Day 13

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. Malachi 3:1

Consecration and Consequence

I remember a very wise old Christian woman telling me that God had a thousand ways of answering every prayer – and 999 of them were ways that we had never even thought of!

I don’t know about you, but I have a terrible tendency to ask God to meet a particular need, and then tell him how to meet it! I am continually amazed at the way He meets the needs of the ministry to which He has called me. An unexpected provision by a gift for the church’s ministry, a letter from a friend telling me they have been praying for me and I should keep going. I often get letters, email or calls from people who have heard me say something, and their encouragement is at exactly the moment I need to be encouraged. I could not plan their support arriving at a better time.

The words used in Malachi 3 literally mean that the Lord whom we are seeking will not just suddenly, but unexpectedly visit His temple. And we know from the New Testament that we are each a temple of God and together in local congregations we are temples. However, temples are also expected to be purified, holy places, set apart for the Lord’s use. That applies to our lives and our congregations too. There is a link between our consecration and encounter that we should not miss, but nor should we misunderstand it. We do not need to be holy to have an encounter with God, but encounters with God draw us into deeper and deeper consecration as we allow them to do their full work in us. Many of us want encounters with God, but we may not want to be purified or sanctified by them, yet the reality is that encounters with the Holy Spirit are supposed to leave a mark of holiness in us. Are you growing holiness, or are you stuck? If the Lord visits you, what will be the lasting impact of such an encounter? Surely a growth in holiness is at least part of it.

I recently heard Chris Cartwright say that God’s suddenly always comes well prepared. What a wonderful thought. Let me probe it a little by asking you a question – how prepared are we for the suddenly of God? Are we willing to be led into deeper holiness, more liberating obedience and further sanctification? It is the Lord whom we are seeking that will come and He comes as a purifying fire. Often, we expect Him to come, and we forget to do the seeking part. He still comes though – but that is more to do with His wonderful and extravagant grace than our faithfulness. And when He encounters us, He leads us into sanctification because it is in being sanctified that we experience the increasing freedom of the Holy Spirit.

We really cannot do anything that will last without God – but with Him, anything is possible.

For further thought –

What are the key areas where you need to see a breakthrough from God? Why not just tell Him and leave it up to Him to provide the best answer. Thank Him that the answer is on its way – then expect the unexpected! But are you also ready to be purified and sanctified when He meets you?