GOD OWNS ME. I AM HIS SLAVE. I WANT TO DO HIS WILL. Is that how you feel today? That is the next session shared with these bright, eager, NextGeneration Asians we are coaching here in SE Asia. Malachi Says to Worship the God of Our First Love "I have loved you," says the Lord. "Yet you say, 'In what way have You loved us?' Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" Says the Lord. "Yet Jacob I have loved ..." (Malachi 1:2, emphasis added). Malachi (430 B.C.) was contemporary with Ezra. In Malachi, we find the last words from God in the Old Testament—words of His love! Last words are very important. Christ's last words contained His legacy for us, His body, the church. Our God is a God of love; He has shown that love ever since He came on a search and rescue mission to the Garden of Eden. As soon as Adam and Eve had fallen, God came to their rescue. And He loves with the same depth today. Malachi is all about loving God, and what He expects from His special people. In just a glance at the book, we can see many problems among those special people, so the Lord points out and questions them about key areas lacking in their lives. If you read Malachi section by section, you will find powerful spiritual lessons that teach about responding to the love of God (1:1–5), honoring the love of God (1:6–2:9), exposing God's unloving people (2:10-16), trusting the love of God 2:17–3:6), and acknowledging God's loving ownership (3:7–12). In Malachi 3:7–8, God calls it theft when we disregard His ownership of our lives: "... You have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the Lord of hosts. "But you said, 'In what way sh
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Pastor John Barnett has been devouring the Word of God for over 30 years. John, now the teaching pastor of Calvary Bible Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan has served congregations in Oklahoma, New England, Georgia and California. He also served on the Faculty of the Master's College...
