"Broken Lives"

"They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless." (Psalms 94:6)
It might not be what you were expecting; but neither was I, at least not like this. We sometimes do more harm than good, but it's not really up to us to change someone's heart; all we can do is it be available for God to use in any given situation. A friend of mine will be teaching at his home church this Sunday, and he's going to be teaching about when Elijah stayed with the widow whom God had commanded to sustain him. I am sure that God has placed a very powerful message within the context of that story, after all, any portion of Scripture has the Gospel message threaded within it, somehow and someway. Anywho, about today's verse. As I was trying to get this message figured out, I was reminded about the little hiccup back in verse three, "the wicked" repeated in such an unusual way, almost as if to ponder the degree of wickedness and if it relates too close to home. I seem to recall a similar message delivered in a garden late at night, one that might be familiar to each of us on so many different levels. Don't ask me why I believe it was in a garden that this took place, I just assumed that this was where Jesus loved to hang out at night, praying to the Father; but wherever it was, it was very close to the Temple. After all, wasn't in a garden where the fall of man took place? It seems only fitting that Jesus would prefer a garden to anywhere else to meet and fellowship with the Father. But, here you have a situation where someone who thinks he has it all together, only to find out, he is nowhere close to where he needs to be spiritually. I am talking about Nicodemus, a man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews. Here we see a man that has spent his whole life serving God, but has no clue who God really is, or what it takes to actually be in fellowship with God. Not that we have never been in that situation ourselves, because every one of us where prior to being born again. But this man was somewhat different, being a religious man that he was; it is those who feel that they have it all together that are the hardest to reach with the Gospel Message; it is those that believe they have the answers that cannot see the truth. Do you know why Jesus spoke in parables? Those that do not think they are sick, do not seek a Physician; and those that do not feel that they are broken, do not look to be healed. Those who are looking for the answer for their real spiritual needs, will usually find it; especially if they are looking in the right direction...
""Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to the Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. "But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifice to the LORD. Then once more the LORD will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past. "At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for this people do not fear me," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies." (Malachi 3:1-5) NLT