Have you ever had someone claim something, but it just doesn’t seem to add up? We live in a skeptical society, where everyone wants to debate just about everything. A lot of times, people will say “if you can prove it then I will believe it.” I think Luke 16 would argue against that, at least in some instances. But, the point is people are always looking for you to prove what you say. We are going to see an instance of this in today’s text. The time of the text is during John the Baptist’s ministry. He is reaching people, and they are being baptized. This draws the attention of the religious leaders of his day. The religious leaders come out to talk with John the Baptist. This is what he says to them, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.'”

What a greeting, right? Most pastors I know would be ecstatic to have people wanting to come to their church or ministry that we are doing. However, John the Baptist calls the religious leaders a “brood of vipers.” It’s almost like he doesn’t want them there. It’s not that John that Baptist wouldn’t welcome them in. Rather, it is he wanted to know why they were coming. Where they coming with pure motives or was there something else behind their visit? I’m not saying that we should call potential visitors a bunch of snakes by any means. However, I believe we would be served well to make sure that those coming to be a part of our fellowship are genuinely saved before they are granted church membership. That is entirely different than someone just coming to visit the church. Certainly, any and all are welcome to visit the church. At Westlake, we love our visitors and our members. My point is that it is important that those who are considered members, and have joined the church, we need to examine their life like John the Baptist is doing to the religious leaders coming to him here. John the Baptist knew that the religious leaders believed they were God’s children because of their heritage. John knew that salvation isn’t by works or family line, it is by faith. This is why he tells them to “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” John was saying, “if you are truly God’s children, prove it with how you live.” John the Baptist wanted to make sure that those he baptized didn’t have a false sense of assurance of their salvation.

Our life should bear evidence of our profession. Claiming to be a Christian while constantly living in sin with no desire to obey God would be like a man claiming to love his wife while beating her every day. Would you believe that man? Of course not! It’s not that as a Christian, you or I will be perfect. However, we should feel the sting of conviction when we sin, it should break our hearts that we have grieved God, and we should be striving to live for God. We must also reject any teaching that says we can be saved by any other means than the Gospel. It is vital that we allow God to examine our life, and to reveal the truth about our standing with Him. Is there proof of your profession?

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Yesterday’s post was about knowing your identity and knowing your purpose. Today’s post is going to continue down that line of thinking. As I have a firm grasp on my identity, then I am better able to know my purpose. By knowing my purpose, I am able to avoid distractions that might cause me to wander away from achieving my purpose. We will see this tunnel-vision approach in John the Baptist’s life in John 1. John 1:6-7 says, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.”

In the opening chapter of the Gospel of John, the apostle John lays out the identity of two key figures. He begins by telling us who Jesus is. He shows that He is the eternal God, the Creator, and Son of God who had come into the world to save the world. The second person we read about is John the Baptist. That is the John being spoken of here in the text. John the Baptist was important because he fulfilled a biblical role in helping identify Jesus as the Messiah. John, in speaking of himself to a group questioning him, identifies himself as the Messiah’s forerunner prophesied about in the book of Isaiah. John the Baptist knew from the beginning that his life and ministry was never about him. His role was to point people to Jesus, and to prepare the way for Jesus to come and fulfill His ministry. We see that language throughout John 1. You and I need to learn to identify with John the Baptist. No, we are not the forerunner of Christ. However, we are to be as John the Baptist was, a witness to the Light, who is Jesus. We are to help point people to Jesus, so that they will be prepared for His return. The apostle Paul picks up on this theme in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, where he writes, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” From the moment, that by His grace God saved you, you went from a slave to sin to a slave to Christ. We are not moral free agents. Yes, we have been set free from the bondage of slavery, but we have willingly become slaves to Jesus Christ. He purchased us at a price. That price was His life shed on the cross as the payment for our sins. Before we were saved, we lived to glorify ourselves by fulfilling our own desires. Now that we have been saved, saying that we are saved, we are to use our life to glorify God and fulfill His will.

