Luke 1

I am looking forward to what God will teach me and my class this year through the Gospel of Luke.   In the first 4 verses, where Luke talks about why he writes this account, I am reminded that I can relate to Luke probably the most, out of all the Gospel writers and of how much I enjoyed his orderly and logical accounts in the Book of Acts.   My prayer for my class is what Luke wrote in vs 4b:  "that [they] may know the certainty of the things you have been taught".

A good starting place to the story of the greatest life ever lived is given in chapter 1 where Luke starts by telling to story of John the Baptist, the one who prepares the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ.   Even though Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous and served God, there was still one area of their life that was considered a "reproach", and that was that they were childless.   Though they had prayed for a child for years, that prayer was still not answered until they were advanced in years.  Yet, when God answers, Zechariah is unbelieving.

What this shows me, is a reminder that God has His Timing, and that when He chooses to answer, He may answer in ways that are above and beyond what we could ever imagine.  Not only did God grant this childless couple a son, but, this son was to be considered "great in the sight of the Lord", will bring joy to many, and will prepare the way for the Lord!    And when God answers prayer, I need to be ready for the answer no matter what.   And Zechariah is a good example of one continued to serve the Lord, even while waiting for His answer to prayer.

I would like to think that something like this could happen in my own life.  That though I am advanced in age, God may one day provide a husband who will be "great in the sight of the Lord", above and beyond what I could ever imagine.

4-Dec:  The angel Gabriel then announces to Mary that she will give birth to Jesus (the Annunciation).  "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (vs 32-33)  In humility, Mary accepts the pronouncement despite the expected challenges she will face.  She received affirmation and encouragement, likely as she needed, when she went to visit Elizabeth.  Then she burst out in Psalm (her Magnificat), glorifying God for fulfilling His Promises (vs 46-55).  When she was affirmed by the truth of it all, she could not help but WORSHIP God; and that is a good example of what our response should be when we fully realize the amazing truth of God becoming man to save and deliver us.  Amen.

14-Dec:  John is born as promised by God through the angel, and as foretold, many did rejoice at his birth.  With the circumstances surrounding his birth, word spreads and many are in anticipation of what God will do.   The first thing that Zechariah does when he is able to speak again, is to PRAISE GOD!   God must have been working in him through his time of discipline and silence; and when the Holy Spirit fills him, he praises God and prophesies of the coming of the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, his son, and God's mercy (his Benedictus).   He clearly speaks of the "salvation through the forgiveness of their sins" and the light that will "shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace".   May we, like Zechariah, after times of discipline and silence, only strengthen our faith and be able to be used by God more afterwards.  The birth of John was miraculous for Elizabeth, Zachariah praises God, and John will be great; but, behind it all, is really the Hand of God at work.   It is His Plan, the fulfillment of His promises, the filling of the Holy Spirit, and expression of His redemptive Love.

Loving God

This coming year looks like it'll be a year of going back to the essential basics.   We'll be studying the Gospel of Luke in class; and I was pointed toward focusing on "Loving God" next year.  

There are a few things that led to this.   As I was preparing for the Introduction to Luke, I was reminded that Luke focused on Christ as the Son of Man, full of compassion as shown through his ministry and teaching.   Chuck Swindoll wrote that the Gospel of Luke was like listening through the physician's stethoscope for the heartbeat of our Lord.   That's a beautiful picture.    And that spoke to me, that with such a loving God, I should not be able to help but LOVE HIM even more.   And isn't that the greatest commandment anyways?

Also, we had just finished a series on Love in our community group, looking at 1 Corinthians 13 in the 40 days of Love series and going through The Relationship Principles of Jesus book.

This is actually something that I can especially do as a single, for I can have "undistracted devotion to the Lord".  I do love the LORD with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  But, hopefully, by focusing on "Loving God" next year, it will help me to love HIM even more and to rekindle that "first love", passion, and intimacy with my LORD.   Amen.

