Gracious God Welcomes Thankful Prayers 10/15/26

Through my experience with Bible Study Fellowship leadership training, I’ve come to appreciate the value of starting prayer with praise. Whether it’s a prayer before a meal, a quick prayer in the car on the way to school, a bedtime prayer with the kids, a pre-service prayer at church, or other corporate or private prayer times, I usually start by praising God for who He is and His unchanging attributes. Then, I thank Him for what He has done.

The apostle Paul not only knew how to praise God but also consistently gave thanks. While my thanksgiving is often about how God has worked in my own life or the life of those closest to me, Paul’s thanksgiving extended to fellow believers in Rome, whom he had never even met!

Romans 1:8-13  “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.  God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. ¹¹ I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— ¹² that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.”  

Our prayers reflect the attitudes of our heart, and yet God can use certain disciplines in prayer to transform our heart attitudes. As we spend time praising and thanking God, our perspective on our needs shifts. Similarly, as we thank God for others, our attitude toward them also changes.

Like Paul, who will you thank God for today? How can you lift them up in prayer and pray for ways to mutually encourage each other?

I pray that we grow in our thankfulness to God for one another. God welcomes any sincere prayer, but He knows a regular attitude of gratitude transforms us and helps align our prayers with His will and purposes.

Alice

Gracious God Calling to Serve 10/8/26

As a family, when we talk about God’s grace in bringing us to Christ, Sarah often points out that God placed her in our family so that she would hear about and come to know God. She recognizes God’s sovereign plan in how He orchestrated His call on her life.

Paul also had a deep appreciation for God’s grace to him. In response, he faithfully shared this grace with others. As we start the book of Romans, we see Paul’s passionate presentation of the good news about Jesus.

Romans 1:1-7         Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— ² the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures ³ regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, ⁴ and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. ⁶ And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. ⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul didn’t keep his appreciation to himself but shared it with people he hadn’t even met yet—the Romans! We also benefit from his loving explanations about God’s grace through Jesus Christ. His service to Jesus has impacted the whole world!

What about you? How have you seen God’s grace in bringing you to Him? Where has God called you to serve?

As we fully appreciate God’s grace in our own lives, we can passionately share His grace with others, just like Paul. He was so steeped in God’s love that he couldn’t help but talk about it. I pray we grow in our understanding and appreciation of God’s love and grace in our own lives, so that it naturally overflows to those around us.

Alice

Completeness of the Promise Keeper’s Love (10/1/26)

During the pre-service prayer time that our family leads, the kids often pray that we would mean what we sing. That’s a great prayer, because we want to be sincere in our worship. However, this past week I was thinking that even that prayer can be rote rather than heartfelt.

As I reviewed the six questions God answered in the book of Malachi, it struck me how many of the questions related to insincere worship. God was faithful in His love for Israel. He didn’t change, but they had moved away from Him. Let’s look at all six together again:

1.    How He loved Israel

Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord.

“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 

God pointed out that He had chosen to love Jacob (Israel) and to bring about His salvation plan through Jacob’s descendants. God wouldn’t fall out of love with Israel, and He won’t fall out of love with the rest of His followers either.

2.    How they had disrespected Him

Malachi 1:6b-7 “It is you priests who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

⁷ “By offering defiled food on my altar.

“But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’

“By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. 

Their defiled animal sacrifices and empty rituals were detestable to Him.

3.    Where His justice was

Malachi 2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Malachi 3:1 “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.

God’s plans for justice may seem quite delayed to us, but they are unfolding in His perfect time.

4.    How Israel was to return to God & 5. How they were robbing God

Malachi 3:7-8 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. 

They were to return to God by repenting and turning back to obedience to His laws. They had been unfaithful and had robbed Him by withholding the small portion He had asked of them.

6.    How they had spoken arrogantly

Malachi 3:13-14 “You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord.

“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’

¹⁴ “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? 

Their service to God seemed futile because it was hollow.

The Israelites were going through the motions of worshipping and serving God, but they weren’t doing it out of true love for Him. They disobeyed His instructions for how to worship and serve Him. They were even blind to their own errors, which is why they kept asking, “How?”

What about you and me? Are we going through the motions, trying to look as if we worship and serve God, while our hearts aren’t in the right place? Are our prayers rote or genuine? Are we worshipping Him the way we want – the way that’s easiest and most comfortable – or the way He desires?

Our love is inconsistent, but God’s love is complete, eternal, and never changing. I pray that we would grow in sincere love and devotion to God as we more fully grasp His love for us and His faithfulness to all His promises.  

Alice

Readiness of the Promise Keeper’s Love (9/24/26)

 James enjoyed his birthday last Saturday, from his birthday presents to the extended family celebration. He helped us prepare by letting us know ahead of time some items he needed and wanted (such as a new lunch container, a new bike helmet, and Christian t-shirts). He also selected the dinner menu and picked out the cakes.

