Hello everyone.
Today I am going to look at the first of Jesus' "I Am" statements. It is found in John 6:35: "I am the the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
Here is the context. Earlier in chapter 6, Jesus had fed the five thousand with two fish and five loaves of bread. That night Jesus walks on water and the next day the crowd follows him around to the other side of the lake and we get this discourse on bread. So understand that the people that Jesus is speaking to are largely the same crowd that he had fed fish and bread to the day before. Jesus acknowledges this in 6:26.
Jesus gives the crowd advice, saying "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life." In this advice, he differentiates between two kinds of food, physical and spiritual, and it seems that while Jesus talks of spiritual food, his audience thinks of physical food.
The crowd asks Jesus for a sign that they should believe him, and talk about how God gave their ancestors manna in the wilderness. (v.30-31.) (It is interesting that a crowd of people that had just been miraculously fed from five loaves of bread and two fish would ask for a food sign that Jesus was worth believing in, never-the-less they asked.) So the crowd refers back to Exodus 16 where God sends the Israelites bread from heaven. It must have been amazing stuff. Asaph wrote in Psalm 78:24-25:
He rained down manna for the people to eat,
he gave them the grain of heaven.
Human beings ate the bread of angels;
The people were impressed with this manna from heaven, and rightly so, because it was great. God fed his people for forty years with it, as they wandered in the wilderness because of their disobedience.
But within the context of this manna God gave the Israelites, Jesus says, "it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." (v. 32-33) When Jesus says this bread "gives life to the world," we can see that he is talking about something different, since the manna was only given to the Israelites. In v. 41 we see what he is talking about. Jesus says, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."
The bread God gave the Israelites was great, but the bread God gave the whole world is far greater. Jesus points out that those who ate manna died in the wilderness. They ate God's bread and still died. Jesus talks about eating this new bread and living forever. This confuses his listeners who missed the part about physical food and spiritual food. They think Jesus is telling them to literally eat his flesh. He is not. They are not spiritual thinkers and therefore do not think spiritually. Jesus had pointed out that those who ate the manna died in the wilderness, but I do not think he was talking their physical death. That generation of Israelites, save Joshua and Caleb, spiritually died because of their lack of faith and disobedience. They did not enter the Promised Land.
Jesus is saying to this new generation that they are to eat his spiritual bread, that he will give them (v.27) and live eternally, or enter God's eternal Promised Land.
OK. What does this mean for us? God provides for our physical needs and this is terrific. We eat food to provide us with growth and to sustain life. Great. But more importantly God provides us with Jesus, the Bread of Life, the Bread that has Come Down from Heaven, to provide us with spiritual growth and eternal life. Greater.
Let us enjoy this Bread, together.
Tom
Monday, December 30, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Knowing Jesus
Merry Christmas everyone.
As I have continued my study of the book of John, I have reached the end of John 7. In John 7 there is a lot of discussion and debate among the people as to who Jesus actually is. In 7:40 some call Jesus "the Prophet." In 7:41 others call him, "the Messiah." At the same time, some argue that Jesus can't be the Messiah because the Scriptures say that the Messiah was to be of the line of David and come from Bethlehem, while this Jesus was from Galilee, not Bethlehem. It told me that these people, who argued against Jesus as The Messiah, knew the Scriptures, but did not know Jesus. Had they really known Jesus they would have known that he had been born in Bethlehem and was indeed of the line of David.
It reminded me that a person can really know a lot about the Bible but not really know Jesus. I want to make sure that this statement does not describe me. This study of John has really helped me reacquaint myself with Jesus in new ways. I have been amazed by Jesus as I come to know him better. In conversations with others, it seems that many are reaching this same conclusion, that we need to dig deeply into the life of Jesus so that we can all know him better.
When I reached John 6 in my study of John, I ran across a list of "I AM" statements that Jesus makes scattered throughout the book of John (King Jesus, by Steve Kinnard, page 307.) They are as follows:
Tom
As I have continued my study of the book of John, I have reached the end of John 7. In John 7 there is a lot of discussion and debate among the people as to who Jesus actually is. In 7:40 some call Jesus "the Prophet." In 7:41 others call him, "the Messiah." At the same time, some argue that Jesus can't be the Messiah because the Scriptures say that the Messiah was to be of the line of David and come from Bethlehem, while this Jesus was from Galilee, not Bethlehem. It told me that these people, who argued against Jesus as The Messiah, knew the Scriptures, but did not know Jesus. Had they really known Jesus they would have known that he had been born in Bethlehem and was indeed of the line of David.
It reminded me that a person can really know a lot about the Bible but not really know Jesus. I want to make sure that this statement does not describe me. This study of John has really helped me reacquaint myself with Jesus in new ways. I have been amazed by Jesus as I come to know him better. In conversations with others, it seems that many are reaching this same conclusion, that we need to dig deeply into the life of Jesus so that we can all know him better.
When I reached John 6 in my study of John, I ran across a list of "I AM" statements that Jesus makes scattered throughout the book of John (King Jesus, by Steve Kinnard, page 307.) They are as follows:
- I am the Bread of Life - John 6:35
- I am the Light of the World - John 8:12, 9:5
- I am the Gate for the Sheep - John 10:7-9
- I am the Good Shepherd - John 10:11-14
- I am the Resurrection and the Life - John 11:25-26
- I am the Way, the Truth and the Life - John 14:6
- I am the True Vine - John 15:1, 5
Tom
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Son of Man
Hey Everybody,
As we move into John 5, Jesus heals the man at the pool. The man had been an invalid for 38 years. Shortly after Jesus heals him, Jesus appears to him again, and tells him to "Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." My first thought about this is what could happen to the man that would be worse than being an invalid for 38 years, but the answer to that question is in Jesus' statement. If the man doesn't let go of his sin, he may spend an eternity in hell.
Any way, Jesus has this great healing. Awesome. Of course, Jesus does this great healing on the Sabbath, and so the this gets the Jewish leaders all stirred up against him. This leads to a very interesting conversation between the Jewish leaders and Jesus recorded in John 5:16 and following. Jesus makes some amazing claims in this passage including: He claims the power to give life (v. 21), he claims that God had given him the right to judge all people (v. 22). In all of this he is claiming to be the Son of God. These are some very bold claims if you think about it.
The one claim that I want to focus in on today though is from verse 27, where Jesus claims to be the Son of Man. I had never understood why Jesus referred to himself this way. Son of God made sense to me, Son of Man did not. So I did a little research. It turns out that that name, Son of Man, comes from Daniel 7:13-14:
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power: all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
Clearly the Ancient of Days is God the Father. And in claiming to be the Son of Man Jesus is claiming all authority, all glory, and sovereign power. He is claiming that all people will worship him (see Philippians 2:9). He is claiming that his kingdom will be eternal. In essence he is telling them that he is the son of God. (In Matt. 26:64 he refers to himself again as the Son of Man and throws in the part about coming on the clouds of heaven just like in Daniel 7.)
Back in the 1930s, a famous baseball player named Dizzy Dean was quoted as saying "It ain't braggin', if you can do it." Today, hearing someone talk like this, we would probably consider him delusional. But Jesus was not delusional, all of these things were absolutely true. It's not delusional, if you can do it.
Tom
As we move into John 5, Jesus heals the man at the pool. The man had been an invalid for 38 years. Shortly after Jesus heals him, Jesus appears to him again, and tells him to "Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." My first thought about this is what could happen to the man that would be worse than being an invalid for 38 years, but the answer to that question is in Jesus' statement. If the man doesn't let go of his sin, he may spend an eternity in hell.
Any way, Jesus has this great healing. Awesome. Of course, Jesus does this great healing on the Sabbath, and so the this gets the Jewish leaders all stirred up against him. This leads to a very interesting conversation between the Jewish leaders and Jesus recorded in John 5:16 and following. Jesus makes some amazing claims in this passage including: He claims the power to give life (v. 21), he claims that God had given him the right to judge all people (v. 22). In all of this he is claiming to be the Son of God. These are some very bold claims if you think about it.
The one claim that I want to focus in on today though is from verse 27, where Jesus claims to be the Son of Man. I had never understood why Jesus referred to himself this way. Son of God made sense to me, Son of Man did not. So I did a little research. It turns out that that name, Son of Man, comes from Daniel 7:13-14:
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power: all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
Clearly the Ancient of Days is God the Father. And in claiming to be the Son of Man Jesus is claiming all authority, all glory, and sovereign power. He is claiming that all people will worship him (see Philippians 2:9). He is claiming that his kingdom will be eternal. In essence he is telling them that he is the son of God. (In Matt. 26:64 he refers to himself again as the Son of Man and throws in the part about coming on the clouds of heaven just like in Daniel 7.)
Back in the 1930s, a famous baseball player named Dizzy Dean was quoted as saying "It ain't braggin', if you can do it." Today, hearing someone talk like this, we would probably consider him delusional. But Jesus was not delusional, all of these things were absolutely true. It's not delusional, if you can do it.
Tom
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Jesus is a Foodie
Hey everyone.
The boys and I are gearing up to go to New Jersey's first Dads and Lads Retreat. Awesome. Before we go I wanted to share a little thought.
I am a foodie. I will admit to being an unabashed flavor-holic. I can talk for hours about food. Jesus is a foodie, but not in the same way that I am. In my last post, I talked about Jesus and the woman at the well. I am going to continue that story now.
