Our God Will ALWAYS Welcome Us Back...However, We Must Repent

Nehemiah Chp 9

I see here a great testimony of God's love and mercy in the face of consistent sin....and repentance.

Of the Israelites:

¹⁹ “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. ²⁰ You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. ²¹ For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen. 

I see a God that will always welcome us back.  I fail to read my bible everyday as God desires, but God loves it when I do come back to be with Him.  I never have to worry about this...no shame.  How awesome is that!  God YOU are awesome. 

My Prayer: God, you ARE awesome!  You welcome me back every time and it is AWESOME to spend time with you!  Please forgive me of my neglect and rid me of my laziness so I can truly give my life away to you....so I can die to self and be born again of you.  Help me truly love and follow you.

God's Word Brings Great Joy!

Nehemiah Chp 8

For all of humanity, many have struggled to understand and find purpose for their lives - people instinctively know that they can find joy in knowing that they are bringing value into the world.   Simply said, knowing you are on task brings you great joy. 

For us believers, it should be straightforward...we exist to glorify God because He has a purpose for us all.  While one might quibble about what "glorify" means for us specifically, one thing is clear - we glorify God by knowing Him, loving Him, trusting Him, and following Him (among many things we must do to be in relationship with God).

This is reinforced in Nehemiah after those who hear the word of God are joyful:

¹² Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them. 

My Prayer: Lord, I know you made me for your glory and I have seen your work in my life and I am amazed at your power and might.  Yet I am humbled because I cannot see sometimes how a sinner like myself can be used by You.  Forgive me for not trusting in you to work through me.  Help me know you more, love you more, trust you more, and follow you more.

Am I Fighting For the Glory Of God For His Will?

Nehemiah Chp 4

We know it is a battle.  Pastor Scott has also indicated in a recent sermon that the cost of following Christ is great.  The questions become:

• Am I fighting for the glory of God
• AmI fighting for my family
• Do I trust God that He will protect me

Nehemiah did.

⁴ Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. ⁵ Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

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In the face of opposition and harm, and in light of Nehemiah's prayer, Israel continued to do God's will:

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. 

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Again in the face of opposition, harm, and threats, Israel pressed on with Nehemiah's prayer:

But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. 

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And of course, God delivers and protects.

5 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work. 

My Prayer: Lord you strength and might is great and you are my rock!  Forgive me when I forsake you for my own strength or my lack of trust in you.  I seek to be near you and I pray that I can love you more, trust you more, obey you more and also that I can glorify you with my life.

Amen, Ezra - We Are Unclean!

Ezra Chp 9

As I ponder what I read, it strikes me that Ezra's shame, guilt and humility in the face of God, in the face of God's grace despite the Israelites' sin, reflects a place where we must all start in our faith.  We are sinful and we need God - desperately! 

¹³ “What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this. ¹⁴ Shall we then break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? ¹⁵ LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.” 

Is Ezra not reflecting what we all reflect or what we all should reflect?

If we are to draw close to God, and walk with God closely, we must start with we NEED God.  Of course we need God for many reasons but one key reason why we need God is that He is perfect, He washes away our sin and He provides heart and life transformation, and He provides eternal life!

My Prayer: Lord, indeed how righteous and glorious you are as you are full of love and grace for us, for me, for all humanity that our sins can be washed clean and that we can sit beside you in heaven forever and forever  - this is AMAZING!  I am deeply sorry for how I sin daily and I KNOW I need you so please purify me of my sin and help me glorify you with my life.

How Bold Is My Faith?

Ezra Chp 4

After Israel falls into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, exiles begin to return from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the template and the altar.  The boldness of their faith was on display:

³ Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices. (Ezra 3:3)

 Yet as soon as opposition builds against the rebuilding, all work stopped.

²³ As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop. 

 ²⁴ Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

I cannot criticize Israel here as my own faith is weak.

My Prayer: Lord, you work is amazing and you are amazing God and I should be shouting from the rooftops how great you are.  Yet I am not and I am deeply sorry for not loving you with all of my heart and soul as you command.  Please forgive me for this and please DO help me love you more, seek you, trust you more, be BOLD in my faith and more than anything glorify you.

Do I Listen, and Am I Deserving of Grace?

2 Chronicles Chp 33

Wow...in the face of the evil Manasseh did in the eyes of the Lord, God exercised great mercy.

 ¹ Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. ² He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. ³ He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. ⁴ He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” ⁵ In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. ⁶ He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger.  

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Even though the Lord spoke to him, Manasseh continued to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.

¹⁰ The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. 

So the Lord allowed Assyria to siege the armies of Manasseh and Manesseh was take prisoner.

¹² In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. ¹³

And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.  

What does it take for me to listen to the Lord? For I know that I don't listen to the Lord in many areas of my life and I sin willfully.

My Prayer: Lord, your love and mercy abounds as I am blessed by you despite my failings. Oh how great you are!  Please forgive me for my worship of other idols and Gods and for my sin.  I desperately seek for you to purify me of my sin and for you to transform my life and my heart.  Help me love you more, seek you out, trust you more, follow you more and obey your will for my life.

Prosperity Through Service and Love of Lord

2 Chronicles Chp 31

I often think of my own prosperity and comfort as I am fully aware of the financial blessings God has provided and entrusted to me.  Yet I need to remind myself of the purpose of prosperity - it is not my own comfort; instead it is for God's glory.

⁵ As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, olive oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. ⁶ The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah also brought a tithe of their herds and flocks and a tithe of the holy things dedicated to the LORD their God, and they piled them in heaps.

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“Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the LORD, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the LORD has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.” 

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²⁰ This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. ²¹

In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered. 

I must think not of my own comfort but of God first and His glory.

My Prayer: Lord, you are great and your love of me and of all your children is great - love abounds.  I am amazed at how you have blessed me beyond imagination - all through your grace and love as I am not deserving.  This is your fruit alone!  When I think of my own comfort and of my own blessings forgive me and help me understand that I am a steward of the blessings you have provided in your trust of me.  Help me glorify you with how I use these blessings and to give generously and wholeheartedly to you - according to your will and for your glory.