Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
What a strange way to begin a story: “In the beginning the Word already existed.” But that statement’s true because that Word is Jesus! When God wanted to tell human beings about himself, when he wanted to give us good news about salvation, when he wanted to give us a message about his love for us, he sent Jesus. Jesus is God’s Word — his Message. And this Word was with the Father all along. In fact, he was “in very nature God”(Philippians 2:6). Jesus is God come to us from the depths of eternity, not as conqueror (except over sin), but as Savior, in human flesh. He is God with us, the Messenger above of all messengers, Message above of all messages.
John 1:1-5, 14 ESV
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[a] from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
If you and I want to express ourselves, you and I could use words, actions, or deeds or as they say, “Actions speak louder than words.” You and I can use our words to communicate, convey our thoughts. Actually, the best way would be through both, allowing both our actions and our words to speak to our intent.
This is exactly what God did from the very beginning in sending His Son, Jesus Christ, directly and decisively into the affairs of man. God’s actions and words are tied into the name the Apostle John uses in describing Jesus as “The Word.”
When Jesus Christ walked among us as “The Word,” He expressed what was on God’s mind – An Eternal Hope is now living and walking among us! From His actions (miracles, healing sickness and disease, raising the dead, His death and resurrection), to His words (His Parables, what He communicated, He taught of God’s love, forgiveness, salvation, and God’s kingdom, to His prophetic words of His death, resurrection, and eventual return). The Word Came Among Us!
This is all tied up in the first several verses found in John’s gospel, which is probably one of the most compact statements about Jesus, from his existence from all eternity, to His identity as being God, and then His relationship, His connection, His Koinonia (intimate fellowship) with both God and with man.
John 1:1-5 Amplified Bible
The Deity of Jesus Christ
1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word ([a]Christ), and the Word was with God, and [b]the Word was God Himself. 2 He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. 3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being. 4 In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines on in the [c]darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].
John begins his Gospel the same way the Genesis account begins in the Old Testament, “In the beginning.” (Genesis 1:1) But Jesus achieved what years of law never could and never would, and that is humanity’s salvation, that is, bringing humanity back into a right relationship with God. You might say that after an indeterminate, uncountable number of years, Jesus Came, reset history.
In our passage John says that “The Word,” which we will see is a name for Jesus, is fulfilling the plan God had in mind all along – A Living Hope for All.
So powerful is the truth found in this name the Apostle John uses that he couldn’t help using it again in his first letter to the church 50 + years later.
1 John 1:1-3 (NKJV)
What Was Heard, Seen, and Touched
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
John expresses to us Jesus is the exact representation of who God the Father is, both in His actions and words. Jesus is the exact representation of Living Hope.
The Apostle Paul clearly expressed to the Followers in Colossae these thoughts;
Colossians 1:3-18 Easy to Read Version
3 In our prayers we always thank God for you. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 We thank him because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people. 5 Your faith and love continue because you know what is waiting for you in heaven—the hope you have had since you first heard the true message, the Good News6 that was told to you. Throughout the world, this Good News is bringing blessings and is spreading. And that’s what has been happening among you since the first time you heard it and understood the truth about God’s grace. 7 You heard it from Epaphras, our dear friend and co-worker. He is a faithful servant of Christ for us.[a]8 He also told us about the love you have from the Spirit.
9 Since the day we heard these things about you, we have continued praying for you. This is what we pray:
that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need; 10 that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way; that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God[b]; 11 that God will strengthen you with his own great power, so that you will be patient and not give up when troubles come.
Then you will be happy 12 and give thanks to the Father. He has made you able to have what he has promised to give all his holy people, who live in the light. 13 God made us free from the power of darkness. And he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. 14 The Son paid the price to make us free. In him we have forgiveness of our sins.
The Son of God Is the Same as God
15 No one can see God, but the Son is exactly like God. He rules over everything that has been made.[c] 16 Through his power all things were made: things in heaven and on earth, seen and not seen— all spiritual rulers, lords, powers, and authorities. Everything was made through him and for him.
17 The Son was there before anything was made. And all things continue because of him. 18 He is the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning of everything else. And he is the first among all who will be raised from death.[d] So in everything he is most important.
The anonymous author of Hebrews expresses it rather nicely saying that Jesus was the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person.
Hebrews 1:1-4 NKJV
God’s Supreme Revelation
1 God, who [a]at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the [b]worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had [c]by Himself [d] purged [e]our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
The Son Exalted Above Angels
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say:
“You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”?
And again:
“I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”?
6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says:
“Let all the angels of God worship Him.”
7 And of the angels He says:
“Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But to the Son He says:
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A [f]scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
10 And:
“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.”
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said:
“Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. In the beginning, the Hope already existed. The Hope was with God, and the Hope was God. The Hope came! The Hope lived among us, filled with Grace and Truth and Life in more abundance than we could dare imagine.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, let us now dare Pray;
Thank you, Father in heaven, for expressing a message that I can understand. Thank you for expressing a message that I can see in action. Thank you for Jesus and all he is to me. Thank you for your One and only perfect expression of faith, hope and love, of truest salvation, and grace. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
All journeys have a beginning, a middle and an ending. We have been reflecting on the revelation of God. We have been reflecting on the reputation of God and His Son Jesus Christ. All along, we have been trying to decide whether or not we ought to choose God, His Son and the Holy Spirit as having complete command over the long course of our lives. The process of anyone making such a choice as this is immensely transformational. From the beginning, this engagement with this magnitude of “Living Hope” is fraught with many unknowns and pitfalls.
It is a good thing then that when you and I start, we first start at the beginning which we did when we began to plumb the depths of Genesis Chapter 1. Jesus was there from the very beginning as John 1:1-5 very succinctly communicates to readers. To better plumb the depths of this revelation, we begin before Jesus began to make Himself known as someone other than the son of Mary and a Carpenter.
Before Jesus made his official entrance into -public ministry, Jesus performed one sign, one miracle at a wedding. He would then go on to perform nearly 40.
Please open your Bibles to the gospel of John, chapter 2. Today we are beginning a new devotional series I have titled, “This Miracle of Transformation: Jesus the Carpenter, Jesus the Itinerant Master Rabbi, Rabbi Jesus the miracle worker.”
John 2:1-11 NKJV
Water Turned to Wine
2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were set there six water pots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and [a]manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Our text tells the story of the beginning of signs. Jesus took an ordinary occasion, a wedding, as an opportunity to act. The need was for wine. He worked a miracle to provide the wine. The miracle was also a sign.
In this devotional message we discuss (1) the occasion of the miracle, (2) the need for a miracle, (3) the performance of the miracle, and (4) the significance of the miracle.
This story, now as then, should challenge us to first, believe that the Lord Jesus is God in the flesh, believe in the ministry, mission and works of the Lord as our Savior, as having total sovereignty over our whole lives and to give Him glory.
What is our need for such knowledge and such a magnitude of conviction?
Whether we are believers or non believers or we are somewhere in the middle of making such a transformational decision, many of us, exactly right now, in this precise moment face difficult circumstances today. Perhaps you and I have said, or are currently saying: “It will take a miracle to get me through my situation.” Without something very miraculous taking place, you and I wonder if you and I will make it. With that in mind, let’s follow Jesus from Judea to Cana of Galilee.
It’s good when you start, to start at the beginning. Before Jesus made his official entrance into public ministry, Jesus performed one miracle. He would then go on to perform nearly 40. Most seem to agree on about 38 that we have record of.
It is important to stop and remember what John said: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for all the books that would be written.” I’m sure there were many other signs and miracles we are simply not aware of.
But this was the first and it is interesting that he chose to perform this miracle at a wedding. Less than a week has now gone by since Jesus had appeared in the desert. John had prophesied that Jesus was coming and when he arrived, John said, “Behold the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world.
There was a system taught in the OT for hundreds of years that on particular days man should bring a sacrifice-often a lamb. The lamb was to be without blemish. The lamb would then be sacrificed on the altar, blood would be shed and man would receive forgiveness. This completed the Scripture that says without shedding of blood there is no remission/forgiveness of sins. Now this lamb has arrived and that system from the OT is about to change completely.
This is the story of the beginning of miracles. We will discuss the wedding as an ordinary occasion which led to a miracle. Then, we will present the need for a miracle, the performance of the miracle, the significance of the miracle. This text, now as then, should challenge us to believe in the Lord, to give Him glory.
Then in just a few days a wedding takes place in Cana. We don’t know how many guests there were but the Scripture does tell us that Jesus and his mother were there and also his disciples. The Scripture gets right to the point-there was a problem-they had run out of wine and so Mary took the need directly to Jesus.
She made him aware. I suppose that it is difficult to know exactly why she told Jesus–after all we have no record of any previous miracle Jesus had performed and later in verse 11 we learn in fact that this was his first. But certainly by this time Mary was fully aware that her son, Jesus was the very Son of God himself.
So she says, ”hey, son, it looks like they don’t have any wine.” His response immediately captures our attention because it sounds so abrupt. Look at it. “What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?” Now that is tense!
Things are now beginning to change. Their relationship is beginning to change. This is likely the first time Mary had asked Jesus for help in a public setting. And what Jesus has to say here in the 2nd part….when He says what does this have to do with me? Seems to be explained in the last part. My hour has not yet come.
So Mary who is apparently expecting this need to be taken care of then speaks to the servants and said, “Do whatever he tells you.” There’s a principle found here that God’s people have attempted to live by for 2000 years and here it is:
• Do whatever he tells you.
Mary knew that her son Jesus could do whatever was necessary to transform a negative situation as long as the servants obeyed. And the same is true today.
• Jesus is more than able to do whatever was necessary/needed in your family
• Jesus is more than able to do whatever is necessary in your personal life.
• Jesus is more than able to do whatever is necessary to heal relationships, to heal people, to heal circumstances.
You see the beginning of the first transformation. You see for the very first time Jesus acting directly and decisively in the affairs of ‘troubled’ man, the public is about to see that in any situation, Jesus the miracle worker can take something that is broken and fix it. He can take something which is old and make it new.
Look at what he does. Verse six. There are six stone jars and each one will hold about 20 gallons. Possibly 30. So we have over 120 gallons of water available.
They are told to take them and fill them to the brim. These pots were used for washing. The Jews had practiced for years that they should not eat until they had washed their hands carefully. We still practice this. “Hey kids wash up it’s time to eat.” These large pots were used because they also had to wash cooking utensils as well; pots and pans. So Mary tells them to fill them and the narrator John reports they filled them up to the brim. Now not sure why we have that particular detail except that it does point out that nothing else was added.
No wine was added. No grapes, no fruits of the vine No Kool-Aid was added. No food coloring was added. Just water from the well-filled directly unto the top.
So now Jesus chooses some of the servants to help again and he tells them to draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. Not to the waiters, not to the maître d’… Take it to the master. The main guy. Now these would be very heavy. A gallon of water weighs just over 8 pounds so each container could have weighed in excess of 200 pounds and there are six of them. So there were more than just a few men who are carrying these. Because this is over 1200 pounds.
So the host asked for wine and they bring water. It happens sometimes. Hey, I ordered sweet tea you know the stuff dripping and saturated with sugar. This is unsweetened tea. This is terrible. Or I ordered Coke, not Diet Coke or Pepsi.
The host ordered wine— they were bringing out water cause they were just doing what Mary had told them to do-Jesus had told him as well and so they were just following orders. We know it was water when they left the kitchen with it so we kind of have to conclude that the water miraculously transformed into wine somewhere between the kitchen and the head table at the banquet.
It’s like the waiters at a steak house walking out of the kitchen carrying a whole side of beef and he says, because it is a special customer, I need you to become a nice juicy ribeye, medium well by the time we get to serve the guest at the table.
That takes faith and obedience. It’s difficult to do what God tells us to do when we look at the situation. The circumstances. It often looks virtually impossible.
But as much as we desire to ask so many questions, to dot every “I” and cross every “t” and know every single detail. God says just do what I told you to do.
And that is what Mary had said and what Jesus had requested. This is what the master of the banquet, not Jesus, I’m speaking of the master of ceremonies— and told the wedding servants for them to do on behalf of every single guest.
So they discussed it with no one and they marched out with it. They took it over to the master of ceremonies. Since he was responsible-he had to make sure all the food and drink was “Reasonably” acceptable. So, in the regular course of his responsibilities, when he tasted the “new” wine the Text says, something about the wine had been transformed for the better and he knew not whence it came.
The master is obviously surprised because this wine actually tasted better than the wine they had earlier. You see it was customary to serve the best wine first-then when people continued to celebrate and drink, they did not care as much what it taste like you would bring the lesser wine-the one that was not so good.
For me, because I am Diabetic, I made the choice to refrain from alcohol in any form. Champagne, wine, beer, hard liquor-I drink none of it and have not for well over 20 years. I do not know what you choose to do… That is between you, your family, friends and God but if you have problems in this area, if you drink and don’t know when to stop; if there is a history of alcoholism in your family or you have a personal history then I encourage you to completely abstain.
Look now at verse 11. This is an important verse because it reminds us that every miracle Jesus performed had a purpose. It was never simply a display of power. John said Jesus performed this very first sign in Cana. What is a sign?
When we are traveling down the highway and we see a road sign, that sign is always pointing you and I towards something is about to occur. Rough road, Uneven lines. School zone. Deaf Child zone, Slow down. Curve in the road, Ice on the roads and bridges ahead; communicating: Slow down. Trouble is ahead. But signs are not always negative. If you’re traveling down the highway there also positive signs. Motel 6 and Cracker Barrel ahead, likewise Rest stop is ahead.
But, here, Narrator John is referring to the miraculous transformation of the water into wine, but not just any wine, but wine far exceeding all standards of the day, and indeed, far exceeding all standards of any day and any time frame.
Several things happen as a result of this miracle.
(1) Jesus revealed his glory. The glory of God was revealed that day.
(2) His disciples put their faith in him; apparently for the first time. Remember, his brother James did not believe until the resurrection. Their faith was solidified at this moment and now they were ready to follow him anywhere
(3) The law was exchanged for grace. This ceremony washing hands—that’s what these jars had been used for. Now all of this was replaced with something new.
(4) The law of Moses was exchanged for the law of grace. Now we would be cleansed by the blood of the cross.
You know, under the old system of beliefs and traditions, if you have to keep going back time after time and completing this ceremonial washing of hands you are constantly reminded that it is not enough. You just get unclean again. One more animal sacrifice. Again and again. But now we have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. And this same Jesus continues to change lives today.
We are living the ordinary life in extraordinary times. The Best is Yet to Come!
We are each confronted by extraordinary challenges. The Best is Yet to Come!
We are “hot wired” by God to overwhelm, to overcome. The Best is Yet to Come!
I am “hot wired” by God, “believe in infinitely more.” The Best is Yet to Come!
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, let us now Pray,
Lord, we need a miracle today. Like Jesus changing water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana, we need a water to wine miracle today. We are tired, Lord, of the hurts of this world. We are discouraged in the face of injustice, war, poverty, and indifference. We need a miracle of water to wine today, Lord. Your steadfast love, like a mighty mountain, will not be moved. Your gifts, as many as the mighty winds, cannot be counted. Your glory, like a mighty torch, will not be put out. Lord, crown us with your love. Show us your water to wine glory, that in you we may be moved to acts of kindness, love, justice, and mercy. Lord, we need a miracle today. Alleluia! Amen.
How do you and I view and react to the world around us? Do you and I have a Biblical worldview? Do you and I see and view the world through the leaves, the ever spreading vines of a carefully grown, well manicured thorn laden rose tree?
Colossians 2:8-12 NASB
8 See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, [a]rather than in accordance with Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made [b]complete, and He is the head [c]over every ruler and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Hot button topics. Politically Incorrect, Aggressively Divisive and Taboo topics. Topics few people are prepared to converse about, have meaningful discussions and debates over without either side being prepared for open vitriolic warfare. The idea of civilized, non judgmental conferences and educational moments? Those topics for which only highly skilled, well reputed mediators dare to tread. Yet these hot plate topics rigorously define nearly every individuals world view.
Immigration, Abortion. Euthanasia. Pornography. Same-sex marriage. Gender, Transgender rights. Embryonic research. Genetic enhancement. You can add to this mix COVID, mandated vaccines, out of control government spending, etc.
Christians and Non Christians who are surveying the cultural landscape in the West have a clear sense that things are headed in a destructive direction. While most believers can easily (readily?) identify the symptoms of decline, few feel competent to diagnose and address the root causes. There are many complex factors, concerns behind these developments, but one invaluable tool for better understanding and engaging with our culture is the concept of worldview.
What is a worldview. The fact is, everyone has a worldview. It is how we see the world around us and we interpret and react to events. A worldview is the core of what we steadfastly truly believe (not just give lip service to), likewise defend.
It answers the basic questions of life:
How did we get here (creation and the universe)?
Where are we going (the meaning of history)?
What is the nature of reality (physical or spiritual or both)?
What is the nature of God, or transcendent reality? (is there a higher power?)
What is the nature of truth (objective or subjective)?
What is the nature of human beings? (who are we and how did we get here?)
What happens to human beings when they die? (is there eternal life?)
What guidelines determine human behavior? (ethics and morals, who decides?)
Where did we (human kind) go wrong? (or have we gone wrong?)
Is there a fix?
How these questions are answered determines our outlook on the world. These are just a few of the questions that define our worldview. For example, if we have a naturalist or humanistic worldview where we are just a comic accident and there is a natural explanation to all that there is, then humans are just highly developed, evolved animals. If that is the case then, so what is the big deal about abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, mandated vaccines, the like?
If we are here by accident, then who are you to tell me what my morals should be, to dare question my ethics, Who are you to tell me what is right and wrong?
The fact is, our worldview matters. It matter in how re react, in a God honoring way to the world around us. The worldviews of others in our culture explains why we as a people, a nation, a culture, is headed in a destructive direction.
Over the course of this devotion, we will explore our worldview, then contrast it with the worldviews of our culture, try to sort out world versus. Christian view.
We genuinely need to critically examine our own view of the world. Paul tells us:
2 Corinthians 13:5 NASB
5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you [a] fail the test?
Do we have a true Biblical Worldview? Notice I am no longer saying a Christian worldview. I will now be deliberately changing that term because the very word “Christian” has been so grievously altered, misused, deliberately misapplied, and distorted over time. But I will use the term “Biblical Worldview” meaning, “does our view of the world measure up to what the Word of God tells us, not someone’s concept of what a Christian ought to believe or ought to live?”
1 Timothy 6:20-21 NASB
20 Timothy, protect what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” — 21 which some have professed and thereby have gone astray [a]from the faith.
Here’s the problem. According to recent survey (May 2021) commissioned by the Family Research Council under the direction of George Barna:
* 80 percent of born-again Christians claim to have a biblical worldview, but only 19 percent have one.
* 74 percent of conservatives claim to have a biblical worldview, but only 16 percent do.
* 44 percent of millennials (ages 25-40) claim a biblical worldview; only 4 percent have one.
This only represents just a small sample of people who were surveyed. If we were to do this self same sample on a significantly wider and broader scope, how would these results change – would the percentages increase of decrease?
As I further perused the report of the statistics for mainline Protestant churches and evangelical churches, the magnitude of numbers were just about as dire:
* 69% of adults who attend a mainline Protestant church (Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal, etc.) claim they have a biblical worldview, but only 8% actually have one.
* 81% who attend an evangelical church (many non-denominational and most Baptist) claim they have a biblical worldview, but only 21% actually have one.
No wonder the church is in trouble today. Most of the so-called “born-again” believers do not know what they believe, or they do not realize that their beliefs are corrupted by the world.
This corruption of beliefs didn’t happen by accident. We are exposed to the philosophies of the world every day, through the culture we live in, through TV shows piped into our living rooms, through our news sources, through the internet and let us not speak about social media and its effect on our world.
Very little of what we are exposed to in the world reflect the Judeo-Christian principles which formed and guided this nation for many years. Since WW2, we have seen a marked moral decline in our culture. America is quickly going the way of Europe, which has virtually been godless for many years, where now most churches and cathedrals there are merely museums of an era gone by.
We do not need to tell or yell at each other how worldview has grown, being very intolerant of anything espousing biblical values. Our Christian foundations are being systematically destroyed. King David asked the question in his day:
Psalm 11:1-3 NASB
11 In the Lord I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain? 2 For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, They have [a]set their arrow on the string To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?”
The worldview of those in our modern culture has invaded the church. In our postmodern culture, truth itself has been lost and is now relative. What is true for you may not be what is true for me and vise-versa. Whereas formally a difference of opinion was tolerated, now anything that does not agree with the current worldview, what is considered politically correct, or the current cultural norms, are now labeled as bigoted and intolerant, and other negative adjectives.
In our current “woke” “cancel culture” we can no longer even say 2+2=4. Even the truth of mathematics is now subjective to whatever you want 2+2 to equal.
A young man who had recently graduated from high school, told me about a mathematics teacher who labeled him a “bigot” for thinking it was important to get the right answer. “As long as students worked together in a group and achieved consensus, the teacher insisted, the outcome was also acceptable.”
Here is a fact that we can and must live with.
There is absolute truth in the universe. And He can be known.
John 14:6 NASB
6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.
Jesus also said that:
John 8:31-32 NASB
The Truth Will Set You Free
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
But what the world calls the truth and Bible calls the truth are often two different things. When we see the world with spiritual eyes guided by the Holy Spirit, we see the world differently from others.
1 Corinthians 2:12-16 NASB
12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, [a]combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
14 But [b]a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But the one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is [c]discerned by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
But the very real, unspoken problem in the church is we are surrounded by the world and are daily being bombarded by the philosophies of the world. There are ultra slick talking politicians and others who can sell a drowning man water. And we, being ignorant of the Scriptures will accept human reasoning and the arguments of why the world is the way it is. This is nothing new. There has always been those who will raise doubt in our minds since the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:1 NASB
The Fall of Mankind
3 Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
Romans 1:25 NASB
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for [a]falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed [b]forever. Amen.
Most of the letters in the New Testament, those of Paul, Peter, James and John, spend a great deal of time warning the early church about the deception of false teachers and about heresies that creep into the fellowship.
Today’s verses are typical of these warnings.
We are warned not be taken captive from “philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition.” Philosophy means the “love of wisdom.” Seeking wisdom is not evil in and of itself, for the book of Proverbs has a fair amount to say about seeking wisdom.
But seeking human wisdom, wisdom that is apart for Jesus is evil.
Colossians 2:1-3 NASB
You Are Built Up In Christ
2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have in your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not [a]personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and that they would attain to all the wealth [b]that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Seeking after human wisdom and saying that through human reasoning all can be answered, is evil because that is the core of the humanist worldview. Humanist view is the humans are the end of all things intellectually. So we are warned about human reasoning and philosophy, because: human reasoning is “in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ.”
The term “elementary principles of the world” has been debated by scholars for years. But those things of the “natural world” like “earth, fire, wind, and water,” what the ancients thought everything was composed of.
Today, our elementary things of the world consist of the “big bang” and the millions and billions of years of random chance (evolution) as the explanation as to why of where we are here today, and this naturalism worldview has been taught in our school for almost 100 years. No wonder the kids today think the things of the Bible are mere fairy tales. None of these things are from Christ, Who is more than the Author of Truth, He is Truth. Paul also warned Timothy:
1 Timothy 6:20-21 NASB
20 Timothy, protect what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” — 21 which some have professed and thereby have gone astray [a]from the faith.
We need to hold tight to what we have been given. Paul says to “protect,” other translations has “guard.” This is a command. Hold these close, the truth of the Scriptures. Do we understand it all. No, but our lack of understanding does not change the truth. If anything, it should encourage us to study all the more. We need to avoid “worldly, empty chatter and the opposing arguments.” This is also a command in the form of a participle. We are to avoid these things.
Paul tells us that many Christians have fallen for these false knowledge (or outright lies) and by doing so “have gone astray from the faith.” The Bible is true in all that is says, whether of history, of science, or of the things and nature of God. If we have a true Biblical worldview, we would be vastly different from the world around us and we need to be ready for the world to “easily” label us as believing backwards, bigoted, homophobic, and a host of other negative terms.
But Jesus is returning soon.
Luke 18:1-8 NASB
Parables on Prayer
18 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not become discouraged, 2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect any person. 3 Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my [a]opponent.’ 4 For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect any person, 5 yet because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise [b]by continually coming she will wear me out.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge *said; 7 now, will God not bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day [c]and night, and will He delay long for them? 8 I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [d]faith on the earth?”
When He returns, will he find us believing Him, obeying Him, reacting to the world based on his truth, or will we be found with the rest the world? Will he find us doing His will or our will and the will of the world? Important questions!
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now Pray,
Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus and that all things were made by Him and for Him. I realize that without Him there is no meaning in life. Keep me from being influenced by the enticing arguments, idle philosophies and crude notions of human traditions, which inevitably look for answers to life, anywhere except to the truth, which is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in the Word of God. Thank You that He is the only way, the only truth and the only life. May I grow in grace and in a knowledge of Jesus day by day Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! AMEN.
12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Hope is a very precious and wonderful thing. Today’s text is a helpful and important proverb, if you will consider it carefully. Without hope, men get desperate and will do most anything to escape their hopelessness. With hope, men can endure most anything, no matter how desperate their conditions become. Wise, prudent, diligent men will appreciate the great value of hope.
As my father would say; “Do not put off till tomorrow what you can do today!”
Here are several questions we ought to ask about hope.
Do we know where to look for it?
Do we know where to find it?
Do we know what it looks like or smells like or taste or feels like?
Do we how to keep it?
Do we know how painful it is when others lose it?
Do we know how to give it to others?
Will we receive it for ourselves and freely give it to others?
Wisdom is the power of making well considered, right decisions and exercising right judgment. – knowing what tough choices to make in any given situation. Wisdom includes these making meaningful decisions, learning crucial lessons from what went right and what went wrong and learning about faith and hope.
Hope is expectation of something desired. If the thing we desire is not obtained in the time expected, our hearts and souls are grieved and pained by the delay. But when the desired thing finally arrives, it is for us as a tree of life sprouting from the soils (Matthew 13:18-23): from our working each of the difficult soils and achieving success at each level our hearts and souls are encouraged and revived. These two aspects of hope are true in all matters, spiritual and natural.
Hope can be a pleasant thought, if we are confident of our desires being fulfilled on our timing. But it can also be a painful reminder, if you are disappointed with delays or difficulties in obtaining our desires. Hunger and thirst are example. It makes food and water delightful, when we eat and drink on time. But it can be quite torturous, if we are somehow kept from our eating and drinking on time.
Diabetics know this very well. Their bodies are disciplined to a certain schedule of eating and glucose testing. Fast-acting, and Intermediate-acting and Long-acting insulins each act on different timing on the body and are each given at different times of the day based on an individual’s eating and drinking habits. Over time, the individual will train and discipline their bodies and their bodies will learn how to respond in kind and be ready to maintain a necessary balance. Moving outside those times represents a risk to the diabetic for hypoglycemia.
Hopelessness is one of the most destructive and painful feelings in the human experience. It must be avoided at all costs, because it will destroy a man’s outlook and performance. A wise and prudent man sets his hope on sure things, and he avoids any desires or expectations for the vain things of this world that risk leading to them despair or frustration. He well understands human frailty, avoids setting expectations too high, learns contentment. (Philippians 4:10-14)
Proverbs 13:12 The Message
12 Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around.
Today’s proverb is placing before us a truly timeless truth – that when we hope for something and that hope is indefinitely put off – we can become heart-sick for that thing. When we want something very badly, we begin to set our sights upon it and long for it. If that thing does not come to us – the longing increases to the point where we cannot get it out of our minds. From that point there is an increasing burden being placed upon our hearts for the thing we long for in life.
But if what we long for is not so easily within our grasp – and we ourselves cannot hope to bring it within our grasp – our hearts will grow sick over it. Soon, we find ourselves in a morose and depressed state over this thing – where it slowly dominates our lives. If there is not a relieving of that situation – we will lose hope altogether – which is a sad state to be in as we walk through life.
I am sure we have all met someone who has utterly lost hope – embittered against someone, something, even against God – they live a life defined not by what they have – but by the one “hope” thing they did not get. They are a bitter, resentful, horrid lot – and very difficult for any someone to be around.
We begin our thoughts by taking a look at the general application of our verse.
Proverbs are general statements which teach us wisdom by making pointed observations about life. Because they are short, they come at us fast, but we need to slow down and take the time to reflect on them if we are going to absorb their wisdom. And this proverb makes the accurate observation that: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
The first part of the verse Proverbs 13:12 has to do with waiting. (deferred)
None of us like waiting! Whether we are waiting for a phone call, waiting for a package to arrive, or just waiting for the light to change, none of us like to wait.
Now those are all pretty simple examples of waiting, but sometimes waiting involves more serious circumstances. What if you are unemployed and waiting for a job to come through? What if you are ill and waiting for the doctors to find a solution? What if you are single and waiting to find that special person? I am sure you can think of many examples where waiting is not merely inconvenient but downright difficult and discouraging and potentially worse, depressing.
When you are waiting and hoping for something to come through, and it doesn’t come through, that is what Proverbs 13:12 means by “hope deferred.” The word translated “deferred” in this verse is a word that means something that is indeterminately drawn out or postponed. And when you are hoping for something important, waiting for it, longing for it, and it keeps on getting postponed or pushed further down the road, it makes your heart utterly sick.
There are a whole lot of unfulfilled wishes in this life, and so there are a lot of heartsick people in this world. Perhaps you are one of them. If so, my heart goes out to you, because there is no sickness quite so disheartening as heartsickness. But, we must see there is a second half to this proverb we must look at as well.
Proverbs often work in pairs, and the second part usually balances out the first part. So yes, hope deferred makes the heart sick, “but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” When you’ve been waiting for something for so long, and then it finally comes true, Proverbs 13:12 says it is like a tree of life.
It’s an interesting metaphor, because in the Bible the tree of life first shows up in the book of Genesis in the Garden of Eden. We read in Genesis 2: “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:8-9)
Recall from Genesis 2, Adam was told not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and when he and Eve did they were banished from the Garden so that they would not take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. The wages of sin is death, and in sinning against God, Adam and Eve forfeited their right to eternal life in God’s presence.
So the tree of life shows up at the beginning of the Bible. And guess where it shows up again? In the book of Revelation at the very end of the Bible! In Revelation chapter 22, the very last chapter of the Bible we read: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1-12)
Here we see that the tree of life is not only a symbol of eternal life but also a symbol of healing. And I believe that’s the image we are supposed to get from Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, when something is sick it also needs healing. So a longing fulfilled brings healing for the heartsick soul.
Almost immediately I think of Naomi in the Old Testament book of Ruth. Naomi was heartsick after losing her husband and two sons, but then God provided for her desperate needs through her relationship with her daughter-in-law, Ruth.
And when Ruth married Boaz and gave birth to a son, and they brought that son to Naomi, Naomi’s bitterness lifted and she experienced healing as she held and cradled that baby in her lap. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” and healing for the soul.
So we have examined and briefly studied the general application of this proverb. But what is the personal application? Where does this proverb fit or place in our decision to follow God or not to follow God? What relevance in the 21st century?
The personal application I believe is this: Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all our deferred longings. Everything you have ever desired is found in him. He is the Savior. He is the Messiah. He is the answer to our questions. He is the one we have been looking for all your life. (John 14:1-6)
There is, with little doubt, so much heartsickness in our world today. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is good news of great joy that is for all people, and that includes us! When we come to Christ, our whole outlook on life changes. We read these words of David in Psalm 39: “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” (39:7) And when your and mine steadfast hope is in Christ you, I, will not be disappointed.
Referring ourselves back to the text from Jeremiah 29:11-14 God tells those who trust in Christ: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” He works it all out!
The book of Lamentations says: “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:19-26)
The Apostle Paul writes in the New Testament book of Romans: “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:1-5)
Every person born into this world is heartsick apart from Christ. Our hearts are literally sick with sin, and we need the healing that only Jesus can bring. He is the tree of life that brings forgiveness and cleanses our hearts from sin. He is the ONLY one who brings eternal salvation and fulfills our deepest longings.
It was St. Augustine of Hippo who prayed these famous words unto God: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in you.” (Confessions, Book 1)
Was your heart restless yesterday?
Is your heart restless exactly right now? Here today?
Will it also be restless tomorrow?
Is your heart sick from disappointment after disappointment in life? Is your heart sick with sin and guilt and in need of cleansing? Then why wait any longer? Come to Christ. He is the Savior. He is the Healer. He is the Giver of Life.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
Jesus died on the cross to pay the ultimate penalty for our sin and to give us life. The cross was a tree of death for Jesus, but a tree of eternal life for you and me.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now Pray;
Heavenly Father, thank You that Christ is the Light of the world and in Him is life, and health, and wholeness. Thank You that in Him we find peace with God when we trust Him for our salvation. Thank You that as Your children, we have Your heavenly peace – the peace that passes understanding, which guards the heart and enlivens the soul. Thank You for Your amazing plan of redemption, for the forgiveness of sin, and life everlasting, and thank You that the day is coming when we will see Jesus face to face and have full and free access to the living Tree of Life, in the paradise of God. Praise His holy name, AMEN.
Premise for Today: In these contemporary days, what about the importance of understanding how our actions, attitudes reflect upon the character of God, how our actions reflect back upon His reputation affecting the world at large.
Throughout history, there have been a proliferation of sports scandals at the amateur and professional levels. Most recently the “sign stealing” scandal in professional baseball. In most, if not all of these situations, there was a key moment of decision when the decision was made to cheat and when allegations inevitably surfaced. The cheaters choice was between character and reputation.
Ideally, each of us would like to have both – both a strong character and a good reputation. However, circumstances often force us to choose one or the other. If I choose character, then my integrity will lead me to do the right thing, perhaps even at the expense of the reputation of my organization, family or myself. If I allow the most important issue to be how something will look to others, then I will immediately go into damage control and take actions to limit any news getting out. This can easily lead to a delay or absence of proper accountability.
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” –Late UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden (1910 – 2010).
You and I will have opportunities throughout our lives to uphold both our reputations and our characters. Sometimes we might have to choose one. May you and I always desire to please God and make the choice that honors Him.
But, what of God’s reputation? God has given His children many promises to hold on to. Jesus relied exclusively on His Fathers reputation when ministering to the people of His day. Jesus Implicitly trusted His Father’s reputation and His Character. This implicit trust never even minimally wavered. This measure of trust in His Heavenly Father was such that He willingly chose Death at Calvary! Considering the intervening years between Calvary and 2021, Is this where our measure and degree of trust in the reputation of God and Jesus Christ remains?
The question of whether or not we choose to accept God’s free offer of salvation rests squarely upon our own degree and measure of trust in the one giving the promise in the first place. Because the great and final issue of redemption is to be the reputation of God and His Son and Holy Spirit too. That’s the goal of all spiritual achievements. That’s the glorious climax of all things. Father God, His Son Jesus Christ will have a universal and glorious and everlasting reputation!
I know there are uncountable numbers of individuals across the great expanse of the earth who likewise have questions about the worthiness of God and the reputation and character of His Son, Jesus Christ. These questions and concerns are definitely righteous ones to be asked and worthy of being given a response. I do not know if anything I write may change your minds about God and/or His Son, Jesus, to which I only respond, changing your mind is out of my pay grade.
What matters more to you: the opinion of others or the opinion of God?
When you do wrong, are you more focused on the wrongdoing or on getting caught?
Could you be satisfied if God were pleased with you but everyone in the world was displeased?
What if everyone in the world was pleased with you, but God was displeased?
So, what does the Word of God say and teach us about the Reputation of God?
Ezekiel 36:16-28 HCSB
Restoration of Israel’s People
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, while the house of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it with their conduct and actions. Their behavior before Me was like menstrual impurity. 18 So I poured out My wrath on them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered among the countries. I judged them according to their conduct and actions. 20 When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said about them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh, yet they had to leave His land in exile.’ 21 Then I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went.
22 “Therefore, say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will honor the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am Yahweh”—the declaration of the Lord God—“when I demonstrate My holiness through you in their sight.
24 “For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone[a] and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances. 28 Then you will live in the land that I gave your fathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.
The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Ezekiel 36:22 Amplified
Israel to Be Renewed for His Name’s Sake
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.
Here in Ezekiel 36:22, the term “name” speaks of God’s reputation. We often say, “That man has a great name.” What we really mean is that his character results in a far-reaching reputation. O we might hear it said that someone’s name has been dragged through the mud—scandalized, tarnished, or soiled.
Webster says that a reputation is “an estimation, favorably or unfavorably, in which a person or thing is held.”
Think of some names with me. What reputation(s) do they conjure up in your mind? What does history tell us about their character as they lived their days?
– Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler: Genocidal evil
– Albert Einstein: Scientific genius
– Moses: deliverer
– Joshua: Leadership
– Michelangelo: art
– The Carnegies and the Rockefellers: Titans of Industry and Philanthropy
– Pope John Paul 2, Mother Teresa: Saintly compassion
– Thomas Stephen Monaghan: American entrepreneur who founded Domino’s Pizza in 1960.
– God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – Genesis 1-2, John 1:1-5, Acts 2
Where does God derive His reputation from?
– His creation
– His mighty acts on behalf of mankind
– His Word
– His spokesmen
– His people
– His enemies
We find God’s reputation described by the term “name” in many places in the Bible. One impressive instance occurs in the record of Joshua. When Israel was defeated by the men of Ai, Joshua pleaded with the Lord. He said, “O Lord, what am I to do now that Israel has fled from her enemies? For when the Canaanites and the nations hear about it, they will wipe us out. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name? (Joshua 7:8-9).
Joshua dreaded that God’s reputation might be ruined. And so should we!
Let’s consider some features of God’s reputation.
1. GOD MUST HAVE A NAME
It’s an absolute necessity, for His own sake, for His people’s sake, and for the world’s sake.
We hear much these days about the rights of the individual. What about God’s rights? Is He not entitled to a name, a reputation? He is declared to be the Creator of all that is. He is the Author of Life. He is perfect in all His ways. His love knows no limits. He is the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Surely He is deserving of a reputation that is above all reputations.
God is not impassive. He has feelings. He has personal desires. And He desires a reputation widespread and splendid. But He doesn’t desire it for His own sake alone. He desires it for His people’s sake.
One of the greatest blessings is to know what the character of God is like. We need to study the attributes of God. We need to become more and more familiar with His desires and goals so that we might understand His will for our lives.
It’s also necessary that God have a perfect reputation for the world’s sake. Man, considered as separated from God by sin, needs to know His redeeming name. Give God a name! The world needs to hear of His reputation as the Lover of our souls!
2. GOD’S DELIVERANCES GIVE HIM A NAME
– He delivered the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage
– He delivered Daniel from the lion’s jaws
– He delivered Jonah from a sea monster
– He delivers sinners from condemnation
– He delivers us from fear, evil habits and Satan’s control
– He delivers us from sorrow and depression and a feeling of worthlessness
Again and again He has done it! Spread His fame abroad. Proclaim it everywhere. He deserves it. We owe it to Him.
3. THE CHARACTERSITICS OF GOD’S PEOPLE
GIVE HIM A NAME
It can be truthfully said that we, as believers help shape the reputation of God in the minds of others by the way we live. God’s reputation as an “Enabler” is enhanced or tarnished, depending on how well we manifest the fruits of the Spirit.
Men always think more highly of God when they see the qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness and self-control in His people. Our lives are the only theology most people will read. We should make it our aim to give the world an adequate and lovely impression of God.
A pious long standing church member, who thought himself to be a truly great Christian, visited a junior department of the Sunday school. The Superintendent asked him to say a few word to the boys and girls. He stood pompously before them and asked, “Why do you think people call me a Christian?” There was an embarrassing silence. Then a small voice from the back of the room said,
“Is it Because they don’t know you?”
The story is also told of a soldier in the army of Alexander the Great, who was brought before the great world-conqueror for court martial. When the emperor had listened to the charges and the evidence, he turned to the soldier facing condemnation and said, “What is your name?” “Alexander!” was the reply.
Again the emperor questioned, “What is your name?” And the second time the soldier answered, “Alexander.” With a cry of rage, the emperor roared, “I say, what is your name?” And when the soldier answered for the third time as he had before, the great general angrily replied, “You say your name is Alexander? You are found guilty of your crime as charged and now you must truly pay the penalty. Either change your conduct or change your name, for no man can bear the name of Alexander, my name, and do any of the things that you have done.”
4. TRANSFORMATIONS GIVE GOD A NAME
The crowning work of God is the transformation of a soul—from a sinner to a saint—from self-centeredness to God and neighbors-centeredness—from darkness to light—from wickedness to righteousness—from fear to faith—from bondage to freedom.
And who else could do it but God? Nothing gives God greater fame in all the world than a regenerated individual! Men may argue theology and doctrine but not a changed life.
When the Lord wanted to make an impression on this old world that men or devils, time or eternity could not erase, he met Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road and pulled him off of his little donkey, blinded him and put him to praying. True transformation of the soul leads to a life of service, sacrifice, and praise. These qualities will not go unnoticed by the unbelieving world. They will serve to remind them of the nature of God, reputation of Jesus. (Galatians 2:19-21)
The apostles and other 1st century Christians lived such consecrated lives that people from all walks of life sat up and took notice (Acts 2 – 3). Many of them were drawn to Christ because they were amazed and astounded when they asked themselves, “What kind of a God must this Jesus Christ be that He could command such unyielding loyalty, such willing sacrifice, such total service?”
5. PRAISE GIVES GOD A NAME
This involves not only gratitude, but also speaking up whenever God’s name is blasphemed or brought into question. We must not be ashamed to testify as to His greatness and grandeur.
Our steadfast praise and devotion speaks of and decisively to God’s goodness, faithfulness, and unchanging devotion to His children. We especially enhance the reputation of God when we praise God during severe trials and suffering. His grace and strength are testimonies to His enduring love and undying hope.
Worthy! What a beautiful word! For those of us who are disciples of Jesus, we know of only one who is truly worthy. He is worthy to open the scroll and reveal the future. He is worthy of praise and adoration. Why? Because even though he was holy, perfect and heavenly, his death on the cross to purchase our pardon, forgiveness, and salvation made him worthy. And he did it not just for us, but also for people of all races and languages and cultures. Jesus, you are worthy!
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now Pray!
The Reputation of Love has its source in you Creator God flows from you like an ocean into a world as unyielding as any shoreline cliff And like the ocean which batters erodes and wears away even the hardest stone your love persists finds cracks and inlets in hardened hearts flows inside and works a miracle. Who would think that water was more powerful than granite love mightier than the hardest heart Thank you, Creator God for the power of your love and reputation of your name!
“Due to the current financial constraints, the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off for the foreseeable future!” “With the raising costs of energy and our budget already constrained beyond its reasonable limits, with no desire to enter bankruptcy anytime or ever ….” so reads a notice on a local notice board.
Someone has deemed it necessary to shut off the light at the end of our tunnel! With no expressed promise the light will ever be turned on again? How does it sound for someone contending for a gold medal in ultimate pessimism? Not one press release extending hope will be forthcoming from anyone in any authority!
Now, who has the right to make such a statement? Who has both of their hands on the switch which permanently shuts off down Tunnel of Hope’s power grid?
Answer is quite obviously – no one! Nobody can take away the power of hope unless you let him. Hope is as essential to life as oxygen is to your human body.
Yet, how can we find even the slightest evidence of hope in “impossible” times?
Stand in God for He will be with you now and forever. When we are laid low, He is the ONE with the power to stand us up, He watches over you and He shields you. Pray! Do not be afraid for He is the never ending source of your strength.
Job 5:1-11 HCSB
5 Call out if you please. Will anyone answer you? Which of the holy ones will you turn to? 2 For anger kills a fool, and jealousy slays the gullible. 3 I have seen a fool taking root, but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home. 4 His children are far from safety. They are crushed at the city gate, with no one to rescue them. 5 The hungry consume his harvest, even taking it out of the thorns.[a] The thirsty[b] pant for his children’s wealth. 6 For distress does not grow out of the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the ground. 7 But mankind is born for trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
8 However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and would present my case to Him. 9 He does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. 10 He gives rain to the earth and sends water to the fields. 11 He sets the lowly on high, and mourners are lifted to safety.
The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Job’s life has been turned completely upside down and utterly backwards. His children are all “suddenly dead.” All of his vast storehouses of property and wealth have suddenly evaporated. And if things seemingly could not get any worse, his whole body is afflicted by weeping sores and his wife tells him to “just curse God” and go off somewhere all by yourself and end it all and die. From every possible blessing he could hope for to every curse he did not want.
In the twinkling of an eye someone has pulled the switch on the light in Job’s tunnel. At the snap of some finger from somewhere Job could not identify, his very existence was unceremoniously thrown into chaos. He could not identify who it was who had done such a thing without even one warning whatsoever. Now, he is thrown into a situation where he must figure out; “what’s next?” Where does one even begin, aside from “cursing God and dying” to answer it?
Can you hear Job’s Lament across the great expanse of time from his wilderness unto these contemporary times where it seems Covid pandemic has turned off the lights at the end of too many of our tunnels? Where the economics does not yet support giving someone the authority and the power to turn them back on? It is crystal clear that there is nowhere on earth where our tunnels are all lit up at the same time! Do we hear our Lament coming from those darkened tunnels?
Psalm 42
Longing for God!
1 As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, “Where is your God?” 4 I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God, with joyful and thankful shouts.
5 Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God. 6 I[a] am deeply depressed; therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me. 8 The Lord will send His faithful love by day; His song will be with me in the night— a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I go about in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?” 10 My adversaries taunt me, as if crushing my bones, while all day long they say to me, “Where is your God?” 11 Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God.
Do you ever ask yourself, “Why am I so down?” “Why should I trust in any of the Promises of God to change anything? Is my answer because God has “failed me? Has He gone home, and turned off voice mail for a little uncluttered time?
No–of course not. Is it because He is powerless to minimally change the angle of trajectory of the circumstances which now greatly trouble you? In effect, my worry says, “God, my problem is bigger than You are. I’m not sure that You can handle any of this for me, so I guess I am on my own to figure this thing out.” “Why should I even put one ounce of my hope into thinking my God’s hope is by far, way bigger and higher than the depths of my sorrow in my life right now?”
Can anybody turn out the light at the end of the tunnel? Have I given anyone my permission to temporarily or permanently flip the switch on my tunnel of hope? Nope! –but somebody or something can surely stand between me and the light of my Savior Jesus Christ, blocking His radiance throwing shadows everywhere.
And as much or as little as it has happened to you, if it has happened to you or even to someone you have come to love, care a great deal about, there’s only one thing to do: Return to the Promise of Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5)! Get rid of that pessimism, Pray God and the Holy Spirit directly into that situation. Go straight to the heart of the matter (Joshua 1:1-9). Push your way past, but get focused on the forever visible light of Jesus Christ at the end of your tunnel.
The first step is making the decision to get on with life and do something about your gloom. I don’t know who wrote the following which someone gave to me, but I do know I like what the author wrote. It’s entitled, “Today,” and it goes:
“And only I can determine/ What kind of day it will be./ It can be busy and sunny, laughing/ and gay; or boring and cold, unhappy and gray./ My own state of mind is the determining key,/ For I am only the person I let myself be./ I can be thoughtful and do all I can to help,/ Or be selfish and think just of myself./ I can enjoy what I do and make it seem fun;/ Or gripe and complain and make it hard on someone./ I can be patient with those who may not understand/ Or belittle and hurt them as much as I can./ But, I have faith in myself and/ believe what I say/ And I personally intend to MAKE, GIVE, GOD THE BEST OF TODAY.”
The Psalmists response was the “full throated” determination to yet praise Him whom he called “my Savior and my God.” God did not leave David in any cave of depression and gloom. He eventually led him back home and to God’s throne.
Job’s response, his own personal affirmation of faith immediately afterwards:
Job 1:20-21 (HCSB)
20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head.[a] He fell to the ground and worshiped, 21 saying:
Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life.[b] The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of Yahweh.
To which he would later build upon with,
Job 19:19-27 (HCSB)
19 All of my best friends[a] despise me, and those I love have turned against me. 20 My skin and my flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for God’s hand has struck me. 22 Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 I wish that my words were written down, that they were recorded on a scroll 24 or were inscribed in stone forever by an iron stylus and lead! 25 But I know my living Redeemer,[b] and He will stand on the dust[c] at last.[d] 26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,[e] yet I will see God in[f] my flesh. 27 I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.[g] My heart longs[h] within me.