When you know whose you are, and what your purpose is; you are better able to recognize potential distractions in your life. This is why we must know our identity. Let me give you an example of how being rooted in our identity, our purpose changes. Before we were saved, we typically looked at our job as a way to make money, which we thought could give us some happiness, it would pay the bills, and allow you to do some of the things that you or your family wanted to do. In our sin nature, work served our purpose. When God saves us, He begins to change our thinking about our work. By the way, we should let Him change our thinking! We choose to no longer see work as a way to get what I want, but instead, I now see my co-workers as part of the mission field that God has sent me to. Do I still get paid, does the job allow me to go on vacations, and things like that? Absolutely. But when my identity is in Christ, I begin to look at my job as a way to glorify God by reaching others with the Gospel and working hard first, and getting the other things second. A lot of times you will here pastors refer to this type of thinking as having a missionary mindset. In reality, it is learning to think and act like a Christian. John the Baptist knew that his life wasn’t about him, it was about pointing others to Jesus. Do you and I look at our life the same? If not, what needs to change so that God can change your thinking? In writing this, I am recalling a conversation I had earlier this week with someone. He said, “as soon as someone in the church expresses interest in the Bible or ministry, we immediately tell them that they are called into ministry, and that they should become a pastor.” He went on to say, “we definitely need pastors, and that is definitely a calling God gives. However, we also need men and women of God as doctors, lawyers, politicians, bankers, factory workers, accountants, and every other field as well.” I remember being amazed at listening him talk and the passion he had. His love for Jesus is undeniable, His knowledge of the Scriptures is incredible, but his calling is in business. He chooses to use his Christian witness in the world that God has placed him in. Oh, that we would all learn to have that mindset. Let it be Lord, and let it begin with us, those who are reading this post, and may it spread throughout Your body for Your glory and the building of Your kingdom!

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

I believe that one of the biggest realizations that has occurred during this pandemic is that many people have a false sense of their identity. They identified themselves by the job they had, the money they made, or the possessions they had. All of that has proven insufficient to sustain or satisfy them over the course of the last several months. I also truly feel that many churches have suffered from an identity crisis as well. The problem has been there, it was just masked by leaders measuring the wrong metrics, and the fact that our ministries were just rolling along as they always had. Then, in the blink of an eye everything changed. I have been thinking about this for a while, and wondering how did it happen so easily? I believe that today’s text gives us this answer. Mark 1:35-38 says, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for Him. when they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.’ But He said to them, ‘Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.'”

What does this text reveal as the reason many people and churches are suffering identity crises? In a word, prayer, or in this case probably a lack of it. Jesus had already started His ministry of healing people, and He was with people all day. Yet, He made time to get up before the others, and go to a solitary place so He could be with His Father. What Jesus does is so different than what many of us do, especially unfortunately us who are in church leadership. Jesus was having success. Most of us would have said, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” Yet, after praying, Jesus tells His disciples it’s time to leave this town and go to the next place so we can keep spreading the message of the kingdom of God. You and I were created intimately for a relational God. We see it in Genesis 1. In Genesis 1, it talks about how God “made” everything else. Yet, when it comes to the creation of Adam it says, “and God formed him.” The word “formed” is a much more personal, intimate word. Colossians 1:16 says that we were created “by Him and for Him.” And as a Christian, we were saved to tell others about Him and be His representatives to those around us. We see this in 2 Corinthians 5:20 which says, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” We, like Paul, are to be Christ’s ambassadors and plead with people to surrender to the grace of God that they might be saved.

I am convinced that if we are going to no longer suffer from an identity crisis we need to know three things. First, whose am I? When my identity is in Jesus, then I learn that no matter what changes in my life, I still belong to Him. The gift of salvation and God’s presence in my life is something that I can never lose. Second, I need to know why God saved me? What am I to do with this life I have been given? I need to know that I belong to Jesus and what that means for me. After all, I wasn’t just saved from something (sin), I was also saved to someone for a specific reason. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us how we are saved, but we often forget that the passage doesn’t end in verse 9. It goes on to verse 10 which says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we would walk in them.” God saved us by His grace so that we could do the good works He called and created us to do. Finally, I need to know how God wants me to carry this out. This happens as we pray, surrendering our will to God’s, and allowing Him to direct our paths. Let me end this post by asking you a few questions. Who do you belong to? What is God calling you to do? Are you doing it? If the answer is “yes”, praise God. If not, all is not lost. Confess it to God in prayer, repent of it, and ask for His help in beginning today.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

