The Burren region of north-west County Clare offers a collection of holy wells, standing stones, ancient churches and forgotten tombs. Photo: Tourism Ireland/www.telegraph.co.uk
This will be the last post from “A Word From Malachi’ for the year two-thousand-eight. There is a lot that has been posted this year and I want to thank ALL of the readers for stopping by and considering the convictions that the Lord has put on my heart to share.
In this last post for this year, I would like to leave the readers with these few thoughts-
- If you have spent some time this year reading ‘A Word From Malachi’ and do not know Jesus as Lord and Saviour, it is my prayer that you shall see Him in this light this upcoming year, for there is no other name whereby man may be saved.
- If you are a believer in Christ and have found this blog a source of encouragement, PRAISE THE LORD and please stop by for future exhortation in this upcoming year.
- If you are a believer and are immersed in the midst of persecution for your faith, I want you to know that there is a small body of believers in Atmore Alabama that are keeping you and yours lifted up before the Lord, daily, in prayer. Just remember…. He is faithful and His word is true… a firm foundation in the midst of a storm, both in life and in death.
- If you are a believer and through reading some of the post have come to the realization that you have been nothing more than a religious pawn of the church and its religious system, I pray that you have found the post from malachi a source of conviction, and that they have driven you toward our Lord via a spirit of commitment, and that commitment not to the institution, but to the body and that, our faithful Lord.
A New Year commitment-
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. Joshua 24:19-28
In the above text recorded in the Book if Joshua, Joshua has completed the task (bringing His people into the Land of Promise and the dispersion of their particular inheritance) that God had given him.
Joshua had gathered all the tribe of Israel to Shechem and called on the people to reaffirm their commitment to God and His covenant.
Joshua reminds the people of God that serving Him is not easy and should not be done haphazard for we are sinners and God is Righteous, and as a Holy God, He is a jealous God. To forsake Him and serve other (strange) gods, would result in His judgement and their hurt.
But the people reaffirmed their commitment…
“they would serve the LORD”
Now when an individual makes a commitment to the LORD, it is a very serious deal. That is why Solomon exhorts us not to be rash with our mouth and let not our heart be hasty to utter any thing before God.
For God takes our vows serious and He will expect us to keep our word, so when we make a commitment to God, pay that which we have vowed, or in the common vernacular, KEEP YOUR WORD, lest the LORD be angry with thy voice and destroy the work of thine hands. [Ecclesiastes 5:1-7]
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and set the words to writing, so that they could not come back later and say, ‘we did not say that?’ and wrote these words in the book of the law of God.
He then took a great stone and set it up under an oak tree that was by the sanctuary of the Lord, then Joshua told the people,
“Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us, for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spoke to you: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest you deny your God”.
How can a stone hear? It has no ears?
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the spirit saith.
malachi