The Central Moment

God’s material blessings come in two forms -- providing what we need and protecting what we already have. There is a spiritual warfare around money that we should not be naive to, and money should never become our God. Instead, we trust the Lord for the provision and protection that we need, for his glory.

What does money have to do with our spiritual condition? On one level, nothing. God’s grace cannot be bought or sold. But on another level, money has everything to do with the state of our hearts. Jesus got it right -- hearts follow treasures.

It’s been said that God created us in his image, but we decided to return the favor and recreate him in our image -- shaped around our preferences and limited perspectives. But what if our Creator wants to shake us up, clean up our lives, and give us something far better than catering to our whims?

Just before Jesus started his public ministry, another voice emerged on the scene. It was a voice calling people to ‘prepare the way’ for the Messiah’s coming. Let us, in our lives, make way for the entrance of Jesus and the spiritual renewal that his Spirit can bring us.

Divorce is a difficult subject in contemporary society. As many marriages end in divorce as stay together. The prophet Malachi deals with the subject head on in the last book of the Old Testament. But how did Jesus and the apostles look at divorce in the New Testament?

What might you be married to at the level of your affections and devotion? In spite of our religious veneers, the Lord looks deeply into our hearts. Thank God for Jesus -- who can change our hearts and consume them with the fire of his Spirit!

Few things discredit the gospel of Jesus of Christ more than spiritual leaders who do not practice what they preach, whose charisma has out-distanced their character. Thankfully, Malachi’s rebuke can become a pathway of prayer for our pastors and leaders.

Why might the Lord want to lock the doors to our places of worship? Could it be that we worship carelessly and out of grudging obligation, selling short the glory of his name? After all, his name will ultimately be great among all the nations. So let’s worship accordingly.

Are you giving your best to God -- not because you are manipulated or guilted into it, but out of honor and respect and love for who he is? And how does the Lord respond when we throw our second best at him? Let’s ask the hard questions today.

It’s quite possible to end up on the wrong side of God’s will. Although he is sovereign, our free wills can choose to resist him and rebel against him. But God will always have the last word in the end. He is not someone to be played with tritely!