We are a society that likes big and flashy. We are drawn to big personalities and those who make bold promises. It’s why so often politicians make these ridiculous claims of what they will do when elected, and people buy into it. The politicians know how Washington works. The people know how Washington works, but we still want to believe it. We like big, bold promises, even though we know that change comes much more slowly. People often wonder and ask, how did the country get to the place it is right now? Many want to point to “big” decisions made. However, “big” changes comes not from a singular decision, but rather from hundreds or thousands of smaller decisions along the way. We are so focused on the here and now that we fail to see how a decision today will have ramifications years down the road. However, the human father of our Lord wasn’t such a person. We see his integrity in Matthew 1. He had found out that his fiancee was pregnant, and he knew he wasn’t the father. He would have been within his rights to publicly divorce her, causing much shame on her. However, he sought a way to do it privately. Before he could do that, God intervenes in a dream, and tells Joseph what is going on. The result is written in Matthew 1:24-25, “Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.”

Joseph was a man of integrity. He didn’t want to humiliate the woman that he loved. Then, God tells him something that I’m sure sounded as crazy to Joseph as it often seems to us when we read it. However, Joseph trusted God. But there is another detail in those verses in the previous paragraph that speak to Joseph’s character. It’s in verse 25, “and did not know her till she had brought forth her Son.” The word used for “know” in the text indicates sexual intimacy between a husband and a wife. Sometime between the announcement of her pregnancy and the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph get married. It would have been normal and natural for them to have been sexually intimate after their wedding. However, Joseph intentionally abstains for nine months. Why would he do that? Why is it a big deal? It has to do with the description of Joseph being a “just man” in Matthew 1. Joseph loved and feared God. Joseph would have known the Old Testament Scriptures, including the one found in Isaiah 7:14 that Matthew quotes in Matthew 1:23, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name, Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Joseph knew the Jewish teaching of the Messiah being born of a virgin. Therefore, he chose to abstain from what he rightfully could have enjoyed as a married man. If Mary and Joseph would have been sexually intimate, it would have given people in their day reason to doubt the identity of Jesus. They could have said that she was making the whole thing up. However, by Joseph abstaining from sex with his wife, she would be guiltless in the fact of that charge. That is why Joseph chose to abstain. That is why it is a big deal.

This post isn’t about sexual intimacy between a husband and a wife. This post is about two things. First, it is about making the everyday, seemingly mundane decisions that draw us closer to Christ, and point others to Jesus. Which feeds into the second thing, our spiritual growth happens over the course of time as we honor God with each choice, regardless of whether it is a big decision or not. While we tend to gravitate towards the big and the flashy, God works in the ordinary, mundane things of life to produce the greatest spiritual fruit in our life. If you want to see real, lasting spiritual change, don’t discount the small decisions you make in your normal day-to-day life. If we aren’t being faithful to God in the “small” matters that no one else sees, why would we expect “big” blessings from God in front of others? We need to learn to be faithful in all things, not just the things that we think will make the biggest impact. Small decisions today, repeated day after day lead to big changes in the future. Choose wisely!

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

We live in a society that doesn’t like to wait for things. We want what we want, when we want it. Unfortunately, many Christians bring that same mentality to their walk with God. They expect spiritual growth to be immediate, and when it isn’t, they become very frustrated. However, we might be able to find some encouragement in looking at Jesus’s earthly parents. Luke 2:33 says, “And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.” One thing that we see in Luke 2 is that while Mary and Joseph may have had some idea of who Jesus was, it wasn’t a complete knowledge of who He was. Earlier in the chapter it says that Mary kept all these things in her heart and pondered them. In our text, we see that both Mary and Joseph were amazed at what was being said about their son.

