Malachi 1:6-8  – “Who can stand before His indignation?  And who can endure the fierceness of His anger?  His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him.  ⁷ The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.  ⁸ But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, and darkness will pursue His enemies.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, a thought filled my heart and mind. That thought: “The Want To.”  Malachi spoke about seeking to honor God by giving flawed sacrifices.  They wondered why they were not hearing from God. He said, “You are giving Him your scraps and expecting His favor. How dare you!”

How do we transform our want-to into positive action?   Allowing the want to, to flow to its negative conclusion is easy.  If you do not address it, it will flow to the lowest point and become a reality.   Hate is murder in seed form.   Lust is adultery or immorality in seed form.

But how do you move in the other direction? The Beatitudes give insight.  Being poor in spirit means being empty of self and selfishness.  Genuine remorse over sin leads to repentance, and repentance means doing an about-face.  Through the Holy Spirit, you resist negative desires and focus on the positive.  It requires discipline.

Willpower will never prevail over the flesh.  Prevailing over the flesh requires total surrender to God. It requires total honesty to self, others, and God.  If we deny the problem or need, or diminish it, we empower the problem. We have no victory over the flesh until we surrender completely.

In the Beatitudes, we empty ourselves of self; we become sorrowful of our sin and condition; we place our pride on the altar; we stir up our hunger for God; we seek mercy for ourselves and extend mercy to others; we shun the very appearance of evil (let that soak in); we resist retaliation and reaction and seek peace. Then, when trials come, we discover the strength to stand.

Remember, willpower cannot produce victory. It can only point us to our true source of help, God.   What level of influence does our ‘want to’ have in our lives?   Does the desire for righteousness exceed our willingness to yield to the flesh? Our actions speak louder than our words. We must stop denying it if we want total victory. The denier will be denied, but the truly repentant will find victory!

Check your want to!

Nahum 1:3 – “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.  The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.”

Uncertainty fills the air for many.   Confusion is a constant companion for those not anchored in God.  Yet sureties and certainties remain. God is love and loves continuously.

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I was confronted with realities that were both challenging, comforting, and frightening.   God IS! That reality embodies all of those. Nahum 1:3 reminds us that God, our God, the creator of all things, is slow to anger but great in power.

Some confuse God’s patience and long-suffering with acceptance of their debauchery and vileness.  The fact that He has not crushed them like bugs gives them a false sense of security and a false sense of acceptance.  How tragic!  God hates judgment but is righteous and holy, making it impossible to ignore sin and rebellion.

The prophet Habakkuk asked, “How long, LORD, must I cry for help? But You do not listen!” (Habakkuk 1:2).    He lamented, “Why do You force me to witness injustice? Why do You put up with wrongdoing?” (v 3).  The Law seems powerless, justice abandoned and perverted.  God responded (v 5), “I will do something in your lifetime that you will not believe, even though you are forewarned.” Pay Day Someday! 

Zephaniah, the prophet, brought it into perspective with a warning, “I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, those who think to themselves, The LORD neither rewards nor punishes.”   Because God has not judged their indulgent sin and rebellion, they think they are okay. Tragic!

Those who perpetually follow their flesh find themselves in the condition Haggai revealed (Haggai 1:6): “You planted much, but you have harvested little. You eat but are never filled. You drink, but you are still thirsty. You put on clothes but are not warm. Those who earn wages end up with holes in their money bags.”   Rebellion produces emptiness and rejection, leading to judgment.

Jesus desires that all be saved.   God desires obedience, not sacrifice.   The Father loves us so much that He allowed Jesus to pay our penalty. However, we must accept that Grace Gift in repentance and pursue righteousness! He calls us to purity.  

If we live lives that continually violate His precepts, we must not think that, because of His long-suffering, He ignores our sin or accepts us. Jesus is the only entrance into God’s presence! Jesus in the heart rejects sin!

“If we confess (recognize, repent, and reject) our SINS, He is faithful (merciful) and righteous, forgiving us our SINS and cleansing us from ALL unrighteousness.”

LORD, help us to recognize Your sacrifice, repent of our rebellion, and receive Your transformational mercy. Help us reject the enticement to become intoxicated with the world and flesh and be saturated with You through the Holy Spirit.

Deception destroys, and God cannot and will not violate His holiness and tarnish the work of the Cross by ignoring sin.  NOW is the accepted time; today is the day of salvation.

LORD, I pray for No Confusion!

Amos 3:3 – “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?

Matthew 18:19 – “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God, the power of Agreement filled my thoughts.   We see this in Amos 3:3 and Matthew 18:19. Amos tells us that agreement enables two or more to unify for a common purpose.  

Jesus reminded us that agreement in faith and prayer applies the principle of tandem.  Horses pulling in tandem triple their pulling power, and believers praying in tandem exponentially increase their results.   This agreement provides a defense against discouragement, and if one weakens in faith or resolve, the other encourages.   It provides continuous focus!

Amos 3:7, an oft-quoted passage, needs further consideration.   “God does nothing without revealing His plan to the prophets.”  WHY?   Agreement!   If we know, we can align ourselves, agree to believe, and pursue the purpose presented.

That is another revelation of the importance of unity, the Body, and having someone to whom we are accountable.   We become watchmen on the wall to each other.  We become sources of warning and strength, enabling us to withstand discouragement and temptation.

Amos 8:11-12 warns that there will come a time in the Last Days when there is no prophetic word.  Why?  No agreement!  No agreement with God.  No agreement in purpose.   No agreement in purity.   Isolation and selfishness destroy agreement and rob us of the power we need to stand.

If you are battling temptation and finding it difficult to progress, check your agreement.    Agreement with God is mandatory but inadequate if we try to go it alone without unity and accountability.   Agreement in purpose with others gives strength.   Agreement to be accountable opens the door to victory!

In that state of agreement, Amos 9:11-13 reveals the picture of Abundance afforded to those living in Agreement with God, His Purpose, and each other.

Try standing alone and fail.  Come into covenantal agreement and prosper!   The choice is ours!  

Revelation 8:5 reveals something we need to keep in the forefront of our minds.  Prayer (unified, God-inspired prayer) releases God’s fire.  Together (agreement), we overwhelmingly conquer.  Alone, we are no match for the enemy.  

LORD, help us to come into agreement with you and with each other and say the same thing!

Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.” 

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, focus and faith were the foundation of my meditation.   In Ezekiel 12-16, a consistent theme and warning are inescapable.  Ezekiel 12:2, being flesh-motivated, reveals a rebellious heart that blocks spiritual hearing and vision.  In Ezekiel 14:2, we are warned about idols of the heart (selfish desires and flesh-motivated preferences).  Ezekiel 16:30 calls pursuing idols of the heart and a spirit of rebellion (heart sickness).

Faith, on the other hand, according to Hebrews 11:1, is an expression and demonstration of confidence.  Confidence?  Yes, confidence in God’s person (integrity) and power.   It is a visible manifestation of confidence in God’s Promises, living in expectation.   It is a conscious rejection of the “I’m not worthy” mindset.   

We have no worthiness in ourselves, but Christ lives IN us, and He is unquestionably worthy.  Because of His indwelling presence, we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus.  How dare we think God might not fulfill His Promises because we did not do enough or be enough.

Hebrews 10:10 says that the death of Jesus makes us Holy. Hebrews 10:35-36 reveals the power and value of CONFIDENCE!  Not confidence in ourselves, but the confidence of trust in God.  That confidence enables us to endure (because we see the ultimate end and trust God to keep His word) and to receive the promises and provision of that promise.  So, Hebrews says, “So do not throw away your confidence…”

If we focus on God, set our hearts to pursue Him and His purposes, we gain CONFIDENCE, and that confidence becomes FAITH, and faith pleases God and brings God’s favor.   It is an insult to the Finished Work of Jesus to doubt God’s integrity.  We doubt His integrity when we shift the focus from Him to us.  When we stop anticipating His Word becoming our reality, we are focusing on self and thereby questioning God’s integrity.

Trust God: He does not, cannot, and will not lie!

Jeremiah 50:6 – “My people have become lost sheep; Their shepherds have led them astray.  They have made them turn aside on the mountains; They have gone along from mountain to hill and have forgotten their resting place.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, angels and shepherds kept drawing my focus.  The Great Shepherd is Jesus.  Studying the life of a natural shepherd is revelatory.  Jeremiah 50:6 speaks of Israel as shepherdless (lost sheep) who wander aimlessly in the mountains, going from one mountain to another.  The symbolism there is staggering.

Lost or purposeless was their condition.  No defined vision.  No leader to guide, guard, warn, and train them.  The mountains can represent kingdoms, governmental or religious structures (organizations). They go from place to place, searching but not finding.   Remember what Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, know Me, and follow Me.”  We cannot follow a vision that is not God-inspired in us and purposed for us. Chasing the latest fad will not satisfy.

Titus 2:11-13 reveals a ministry of Grace we sometimes overlook.  Grace “trains” us.   First, it puts that inner unction in us to reject godless ways and worldly desires. Second, it trains us to pursue control of self, our emotions, our ambitions, and our dreams.   It inspires us to pursue lives of uprightness and godliness “in the present age.”

Grace gives us access to God and enables us to resist and receive.   Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus is the very essence and representation of God.  We say, “Of course He is; He is the Son of God.”  But He was also a man, one of us.   Also, He lives “in” us; therefore, the Jesus in us, manifested by and through us, causes us to be reflectors of the essence and representation of God. What do people see when they encounter us?

The shepherd, through God’s grace, helps us to learn the principles of life that enable us to be true reflectors of God.   We have Jesus in our hearts and the Holy Spirit to empower us, but we have more. We have access to something few tap into. Hebrews 1:14 reveals that powerful benefit: angelic ministry. Read the declaration concerning angels: “Are they not ALL ministering spirits, sent out to serve those who inherit salvation?” Who inherits salvation? Those who are born again. Are we born again?

We dare not develop an unhealthy or unbiblical view of angels, but we should tap into their purpose. They are designed and assigned to help us! Their purpose is to encourage, strengthen, protect, and guide.   That speaks to me of the immensity of God’s love and the extent of His concern for us.

How can we be discouraged or succumb to selfishness, even in our emotions, knowing our Shepherd is guiding us and our Father is providing? Listen to that inner voice; you will be surprised at the level of guidance God has been providing.

LORD, help us to receive You as our True Shepherd and become Your Sheep!