Wait On The Lord

This morning my reading was in Nehemiah.  One thing I really appreciate about reading through the Bible every year is how something different always jumps out at me.  

Today I wondered about the months.  Hanani came to visit Nehemiah in the month Chislev and told him of the sorry condition of the people of Judah and the destruction of the wall around Jerusalem.  The scripture says that Nehemiah was completely cast down by the news.  He was grieving and praying.  

Reading on we see that Nehemiah had the important job of cupbearer to the king.  He went to serve the king his wine in the month Nisan.  The king noticed his sadness and questioned him.

I expect that all of those who are reading this are familiar with the story.  I began to wonder just how far apart Chislev and Nisan are.  In all my readings of this book I never really thought about the time.

I looked it up and found that Chislev is the ninth month of twelve in the ancient Hebrew calendar.  Nisan is the first month.  Nehemiah waited FOUR months before appealing to the king.  Why?

He spent his time in weeping, mourning, fasting and praying.  He was waiting on the guidance of the Lord.  I can imagine him grieving and trying to figure out what he could do.  When he finally did talk to the king, he had a clear plan ready to present.  He said the hand of his God was on him for favor.  

How often do we rush ahead without waiting on the Lord?  That doesn't work out very well.  Consider when Saul got impatient for Samuel to come and offer the sacrifice to the Lord.  He got tired of waiting and offered the sacrifice himself.  Nothing good came from that.  

Nehemiah was highly successful at the task he was given.  He succeeded against terrible odds in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.  He did not let anything get in the way of doing his job.  I believe that his time of waiting on the Lord was the reason for his success. 

No matter how difficult it may be, wait on the Lord, but don't wait without weeping, mourning, fasting and praying.  

NEHUSHTAN

Most of you probably remember the story of the fiery serpents which came among the Israelites as they were wandering in the wilderness.  They had been grumbling and complaining (as usual) and God sent the serpents to bite them.  Many of the people died from the snakebites.  That made the people think and they repented and asked Moses to beg God for help.  

God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it up on a pole.  If anyone was bitten by one of the snakes, he could look at the bronze serpent and be saved.  

Now fast forward hundreds of years.  The Israelites have lived in the land for a long time.  The kingdom has been divided and Israel has gone into captivity because of their faithlessness and disobedience.  Judah is still in the land but they have had their ups and downs.

Currently the king is Hezekiah.  He was zealous for God and strove to bring the people back to faithfulness.  The people had been worshipping many false gods for many years.  Even since the time of Solomon.  The land was filled with idols.  Hezekiah destroyed them all.  

This is the part I want you to notice:   He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). 2 Kings 18:4 (ESV)

The bronze serpent that Moses had made at God's command so many years before had been kept and had become a snare.  The people were worshipping the means God provided, instead of the God who saved them.  Hezekiah destroyed it.

As I was thinking about this earlier today I thought of Jesus who was lifted up on the cross.  Just like the bronze serpent, those who are bitten by the lies of Satan can look to the one on the cross and be saved.  But unlike the bronze serpent, the one on that cross was God himself and we are to worship Him.  

Scripture tells us that a lot of people died from those snake bites.  I don't know if any died because they refused to look at the bronze serpent, but many die now because they refuse to look to the man who was God and who died on that cross.

 

 The Deadly Sin

"...you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  We all know the story.  The serpent was

crafty and deceived the woman.  He did this by appealing to her pride and causing her to question God.  Pride.  Because of pride death entered the world.  Ever since then pride has been destroying lives.  

Cain wasn't happy because God accepted Abel's sacrifice and not his.  Pride.  He murdered his brother.

Naaman thought the waters of his own home had to be better than any river in Israel.  He almost missed out on the healing God wanted to give.  

Nebuchadnezzar was so full of pride that he had a statue made of himself and commanded everyone to worship it.  Later in his life he lost his mind for seven years and lived like an animal, all because of pride.

Remember when David went up against Goliath?  Goliath was full of pride and mocked David.  That didn't last long.

What about the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.  The Pharisee even bragged about himself to God.  He was not justified.

We could go on and on.  Paul before his conversion, the apostles, Herod, Pharaoh...

James has something to say about pride. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  Pride is deadly.  It is a poison.  It will kill us.  God is opposed to pride because of his great love for us.  He knows that pride will keep us from the grace he desires to pour out on us.

How many have you known who refuse to submit to God because they think they are better than others.  They are good people and of course they don't need God.  

Pride can destroy a ministry.  When a church leader starts to feel that they are strong and can get into compromising situations and they will resist sin, pride often leads to their downfall and the destruction of their good influence.

Recently I have seen how pride can destroy a person.  A longtime worker in the kingdom has begun to think too highly of himself and is more interested in making a great name for himself than in furthering the Lord's work.  He was heard to brag that he was going to build himself the nicest house in the area.  May God humble him before it is too late.

C.S. Lewis said, “the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride.”  Pride is the foundation of sins.  We start to think we know better than God.

We must examine ourselves daily and root out pride.  We are saved by the grace of God, just as every other saved person is.  We are lost without Him.  Jesus died because of MY sins.  Pride will rear its ugly head frequently, but we must destroy it completely before it destroys us for eternity.

 February

I am one of those curious people.  I sometimes wonder about the strangest things and try to find the answers.  Recently I began to wonder about the names of the months.  

The ancient Roman empire fell centuries ago but its influence remains. Many of the months are named for Roman Gods.  As February drew near I began to wonder for what this month is named.  Here is what Wikipedia has to say: 

February got its name from the Latin word "februum," which means purification, linked to the ancient Roman festival of Februa that involved rituals of cleansing. This month was added to the calendar by King Numa Pompilius around 713 BC.