God helps us prepare ahead of time for the great day of the Lord. He gave us His laws to follow and promised to send “Elijah” beforehand.  

Malachi 4:4-6 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.

⁵ “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. ⁶ He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

The people of Israel in Malachi’s day had again abandoned God’s laws. They expected blessings as His chosen people but failed to recognize all the ways they had disobeyed His laws (as we’ve seen in previous weeks). In these final verses of Malachi (and of the entire Old Testament), God called His people to remember and follow His commands. He also promised to send the messenger “Elijah” to help them see, understand, and return to the covenant of their ancestors.

This promise of “Elijah” appears to have been partially fulfilled when God sent John the Baptist.

Matthew 11:13-14 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

The angel told Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, that “John…

Luke 1:16-17 …will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus’s first coming, just as God promised through Malachi. Then, in the future, the two witnesses described in Revelation 11 will prepare the way for Jesus’s second coming.

In His great love, God readies us not only for this life, but for the life to come! How are you taking advantage of His preparations for living life? What about His promises for our future in Heaven? Which of those do you need to remember regularly?

Alice

Renewal of the Promise Keeper’s Love (9/17/26)

James turns 14 on Saturday and is looking forward to his birthday—a day of fun filled with family celebrations, presents, and words of encouragement. Children often count down the days until their birthday, looking forward with excitement to a day of pleasure. We can have even greater anticipation for Jesus’s return, when we will be fully healed, provided for, satisfied, and free from all worries. However, the wicked will experience the opposite—pain and destruction.   

Malachi 4:1-3          “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the 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 rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. ³ Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

This prophecy sounds very similar to several we studied in our journey through Revelation. A fiery torment will come for Satan, the beast, the false prophet, and all those who don’t follow Jesus.

Revelation 20:15    Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

In contrast, a glorious dwelling with God will come for those whose names are written in the book of life.

Revelation 21:2-4   I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

All physical, emotional, and psychological pain will be completely healed on that day! What a glorious day that will be when all things are renewed!

As you and I yearn for renewal in this life, we can take encouragement in knowing one day we will experience complete and total renewal.  In addition, as we anticipate and look forward to small pleasures in this life, we can think about all the marvelous pleasures awaiting us in heaven. They will be far greater than any birthday joy! 

Alice

Remembrance of the Promise Keeper’s Love (9/10/26)

My sister, Jane, has journaled regularly since she was young. I rarely journaled as a kid, but I started journaling after becoming a parent. I wanted to capture memorable moments in the children’s lives so we could all look back and remember.

God doesn’t need to journal so He can look back and remember, but He does write things down for our benefit. Last week, in Malachi 3:13-15, we heard the Israelites arrogantly question God about rewarding the wicked and not blessing the faithful. However, they failed to see that they weren’t faithful. So, this week, we will see how God wrote down promises for His true followers so they would be assured of His blessings to come.

Malachi 3:16-18     Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.

¹⁷ “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸ And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

God promises eternal life to His followers! He won’t mistakenly bless the wicked and curse the righteous, as the Israelites accused Him of doing. He wrote a scroll of remembrance so those who live for Him can be confident in His promises. It may seem like the wicked get away with evil in this life, but “on the day when [God] acts,” He will dwell with His people in a New Heaven and New Earth and send the wicked to a Lake of Fire.

Revelation 21:5-8   He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

⁶ He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. ⁸ But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

On that day, will God call you His child and treasured possession? If so, we can be assured of a marvelous eternity with Him, no matter how horrible things may seem or become in this life. We have His written Word to help us remember His past faithfulness and His promises for the future. Which promises will you cling to today?

Alice

The Promise Keeper’s Love to bring Humility (9/3/26)

I thought a cookie was missing from our freezer stash the other day and I looked at the kids. One responded with “Why are you looking at me?” Another said “I didn’t eat it.” Another said “I didn’t even know those were there.” These “Who me?” “What did I do?” questions are like the last question in Malachi.

As we’ve traveled through Malachi, with his unique question and answer format, we’ve discovered numerous foolish questions the Israelites had. Last time we looked at the fourth and fifth questions and today we see the last question. This final question is like a kid that tries to act innocent when questioned about their disobedience.

Malachi 3:13-15 “You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord.

“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’

¹⁴ “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? ¹⁵ But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

The Israelites felt like God had rewarded the wicked and were not blessing the faithful. However, they failed to see that they weren’t faithful, which we’ve covered in previous weeks. Their service to God seemed futile, but it was because it was hollow. They went through the motions of “worshiping” God, but it wasn’t sincere. God had already confronted their unfaithfulness – sacrificing defiled animals, leading fellow Israelites away from God through their wrong teaching, committing adultery, intermarrying with ungodly foreigners, and failing to tithe. They wanted the benefits of covenant faithfulness without being faithful.

Service to God is never futile. As we understand, recognize and experience God’s love, it naturally humbles us before Him. We won’t wrongly speak arrogantly against Him because we will have a right view of the Lord Almighty. Then we will be able to live out Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

Where does our view of God and His love need an adjustment? Do we ever quietly resent that "evildoers prosper" while we've tried to be faithful — and does that resentment reveal a flawed view of God's love? Or, do we go through religious "motions" while harboring a transactional view of God (serving in order to get something, rather than in response to what we've already received)?

What will we do so God can grow our humility that leads to more sincere worship? What would it look like this week to offer worship (Romans 12:1) that isn't "hollow" but is a genuine "living sacrifice" in gratitude for God’s love?

Alice

Reliability of the Promise Keeper’s Love (8/20/26)

Have you ever told someone you would do something, but then later forgot or didn’t follow through? Joe and I forgot to play a game with Sarah a couple of Sundays ago. We have a tradition where both parents play a game together with one child each Sunday. We rotate each week, so in four weeks each child has gotten to pick a game they want to play with just their parents.

God doesn’t ever forget something He’s promised. He’s fully reliable and never changes. The Israelites, however, weren’t faithful. When God asked them to return to Him, they even questioned how they had turned away and how they were robbing Him, not realizing their negligence in giving.    

Malachi 3:6-12  “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. ⁷ Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. ¹¹ I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. ¹² “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

God reiterated to the Israelites that He doesn’t change, but they had changed. They had been unfaithful and robbed Him by not giving the small number of contributions He had asked from them. Many of the tithes and offerings were to support those doing God’s work at the temple (priests, Levites, musicians, gatekeepers, etc.). So, they were not only robbing Him, but also fellow Jews. God brought the curses He promised in Deuteronomy 27–28 because they failed to obey the commands from Deuteronomy 26. However, He promised to bring abundant blessings if they repented of their rebellion, turned back to Him, and followed His ways.

Would God say you and I have turned away from Him? Where would He say we are robbing Him–in our speech, time, or donations? We don’t have the same specific promises for financial and national blessings, like the Israelites, but God always blesses obedience. Sometimes it is in the form of financial and physical blessings. When we turn back to Him in sincere love, worship, and devotion, we will always experience the blessing of closeness to Him. The peace and security He gives are reliable.

Alice

Righteousness from the Promise Keeper’s Love (8/13/26)

Edmund was upset that I didn’t make pancakes for lunch after church on Sunday. We had leftovers instead. However, for dinner, we did have pancakes. I provided the instructions and the ingredients, and Edmund helped mix the batter. I came behind him to fully mix the batter and prepare the pan. Edmund was pleased to help and even flipped all the pancakes. He got what he had desired (and more), but much later than he originally wanted.

Similarly, the justice the Israelites desired would come later than they expected, but with much greater blessings for those who patiently waited. Last week, Malachi 2 ended with the Israelites questioning God’s justice. God answered by not only promising to bring justice, but also promising to send a messenger before sending the purifying Messiah!

Malachi 3:1-5 “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.

⁵ “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

God’s plans for justice may seem quite delayed to us, but they are unfolding in His perfect time. In verse 1, God promised to send a messenger (John the Baptist) before sending Jesus the Messiah for His first coming. Jesus’s first coming didn’t bring the victory the Jews were expecting, but it provided a way for any follower of Jesus to be guaranteed greater blessings at His second coming. Malachi 3:2-5 talks about this, when Jesus will fully cleanse and transform His followers so they can perfectly worship Him in complete righteousness. His followers will also witness Jesus’s complete judgment of the wicked.

At Jesus’s second coming, which side will you be on: those purified and given Jesus’s righteousness, or those on trial for not fearing God? I pray that each of you will fear God and receive Jesus’s righteousness. Then, we will be made into perfect jewels, completely able to enjoy and please our loving Father!

Distrusting the Promise Keeper’s Love (8/6/26)

Most of us may think we want things to be fair. I even count grapes before putting them on plates for the family. 😊 We also often want justice for others to come quickly, but grace for ourselves. The Israelites were no different. They failed to see their own unfaithfulness and lack of love for God and others. However, they were quick to question God’s wisdom and justice in addressing the evil around them.

Malachi 2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

When we look around our communities, we may be tempted to ask the same thing. However, as is evident throughout the Bible, God is always present and actively working. We may not see or recognize it, but His justice will prevail.

God can handle any question we might have, but are we wearying Him with questions that He has already answered, or are we trusting His perfect timing to accomplish His plans? We can look to His Word for His promises – both for the here and now, and for the future. How will you seek His promises today rather than complaining or questioning God?  

Alice