Why Isn't God Blessing Me? | Malachi 2:13-15

And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. —  Malachi 2:13-15 Going back to yesterday's message, God's first issue with his people is that they have been unfaithful to him. They have committed spiritual adultery. Because spiritual idolatry leads to spiritual adultery, this violates the first of the Ten Commandments God gave to his people. "You shall have no other gods before me." But they were not faithful to him. They have been entertaining other gods. Thus they are spiritual adulterers. But here, God brings up the second issue — it's adultery in marriage. It appears God's people cannot get either relationship right. Their vertical relationship with God or their horizontal relationships with people. Men in this situation are sleeping around with other women and marrying unbelieving women. They were in relationships we would call "unequally yoked." Which was off-limits. This was well-known instruction given by God way back in Deuteronomy 7. But over time, they conceded to cultural norms and ignored another one of God's Ten Commandments (specifically #7), and dismissed God's marital covenant. I don't know why we don't talk about this more in the church and speak more firmly about it, but God does not permit the Old or New Testament for a believing man to marry an unbelieving woman or vice-versa. The basis of this principle can definitely be seen in Deuteronomy 7 but is also present in 2 Corinthians 6:14. It reads: Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? — 2 Corinthians 6:14. The basis of this principle, in context, is speaking to ministry relationships and is essential to apply to all of our relationships. This is especially applicable to marriage because marriage is not a contract between two people. Marriage is a spiritual covenant made with God by two people. It's a spiritual commitment that cannot be broken, changed, or adapted. And it is designed to work best when upheld by two people, a man, and a woman, who share common values and beliefs, which leads to the best results. We have to remember that marriage was God's idea. It was not man's idea. God created man and woman and brought them together. He designed them for relationship and established the covenant, and he gets to decide the rules. His plan is best. Not your plan. And here's the kicker. God blesses his plan, not your plan, which is the issue these believers have with God. They want God to bless their plan. But he's not going to do it. They are crying, weeping, and groaning on the altar because God isn't blessing their plans. And essentially, God says this. "If you want your plan, you can't have my blessings. Your plan, your blessings. My plan, my blessings." This gives us a very good answer to why sometimes we are not experiencing spiritual blessings. It could be because we are asking for him to bless our plan. And he's not going to do that. So today, if you are not following his plan, make adjustments because God does provide spiritual blessings to those who follow his plan. ASK THIS: Is there an adjustment you need to make today? DO THIS: Renew your covenant with God and adjust your plans to his. PRAY THIS: God, I want your way, not my way. PLAY THIS: The Way. Check out other all Vince Miller's videos and audios for small groups at: https://beresolute.org/ Get Vince's most widely read resources The Daily Devotional at: https://beresolute.org/mdd Check out more ALL IN products like the one Vince is wearing at: https://beresolute.org/product-category/all-in-hats/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Connect with Vince socially: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/millervince INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vinceleemiller LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincemiller TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vinceleemiller