Here is the encouragement, spiritual growth is a process for everyone, including Jesus’ parents. While we may want to instantly be spiritually wise, it is a process. The apostle Paul says it is a process that is lifelong in Philippians 1:6 which says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you, will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” While this may frustrate you a little, it should actually encourage you. If you aren’t growing spiritually the way that you expected, understand that it is a process. God will not give us more spiritual wisdom than we can handle, and He knows what we can handle. Jesus said this to His disciples on the night that He was betrayed. As Jesus was with them, He said, “I have many more things that I want to tell you, but you aren’t able to handle them right now” (John 16:12). While God is the One in charge of giving us spiritual wisdom, it is our responsibility to trust God no matter what. We can trust Him, because He is good and He is all-knowing. Trust God to grow you, and trust Him while He is growing you.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

What is the saying about if something seems too good to be true? It probably isn’t true, right? But, what if it was true? Today, we cross over into the New Testament in our yearlong series, Blogging Through The Bible In 2020. Everything we have been reading for the past 30 weeks has been pointing us to what we are about to read together. In today’s text, we are going to study the right response to God’s Word.

Luke 1 has several similarities to the story of Abraham and Sarah in the book of Genesis. Both had a godly family where the wife up to this point was unable to have a child, then God intervened in His timing. Both of the children were promised by God, and would be used by God for a huge purpose. Both Sarah in Genesis and Zacharias in Luke struggled to believe God’s promise. The one that stands out from these stories is Mary. Mary shows us the proper response to the revelation of God. Luke 1:38 says, “Then Mary said, ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.” The angel, Gabriel, had previously appeared to Zacharias and told him about the son to be born to he and his wife, Elizabeth. Zacharias didn’t believe the word of the angel, and so God kept Zacharias quiet until the time of John’s circumcision. However, when Gabriel told Mary that she was going to become pregnant, even though she was a virgin, she had a different response. It’s not that Mary could figure it out, or that she understood it. She had some questions herself. However, her response was, “let it be to me according to your word.”

How do you and I respond to the unlikely or the strange? In this chapter we see the two responses we can have. We can either not trust or believe it, or we can accept it. The amazing thing is, even though Zacharias didn’t believe the message, it didn’t change God’s plan. There is a lesson there for you and I. God’s plan isn’t dependent upon you and I liking it, understanding it, or even agreeing with it. God’s will is going to be done. When Zacharias came out of the Temple, everyone knew he had a vision of God while in there. However, he couldn’t tell anyone. He couldn’t tell anyone because of his unbelief. I remember each time that Diana told me that she was pregnant, and even the time that she told me that a little girl was going to be coming home to us. I couldn’t wait to tell people. I can’t imagine not being able to share that good news. The other lesson from Zacharias is that there is a cost to our unbelief. I hope, I think we all hope, that we are more like Mary and her response. Again, she didn’t understand everything, and she certainly had questions. But her willingness to believe what God told her is remarkable. The question of how we respond is really a question of, do I completely trust God? If I pray for His will, if I read His Word, then shouldn’t I expect Him to do things that are truly incredible? We have spent the last 30 weeks in this series reading about the truly remarkable things God has done. We can look back on our own life and see some miracles that we can’t explain any other way except to say God did it. I won’t say that God’s will is always perfectly clear. There are times when I feel God is leading me in a direction and I just scratch my head and wonder, why this, why now? I won’t say that God’s will is always easy. To be used by God requires me to die to myself daily and to be alive to Him and His will. Sometimes that is difficult if we are being honest. However, every time I have ever submitted to God’s will and done it, I have never regretted it. But there are more times than I can count, that I haven’t done God’s will and I have regretted it. Remember, when you can’t understand the will of God, trust the heart of God. He is good, His will is perfect. Commit yourself not to figuring everything out, but to trusting God no matter what, and then see what God does in you and through you.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Have you ever had someone come up to you and say, “I have some good news and I have some bad news”? Notice how they always ask which one we want first? Is there ever time that you want to hear bad news? We may not like bad news, but let’s be honest, it is a part of life. However, the bad news that God is going to give in today’s text, doesn’t have to be bad news. Malachi 4:1-2 says, “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go and grow fat like stall-fed calves.”