If you remember, Jesus had been talking to this woman about "living water," and that she would never be thirsty again. Then he began to talk to her about her life. This is where we ended. After the conversation, the woman runs back into town, leaving her water jar behind. (John 4:28) She had gotten so excited about Jesus that she had forgotten what she went to the well for in the first place. Later she brings back the town and many lives are changed.
In the meantime, the disciples who return just before the woman leaves, tried to get Jesus to eat something. He refuses their offer of food, stating "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." The disciples did not really understand what Jesus meant by this, and asked among themselves, "Could someone else have brought him food?" OK, so this is the "Jesus is a foodie" part. Jesus tells them his food is "to do the will of Him who sent me and finish his work." Jesus' food is doing God's will.
I eat food for two reasons. First, my body requires it for energy. Second, I eat because I really like food. When I taste something really flavorful, my eyes light up and I get excited. Either way, you can say that food energizes me. Jesus, however, was energized by spiritual food. Talking to this woman, changing her heart and her life, had Jesus so energized that he would not take regular food. He was already full from doing the will of the Father. Jesus then goes on to talk to his disciples about the "harvest," (a word that means the gathering of food) but he was not talking about food. He wanted to harvest a crop for eternal life. (John 4:36) So Jesus is a foodie, but his food is a different food.
We have to ask ourselves, "What energizes me?' "What is my spiritual food?" I would like to think that doing God's will excites me more than actual food. How awesome, how fulfilling is it when you know that you have been doing God's will? May we all be full like that.
Tom
The boys and I are gearing up to go to New Jersey's first Dads and Lads Retreat. Awesome. Before we go I wanted to share a little thought.
I am a foodie. I will admit to being an unabashed flavor-holic. I can talk for hours about food. Jesus is a foodie, but not in the same way that I am. In my last post, I talked about Jesus and the woman at the well. I am going to continue that story now.
If you remember, Jesus had been talking to this woman about "living water," and that she would never be thirsty again. Then he began to talk to her about her life. This is where we ended. After the conversation, the woman runs back into town, leaving her water jar behind. (John 4:28) She had gotten so excited about Jesus that she had forgotten what she went to the well for in the first place. Later she brings back the town and many lives are changed.
In the meantime, the disciples who return just before the woman leaves, tried to get Jesus to eat something. He refuses their offer of food, stating "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." The disciples did not really understand what Jesus meant by this, and asked among themselves, "Could someone else have brought him food?" OK, so this is the "Jesus is a foodie" part. Jesus tells them his food is "to do the will of Him who sent me and finish his work." Jesus' food is doing God's will.
I eat food for two reasons. First, my body requires it for energy. Second, I eat because I really like food. When I taste something really flavorful, my eyes light up and I get excited. Either way, you can say that food energizes me. Jesus, however, was energized by spiritual food. Talking to this woman, changing her heart and her life, had Jesus so energized that he would not take regular food. He was already full from doing the will of the Father. Jesus then goes on to talk to his disciples about the "harvest," (a word that means the gathering of food) but he was not talking about food. He wanted to harvest a crop for eternal life. (John 4:36) So Jesus is a foodie, but his food is a different food.
We have to ask ourselves, "What energizes me?' "What is my spiritual food?" I would like to think that doing God's will excites me more than actual food. How awesome, how fulfilling is it when you know that you have been doing God's will? May we all be full like that.
Tom
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Jesus Gave Her Water. (And It Was Not From the Well.)
Hello everyone.
Continuing the story of Jesus in John, we reach John 4 which contains the story of the woman at the well. It's likely that you are familiar with the story, but just in case, I will sum it up for you. Jesus and his apostles had left Judea to return to Galilee, passing through Samaria on the way. They stopped near a town called Sychar in Samaria and Jesus rested by a well while his disciples went into town to buy food. As Jesus is resting, a Samaritan woman approaches the well to draw water. Jesus has a conversation with her. This conversation changes her life. She goes back to her town and brings her town to meet Jesus, and he changes their lives as well.
I want to talk about that initial life-changing conversation. Jesus starts with a simple request. "Will you give me a drink?" The woman is surprised because a Jewish rabbi is talking to her, a Samaritan woman. Knowing that Jews did not associate with Samaritans she asks, how he can ask her for a drink. Of course, Jesus did not hold the same prejudices as the society that he lived in. (Also, being the creator of the Universe, he was free to talk to whoever he wanted.) He responded her that if she knew to whom she was speaking, she would ask for living water. He defines this "living water" by saying that if you drink it, you will never be thirsty again and that the water inside of you will become a spring that wells up to eternal life. That sounds like pretty awesome water.
Jesus is talking on a spiritual level that the woman obviously does not understand. She believes that he is talking about a literal "living water," and so she asks for some of Jesus' water. (Of course, if that was what Jesus meant, he would not have asked her for water.) She asks for the "living water," Why? So that she would not have to keep coming back to this well to draw water.
You see, she was looking for a way to make her life easier. That was not Jesus plan at all. Jesus was looking to make her life better, but not necessarily easier. Jesus then began to challenge her about her life. She listened. She went on to influence a number of other people as well. I believe that this conversation with Jesus made her life better. She still had to come draw water from the well, though. I think the same applies to us. We often look to Jesus hoping that He can make our path easier for us. That may not be what we need. Certainly the woman did not some kind of magical water that would mean that she wouldn't need to work as hard. She needed that living water that help her deal with the sin in her life. Let's make sure that we seek that kind kind of water so that no matter the difficulty, we have a spring of living water inside of us that wells up to eternal life.
Tom
Continuing the story of Jesus in John, we reach John 4 which contains the story of the woman at the well. It's likely that you are familiar with the story, but just in case, I will sum it up for you. Jesus and his apostles had left Judea to return to Galilee, passing through Samaria on the way. They stopped near a town called Sychar in Samaria and Jesus rested by a well while his disciples went into town to buy food. As Jesus is resting, a Samaritan woman approaches the well to draw water. Jesus has a conversation with her. This conversation changes her life. She goes back to her town and brings her town to meet Jesus, and he changes their lives as well.
I want to talk about that initial life-changing conversation. Jesus starts with a simple request. "Will you give me a drink?" The woman is surprised because a Jewish rabbi is talking to her, a Samaritan woman. Knowing that Jews did not associate with Samaritans she asks, how he can ask her for a drink. Of course, Jesus did not hold the same prejudices as the society that he lived in. (Also, being the creator of the Universe, he was free to talk to whoever he wanted.) He responded her that if she knew to whom she was speaking, she would ask for living water. He defines this "living water" by saying that if you drink it, you will never be thirsty again and that the water inside of you will become a spring that wells up to eternal life. That sounds like pretty awesome water.
Jesus is talking on a spiritual level that the woman obviously does not understand. She believes that he is talking about a literal "living water," and so she asks for some of Jesus' water. (Of course, if that was what Jesus meant, he would not have asked her for water.) She asks for the "living water," Why? So that she would not have to keep coming back to this well to draw water.
You see, she was looking for a way to make her life easier. That was not Jesus plan at all. Jesus was looking to make her life better, but not necessarily easier. Jesus then began to challenge her about her life. She listened. She went on to influence a number of other people as well. I believe that this conversation with Jesus made her life better. She still had to come draw water from the well, though. I think the same applies to us. We often look to Jesus hoping that He can make our path easier for us. That may not be what we need. Certainly the woman did not some kind of magical water that would mean that she wouldn't need to work as hard. She needed that living water that help her deal with the sin in her life. Let's make sure that we seek that kind kind of water so that no matter the difficulty, we have a spring of living water inside of us that wells up to eternal life.
Tom
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
The Bronze Snake
Hey everybody.
In John 3:14, Jesus says, "Just as Moses lifted up the snakes in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him." Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, and makes reference to the story of the bronze snake in Numbers 21:4-9. This is story that Nicodemus would have undoubtedly been familiar with.
Here is what happens. In their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the people of Israel grew impatient and began to complain about the lack of water and the quality of the food. God gets angry and sends venomous snakes among the people and many Israelites died. So the people come to Moses and admit their sin against God and ask that God will take the snakes away. So Moses prays. God instructs Moses to make a snake and put it on a pole. Moses makes a snake out of bronze, puts it on a pole and when someone gets bitten by a snake, they can look at the bronze snake and be healed. Interesting story.
Back in John 3, Jesus compares himself to the bronze snake. Just like the snake was lifted and those who look at it can be healed, Jesus had to be lifted up and those who look to him can be healed as well. In fact, when Jesus is lifted up, looking to him can lead to eternal life. Jesus uses the word "must" here. He must be lifted up. We, of course, now look at this statement and understand that the was referring to his being lifted up on the Cross. What I find interesting is that the very next verse is one of the most familiar in the Bible. John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Jesus offers this testimony about God's love within the context of the comparison between himself and the bronze snake of Numbers 21. To give you a Hughes paraphrase. Jesus is in essence is saying, "Like the snake was lifted up, so must I be lifted up (on the Cross), because God loves you that much. And those who look to me and believe in me can have salvation."
Tom
In John 3:14, Jesus says, "Just as Moses lifted up the snakes in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him." Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, and makes reference to the story of the bronze snake in Numbers 21:4-9. This is story that Nicodemus would have undoubtedly been familiar with.