Thanksgiving '12

Thanksgiving is really here already.   I'm glad we have a day set apart to THANK GOD for all HIS abundant blessings and provisions, and to spend time with family and friends.

I am grateful for salvation, my church, my family, friends, my job, areas of ministry, my health, my home, and for all that He has taught me and guided me through this past year.   It has been a fairly difficult and challenging year, and I am thankful that God was with me throughout.  I am thankful for what He has shown me in the area of PRAYER this year; and it is that and our elections that has pointed me to the "If My People" 40-day Prayer Guide, which I will be giving to my class this year for Christmas.

I am also grateful that in these tough economic times, that God has provided and I'm even moving another step forward in eliminating debt.  I am glad I have been able to really be a good friend this year.

I do, however, have some mixed emotions about not hosting this year.   It's been strange to not be so busily planning the menu and preparing for the food.

Overall, I am just thankful that HE is GOD of my life!   Amen!

29-Nov:  It takes a lot of work to put together a Thanksgiving get-together; but, unfortunately, it doesn't take much to "ruin" it.    Everything was fine and enjoyable right up till dessert.   Then one guest changed everything and when asked how my Thanksgiving was, just because of that, I am not able to say "good", like I usually do.

Catching Up

This is kind of the "catch all" entry to write about things I've been meaning to, but just haven't had the chance to get around to it the past month.   Things have been extremely busy at work with the additional issue-laden projects I've been assigned.   However, I am grateful that we have been able to make progress as issues do get resolved one-by-one.  With all the busy-ness, though, time does fly; and we are already into the Holiday Season.   I do wish, however, that retailers wouldn't just jump right to Christmas, and just about bypass Thanksgiving.    I actually think that because Thanksgiving IS less commercial, that it can be more meaningful to celebrate; for, the true meaning of Christmas is often so difficult to keep in the forefront with so many other competing attentions.  Still, this is one of my favorite times of the year.

One of the things I did want to write down, was a story told by the worship leader during service.  A missionary went to talk to an orphan child after one service, and found that the child did not even know his name because he lost his parents at such an early age and no one around knew what they had named him.    The missionary was then inspired to write the song "He Knows My Name".  What a beautiful and wonderful encouragement it is to that orphan boy to know that even though he didn't know his given name, but, GOD knew his name!

I also wanted to write about the Fish Women's Night Out event.   This time, it was a little different, in that it focused on various ministries; and the speakers were representatives of those ministries sharing some of the stories of their outreach.  It was interesting to hear, and I was particularly impressed with the story of how 31 bits was started and the work they are currently doing in helping women in Uganda.   Also, when I heard that Joni Eareckson Tada also had to recently fight breast cancer, on top of all that she has suffered with being a quadraplegic, I can only say that it shows what an amazing person she is that God feels that she can handle so much.

Also, we had a guest speaker a couple of Sundays ago.  He is a brain surgeon, and  I was impressed with how he is able to use his knowledge and experience from work as practical examples or evidences of truths in Scripture.  His message was on Compassion - that self-compassion was more effective than self-criticism in helping us to maintain self-control.   It is physiologically shown that we can reach depletion of our self-control when bombarded, and we need to recognize the signals of our limits.  Also, that our critical voice fails us when we start to feel bad, because we want to feel good again; so focusing on the benefit is a more effective source of motivation.   Guilt can actually be healthy in helping us recognize that we have made a mistake, leading to confession.  However, guilt is not the same as shame, which makes you think that you are a mistake instead.  We can deal with failures through confession, receiving forgiveness, and then using that to be more compassionate and understanding toward others.

Joseph (continued)

Since I'm so far behind in keeping up with writing about the sermon series on Joseph, I just thought I'd start a new post and include all the ones I missed.

