God's Got it

God’s Got this!

God’s Amazing Grace

Turn with me to the prophetic book of Malachi. Malachi is a book that was written for the God’s people to comfort them. See God in his complete love for his people was offering a means of restoration of their broken relationship because of sin. It is no accident that his very short prophetic word is placed where it is in the best selling book of all time. The book of Malachi forms a bridge between the Old Testament and the New. The old covenant and the new liberty found only in the Son of Man, the Messiah, found in Jesus the Christ.

For you biblical scholars you know that God’s chosen people were sinful. The prophet Malachi paints a most beautiful picture of God’s love for his people. In Chapter 1 the theme of Gods love is crystal clear, but the people he loved ignored his love by disobeying him. But even when the Priests began to sin God’s love was constant. God had that.

In Chapter 2 we see that the sins of the spiritual leadership of the people had spilled over into the congregations. The people began to sin. Even in their exile they didn’t learn their lesson (My grandmother would say they were just hard headed I tell you). They were being disobedient in their actions in regards to marrying. Malachi speaks of the men divorcing faithful (God fearing women) for newer younger pagan sports car model women. Their actions were threatening the very religious structure established with God’s promise to Israel. But even in the midst of this God had it.

Malachi goes on to build on the sinfulness of the people. Where there is sin comes judgment. For every action there is an equal reaction. Even in the face of judgment we see God’s continuous love demonstrated in the Message of the coming Messiah. For the believers even in the midst of judgment we can say with confidence that God’s got this. I personally found comfort in these words. Lets explore them together

(ESV)

The Great Day of the Lord

4  “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

For a day is coming…For a day is coming when God’s wrath towards the wicked will burn like a furnace.

The Wrath of God

God’s wrath sound pretty tough. I personally don’t want any parts of the wrath of God. Wrath is synonyms for anger, rage, fury, ire, and madness. If our human madness can cause one to say inflammatory things, take the law into our own hands and engage in vigilante justice when we feel wronged how much more should we fear the wrath of God. For the righteous his wrath is not our concern. But woe be unto the wicked.

You maybe wonder who are the wicked and will the furnace effect me. A wicked person is a morally apprehensible person. A person who spouts falsehoods without a second thought. A wicked person is one who is crass in his actions towards himself, others and most of all has a reckless disregard for God’s commandments.

Purpose of the Furnace

On the day of the Lord The oven. The furnace will have a dual purpose. Say dual purpose. For the sinner, the wicked man the fire will stubble. He will be brought down.

For the believer…the fire is God’s grace. God’s amazing grace. For the believer, for those who fear the name of God, for the obedient the Sun of righteousness you will leave the oven with healing. says so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Now that’s what I’m talking about God’s got it. With the knowledge of God’s Amazing grace Malachi says we will go out leaping life calves from the stall, and you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act says the Lord.

So Cedar Creek even in the midst of great sorrow, grief, political unrest, natural disasters and all sorts of things that are beyond our control or comprehension we can rest assured that God’s got it.

The 270 electoral votes secured Donald Trump’s presidency but I know the king of kings is still on the throne. No matter how many untruths President Donald J. Trump tell we know the Great I am is still a just and soveriegn God. See my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and righteousness. I can sing that confidently because out of the fires of life and the pressure of life we must lean on the source of our strength. See God’s got it…through the fire the evil will be consumed, but the redeemed will be refined. Through the fire not a stump or root of arrogance and evil will stand against God’s fire but the righteous will be like Shadrack meshack and abindigo because God’s got it.

As Methodist the core message of wesleyanism is Grace. John Wesley taught that our becoming and growing as Christians is enabled by grace. Through grace we are invited to a transforming relationship with God, which largely takes place as we participate in the means of grace. The means of grace are practices that the Holy Spirit uses to either draw is to God or enable us to know our sins are forgiven and grow in the love for God and our neighbor. Means of grace include the devotional reading of the scripture, prayer, fasting, the holy sacraments, Christian conversation and acts of compassion and service to our neighbors. It is in the means of grace that we encounter the presence of God in all it's transforming and loving power. As we faithfully participate in means of grace through worship, sacraments, daily devotion, fellowship and service, God enables us to increasingly recover the divine image of love in which we were created.

Why worry when God’s God it! Why worry when we are recipients of God’s Amazing Grace.

Because I know that God’s got it I can joyfully sing…Amazing grace will always be my song of praise. For it was grace that bought my liberty. I do not know just why he came to love me so, he looked beyond my faults and say my needs.

For you who don’t have the assurance that God’s got things covered in your life now it the time to surrender all. Don’t surrender all to Rev. Kayla because I don’t have an eternal place for you but surrender all to Jesus. The one who died for your sins. The one who came to offer his sinful creation a means of salvation. Salvation that is free to all who will accept it but came at a high cost for our Savior. See he who knew no sin died on the cross for the sins of the world. They placed a crown of thorns on his head, they nailed his hand and feet and pierced him in his side. But on the third day he rose with all power in his hands and because of that we have grace. If you haven’t accepted God’s amazing grace the furnace may have another meaning for you. I don’t want you to surrender to God because of fear but because you feel the love presented.