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On that day when the Law of Moses was read aloud to everyone, it was discovered that Ammonites and Moabites were forbidden to belong to the people of God. Nehemiah 13:1 (CEV)
For those who think there is no hope; who feel that you’ve messed up too bad, that your rebellion has exhausted God’s ability or desire to forgive; who have resigned yourself to the ‘fact’ that the bad choices of your past have will plague you for the rest of your life, take a look behind the scenes of Nehemiah 13:1.
It had been years since the Law of Moses had been read to the people of God. At that time there were no dusty scrolls sitting on the coffee table. The only way to know the word of God was to go to the priest and have them read it to you. With the Israelite exile, and rebuilding the wall, there had been little time for reading.
When the scrolls were opened, the people were awakened to God’s demands for purity among his people. The Israelites had defiled themselves by associating with Moabites and Ammonites. This was a great issue for all those who wanted to follow God.
When the people found out they were living against God they removed all the ammonites and Moabites. Cruel, you say? Perhaps. But God didn’t forget the Moabites. Turn the clock back a few hundred years.
Picture a young Moabite woman in a strange land. She’s still mourning the death of her young husband. He’d died way too soon. He left no son, no legacy to be remembered by. Now, all she has was memories, the challenges of being a Moabite woman in a strange culture, and a mother-in-law who gave her love, but no guarantees of a future.
Ah, yes, Ruth. Remember her? Young, alone and widowed in a foreign land. Looked down upon by most, pitied by few…that is until Boaz came along. Then her world changed Fear turned to confidence. Loneliness melted into hope. Poverty gave way to wealth. Separation from God dissolved in grace.
The result? A place in the lineage of the Messiah, the son of the Living God! There was nothing she could do to deserve her position of grace. She was unworthy of any sort of blessing or privilege. But God sought her out and blessed her richly.
God sees hope in us regardless of our actions or our past. No matter how alone you feel; how deeply you have been hurt; how forgotten you feel; how hopeless the situation you find yourself in, the God of Heaven has provided a path through the wilderness to bring you home.
PRAYER: Father, I worship you today for the reminder that I am never far from your loving, merciful and guiding hand. I thank you for the provision of Jesus and the hope we have through your grace. Amen.
Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9 (NLT)
When you find something that works, you stay with it. After all, if ‘it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
At first glance one might think the Apostle Paul is just an arrogant Bible thumping preacher. “Just do what I do and everything will work out just fine…” But a study of the life of Paul reveals quite the opposite.
This great orator and defender of the faith says in other writings, things like:
“Not that I have already attained it, but I press on towards the mark.” (Philippians 3:12)
“All those things I want to badly to do, I don’t do. Rather I find myself involved in doing the very things I hate.” (Romans 7”15)
“For I am the least worthy of any of the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:9)
There are other places as well where Paul bears his soul to say, in essence, I’ve not attained the standard of living I desire in my life. I’m weak, I fail. I’m unworthy. Yet here, in Philippians 4:9 he offers a testimonial of hope to those of us who struggle on a daily basis. He encourages each of us to take a good look at reality.
Remember what you’ve learned [about your faith], he says. Too often life situations, doubts, and our own failures will lure us away from the fundamentals. A championship team in any sport is one that continually practices the fundamentals, the little things so that the victory can be won. Rarely does a team sound in the fundamentals, lose.
In the same way, Paul is telling us from his personal experience that as he has learned to follow the basics, he has seen God work in mighty ways.
Does that mean hardship won’t come? Unlikely, since Paul wrote this letter from prison.
Does that mean we won’t fail through our own weakness or outright rebellion and sin against the God we chose to love? Paul reminds us that we battle continually with the old sin nature. Only reliance on the Holy Spirit will change that.
We are instructed to be a holy people, separated unto God, to live a life above reproach. But holiness in the human realm doesn’t mean perfection, it means we deal correctly with sin as soon as it enters our life. We go to the throne of grace, confess our sin, as forgiveness, and repent (change our attitude).
Stay the course. Remember the simple truths you learned as a child, or seek them out from God’s word. Trouble will come. You will fail. Others will fail you. But as you remain true to the basic tenants of our faith (love, grace, forgiveness and mercy) the God of peace and comfort will encourage you today.
PRAYER: Father God, help me to live in such a way that I can say, as Paul says, that my walk with you has taught me the way to peace. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to live in the basic truths of my faith so that others may find the peace I have found. Amen.
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:9 (NIV)
“Don’t you know me?”
The words are stunning really. It’s a phrase that hurts both the one saying it and the one to whom it’s directed. After all this time we’ve spent together, you don’t know me? After going through all these struggles, you haven’t noticed? I’ve walked by your side. I’ve eaten with you.
When you were sick I comforted you; when you were scared I held your hand; when you were confused, I gave you direction; when you were frustrated, I encouraged you. I stood up for you when you were under attack; I picked you up when you fell; I held the light when the path was dark and an umbrella when it rained.
Like Philip, each of us can get so used to the ‘idea’ of Jesus we tend to really appreciate who he is and what he does for us on a daily basis. Do you KNOW Jesus? Meditate on that question for a moment.
I know the guy at the coffee shop where I get coffee every morning. I know my neighbor across the street. I know the person in the next cubicle at work. But the way I know each of them is completely different from the way I know my wife, or she knows me. After being together all these years it still amazes us how we will be ‘lost in thought’ and blurt out the same idea. Completely random thoughts? Yes, but we know each other so well we often know exactly where our thought processes are going.
But even the intimacy and comfort of knowing my wife as well as I do is nothing compared to how Jesus knows me. Those thoughts I can’t put into words? He knows them. Those fears and doubts I don’t dare tell anyone? He understands.
And during those times when I feel too weak to go on, he turns to me and asks, “Don’t you know me?” Do you remember the storms I’ve calmed, the sick I’ve healed, the broken hearts I’ve mended? I haven’t changed. My love for you is, as it has always been. My power is available to you just as it was to the blind man, the crippled, and a bunch of fishermen being tossed wildly in the boat.
Do you know Jesus? Do you know the Jesus that is ready and willing to walk through the tempest with you? It’s much more than getting acquainted. It’s a life-long journey bathed in prayer and digging deep into his word. Knowing Jesus, really KNOWING him is the best thing for whatever trial you are going through.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I’m as guilty as Philip of not seeing you for who you really are. I depend on myself when I should depend on you. I doubt when I should trust. I am weak when I should tap into your power. Help me from this day forward to see you as you are. Amen.
Some thoughts for worship:
Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart! Psalm 32:11
As the eastern sky begins to glow with the dawn of a new day, I rejoice in you my Lord. The tasks before me today are great. I’m sure there are surprises of varying degrees that await me. But my rejoicing isn’t based on the activities, events or people who cross my paths.
My rejoicing comes from you.
People change. Activities can sap our strength or go wrong. Even when they go well, they end and in their ending leave a void. People, even those closest to me can’t fulfill every corner of my soul. Sometimes, people fail me.
Not only do I rejoice in you, I’m glad because in your eyes I’m righteous. Thank you Lord that righteousness isn’t based on my ability to meet the expectations of you or others. You aren’t surprised by my weakness; others will never be satisfied with who I am. My righteousness is based on Jesus’ blood and forgiveness. Holiness, oh God, isn’t perfection, but knowing how to handle sin when it attacks me.
I sing! I sing to you my Father with words that I often can’t express in notes and words. My song comes from my heart! We fight over what songs should be sung, what instruments should be played and how ‘worship’ should be accomplished.
The best worship, O Lord is the worship of my heart. In the midst of my doubts; in the midst of my fears; when I feel overwhelmed by the tasks before me, my heart sings for I know that you will see me through if I rely on you for my strength.
Today, I rejoice in you. Not because of what lay ahead of me, but because I know you will go with me. My heart sings for I know my allegiance to you will empower me for the day ahead. Amen.
Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. Psalm 32:6
As I read Psalm 32:6 a picture came into my mind. It was a home video taken during the horrific Japan Tsunami of 2011. As flood waters came into a small seaside village, sirens wailed and residents took shelter on a small hillside, running to the safety afforded them by a single set of stairs. We all watched with amazement and horror as the sea crept down the streets, then gained momentum and began to sweep cars, truck, boats and other debris ahead of it.
The water rose higher and higher, endangering the small group of people taking shelter there. They were safe, but the destruction around them was a stirring testimony to the power of nature and the frailty of life
“Surely, the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them,” is a promise those of us that are believers in Jesus Christ can hold on to. Flood waters will come. Those earthy things we hold dear may be taken from us. Those things that have provided us security may falter or even fail.
Relationships we thought would last a lifetime end in divorce or death or job changes. Careers once though secure will end abruptly. Freedoms we hold so dearly too may be in danger or taken completely from us. The winds of time and age will change the lifescape we have always known.
Those who put their faith completely in God, who trust in Jesus Christ and build their security on the word of God and prayer, need not worry when the flood waters approach. We may lose all of our earthly possessions. We may watch as the world we once knew gets swept away. But our souls remain secure in the promise of Psalm 32:6.
Here’s the true beauty of this promise. Sometimes the flood waters that threaten us are our own doing. Sometimes they are the result of evil in the world. God’s promise of protection isn’t affected by the reason for our struggle. His promises are based on his character and strength, not ours.
When you see those flood waters approaching. When everything you held as secure crumbles or is swept away, remember that the God of the universe has promised to be a refuge from which the raging waters of the sea can not reach you.
PRAYER: Father, we are surrounded by adversity and pain and trials. It seems sometimes as though our hopes and dreams are being swept away in flood of adversity. During those times may we run to you for refuge and strength. We praise you for your promise of ultimate protection. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 