21-Oct:  Jacob had many reasons for trusting God, but when crisis hit, he exhibited a lack of faith, being filled with self-pity, depression, and continuing to play favorites.  He responded with blame and deception.  However, we learn that successful spiritual leadership involves:

• Facing problems, for God does not give us more than we can handle (1 Corinth 10:13)
• Remembering that no problem is bigger than God (Rom 8:35-37)
• Being honest
• Putting faith and facts ahead of feelings (Heb 11:1)
• Accepting responsibility (James 4:17)
• Claiming the unlimited wealth of God's promises (2 Pet 1:4)
• Trusting God (Isaiah 41:13)

"Though the mountains be shaken
    and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
    nor my covenant of peace be removed,”    says the Lord, who has compassion on you."   (Isaiah 54:10)

28-Oct:   Joseph's brothers must have experienced much self-examination considering their circumstance.  Guilt cannot be eradicated by human measures but can only be redeemed by God's answer to it.  When reunited, Joseph was so filled with emotion that he had to force himself to remain calm.   But, during emotional earthquakes, we can remember that God is always there (Psalm 56:8). Other interesting points in the passage were that in Gen 43:32-34, when the brothers "looked at each other in astonishment", it was because they didn't know how they were able to be seated in order by age not knowing at the time that Joseph was their brother; and also, in vs 23, when Joseph's Egyptian steward said “It’s all right”and referred to God, he using the words "Shalom" and "Elohim".

 11-Nov:  Two qualities that made Joseph a great leader by God's standards are:

• He trusted God over a very long and very troubling period of his life
• He demonstrated a gracious and magnanimous attitude toward others who had sinned against him

Faith overcomes the past, gives peace for the present, and secures the future.  It's not so much the troubles and trials that make it our worst day, but it would be if we fail to trust God.  "God doesn't just give us grace, but also Jesus, the Lord of grace."

18-Nov:  In Genesis 45:7,8  Joseph provides perspective for what he has suffered though the words "BUT God..."     God allowed the temporary suffering and injustices to happen, BUT behind it all, God was able to use it "to save.. lives by a great deliverance".

25-Nov:  In moving from Canaan to Egypt, Jacob stops at Beersheba where the covenant was previously made.  God reassures him and promises their return and His preservation. 

2-Dec:  A five-step leadership plan from the example of Joseph (Gen 46:31-47:12):

1. Use position and influence to help, not harm, a situation
2. Mentor those following you to speak and behave rightly before they get into the moment
3. Apply godly wisdom to each circumstance and pray when wisdom is lacking
4. Honor God first
5. Follow through on promises, just as God does 

 9-Dec:  Like Joseph, we are to be productive for His Plan and follow his example of leadership with wisdom, integrity, compassion, and creativity  (Gen 47:13-31)

16-Dec:  Jacob passed his legacy through his dying wish to be buried w/his forefathers (Gen 47:29-31).  This shows that he was looking forward to the fulfillment of God's Promise, and is the only clear verse on Jacob's faith and worship.

23-Dec:  The series on the life of Joseph wraps up with parallels shown between Joseph and Jesus (e.g. father's love, hated by brothers, tempted, taken to Egypt, robes taken, falsely accused, placed w/two prisoners - one saved other lost, exalted after suffering, forgave those who wronged him, saved their nation, etc).  Overall, through all his years of suffering, Joseph did not see the final outcome of God's plan of deliverance, but he did not complain, was steadfast in his love for his family, and faithfully trusted God.
 

Nehemiah 13 and Conclusion

This Sunday in class, we study the last chapter in Nehemiah, and draw to a conclusion yet another Bible Study series.   Looking back, it has really been a good study, in which many truths were reviewed or revealed.

In this last chapter, it is a reminder of how important it is to remain vigilant against the natural inclinations of our sinful nature.   Nehemiah had returned to serve King Artaxerxes, as agreed upon in chapter 1.  Yet, when came back to Jerusalem after some time, he found that the people of Israel had once again disobeyed in the very same areas that they had previously committed to in their renewed covenant:

• Being set apart (no foreign alliances or marriages) - broken in vs 4-9 and 23-29
• Giving Offerings (not neglecting the House of God) - broken in vs 10-14
• Keeping the Sabbath holy (along w/Sabbath year and year of Jubilee) - broken in vs 15-22

This shows that we often fail in our same areas of weakness that we continually struggle with.  Those are the areas we need to especially protect.

