture and you don't have to wonder where they got that from.......Those that truly take a stand for what is right and don't want to be a cotton candy preacher, making everyone feel "loved and all yummy". That is what I have found Malachi to be. He was a GET REAL kinda guy. (Although, they aren't sure that the name "Malachi" was the actual name of this author) But whoever he was......He was a get it right now and God's not messing around with this!

Oh I wish I could write out every thought I had on this but I know I would bore you to death! I think I'd better make this the rest of the week kinda deal. Because as we get into Malachi 3, there is one of my most favorite yet most challenging verses 3:3 "He Will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver." LOVE LOVE LOVE so much about that verse and I have many thoughts, so they will have to flow into tomorrow!

Please do not take this as I think all God does is mock, punish and judge us. He is the most loving and gracious thing that ever existed and if you have read my blog for any amount of time you know that is my heart......GRACE. It's what his grace is all about but unfortunately we sometimes get caught up with grace and think that's all there is to God. However, there is much to be learned from this book. And I'm afraid that we've gotten away from these types of teachings in our lives. To many people have "fire insurance" just enough to stay out of the eternal fire......but there is so much more to our walks with God, our pure obedience and faithfulness to Him. There has to be a turning point though. There has to be a time where we stand up and say, "Not with me anymore."

Check back tomorrow too, as I continue walking through this book, there are some more thoughts to come!!

ps-God is SOOOO good, just got another donation from a super sweet gal! That puts my total at $225!!! I'm almost half way there!! God is so good!! Thank you all again.....and again......and again!!