The day that God is referencing here is the day of His judgment. It is a day referred to many times in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. It is bad news for those who reject the Gospel, because it tells us of their fate. While many may not like it, the truth is that there is only one way for a person to be saved. The only way is to surrender to the Gospel, turning from our sin, and turning in complete faith in what Jesus did on the cross. Anything other than this is hopeless to save you. I know we all want to believe that in the end everyone goes to heaven; however, the Bible makes it very clear that simply isn’t the case. However, the bad news actually doesn’t have to be bad news. There is a promise to those who believe the Gospel. Our salvation is guaranteed by the blood of Jesus. We have His presence, His promise, and His provisions. God, here is promising that one day He is going to completely remove all pain, suffering, and evil from the world. What makes this good news is that it is meant for you. Regardless of where you are now, and despite what you have done; the Gospel can save you. Salvation is God’s plan accomplished by God’s Son, but you have the responsibility to surrender to it. The bad news is, no one will escape God’s judgment. The good news is, you don’t have to fear it if you have surrendered in faith to Him. So, when you think of Jesus’ return, do you think of it as good news or bad news? I hope it brings joy and good news to your mind. If not, please reach out to me at pastorjustin@westlakebaptist.org, and I will be happy to tell you all about the Good News of the Gospel.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Have you ever worked for a boss who kept moving “the goalposts”? They would start with something, but then they would change to something else; or they would be headed in one direction, and then in midcourse change and go another direction. There are very few things more frustrating than that. However, when you work for someone who knows exactly where they are going, and how to get there, it changes a lot of things. In today’s text in Malachi, God is going to tell Israel how He doesn’t change, even though they have.

In Malachi 3, God is continuing to list how Israel has abandoned their faith in Him, even though they don’t want to admit that they have. Every time God says they have done something, their response is, “how have we done _____.” If you have ever been around someone who refuses to take blame for what they have done, you have an inkling of understanding of what God is going through. In Malachi 3:6 God says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Israel.”

What does God mean that they are not consumed? God is saying, I haven’t walked away from you or given up on you, even though you are doing all these different sins. How is God not changing? He is remaining faithful to the covenant that He made with Abraham and Abraham’s descendants many years before (see Gen. 15). God is showing how He is different from Israel. Israel would say how much they love God one moment, but then they would go and willfully sin against Him the next. What about you and me? Are we like Israel? Probably more than we would like to admit. This is one of the reasons that we can praise God, for His faithfulness to His covenant, not the covenant He made with Israel, but rather because of the new covenant, the covenant that is in the blood of Jesus. Because of that covenant, the New Testament believer has two incredible promises. The first is found in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Because we have been saved by God’s grace, that’s what it means to be “in Christ Jesus”, we are no longer condemned for our past, present, or even future sins. The full wrath of God against our sins was absorbed and paid for by Jesus’ death on the cross. We are no longer condemned because of what we have done, because we have been saved by what Jesus has done for us! The second promise is found in Jesus’ words in John 10:28-29, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” There is a lot to unpack in those verses, but for space sake I will simply say this, those that have been saved by God’s grace are secure in His grace. Because salvation is a gift from God to us, it is not a gift that we can lose. Praise God that He doesn’t change, even when we sometimes do!

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

One of the things that is missing in a lot of areas is genuine, Spirit-filled leadership. Everyone wants their voice to be heard, and to tell people how to do things, but very few desire to actually get in and do the work. But before someone can start to lead, their personal life needs to in order. This is why Paul set as a requirement for church leadership that a person not be a new convert. It’s important that they be proven. Before we care about a person’s “leadership style” we need to know their character. This is what God was saying was lacking in Israel at the time of Malachi’s writing. The priesthood were in the position, but they had no character. God laid out some important truths for leaders in Malachi 2:6, “The Law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity.”

God was describing how He intended the priesthood to be. However, later in the chapter, God says they are none of these things. Before you think that this doesn’t apply to you as a Christian, because you are not in leadership; every believer in the New Testament is a priest and a missionary. The leadership qualifications in the New Testament are talking about “super-spiritual” people. A potential leader should already be showing these qualifications before they are considered for leadership. Maybe you are wondering, what does this mean for me today?