In keeping with the godly leadership abilities he has shown all along, for each of these situations, Nehemiah rebuked those involved, particularly the leaders; took action to reform or correct; and PRAYED.  

Overall, to conclude, we have seen the Wall Restored (Chp 1-6) and the People/City Restored (Chp 7-13).  The following 4 P's summarize some of the key points in the whole series:

• PRAYER - Throughout the book, Nehemiah was an example of a man of PRAYER, seeking God's will, confessing the sins of the nation, requesting help, or committing his actions to God.   And in Chp 9, the Levites led the people in an amazing PRAYER of confession and worship recounting Israel's history and the revealed attributes of God
• PREPARATION - The PREPARATION that went into restoring the Wall (e.g surveying damage, obtaining materials, or organization of the rebuilding) and restoring the people (e.g. registering the people or reading God's Word) were effective in leading to the completion of the wall and revival among the people
• PROBLEMS - Examples were given on how PROBLEMS (e.g. opposition from enemies, challenges, sin, or opression) were effectively dealt with
• PASSION - Nehemiah was PASSIONATE about God's people and his calling to restore the city and the people.  Then, starting with the reading of God's Word, the Israelites' PASSION for God was renewed (e.g. revival, covenant, or dedication)

Motions

Since the first time I heard Matthew West's song "The Motions", the words very powerfully reflected what I wanted to say.  I'm sure I've even written about it before; for truly, I don't just want to go through the motions but instead I want to live my life passionately for God! 

Just this weekend, I heard Matthew West give an example of how this song changed the life of one person he met.   That person was a businessman climbing the corporate ladder; and one night at about 4AM when he was traveling for work and could not sleep, he turned on the hotel room radio to search for a Christian radio station.   When he heard the song, he really felt it was talking to him.  When the song finished, the DJ came on and said that he felt God telling him to play the song again for someone out there who needed to hear it again.   As the song played, the businessman felt a tug on his heart and prayed that if the song came on one more time, he was going to change his life and do something about it.   Thinking he was "off the hook", since there could be no way the song would be played three times in a row; he heard the DJ say at the end of the song once again, that maybe the listeners might get mad at him, but he felt that he should play the song one more time.   Well, that very night, the businessman tendered his resignation; and when he was telling the story to Matthew West, he said that he is now the pastor of the church that Matthew was singing in.  Now, THAT is a wonderfully amazing story!

Nehemiah 12

The restoration of the Wall was completed, the people had gone through a Revival and renewed their convenant with God, and some started resettling in Jerusalem.  So, now they were ready to DEDICATE the Wall to the LORD. 

This passage started with a listing of the Priests and Levites from the time of the first group that returned from exile.  This is likely because the Priests and Levites had such major roles in the Dedication, leading the people in thanksgiving, celebration, and worship.  In the listings of the Levites, particularly in vs 8-9 and vs 25, they seem so similar to those listed in other chapters in Nehemiah; that it seems to indicate that many of those who returned with Zerubbabel were those who were still serving in the time of Nehemiah, which is what vs 26 seems to allude to as well.  Given the timeline, that would mean that many had to have been very young at the time of their return from exile; and were quite advanced in age at the present time with Nehemiah.

At the Dedication, they purified themselves, sang and gave thanks, offered sacrifices, and rejoiced.   They sang their hearts out, such that "the sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away." (vs 43b)

Then they appointed men to be in charge of the storerooms for the offerings that had committed to giving in their Covenant.  And they continued purification and consecration.

This Dedication was truly one of thanksgiving and giving praise to God.   They may not have been able to celebrate as joyfully and fully if they had not gone through the revival and the renewing of the Covenant, which helped prepare them for Worship and Thanksgiving.