Basically, February was the month of purification. Naturally, that got me to thinking about purity.

In our Sunday evening Bible study we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount. Since we just started this a few weeks ago we are still working through the beatitudes. Thinking about February and purification linked up in my mind with our discussion of "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

What does it mean to be pure in heart? When something is pure it is all one substance. There is nothing foreign in it. Pure gold, is gold. With God's help our hearts need to be purely His. No room for anything but God. Something we must continually work toward.

Seeing God! The pure in heart will see God. Consider someone who doesn't have a pure heart toward God. That person will not see God's hand in the events of his or her life. They will not see God as they walk in the forest or under the beautiful sky. Even as we wait for our new bodies where we will be able to stand in the presence of God and see Him as He is, we can see him all around us if we have pure hearts.

As we move through February let's work on purifying our hearts, filling them so full of God that there is no room for anything else.

 It is Christmas Day!

I have heard of the poet Christina Rossetti before but, as far as I know, I hadn't read any of her poems.  In a blog post I read recently one verse of Rossetti's poem A Christmas Carol was quoted.  That inspired me to look up the entire poem which was a blessing.  Enjoy!

A Christmas Carol

In the bleak mid-winter

   Frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron,

   Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,

   Snow on snow,

In the bleak mid-winter 

   Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him

   Nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away

   When He comes to reign:

In the bleak midwinter

   A stable-place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty

   Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim

   Worship night and day,

A breastful of milk

   And a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him, whom angels

   Fall down before,

The ox and ass and camel

   Which adore.

Angels and archangels

   May have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim

   Thronged the air;

But only His mother

   In her maiden bliss

Worshipped the Beloved

   With a kiss.

What can I give Him,

   Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd

   I would bring a lamb,

If I were a Wise Man

   I would do my part,—

Yet what I can I give Him,

   Give my heart.

I am hoping to read more of her work.  

Speaking of reading!  It is almost the new year and time to begin a new Bible reading plan to read the Bible through in 2025.  I have been reading the Bible through each year for quite a few years now and I cannot tell you enough about what a blessing it has been.  

There are a lot of different Bible reading plans available online.  You can even purchase a Bible which includes reading plans.  Make it your new year's resolution to read the Bible through this next year.  If it is just too daunting there are also multi-year plans.  The important thing is to read!  I can tell you that no matter how many times you read through the Bible it never gets old.  You will find something new or be struck in a different way by something familiar every time.  

For Whom Are You Singing? 

I like to read a good novel.  I have a lot of favorites.  Reading a novel is relaxing and refreshing for me.  Every once in a while I come across something said by one of the characters that I find thought provoking.

Recently in the book I was reading the main character is frequently called upon to sing for audiences.  She doesn't enjoy doing so and is very nervous, especially in front of a large audience.  However, she has been blessed with a lovely voice and the ability to give pleasure through her singing.  

As she was sharing her feelings with another character in the book, he asked her who she was singing for.  He told her that since God created her and gave her the voice she had, he enjoyed hearing her sing.  He encouraged her to sing for an audience of One.

This interaction got me thinking.  I have heard many Christians say they do not enjoy praising God through song because they have what they consider to be poor quality voices.  

Consider what God said to Moses at the burning bush: 

"But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?"  Exodus 4:10-11 (ESV)

Moses didn't think much of his speaking ability but God tells him that he is just as God made him.  God takes pleasure in hearing us speak or sing or in seeing us serve just for Him.  

Next time you are tempted to look around and see if anyone is listening to your feeble attempts to praise God in song, remember that you are singing for an audience of one.

When you feel like you can only do something small for the Lord in comparison to what others around you do, remember that you are serving an audience of One.  

We must always strive to give and do our best for our master and we should continually try to improve.  He created us, gave us our voices and abilities and knows what we are capable of.  Let's always joyfully do our best for our audience of One.  He enjoys hearing us!

 NOXIOUS WEEDS

One of the things we really enjoy in Southern Africa is seeing the vibrantly beautiful jacaranda

trees in bloom.  Driving along and seeing those bright spots of vivid, indescribable purple/blue on the hillsides is a highlight of that season.  The trees give lovely shade and provide nesting places for all kinds of birds.  They seem perfect and wonderful.

When we lived in Namibia we had some very large Lantana plants in our yard.  I remember going with my mother to the plant nursery in the spring and purchasing lantana to put in the flower beds.  We loved them and there they were growing wild in Namibia!  I really enjoyed them.

Lantana in our backyard 

What do these two plants have in common?  In South Africa they are considered noxious weeds and you can be fined for planting them.  The Jacaranda has limited areas where it can be planted but outside of those areas it is a big no!  

Another thing they have in common is that they are beautiful.  To us they seem like wonderful parts of God's creation which were created for us to enjoy.  However, they are truly pests and difficult to eradicate once established.

As I was thinking about this I realized that there is a spiritual lesson here for us.  

"How can something that feels so right be wrong?"  "If it feels good, do it."  "If it seems right to you, it can't be wrong."  Common phrases or attitudes in our world today.  Many attitudes and activities seem so beautiful to human beings but they become noxious weeds when planted where they do not belong.  

Jesus takes the planting of those noxious weeds seriously.  In Matthew 18:7-9 he says:

“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!  And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.  And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

What about the weeds of complacency, pride, arrogance?  Remember the Pharisee?  He was thankful he wasn't like the tax collector.  Watch out for the noxious weed of the Pharisee's attitude.  What about the rich, young ruler who tried to justify himself?  Noxious weeds are everywhere.  Don't plant them.

We have to be willing to uproot those weeds in our lives.  As any gardener can tell you weeds are adaptable and persistent.  It is an ongoing process to keep the garden weed free.  The same thing is true of our lives.