The most important thing that it means is that your life needs to reflect the truth that God has saved you. Character matters in our life. For a Christian, God essentially lays out four things that should be true of our life. First, the Word of God must live inside of us. This only happens as we are intentional about spending time in prayer and the study of God’s Word. Second, we must not only speak the truth of the Gospel, we must also live it. Third, we must desire justice. When God talks about “equity”, He is talking about not playing favorites. In Malachi’s day, the priests could essentially be bought. If the price was right, they would do what you wanted them to. They would treat some people differently for various reasons. This is something that James hits on very hard as being sinful in the book of James in the New Testament. Finally, we should desire that people would turn away from sin. We do this by sharing the truth of the Gospel, but also other truths about God’s Word. God’s Word is like a guardrail for our life. It keeps us from running our spiritual life off the cliff. However, when we take down those guardrails it has very real consequences. There are many areas in American life where guardrails are being taken down or moved. The result is being disastrous for the family and for our nation. As a Christian, we must stand on the Word of God without apology. No, not everyone will like it. But it’s not our Word, we are just to share it and live it. How are these four things in your life right now? Are there some things that God is trying to talk to you about? Some things that He would like to work on? God doesn’t need us, but He does desire to use us for His glory and the building up of His kingdom. However, before we are useful in the Master’s hands, the Master must work in our heart. Let God do His work and see what He does in you.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Have you ever found yourself just going through the motions in something? It could be a lot of things. Something like at work, at the gym, marriage, raising your family, or even in your worship of God. It’s never about a lack of effort. Instead, the problem is an issue of our heart. This is where Israel was at the time that the prophet Malachi wrote. God is charging Israel with some serious “crimes against Him.” In Malachi 1:7-8 it says, “You offer defiled food on My altar, but say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘the table of the Lord is contemptible.’ And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably? Says the Lord of hosts.” In the opening of the chapter, God professed His love for His children. However, He is saying that they are not loving Him back. Again, it’s not just about the actions of Israel; it was primarily about their heart. They certainly weren’t even giving maximum effort or even trying to bring proper sacrifices to the Lord. The people were trying to play the victim, and therefore God calls them on it. He tells them, if you think you are right, then take what you have been bringing to me, and go give it to your governor. Of course, they wouldn’t even think of doing something like that. They knew they were wrong, they just didn’t want to admit it. Which brings me to a question, are we willing to admit it when we are wrong? Whether it is in our relationships with others or our relationship with God, will we admit that sometimes we are just going through the motions?

God had said through the prophet Isaiah years earlier had said the same thing about Israel. Isaiah 29:13 says, “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me.” Centuries later, Jesus would say that same thing of the Pharisees and the nation of Israel in His day. The problem in Jesus’ day was the same problem in Isaiah and Malachi’s day; the people didn’t love God the way they were called to. You could say, they did just the bare minimum that they thought they could get by with. Again, have we ever been guilty of this? When we find ourselves just going through the motions of praying, Bible reading, serving, and other religious activities, it should clue us in that our love for God is growing cold. We need to take time to step back and find out when and where it started happening. Then, we need to ask God for His help. I will use a marriage that is failing as an example. There are times when a couple goes to a counselor and they say that they want a divorce. When the counselor asks, why do you want a divorce, one of the most often repeated lines is, “I just don’t love them anymore” or “we just fell out of love.” The reality of this situation isn’t that people fall out of love, it is that they stopped trying to love the way they are supposed to. Listen, I’m not saying the marriage is easy. I believe that having a successful marriage is the hardest job on the planet. However, it is also one of the most rewarding relationships that a man and woman can ever have. It is something worth fighting for. In the same way, we don’t just wake up one day and start going through the motions with our walk with God if we are truly loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. It’s not about your actions, it’s about your heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to do a heart check-up. Remember the blessings, favor, and grace God has given you. Then see if it feels like a burden to love God. When we remember all that God has done for us, and how He has blessed us even when we didn’t deserve it; it suddenly becomes much easier to life a life of praise and gratitude.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin