Hill Thread

Malachi 3:1-4
1 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.

Malachi 4:1-6
1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,” says the LORD Almighty.
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Related Text:
Isaiah 60
Matthew 3:1-12
Matthew 17:10-13
Luke 1:1-17

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Interesting

Malachi is the last of the Old Testament prophets. However, we know nothing of the person of Malachi – all we have as any insight into who he was are the words that he wrote. By these words, we get a sense that he had a dynamic and obedient love for God and faith in God’s plan.

This passage that we read today brings to mind many different topics that we could focus on. For instance: How does God refine you? Do you need refining? What’s your attitude like under pressure? What sort of offerings are you giving up to God?

But what I would like you to spend some time on today is to think about this question. If you were gone and you left behind a journal, or essays about your life, or a video log of your daily activities, or if someone secretly followed you around for a week with a camera, what would any of those things show about your love for and faith in God? What does the paper trail of your life tell about your devotion to our LORD?

Job 19:25-27
25 But I know my living Redeemer,
and He will stand on the dust at last.
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,
yet I will see God in my flesh.
27 I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.
My heart longs within me.
Psalm 19:12-14
12 Who perceives his unintentional sins?
Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
13 Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins;
do not let them rule over me.
Then I will be innocent,
and cleansed from blatant rebellion.
14 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to You,
LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.
Isaiah 44:6-7
6 This is what the LORD, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the LORD of Hosts, says:
I am the first and I am the last.
There is no God but Me.
7 Who, like Me, can announce the future?
Let him say so and make a case before Me,
since I have established an ancient people.
Let these gods declare the coming things,
and what will take place.

Related Text:
Isaiah 44:24-28
Isaiah 54
Luke 24:13-36
Galatians 4:4-5
Titus 2:11-14

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God is called Redeemer because He saves people from being prisoners to the power of sin. Our sinful nature, which the Bible calls our “flesh” wants to do bad stuff. That’s why it’s called our “sinful nature”. Our sinful nature desires to sin. When we remain in Christ, He gives us the power to break out of our sinful nature, to overcome it’s desires and the temptations that we all face. Take some time to read John 15, it’s powerful stuff!

Since God cannot tolerate sin, as a sinner you must be saved, or REDEEMED, from sin’s captivity. God redeemed humanity through Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection.

Jesus’ death on the cross paid for your sins! When we believe in Christ as our Savior, we throw away our old sinful self because Jesus has made us into a new creation, a new person raised in Christ from the death of our sin as He was raised from His death on the cross. And Jesus gives us the strength and the wisdom to overcome those temptations that are always aimed at us.

He paid the price, He bought you back through His death and resurrection and rescued you (who believe) from the penalty of sin – which is death and separation from God. When you believe in what Jesus did on the cross, you are saved from being a prisoner to sin, and you receive salvation.

Be sure and ask questions if you have any questions about this topic. It is super important and super powerful.

And if you understand it all, then GREAT. Now go share it with someone who hasn’t heard it!

Hill Thread will be participating in the 10 Day Give this year for the first time.  We are super excited and can’t wait for October 1.  Make sure you sign up and partner with this great act of service.

“The 10 Day Give is a challenge that is designed to help us get our minds off of ourselves and start thinking about how we can help others.

The thing is, I think most people really want to make other people’s lives better, but with everything going on all around us all hours of the day, we just don’t get a chance. This is an opportunity to choose, on purpose, to give of ourselves. There really are hundreds of opportunities that we overlook each day. My goal is to just grab hold of one of them each day.

For some people that means giving money, for others time is far more precious than money, and for others it may mean their expertise in an area. But, no matter who you are, we all have something to give.

It could be taking someone out to lunch, it could be babysitting for an overworked mom, it can as simple as giving your precious time by taking your mom to the park to talk. There are no rules, no judges, and no right or wrong ways of completing the challenge.

But, I encourage you to sign up for the challenge and decide to give whatever you can – it’s only for 10 days. And who knows, maybe it will become a habit.

So, why not decide to take 10 days to give something to a different person, each day. It doesn’t matter what the gift is, how much it costs, who it is given to, or how it is given. The point is to just to give – on purpose. We hope you decide to join us.”

Job 19:1-7 Job’s reply to his friend Bildad
1 Then Job answered:
2 How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
3 You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat me without shame.
4 Even if it is true that I have sinned,
my mistake concerns only me.
5 If you really want to appear superior to me
and would use my disgrace as evidence against me,
6 then understand that it is God who has wronged me
and caught me in His net.
7 I cry out: Violence! but get no response;
I call for help, but there is no justice.

Job 27:1-6
1 Job continued his discourse, saying:
2 As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,
and the Almighty who has made me bitter,
3 as long as my breath is still in me
and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak unjustly,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
5 I will never affirm that you are right.
I will maintain my integrity until I die.
6 I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go.
My conscience will not accuse as long as I live!

Related Text:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Matthew 6:25-34

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Instead

God heard the prayers of Job thousands of years ago. And He hears your prayers today! While God doesn’t always choose to answer your prayers the way you hope or expect, rest assured that He hears them. In Luke 18:1-11, Jesus explained the need to pray consistently and to keep praying until an answer comes.(even if it’s not the answer you were looking for, it can still be an answer) So next time you feel like worrying about something, try giving that worry up to God by praying about it instead! See, it’s that easy.

I would like to send out a big Thank You to Pete at Bible Money Matters for allowing me to guest post an article about missions yesterday on his website www.biblemoneymatters.com.  Here’s a short summary about Pete’s passion . . .

“Hi, I’m Pete, and Bible Money Matters is my faith and finance blog where I’ll be chronicling my wife and my path towards becoming financially independent.

As of a year or two ago we were blessed to be able to become debt-free except the mortgage.  We love being debt free, and like to live by this verse:

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:7

We don’t ever want to be servant to the lender again.   We are now working our way towards building a nice nest egg for our future, and hope you’ll join us on that journey.

Bible Money Matters was launched around the 1st of February 2008 as a place for me to put down my thoughts on matters of my Christian faith and how it affects my finances.  Many people believe that faith and finances should be wholly separate, but I believe they are inextricably bound.  The bible has over 2300 verses on money, and it is clear to me that our money needs to be informed by our faith.”

Want to learn a little more about Pete and Bible Money Matters?  Read these interviews he did with some other blogs!

• Lending Club Blog: Interview Part 1 and Part 2
• Studenomics.com: Personal Finance Blogger Interview
• Ask Mr. Credit Card Interview: Interview With Peter Anderson
• Interview with TheDebtHawk.com: Interview with Peter from Bible Money Matters