Here is what happens. In their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the people of Israel grew impatient and began to complain about the lack of water and the quality of the food. God gets angry and sends venomous snakes among the people and many Israelites died. So the people come to Moses and admit their sin against God and ask that God will take the snakes away. So Moses prays. God instructs Moses to make a snake and put it on a pole. Moses makes a snake out of bronze, puts it on a pole and when someone gets bitten by a snake, they can look at the bronze snake and be healed. Interesting story.
Back in John 3, Jesus compares himself to the bronze snake. Just like the snake was lifted and those who look at it can be healed, Jesus had to be lifted up and those who look to him can be healed as well. In fact, when Jesus is lifted up, looking to him can lead to eternal life. Jesus uses the word "must" here. He must be lifted up. We, of course, now look at this statement and understand that the was referring to his being lifted up on the Cross. What I find interesting is that the very next verse is one of the most familiar in the Bible. John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Jesus offers this testimony about God's love within the context of the comparison between himself and the bronze snake of Numbers 21. To give you a Hughes paraphrase. Jesus is in essence is saying, "Like the snake was lifted up, so must I be lifted up (on the Cross), because God loves you that much. And those who look to me and believe in me can have salvation."
Tom
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Family Devotional Idea #1
Hey everyone.
I had this idea for a family devotional that I wanted to share with you. I got the idea while I was reading Good Enough Parenting by John and Karen Louis. It comes from Luke 18:9-14, which the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
We looked at this passage recently in a family devotion that I called Acting 101. We took turns acting out the two parts and trying to deliver the lines in the way that we thought each man may have said them. First, we took turns acting our the Pharisees prayer. Then we talked about his motivation, and what the prayer showed about the man and his heart. After that we took turns trying to present the Tax Collector and say his one line, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner," with heartfelt emotion. I even beat my chest in anguish just like the tax collector in the story. (But even with all my heartfelt sincerity, Wendy and the boys laughed my over-the-top acting.) We also talked about his motivation and what his prayer said about him. Then we had a good conversation comparing the two men. We decided that the tax collector was humble, while that pharisee was full of pride. Then we compared the qualities of humility and pride. We then talked about how pride and humility can manifest itself in our behavior. It was a really good conversation. Together we were able to determine some things:
Tom
I had this idea for a family devotional that I wanted to share with you. I got the idea while I was reading Good Enough Parenting by John and Karen Louis. It comes from Luke 18:9-14, which the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
We looked at this passage recently in a family devotion that I called Acting 101. We took turns acting out the two parts and trying to deliver the lines in the way that we thought each man may have said them. First, we took turns acting our the Pharisees prayer. Then we talked about his motivation, and what the prayer showed about the man and his heart. After that we took turns trying to present the Tax Collector and say his one line, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner," with heartfelt emotion. I even beat my chest in anguish just like the tax collector in the story. (But even with all my heartfelt sincerity, Wendy and the boys laughed my over-the-top acting.) We also talked about his motivation and what his prayer said about him. Then we had a good conversation comparing the two men. We decided that the tax collector was humble, while that pharisee was full of pride. Then we compared the qualities of humility and pride. We then talked about how pride and humility can manifest itself in our behavior. It was a really good conversation. Together we were able to determine some things:
- Wendy is the best actor in the family.
- Aaron always speaks with a British accent when he is acting.
- God is pleased with humility and not so pleased with pride.
- Humility is always better than pride.
- We all prefer to be treated with humility.
Tom
Monday, September 2, 2013
Zeal for His House
Hey everyone.
Shortly after returning from Teen Camp in which John 2:17 was the the theme scripture, I got to it in my own study of John. I suppose that it would have made more sense to study it before camp, not after, but that's how it goes sometimes.
Any way, it is the story of Jesus clearing the temple courts. The story, recorded in John 2:13-25, tells how Jesus went up to the temple in Jerusalem and found merchants selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging money. Jesus, in anger, makes a whip out of cords and drives the animals out and overturns the tables of the moneychangers. It must have been quite a sight, with money and tables flying and animals running around. Jesus was angry because, in his words, they had turned his Father's house into a market. These men were dishonoring God's holy place by using it to turn a profit. Jesus was not one to stand aside and allow people to make a mockery of the holiness of his Father's temple. So he made a whip and drove them out.
Here is what I want us to think about today. We understand that in the Old Testament times, as well as in Jesus times, the temple was viewed as God's dwelling place. In the new covenant, however, God dwells in a different temple. In I Corinthians 3:10-16 it tells us that we ourselves are God's temple and his Spirit dwells in us. It tells us that we should be careful how we build our temple knowing that God dwells within us rather than in a building. We are that building. So consider this, if Jesus were to walk into the temple that you are building, would he be grabbing cords to make a whip? Are there things that he would be driving out? Are there tables he would be overturning? Rather, may we all be building a temple that honors our Father. Just something to think about.
Shortly after returning from Teen Camp in which John 2:17 was the the theme scripture, I got to it in my own study of John. I suppose that it would have made more sense to study it before camp, not after, but that's how it goes sometimes.
Any way, it is the story of Jesus clearing the temple courts. The story, recorded in John 2:13-25, tells how Jesus went up to the temple in Jerusalem and found merchants selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging money. Jesus, in anger, makes a whip out of cords and drives the animals out and overturns the tables of the moneychangers. It must have been quite a sight, with money and tables flying and animals running around. Jesus was angry because, in his words, they had turned his Father's house into a market. These men were dishonoring God's holy place by using it to turn a profit. Jesus was not one to stand aside and allow people to make a mockery of the holiness of his Father's temple. So he made a whip and drove them out.
Here is what I want us to think about today. We understand that in the Old Testament times, as well as in Jesus times, the temple was viewed as God's dwelling place. In the new covenant, however, God dwells in a different temple. In I Corinthians 3:10-16 it tells us that we ourselves are God's temple and his Spirit dwells in us. It tells us that we should be careful how we build our temple knowing that God dwells within us rather than in a building. We are that building. So consider this, if Jesus were to walk into the temple that you are building, would he be grabbing cords to make a whip? Are there things that he would be driving out? Are there tables he would be overturning? Rather, may we all be building a temple that honors our Father. Just something to think about.
Friday, August 2, 2013
The Voice
Hey everyone.
I have started my study of the Gospel of John and in the first chapter I have found a new hero, He is John the Baptist, and I will tell you some of his story today. Now John is preaching and teaching in the wilderness and big crowds are coming to him. In John 1:19 the leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem send some men out to question him. They want to know who he is and why is doing what he is doing. These are legitimate questions, I suppose. The people have been looking for The Messiah, and John tells them right up front that he is not The Messiah. So they continue to question him, "Are you Elijah?" (v.21) He denies being Elijah and also denies being the The Prophet. These men wonder, if John is not any of those things, then who exactly is he? John's response to the question, "Who are you?" is "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness."
There is a lot here that is interesting. First, why would they ask him if he was Elijah? Elijah had lived generations before, and if you remember had been carried off to heaven in a chariot of fire. (2 Kings 2:11) Were they expecting him to return? In a way, they were. The last passage of the Old Testament talks about Elijah returning before the "great and dreadful day of the Lord." (Mal. 4:5-6) Interestingly it says that when Elijah comes he will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents. (This comes up later.) So not only are they expecting the Messiah to come, they are also expecting Elijah to come. So it seems a very legitimate question to ask John, "Are you Elijah?" I will show you that according to scripture he was. So then the question becomes, why did he say he wasn't Elijah?
OK. Time for some good old-fashioned Bible study. In Luke 1:5-24 the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah and tells him that he is going to have a son. He tells him in v. 17 that this son (John) would "go before the Lord in the spirit of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children." It is clear that the angel Gabriel is saying that John is going to be this Elijah that Malachi has prophesied about. Zechariah, being a priest, should have clearly understood what Gabriel was saying about his coming son.
Need more witnesses. Jesus says in Matthew 11:13 that John the Baptist was Elijah. He says it again in Matthew 17:11-13. When Elijah (the OT one) appeared along with Moses at the Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples mention this idea that Elijah had to come first. Jesus tells them that Elijah had already come, but that they did not recognize him. The disciples understood at this point that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist.
This brings us back to our question. Why did John say that he was not Elijah, when clearly he was. All we can do is speculate, but I will give it a shot. Of course, it is possible that John was this Elijah, but did not know it. It's possible, but I think that there is more to his denial than just not-knowing. It think that the answer is found in his response toe their question, "Well then, who are you?" He responded, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord." John recognized that he wasn't doing all this to call attention to himself. It was his job to point people to Jesus, not himself. So when asked who he was, he referred to a passage in Isaiah 40:3 and basically "Me? I am just a voice." John demonstrates both here and in other places an incredible humility. With John, it is never about John, it is about Jesus. Later in John 1, when Jesus appears, John points him out to two of his followers, Andrew and John, who become two of the apostles. Again, John is not thinking of himself, but is pointing people to Jesus. So I think was his humility that led John to say that he wasn't Elijah. He just to continue his work preparing the way for the Lord and pointing other people toward him. Which is, by the way, what we are to be doing as well. We can learn a lot from John.
Tom
I have started my study of the Gospel of John and in the first chapter I have found a new hero, He is John the Baptist, and I will tell you some of his story today. Now John is preaching and teaching in the wilderness and big crowds are coming to him. In John 1:19 the leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem send some men out to question him. They want to know who he is and why is doing what he is doing. These are legitimate questions, I suppose. The people have been looking for The Messiah, and John tells them right up front that he is not The Messiah. So they continue to question him, "Are you Elijah?" (v.21) He denies being Elijah and also denies being the The Prophet. These men wonder, if John is not any of those things, then who exactly is he? John's response to the question, "Who are you?" is "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness."
There is a lot here that is interesting. First, why would they ask him if he was Elijah? Elijah had lived generations before, and if you remember had been carried off to heaven in a chariot of fire. (2 Kings 2:11) Were they expecting him to return? In a way, they were. The last passage of the Old Testament talks about Elijah returning before the "great and dreadful day of the Lord." (Mal. 4:5-6) Interestingly it says that when Elijah comes he will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents. (This comes up later.) So not only are they expecting the Messiah to come, they are also expecting Elijah to come. So it seems a very legitimate question to ask John, "Are you Elijah?" I will show you that according to scripture he was. So then the question becomes, why did he say he wasn't Elijah?
OK. Time for some good old-fashioned Bible study. In Luke 1:5-24 the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah and tells him that he is going to have a son. He tells him in v. 17 that this son (John) would "go before the Lord in the spirit of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children." It is clear that the angel Gabriel is saying that John is going to be this Elijah that Malachi has prophesied about. Zechariah, being a priest, should have clearly understood what Gabriel was saying about his coming son.
Need more witnesses. Jesus says in Matthew 11:13 that John the Baptist was Elijah. He says it again in Matthew 17:11-13. When Elijah (the OT one) appeared along with Moses at the Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples mention this idea that Elijah had to come first. Jesus tells them that Elijah had already come, but that they did not recognize him. The disciples understood at this point that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist.
This brings us back to our question. Why did John say that he was not Elijah, when clearly he was. All we can do is speculate, but I will give it a shot. Of course, it is possible that John was this Elijah, but did not know it. It's possible, but I think that there is more to his denial than just not-knowing. It think that the answer is found in his response toe their question, "Well then, who are you?" He responded, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord." John recognized that he wasn't doing all this to call attention to himself. It was his job to point people to Jesus, not himself. So when asked who he was, he referred to a passage in Isaiah 40:3 and basically "Me? I am just a voice." John demonstrates both here and in other places an incredible humility. With John, it is never about John, it is about Jesus. Later in John 1, when Jesus appears, John points him out to two of his followers, Andrew and John, who become two of the apostles. Again, John is not thinking of himself, but is pointing people to Jesus. So I think was his humility that led John to say that he wasn't Elijah. He just to continue his work preparing the way for the Lord and pointing other people toward him. Which is, by the way, what we are to be doing as well. We can learn a lot from John.
Tom
Monday, July 15, 2013
Celebrate Good Times, Come On
Hey everyone.
The school year ended and we went immediately went on vacation. We had great time and now we are settling in to our summer routine.
Any way, I wanted to continue to story of Nehemiah. Nehemiah and the citizens of Jerusalem finished the wall and then in chapters 12 and 13 they have a dedication of the walls. In other words, they celebrate what God has done. If you read 12:31 and following you see that Nehemiah, all the leaders and two large choirs stood on top of this wall. (It is an interesting side note to remember that Tobiah, one of Nehemiah's detractors had said that a single fox could knock these walls down, now a great number of men were standing on it and it was in tact. The work of God was far greater than whatever negative buss was going on around it.)
So Nehemiah bought the people together and they celebrated. 12:43 says that they rejoiced "because God had given them great joy." It is important to celebrate accomplishment and victory. they had worked hard and deserved this celebration, but they were not celebrating themselves and what they had done, they were worshiping and celebrating what He had done. And apparently it was quite a party. 12:43 further says, "The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away."
We began a while back looking at Nehemiah, and how in 52 days he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem that had lain in ruin for over 100 years. My hope was to learn some things to help me in "building" my own spiritual life and ministry. For those who have come along on the journey we have seen Nehemiah, a man who cared deeply about God and his people, who prayed intently, whose trust in God led him to great boldness in dealing with the king and with his enemies. He would not be discouraged or dissuaded for the great work God had placed on his heart and he worked to get everyone involved. He had some things to say about parenting too. Then he celebrated what God had done.
This finishes my study of Nehemiah. I learned a great deal from it, I hope that something has benefited you as well. I have started studying the book of John and will start sharing thoughts on it soon.
Tom
The school year ended and we went immediately went on vacation. We had great time and now we are settling in to our summer routine.
Any way, I wanted to continue to story of Nehemiah. Nehemiah and the citizens of Jerusalem finished the wall and then in chapters 12 and 13 they have a dedication of the walls. In other words, they celebrate what God has done. If you read 12:31 and following you see that Nehemiah, all the leaders and two large choirs stood on top of this wall. (It is an interesting side note to remember that Tobiah, one of Nehemiah's detractors had said that a single fox could knock these walls down, now a great number of men were standing on it and it was in tact. The work of God was far greater than whatever negative buss was going on around it.)
So Nehemiah bought the people together and they celebrated. 12:43 says that they rejoiced "because God had given them great joy." It is important to celebrate accomplishment and victory. they had worked hard and deserved this celebration, but they were not celebrating themselves and what they had done, they were worshiping and celebrating what He had done. And apparently it was quite a party. 12:43 further says, "The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away."
We began a while back looking at Nehemiah, and how in 52 days he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem that had lain in ruin for over 100 years. My hope was to learn some things to help me in "building" my own spiritual life and ministry. For those who have come along on the journey we have seen Nehemiah, a man who cared deeply about God and his people, who prayed intently, whose trust in God led him to great boldness in dealing with the king and with his enemies. He would not be discouraged or dissuaded for the great work God had placed on his heart and he worked to get everyone involved. He had some things to say about parenting too. Then he celebrated what God had done.
This finishes my study of Nehemiah. I learned a great deal from it, I hope that something has benefited you as well. I have started studying the book of John and will start sharing thoughts on it soon.
Tom
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Everyone does their part (well, amost)
Hey everyone.
If you remember back when I started writing about Nehemiah, I started with the idea that Nehemiah accomplished something in 52 days that had not been done in over 100 years. He rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem that had lain in ruins for over a century. The idea we were thinking about was this, "What did Nehemiah do, that I can do as I build my own ministry?"
This next post comes out of Nehemiah 3 and at first glance can seem rather dull. It is a long list of men and the section of the wall that they repaired. But if we dig a little deeper we realize a few things here. First, we see that Nehemiah did not have to rebuild the walls all by himself. It would be too much work for any one man. He inspired the city with his own faith and hard work to rebuild the walls, and they did it together.
We can see that people from all walks of life came and did their part. The priests rebuilt the Sheep Gate. (3:1) Men came from Jericho, Tekoa and the surrounding region to help. Levites helped, as did goldsmiths and perfume-makers. (3:8) Men who were not carpenters, never-the-less came and build a section of the wall. Many other men are mentioned by name here without their profession being given, maybe they were just ordinary farmers. Who knows? (Whatever their profession, they got their name in the Bible as a reward for their efforts.) The lesson here: one does not have to be an evangelist to do his part in building a ministry, one only needs faith and a willingness to work hard.
It would be wonderful to stop right there, but unfortunately there is a sad lesson in this chapter as well. Neh. 3:5 says "The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors." The Bible doesn't really say the motivation behind their refusal. It just says that they would not work under their supervisors. Perhaps they thought their nobility entitled them to be supervisors. Many they were just lazy. We can only speculate. The sad lesson is that there were people who refused to be a part of this great work of God. Sadder still, there always will be. Let's hope, though, that like the rebuilding of the walls, that number will be small.
To end on a more positive note, the nobles of Tekoa may have refused to work, but the ordinary men of Tekoa were actually more "noble." They rebuilt two sections of the wall, the only group mentioned to do so. (3:5 and 3:27)
Tom
If you remember back when I started writing about Nehemiah, I started with the idea that Nehemiah accomplished something in 52 days that had not been done in over 100 years. He rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem that had lain in ruins for over a century. The idea we were thinking about was this, "What did Nehemiah do, that I can do as I build my own ministry?"
This next post comes out of Nehemiah 3 and at first glance can seem rather dull. It is a long list of men and the section of the wall that they repaired. But if we dig a little deeper we realize a few things here. First, we see that Nehemiah did not have to rebuild the walls all by himself. It would be too much work for any one man. He inspired the city with his own faith and hard work to rebuild the walls, and they did it together.
We can see that people from all walks of life came and did their part. The priests rebuilt the Sheep Gate. (3:1) Men came from Jericho, Tekoa and the surrounding region to help. Levites helped, as did goldsmiths and perfume-makers. (3:8) Men who were not carpenters, never-the-less came and build a section of the wall. Many other men are mentioned by name here without their profession being given, maybe they were just ordinary farmers. Who knows? (Whatever their profession, they got their name in the Bible as a reward for their efforts.) The lesson here: one does not have to be an evangelist to do his part in building a ministry, one only needs faith and a willingness to work hard.
It would be wonderful to stop right there, but unfortunately there is a sad lesson in this chapter as well. Neh. 3:5 says "The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors." The Bible doesn't really say the motivation behind their refusal. It just says that they would not work under their supervisors. Perhaps they thought their nobility entitled them to be supervisors. Many they were just lazy. We can only speculate. The sad lesson is that there were people who refused to be a part of this great work of God. Sadder still, there always will be. Let's hope, though, that like the rebuilding of the walls, that number will be small.
To end on a more positive note, the nobles of Tekoa may have refused to work, but the ordinary men of Tekoa were actually more "noble." They rebuilt two sections of the wall, the only group mentioned to do so. (3:5 and 3:27)
Tom
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Nehemiah's Mesage to Dads Part II
Hello everyone.
With Father's Day rapidly approaching, I thought that i would go ahead and tell you about the rest of Nehemiah's message to fathers. Here is what happens:
At some point after Nehemiah has successfully rebuilt the wall, he returns to King Artaxerxes in Susa. The Bible does not say how long he is away from Jerusalem, but when he returns he finds that in his absence, Jerusalem has a whole new batch of problems that he needs to deal with. One of the enemies of the people of God, Tobiah, who had created much of the opposition to their work, was now living in a room in the temple. The people had stopped paying the Levites and musicians of the temple, so they had left the their work in the temple to work in the fields in order to survive. People were not keeping the Sabbath.
Nehemiah returns and he starts fixing these problems. But there is one more issue that finds, one related to fathers, and this one makes him really angry. This is the issue: Back in chapter 10, the men of Israel vow that they will not give their sons or daughters in marriage to the people around them. By chapter 13, in Nehemiah's absence this vow has been broken many times over. Many men of Jerusalem had wives from among the Ammonites, Moabites or from the people of Ashdod. Naturally, they have children. What Nehemiah finds is a number of these children in Jerusalem who don't even speak Hebrew. They speak only the language of their mothers. This makes Nehemiah so angry that he starts calling curses down on them, beating them and pulling out their hair.
Warren Wiersbe, in his commentary on Nehemiah, explains it like this: The men most likely worked in the fields, while their wives stayed at home with the children speaking in their native language. The children were growing up not knowing Hebrew. this meant that they could not read the law or participate in the temple worship. These men were making decisions that were detrimental to their children's spiritual well-being, and it made made Nehemiah hair-pulling mad. Now, I don't endorse in any way pulling out hair as a means of correcting someone. (Especially if you've seen my hairline.) We should recognize, however, that with all of the bad things going on in Jerusalem, the one that made Nehemiah the most angry was the fathers who were looking after their children.
We have ask ourselves then, "if Nehemiah were around today, would he be reaching for my hair?" This is serious stuff. Nehemiah's message to dads is that we have to take the long-term spiritual well-being of our children very seriously. We are fortunate today, in that it doesn't matter what language we speak, God's word has most likely been translated into it. Our challenges are different. Dads, we have to ask ourselves if we are doing all that we can for the spiritual well-being of our children. These guys in Nehemiah's time were just living their lives, working hard to provide for their family and not really giving thought to those little decisions that they made every day that were keeping their children from knowing God, and before they knew they had children who spoke a different language, couldn't read God's word or participate in the worship. We can't make the same mistake, where we are busy to get our children into good spiritual situations. Nobody is going to come pull your hair out, but your children will still suffer. Better that we make every effort for our children's long term spiritual well-being. God will bless that.
Tom
With Father's Day rapidly approaching, I thought that i would go ahead and tell you about the rest of Nehemiah's message to fathers. Here is what happens:
At some point after Nehemiah has successfully rebuilt the wall, he returns to King Artaxerxes in Susa. The Bible does not say how long he is away from Jerusalem, but when he returns he finds that in his absence, Jerusalem has a whole new batch of problems that he needs to deal with. One of the enemies of the people of God, Tobiah, who had created much of the opposition to their work, was now living in a room in the temple. The people had stopped paying the Levites and musicians of the temple, so they had left the their work in the temple to work in the fields in order to survive. People were not keeping the Sabbath.
Nehemiah returns and he starts fixing these problems. But there is one more issue that finds, one related to fathers, and this one makes him really angry. This is the issue: Back in chapter 10, the men of Israel vow that they will not give their sons or daughters in marriage to the people around them. By chapter 13, in Nehemiah's absence this vow has been broken many times over. Many men of Jerusalem had wives from among the Ammonites, Moabites or from the people of Ashdod. Naturally, they have children. What Nehemiah finds is a number of these children in Jerusalem who don't even speak Hebrew. They speak only the language of their mothers. This makes Nehemiah so angry that he starts calling curses down on them, beating them and pulling out their hair.
Warren Wiersbe, in his commentary on Nehemiah, explains it like this: The men most likely worked in the fields, while their wives stayed at home with the children speaking in their native language. The children were growing up not knowing Hebrew. this meant that they could not read the law or participate in the temple worship. These men were making decisions that were detrimental to their children's spiritual well-being, and it made made Nehemiah hair-pulling mad. Now, I don't endorse in any way pulling out hair as a means of correcting someone. (Especially if you've seen my hairline.) We should recognize, however, that with all of the bad things going on in Jerusalem, the one that made Nehemiah the most angry was the fathers who were looking after their children.
We have ask ourselves then, "if Nehemiah were around today, would he be reaching for my hair?" This is serious stuff. Nehemiah's message to dads is that we have to take the long-term spiritual well-being of our children very seriously. We are fortunate today, in that it doesn't matter what language we speak, God's word has most likely been translated into it. Our challenges are different. Dads, we have to ask ourselves if we are doing all that we can for the spiritual well-being of our children. These guys in Nehemiah's time were just living their lives, working hard to provide for their family and not really giving thought to those little decisions that they made every day that were keeping their children from knowing God, and before they knew they had children who spoke a different language, couldn't read God's word or participate in the worship. We can't make the same mistake, where we are busy to get our children into good spiritual situations. Nobody is going to come pull your hair out, but your children will still suffer. Better that we make every effort for our children's long term spiritual well-being. God will bless that.
Tom
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Nehemiah's Message to Dads
Hey everyone.
Here in the New Jersey ministry, we have been going through Good Enough parenting by John and Karen Louis. It has been tremendous and I have learned a great deal. I am working really hard to be a better father to my two sons. Perhaps it is because of this focus that I am seeing a very clear message from Nehemiah for fathers. Let's have a look:
In Nehemiah 4 the Israelites are facing much opposition for those who do not want the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt. Nehemiah posted guards with swords, spears and bows to insure that the important work continued. He called out to the men of the city in 4:14 and said, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." He said this because he understood that they were in a battle to accomplish something great. This great work would benefit these men and their families (and future generations) and the men of Jerusalem needed to take up this cause and be willing to fight for the benefit of their families. We, likewise, are trying to build something great, whether it is a great ministry or a great family. We must be involved and in the fight if it is to be great. Obviously, my battle is different. As I fight for my children, I will not be taking up a sword or a spear. My fight will more likely be with myself.
I fight for time. It is easy to just drift along from day to day, caught up in the busyness of life, and not make the needed time for my sons. I fight for humility. (If I don't win this fight, I end up fighting with them and not for them.)
I have to fight for self-control. Without good organizational skills I don't make the time my boys need. Perhaps we are not getting the one-on-one time they need, or we are not getting into the word as a family. When this happens, I am losing the battle. If I have no self-control over my emotions, the fights get louder and louder, and my boys get hurt. I am losing the fight again. I may not be facing Sanballat and Tobiah, but the fight I face for my family is just as real, and these are battles I can't lose.
The good news here is that Nehemiah gives good advice. We fight for our families within the context of remembering the greatness and awesomeness of God. As a father, I need to remember Nehemiah's clear focus on God and on prayer.
Tom
Here in the New Jersey ministry, we have been going through Good Enough parenting by John and Karen Louis. It has been tremendous and I have learned a great deal. I am working really hard to be a better father to my two sons. Perhaps it is because of this focus that I am seeing a very clear message from Nehemiah for fathers. Let's have a look:
In Nehemiah 4 the Israelites are facing much opposition for those who do not want the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt. Nehemiah posted guards with swords, spears and bows to insure that the important work continued. He called out to the men of the city in 4:14 and said, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." He said this because he understood that they were in a battle to accomplish something great. This great work would benefit these men and their families (and future generations) and the men of Jerusalem needed to take up this cause and be willing to fight for the benefit of their families. We, likewise, are trying to build something great, whether it is a great ministry or a great family. We must be involved and in the fight if it is to be great. Obviously, my battle is different. As I fight for my children, I will not be taking up a sword or a spear. My fight will more likely be with myself.
I fight for time. It is easy to just drift along from day to day, caught up in the busyness of life, and not make the needed time for my sons. I fight for humility. (If I don't win this fight, I end up fighting with them and not for them.)
I have to fight for self-control. Without good organizational skills I don't make the time my boys need. Perhaps we are not getting the one-on-one time they need, or we are not getting into the word as a family. When this happens, I am losing the battle. If I have no self-control over my emotions, the fights get louder and louder, and my boys get hurt. I am losing the fight again. I may not be facing Sanballat and Tobiah, but the fight I face for my family is just as real, and these are battles I can't lose.
The good news here is that Nehemiah gives good advice. We fight for our families within the context of remembering the greatness and awesomeness of God. As a father, I need to remember Nehemiah's clear focus on God and on prayer.
Tom
Monday, May 13, 2013
Dealing with Opposition (or "A No-Show at Ono")
Hey everyone.
I have looking at Nehemiah and sharing what I have learned from it. I began by talking about how Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in just 52 days a while back. In my last post I talked about how Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem and examined the walls and the gates to determine exactly what needed to be done to build these walls. Today I will look at how Nehemiah dealt with the opposition that came his way once he started his great work. Any great work for God that we may undertake is bound to face opposition. So how do we do? What would Nehemiah do?
The book of Nehemiah mentions three men who opposed his work: Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab. They take different approaches to discourage the work, but Nehemiah keeps the work going. Their first appearance comes in Neh. 2:19-20. Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem start speaking against Nehemiah and his work, suggesting that they are in rebellion to the king. Nehemiah's responds; "The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it." He points toward God and let's these men know that they are are going to dissuade them from rebuilding these walls. Interestingly, he does not even comment on the whole rebellion against the king issue, even though he was not in rebellion, but rather had the total support of the king.
The opposition returns in chapter 4:1-4. Sanballat and Tobiah return with insults. Tobiah saying that something as small as a fox could knock the wall down. Nehemiah's response. He prays and keeps working. Then when their insults doesn't work, they get all get together to plan a fight against Jerusalem (4:7-8). Nehemiah's response to this threat is recorded in 4:8-9. They prayed, posted guards and kept working. I love what he says about this in v. 14. "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." There is a whole other lesson in that statement alone, but it tells us here that Nehemiah strategy for dealing with this opposition is to constantly point the people back to God, pray a lot but don't let the work stop.
Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem return in chapter 6. This time they are scheming to harm Nehemiah. They sent him a message, "Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono." They send this message four times. (6:4) Four times he responds, "I am carrying on a great work. Why should I stop this work to meet with you?" (Hughes paraphrase) He basically tries to ignore them. The are persistent and on the fifth request they accuse Nehemiah of trying to establish himself as a king in Jerusalem. Of course, this is a complete lie. Nehemiah responds, "Nothing like what you are saying is happening: You are making this up out of your head." Nehemiah was taking any non-sense. However, immediately after this in 6:9, Nehemiah says, "But i prayed, "Now strengthen my hands." I think that these men who had constantly opposed him were started to get him. Eventually opposition and discouragement will wear us down. But Nehemiah did what always did, He took it to God.
I see an obvious pattern for Nehemiah. He looks to God, prays and keeps working. If we want his type of success, we should follow the pattern.
Tom
I have looking at Nehemiah and sharing what I have learned from it. I began by talking about how Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in just 52 days a while back. In my last post I talked about how Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem and examined the walls and the gates to determine exactly what needed to be done to build these walls. Today I will look at how Nehemiah dealt with the opposition that came his way once he started his great work. Any great work for God that we may undertake is bound to face opposition. So how do we do? What would Nehemiah do?
The book of Nehemiah mentions three men who opposed his work: Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab. They take different approaches to discourage the work, but Nehemiah keeps the work going. Their first appearance comes in Neh. 2:19-20. Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem start speaking against Nehemiah and his work, suggesting that they are in rebellion to the king. Nehemiah's responds; "The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it." He points toward God and let's these men know that they are are going to dissuade them from rebuilding these walls. Interestingly, he does not even comment on the whole rebellion against the king issue, even though he was not in rebellion, but rather had the total support of the king.
The opposition returns in chapter 4:1-4. Sanballat and Tobiah return with insults. Tobiah saying that something as small as a fox could knock the wall down. Nehemiah's response. He prays and keeps working. Then when their insults doesn't work, they get all get together to plan a fight against Jerusalem (4:7-8). Nehemiah's response to this threat is recorded in 4:8-9. They prayed, posted guards and kept working. I love what he says about this in v. 14. "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." There is a whole other lesson in that statement alone, but it tells us here that Nehemiah strategy for dealing with this opposition is to constantly point the people back to God, pray a lot but don't let the work stop.
Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem return in chapter 6. This time they are scheming to harm Nehemiah. They sent him a message, "Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono." They send this message four times. (6:4) Four times he responds, "I am carrying on a great work. Why should I stop this work to meet with you?" (Hughes paraphrase) He basically tries to ignore them. The are persistent and on the fifth request they accuse Nehemiah of trying to establish himself as a king in Jerusalem. Of course, this is a complete lie. Nehemiah responds, "Nothing like what you are saying is happening: You are making this up out of your head." Nehemiah was taking any non-sense. However, immediately after this in 6:9, Nehemiah says, "But i prayed, "Now strengthen my hands." I think that these men who had constantly opposed him were started to get him. Eventually opposition and discouragement will wear us down. But Nehemiah did what always did, He took it to God.
I see an obvious pattern for Nehemiah. He looks to God, prays and keeps working. If we want his type of success, we should follow the pattern.
Tom
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Examining the Walls
Hey everyone.
In my first post about Nehemiah, I made reference to a Dave Pocta booklet on building the Youth and Family Ministry. The text I am going to talk about today was his starting point and it got me hooked on the study of Nehemiah and asking the questions needed to see this ministry grow. The text of the story is Nehemiah 2:11-18.
Nehemiah sets out to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. After arriving, he sets out during the night to assess the damage on the city. He examines the walls and the various gates that had lay in ruin for generations. After his examination, he pulls the leaders otgether and gives a no-nonsense assessment of their situation, saying "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruin, and its gates have been burned with fire." Then he lays out the challenge: "Come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." (Neh. 2:17) Finally, he shows them how God had already been at work. (Neh. 2:18)
Three things Nehemiah does here to get the building process going. First, he examines the situation. Likewise, if we are looking to build a ministry or are only looking to build on our own spiritual house, we need to take a good honest look at where we are. What do we have? What do we need? Second, we need to be honest about the situation. It would not have helped Nehemiah or the people of Jerusalem one bit if he had said the things were looking good, when they weren't. Being that brutally honest with ourselves is not always easy, but at times it is needed. Nehemiah used words like "in ruins." "burned by fire," and "disgrace." Finally, he called on the people to help him rebuild the city. He would not be able to complete such a project alone.
Wisely Nehemiah finishes his challenge by explaining to these leaders what God had already done. We need a good no-nonsense assessment of our own situation, but if we leave it there and don't bring God's power into the picture, it becomes depressing, because all we are doing is looking at how inadequate we are. The complete picture shows what can be done through God's strength.
Notice at the end of verse 18, how the leaders responded. ""Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work. So whatever it is that you are building, look at the situation honestly, get the help needed, look to God for help and start building.
Tom
In my first post about Nehemiah, I made reference to a Dave Pocta booklet on building the Youth and Family Ministry. The text I am going to talk about today was his starting point and it got me hooked on the study of Nehemiah and asking the questions needed to see this ministry grow. The text of the story is Nehemiah 2:11-18.
Nehemiah sets out to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. After arriving, he sets out during the night to assess the damage on the city. He examines the walls and the various gates that had lay in ruin for generations. After his examination, he pulls the leaders otgether and gives a no-nonsense assessment of their situation, saying "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruin, and its gates have been burned with fire." Then he lays out the challenge: "Come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." (Neh. 2:17) Finally, he shows them how God had already been at work. (Neh. 2:18)
Three things Nehemiah does here to get the building process going. First, he examines the situation. Likewise, if we are looking to build a ministry or are only looking to build on our own spiritual house, we need to take a good honest look at where we are. What do we have? What do we need? Second, we need to be honest about the situation. It would not have helped Nehemiah or the people of Jerusalem one bit if he had said the things were looking good, when they weren't. Being that brutally honest with ourselves is not always easy, but at times it is needed. Nehemiah used words like "in ruins." "burned by fire," and "disgrace." Finally, he called on the people to help him rebuild the city. He would not be able to complete such a project alone.
Wisely Nehemiah finishes his challenge by explaining to these leaders what God had already done. We need a good no-nonsense assessment of our own situation, but if we leave it there and don't bring God's power into the picture, it becomes depressing, because all we are doing is looking at how inadequate we are. The complete picture shows what can be done through God's strength.
Notice at the end of verse 18, how the leaders responded. ""Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work. So whatever it is that you are building, look at the situation honestly, get the help needed, look to God for help and start building.
Tom
Saturday, April 6, 2013
A Man who Dares
Hey everyone.
It has been a busy week for the Hugheses. Wendy has been directing the musical at my school and Caleb is in it. The show is this weekend, so we have been very busy. They are doing Guys and Dolls. I saw it last night. It was very good. It was very cool seeing how my son has grown as a performer.
Any way, back to Nehemiah. In my two previous posts, I talked about Nehemiah and his prayer in chapter 1. In chapter 2 we see Nehemiah appearing before the king. The king asked him why he is so sad. He explains what has happened in Jerusalem, and they king asks him what he wants. Nehemiah utters a quick prayer and then is very bold. He wants to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild it. It is a bold request by a servant to the king, but the king grants it. but I want to focus on what happens next. Most people would have just been happy to be allowed to go on this journey, thanked the king and not asked for anything else. Not Nehemiah. Since God had worked this out for him, Nehemiah then asks for letters to the governors guaranteeing their safe passage. Then he asks for lumber from the royal park. Not only does he ask to go, he asks for materials from the king with which to accomplish his task.
Nehemiah makes some very daring requests. But understand that prior to this conversation with the king, Nehemiah had spend considerable time in prayer and fasting before the Lord. This post could be called A Man of Prayers, Part 3. It was his consistent prayer and relationship with God that prompted Nehemiah into such bold action. If you look at Neh. 2:8, after his requests are granted, Nehemiah acknowledges that it was the gracious hand of God at work. Then verse 9 says that the king also sent along army officers and cavalry. So you never know. Pray then be bold. Nehemiah got even more then he asked for. The gracious hand of God was truly at work for this man of prayer.
It has been a busy week for the Hugheses. Wendy has been directing the musical at my school and Caleb is in it. The show is this weekend, so we have been very busy. They are doing Guys and Dolls. I saw it last night. It was very good. It was very cool seeing how my son has grown as a performer.
Any way, back to Nehemiah. In my two previous posts, I talked about Nehemiah and his prayer in chapter 1. In chapter 2 we see Nehemiah appearing before the king. The king asked him why he is so sad. He explains what has happened in Jerusalem, and they king asks him what he wants. Nehemiah utters a quick prayer and then is very bold. He wants to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild it. It is a bold request by a servant to the king, but the king grants it. but I want to focus on what happens next. Most people would have just been happy to be allowed to go on this journey, thanked the king and not asked for anything else. Not Nehemiah. Since God had worked this out for him, Nehemiah then asks for letters to the governors guaranteeing their safe passage. Then he asks for lumber from the royal park. Not only does he ask to go, he asks for materials from the king with which to accomplish his task.
Nehemiah makes some very daring requests. But understand that prior to this conversation with the king, Nehemiah had spend considerable time in prayer and fasting before the Lord. This post could be called A Man of Prayers, Part 3. It was his consistent prayer and relationship with God that prompted Nehemiah into such bold action. If you look at Neh. 2:8, after his requests are granted, Nehemiah acknowledges that it was the gracious hand of God at work. Then verse 9 says that the king also sent along army officers and cavalry. So you never know. Pray then be bold. Nehemiah got even more then he asked for. The gracious hand of God was truly at work for this man of prayer.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
A Man of Prayers, Part 2
Hey everyone.
I want to continue to look at Nehemiah and his prayer life, because I think that we can learn a lot from it, not just about prayer, but about our relationship with God. (The commentary that I have been reading on Nehemiah, Be Determined, by Warren Wiersbe has been particularly helping to me in picking out some useful little from Nehemiah's prayer. I hope you find the insight useful as well.) We can really see how Nehemiah views God from his prayer. Remember, Nehemiah is praying in distress over the state of Jerusalem.
Let's look first at what Nehemiah calls God:
As his prayer continues, Nehemiah asks God to answer the prayers that he is lifting up before God both day and night. Nehemiah makes his requests to God and is consistent in it. Then he confesses his sin and the sins of his people. He takes responsibility before God and admits that the Israelites have really only received the scattering that their sins had deserved when they were carried off into captivity. But Nehemiah is apparently acquainted with God's word because he looks back to Deuteronomy where God promises that He will gather his people back from where they had been scattered if they repent. He closes his prayer with a request that God would give him success in the "presence of this man." Nehemiah recognized that the king could make good things happen for him, but that this blessing he sought ultimately came from God, not King Artaxerxes.
Tom
I want to continue to look at Nehemiah and his prayer life, because I think that we can learn a lot from it, not just about prayer, but about our relationship with God. (The commentary that I have been reading on Nehemiah, Be Determined, by Warren Wiersbe has been particularly helping to me in picking out some useful little from Nehemiah's prayer. I hope you find the insight useful as well.) We can really see how Nehemiah views God from his prayer. Remember, Nehemiah is praying in distress over the state of Jerusalem.
Let's look first at what Nehemiah calls God:
- "Lord" - He addresses God first as his lord and master. Nehemiah begins by recognizing that God is the one in charge and that he is merely a servant.
- "God of Heaven" - God is holy and is not of this world. He is greater that the false gods that have been fashioned by human hands and dwell on this Earth
- "Great and awesome God" - Our God is awe-inspiring just to contemplate. He is great and powerful and we all need his great power at work in us.
- "Who keeps his covenant" - God's word means something. If he says something, it is true. We have to believe it.
- "of love" God loves. In fact God is live (I John 4:8). He keeps his covenant, and his covenant is about love.
As his prayer continues, Nehemiah asks God to answer the prayers that he is lifting up before God both day and night. Nehemiah makes his requests to God and is consistent in it. Then he confesses his sin and the sins of his people. He takes responsibility before God and admits that the Israelites have really only received the scattering that their sins had deserved when they were carried off into captivity. But Nehemiah is apparently acquainted with God's word because he looks back to Deuteronomy where God promises that He will gather his people back from where they had been scattered if they repent. He closes his prayer with a request that God would give him success in the "presence of this man." Nehemiah recognized that the king could make good things happen for him, but that this blessing he sought ultimately came from God, not King Artaxerxes.
Tom
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
A Man of Prayers
Hey everyone.
I have just returned from my one athletic endeavor of the year, Bogota High School's annual Senior vs. Faculty basketball game. It was fun and we only lost by eight this year. I held my own with four points and ten rebounds. Not bad for a man of my age and relative physical condition.
Any way, I wanted to return to Nehemiah and see what else we can learn from him to help us build our spiritual lives and our ministries. Now to this point we have seen that Nehemiah really cares about God's people. His concern leads almost immediately to prayer. In fact we can see throughout the book of Nehemiah that he is indeed a man of prayer. As I study Nehemiah, I am reading a commentary called Be Determined, by Warren Wiersbe. Wiersbe states that the book of Nehemiah records twelve prayers altogether. That is an impressive number in a book that only has thirteen chapters. That is a rate of almost one prayer per chapter. It says something about Nehemiah - he understood the power and impact of prayer.
Perhaps he was familiar with Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." He had something big and important to build and he was wise to turn to God to make things happen for him. In fact, this has brought about a conviction in me that I am foolish if I do not pray. And I do not want to be foolish. I recognize that I am not powerful enough, strong enough, cool enough or smart enough to build a dynamic ministry on my own power, but if I am not praying that is exactly what I am trying to do. So after studying this, I have committed myself to greater prayer, and God has indeed blessed it.
Tom
I have just returned from my one athletic endeavor of the year, Bogota High School's annual Senior vs. Faculty basketball game. It was fun and we only lost by eight this year. I held my own with four points and ten rebounds. Not bad for a man of my age and relative physical condition.
Any way, I wanted to return to Nehemiah and see what else we can learn from him to help us build our spiritual lives and our ministries. Now to this point we have seen that Nehemiah really cares about God's people. His concern leads almost immediately to prayer. In fact we can see throughout the book of Nehemiah that he is indeed a man of prayer. As I study Nehemiah, I am reading a commentary called Be Determined, by Warren Wiersbe. Wiersbe states that the book of Nehemiah records twelve prayers altogether. That is an impressive number in a book that only has thirteen chapters. That is a rate of almost one prayer per chapter. It says something about Nehemiah - he understood the power and impact of prayer.
Perhaps he was familiar with Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." He had something big and important to build and he was wise to turn to God to make things happen for him. In fact, this has brought about a conviction in me that I am foolish if I do not pray. And I do not want to be foolish. I recognize that I am not powerful enough, strong enough, cool enough or smart enough to build a dynamic ministry on my own power, but if I am not praying that is exactly what I am trying to do. So after studying this, I have committed myself to greater prayer, and God has indeed blessed it.
Tom
Saturday, March 9, 2013
A Man Who Cares
Hey everyone, last time I wrote about Nehemiah and how he rebuilt the walls in eight weeks that had lay in ruin for over a hundred years. Now I want to start looking at Nehemiah and what he did to make this happen.
In the opening of the book, Nehemiah is in Susa, the capital of the Persian empire. He asks his brother Hanani about the condition of Jerusalem. Hanani had just come from there and reports three things about Jerusalem. First, the people there live in great trouble and disgrace. Second, the walls are broken down and third, the gates have burned with fire. After hearing this new, Nehemiah sits down and weeps.
Understand that Nehemiah had risen to an important position in the Persian government. It had been generations since the inhabitants of Jerusalem had been carried off into exile. Nehemiah was likely born in Persia, and it is possible that he had never been to Jerusalem. Yet when he hears this news he sits down and weeps and mourns for several days for his homeland. Even though he had attained a place of prominence in Susa, he did not consider Susa home, nor had he allowed his heart to be assimilated into the more dominant Persian culture. God's people lived in God's city unprotected, without walls or gates, and Nehemiah cared deeply. He mourned, fasted and prayed for several days. Do you think Nehemiah would have accomplished what he did had he not cared so much? I'm inclined to think that he would not. It was this concern that prompted everything that followed, the prayer, the hard work, everything.
As I examine Nehemiah and look at what he did that enabled him to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem, I have to ask myself, "How much do I care?" Is my concern for God's people prompting me to pray? Is it motivating me to work hard? God has placed each one of us in a ministry. In my case, it is the Youth and Family Ministry. As a high school teacher, I walk the same hallways that our teenagers do, and I can say that our teens walk around in a culture where the spiritual walls have been broken down and the spiritual gates have been burned by fire. They need help to build their own spiritual walls and gates to have protection from the onslaught that the world is bringing at them. I feel the challenge of this and I want to help. I want to help our teens as individuals, and I want work alongside my co-builders to help make our ministry here in New Jersey great.
OK, so we can see Nehemiah begins with concern over the people of God and a burning desire to do fix the situation. So we will continue form here to see what his concern prompted him to do.
In the opening of the book, Nehemiah is in Susa, the capital of the Persian empire. He asks his brother Hanani about the condition of Jerusalem. Hanani had just come from there and reports three things about Jerusalem. First, the people there live in great trouble and disgrace. Second, the walls are broken down and third, the gates have burned with fire. After hearing this new, Nehemiah sits down and weeps.
Understand that Nehemiah had risen to an important position in the Persian government. It had been generations since the inhabitants of Jerusalem had been carried off into exile. Nehemiah was likely born in Persia, and it is possible that he had never been to Jerusalem. Yet when he hears this news he sits down and weeps and mourns for several days for his homeland. Even though he had attained a place of prominence in Susa, he did not consider Susa home, nor had he allowed his heart to be assimilated into the more dominant Persian culture. God's people lived in God's city unprotected, without walls or gates, and Nehemiah cared deeply. He mourned, fasted and prayed for several days. Do you think Nehemiah would have accomplished what he did had he not cared so much? I'm inclined to think that he would not. It was this concern that prompted everything that followed, the prayer, the hard work, everything.
As I examine Nehemiah and look at what he did that enabled him to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem, I have to ask myself, "How much do I care?" Is my concern for God's people prompting me to pray? Is it motivating me to work hard? God has placed each one of us in a ministry. In my case, it is the Youth and Family Ministry. As a high school teacher, I walk the same hallways that our teenagers do, and I can say that our teens walk around in a culture where the spiritual walls have been broken down and the spiritual gates have been burned by fire. They need help to build their own spiritual walls and gates to have protection from the onslaught that the world is bringing at them. I feel the challenge of this and I want to help. I want to help our teens as individuals, and I want work alongside my co-builders to help make our ministry here in New Jersey great.
OK, so we can see Nehemiah begins with concern over the people of God and a burning desire to do fix the situation. So we will continue form here to see what his concern prompted him to do.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Expert Builder
Hey everyone. It's President's Day, and I am off work for the week. Having a bit more time on my hands this week, you may hear from me a little more often.
In my last post, I finished up a six-part lesson about Samson. Having finished studying the book of Judges, I have now turned my attention to the book of Nehemiah. I want share with you briefly why I chose to study this particular book. My wife and I work alongside Ross Lippencott, Manami Kim and some other great disciples with the teens here in New Jersey. Together we are working to build a great ministry for our teens. With that in mind, I read a little booklet written by Dave Pocta on building Youth and Family Ministry. It was very good, and he talked about Nehemiah a lot. It inspired me to examine Nehemiah more closely to see what I can learn to more adeptly build the ministry God has placed me in.
I am learning valuable lessons that I want to share, and the truth is that we are all building something, whether it is a ministry, small group or just our relationship with God. We want to build well. Think about 1 Corinthians 3:10, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds." We are all building something. I would assume that we all want to build it well. Let's see what Nehemiah can teach us.
Now to understand what is going on in Nehemiah, we have to understand a few things. First, we need to know that Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., and many of the inhabitants of the city were carried off into exile. Later the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians, and in 538 B.C. the Persians allow some of the Israelites to return to Jerusalem. In 516 B.C. the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem as recorded in Haggai, but the walls (the protection) of Jerusalem still lay in ruin. It is not until Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem in 445 B.C. that the walls are rebuilt. Think about this. Nehemiah comes along to fix something that had been broken for 141 years. Israelites had been back in Jerusalem for 107 years and had not rebuilt the walls. Three or four generations had come and gone and no one had fixed the problem. It appears that they had just accepted that the problem was too big to fix for generations, as if they were saying, "Well, that is just the way things are." I'm jumping ahead a little, but when Nehemiah comes along, he sets his mind to fix this problem, and completes the work in 52 days. (See Nehemiah 6:15) A determined man with a great relationship with God fixes a hundred year old problem in less than 8 weeks. I don't know about you, but I think Nehemiah might have some things to teach me, not only about building my ministry, but about fixing the 49 year old problems in my character. I hope you will join me on my journey.
In my last post, I finished up a six-part lesson about Samson. Having finished studying the book of Judges, I have now turned my attention to the book of Nehemiah. I want share with you briefly why I chose to study this particular book. My wife and I work alongside Ross Lippencott, Manami Kim and some other great disciples with the teens here in New Jersey. Together we are working to build a great ministry for our teens. With that in mind, I read a little booklet written by Dave Pocta on building Youth and Family Ministry. It was very good, and he talked about Nehemiah a lot. It inspired me to examine Nehemiah more closely to see what I can learn to more adeptly build the ministry God has placed me in.
I am learning valuable lessons that I want to share, and the truth is that we are all building something, whether it is a ministry, small group or just our relationship with God. We want to build well. Think about 1 Corinthians 3:10, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds." We are all building something. I would assume that we all want to build it well. Let's see what Nehemiah can teach us.
Now to understand what is going on in Nehemiah, we have to understand a few things. First, we need to know that Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., and many of the inhabitants of the city were carried off into exile. Later the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians, and in 538 B.C. the Persians allow some of the Israelites to return to Jerusalem. In 516 B.C. the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem as recorded in Haggai, but the walls (the protection) of Jerusalem still lay in ruin. It is not until Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem in 445 B.C. that the walls are rebuilt. Think about this. Nehemiah comes along to fix something that had been broken for 141 years. Israelites had been back in Jerusalem for 107 years and had not rebuilt the walls. Three or four generations had come and gone and no one had fixed the problem. It appears that they had just accepted that the problem was too big to fix for generations, as if they were saying, "Well, that is just the way things are." I'm jumping ahead a little, but when Nehemiah comes along, he sets his mind to fix this problem, and completes the work in 52 days. (See Nehemiah 6:15) A determined man with a great relationship with God fixes a hundred year old problem in less than 8 weeks. I don't know about you, but I think Nehemiah might have some things to teach me, not only about building my ministry, but about fixing the 49 year old problems in my character. I hope you will join me on my journey.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Turning Strength into Weakness Part 6
Hey everyone. I'm gearing up for the team lock-in tonight. It's an awesome time. I get to help with the inflatable jousting, whatever that means. Can't wait.
Any way, I thought I would take the time to finish up my thoughts on Samson this morning. Last time we looked at Samson he had pushed the pillars of the temple of Dagon down on hundreds of Philistines as well as himself. What I want to do is now look back at his life and compare the life that was with the life that could have been.
All the way back in Judges 13, when the angel first appeared to Samson's mother, he said that Samson would be the one who "will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines." Samson was the Chosen One. He was selected by God to lead the way in throwing off the yoke of the Philistines. Now to be fair, he did begin this process and the angel did say that he would "take the lead" in this process. So he began a work that took a couple of generations to finish. After Samson came Saul and David, still fighting the Philistines. But imagine if Samson had not been so easily entangled by his sins, appetites and weaknesses. (Look at Hebrews 12:1-2) Imagine if Samson had not been such a lone wolf, instead having great spiritual relationships and really leading the people into battle. Perhaps he could have led the nation into victory in just one generation. Samson did some really cool things, but for a number of reasons, he was not what he could have been. He did not listen to advice. He did not seem to have any real friends to help him. He did not take his vows to God very seriously. An attractive women could get him to behave rather stupidly. He seemed to forget where the power really came from (God) and believed too strongly in his own strength. So near the end he gave the enemies of God an opportunity to rejoice. Had he been true to his vows, serious about his relationship with God, open to advice and not so given to his appetites, this would have been a completely different story. That is why I have entitled this "turning strength into weakness." That is what Samson did. God had given him much strength, but in many cases it was his weaknesses that prevailed. Compare that to Paul in II Corinthians 12:7-10, where God gave him weakness and turned it into strength.
So now apply. We all have dreams, things that we would like to see God accomplish in our lives. Are we doing things that can make those dreams reality? Or are we making the same kinds of mistakes that Samson made? To be sure, we all have weaknesses. We always will. But, the question is, are we allowing God turn these weaknesses into strength, or are we allowing the strengths God has given us to become weakness?
Any way, I thought I would take the time to finish up my thoughts on Samson this morning. Last time we looked at Samson he had pushed the pillars of the temple of Dagon down on hundreds of Philistines as well as himself. What I want to do is now look back at his life and compare the life that was with the life that could have been.
All the way back in Judges 13, when the angel first appeared to Samson's mother, he said that Samson would be the one who "will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines." Samson was the Chosen One. He was selected by God to lead the way in throwing off the yoke of the Philistines. Now to be fair, he did begin this process and the angel did say that he would "take the lead" in this process. So he began a work that took a couple of generations to finish. After Samson came Saul and David, still fighting the Philistines. But imagine if Samson had not been so easily entangled by his sins, appetites and weaknesses. (Look at Hebrews 12:1-2) Imagine if Samson had not been such a lone wolf, instead having great spiritual relationships and really leading the people into battle. Perhaps he could have led the nation into victory in just one generation. Samson did some really cool things, but for a number of reasons, he was not what he could have been. He did not listen to advice. He did not seem to have any real friends to help him. He did not take his vows to God very seriously. An attractive women could get him to behave rather stupidly. He seemed to forget where the power really came from (God) and believed too strongly in his own strength. So near the end he gave the enemies of God an opportunity to rejoice. Had he been true to his vows, serious about his relationship with God, open to advice and not so given to his appetites, this would have been a completely different story. That is why I have entitled this "turning strength into weakness." That is what Samson did. God had given him much strength, but in many cases it was his weaknesses that prevailed. Compare that to Paul in II Corinthians 12:7-10, where God gave him weakness and turned it into strength.
So now apply. We all have dreams, things that we would like to see God accomplish in our lives. Are we doing things that can make those dreams reality? Or are we making the same kinds of mistakes that Samson made? To be sure, we all have weaknesses. We always will. But, the question is, are we allowing God turn these weaknesses into strength, or are we allowing the strengths God has given us to become weakness?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)