I am convinced that only we ourselves can allow clouds and shadows to obscure the light at the end of our tunnels of hope. Praising God for what He is and what He has done, what HE HAS PROMISED TO DO allows us to realize He is the light at the end of the tunnel and nothing can obscure that when we stay focused on Him. This turns despair to hope–something you and I can learn for ourselves.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now PRAY;
Prayer: I Have Hope
God, my soul is sad. My heart is hopeless. I’m frowning within and without. But I know the cure. The crack in my heart can be mended by you. The thirst in my throat can be quenched by you. How refreshing you are! I spend a few minutes in worship and you will fulfill your promise made to the Psalmist to abundantly replace everything that is missing. You rehydrate my heart. You rehydrate my hope! You replenish my depleted spirit. So I’m telling my soul, “Cheer up!” I’m counseling my heart, “I Have hope!” For you, my God, are all I need and more. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Will You Be the One Who Steps Forward to be someone else’s Living Hope?
I have read that when D.L. Moody was just starting out in the ministry he heard a preacher say, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully who is surrendered to Him.” That night Moody said, “By God’s grace I will be that man!” Moody had little formal education, and he was not a polished speaker. But God used Dwight L. Moody to reach two continents with the Gospel. He presented the plan of Salvation, by voice or pen, to at least one hundred million people. He often spoke to audiences of ten to twenty thousand people. It is estimated that over a million souls came to Christ as a result of his ministry.
Now, it may or may not be that you will reach a vast number of souls on a multitude of continents or in as many nations that claim sovereignty over a population of people within its borders and boundaries. It might be just as simple to be someone else’s Living Hope by just coming upon them in their situation and aiding or helping them when they appear to be in some need. They may ask for your help or they may not, but you make yourself available anyway. You may or may not know what exactly is going on in that moment, but it will be for them a moment in time when they’ll know that at least one person cares.
Throughout the length and breadth of the Bible we have many inspirational examples where God used a single surrendered individual to accomplish great things for Him. God used Noah to build an Ark and preach repentance to a corrupt generation. God used Moses to deliver His people from the strong hand of Pharaoh. God used His Prophet Elijah to oppose the evilness of Ahab and Jezebel. (He prayed fire down from Heaven and slew 450 prophets of Baal.)
God used a reluctant preacher named Jonah to bring revival to Nineveh. God used a little shepherd boy named David to slay the Giant of the Philistines named Goliath. God took a Tree Dresser named Amos, God took a Cup Bearer to rebuild. God took a handful of fishermen, a publican and a few other common men and used them to turn the world upside down in the name of Jesus Christ! God took a man named Saul of Tarsus who had been the greatest persecutor of the church and transformed him into the greatest Christian who ever lived.
Today’s devotional offering looks upon the inspired life of that Cup Bearer.
Nehemiah 1 Easy-to-Read Version
Nehemiah’s Prayer
1 These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: I, Nehemiah, was in the capital city of Susa in the month of Kislev. This was in the 20th year[a] that Artaxerxes was king. 2 While I was in Susa, one of my brothers named Hanani and some other men came from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped captivity and still lived in Judah. I also asked them about the city of Jerusalem.
3 They answered, “Nehemiah, the Jews who escaped captivity and are in the land of Judah are in much trouble. They are having many problems and are full of shame because the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard this about the people of Jerusalem and about the wall, I sat down and cried. I was very sad. I fasted and prayed to the God of heaven for several days. 5 Then I prayed this prayer:
“Lord, God of heaven, you are the great and powerful God. You are the God who keeps his agreement of love with people who love you and obey your commands.
6 “Please open your eyes and ears and listen to the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night. I am praying for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we Israelites have done against you. I am confessing that I have sinned against you and that the other people in my father’s family have sinned against you. 7 We Israelites have been very bad to you. We have not obeyed the commands, rules, and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 “Please remember the teaching you gave your servant Moses. You said to him, ‘If you Israelites are not faithful, I will force you to be scattered among the other nations. 9 But if you Israelites come back to me and obey my commands, this is what I will do: Even if your people have been forced to leave their homes and go to the ends of the earth, I will gather them from there. And I will bring them back to the place I have chosen to put my name.’
10 “The Israelites are your servants and your people. You used your great power and rescued them. 11 So, Lord, please listen to my prayer. And listen to the prayers of all your other servants who are happy to honor you. Help me today as I ask the king for help. Make him pleased with me so that he will be kind and give me what I ask for.”
The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
God did not stop with the men we read about on the pages of the New Testament. He has continued to use men and women throughout Church history to bring glory to His name. People like: Martin Luther, John Calvin, John and Charles Wesley, George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, C.H Spurgeon, Dietrich Bonhoffer, Corrie Ten Boom, R.A Torrey, A.W Tozer, D. L Moody, Billy Sunday, Annie Armstrong, Lottie Moon, Billy Graham and O’ so many others.
These individuals were successful in the Kingdom work because they chose to become fully entrenched into and surrendered to the will of God in their lives.
God does not seek out those with the greatest ability or the most education. He chooses to use those faith-filled, faithful and fervent servants. He uses those men and women who possess a great burden and a big desire to move forward.
It is abundantly clear that the church needs restoration and revival. There is no shortage of people who claim that they want to see revival. But there is also a tragic shortage of those who are willing to actually do something about it!
The problem is that the majority are always waiting on “someone else” to do something. However, nearly every great move of God began with one or two people who developed an immense burden. That was the case in Nehemiah’s day. Jerusalem had been ruins for many years. Many of the Israelites noticed the problem, but no one did anything about it. In Nehemiah, God found a man with a king sized burden. And that burden led to action and that action led to revival!
Here in chapter one, we get a glimpse of the immense burden of this man named Nehemiah. As a young man, Nehemiah had been appointed to the office of “Royal Cupbearer”. A cup-bearer was one who would serve drinks to the King. The cupbearer had the burden and responsibility to guard the cup in order to prevent the King from being poisoned. At times he would be required to test the wine personally before serving it to the King. The position of cup-bearer was greatly valued and not given to just anyone. One who held this position would often gain a trust and great favor and great influence with the King.
At this time in history, Artaxerxes was the King. Artaxerxes and Nehemiah had developed a close relationship. So much so that one day Nehemiah was heavily burdened and the King could tell by his demeanor that something wasn’t right.
Nehemiah began to explain to his master the reason for his sudden, sorrowful demeanor. One day his brother arrived and Nehemiah asked about the people of God and the city of Jerusalem. Hanani informed him that the people of Judah and the city of Jerusalem were in a terrible condition. – verse 3.
Verse 3 – “And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.”
Over 150 years earlier, Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon invaded Israel and carried many of the people away as slaves. At this point, Cyrus has released the Israelites and allowed them to return to Jerusalem. But not all of the Jews returned to Jerusalem, Nehemiah was still residing at the palace in Shushan. Notice how Nehemiah responded to what he learned from Hanani.
Verse 4 it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, Nehemiah was greatly burdened for his city and his people.
Nehemiah did not know it at the time but God was preparing him for a great work. God was moving in his life and would soon use him to restore Jerusalem. God had found a man with a vision, God had found a man with a burden, God had found a man of prayer, and God had found a man of action! God was going to use him to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Furthermore, God was going to use this humble servant to bring about the restoration of the nation of Israel.
Many people have the idea that they are only one person and alone they cannot possibly have any measurable impact. That pessimistic mindset has been proven false time and again. It was President John F. Kennedy who famously said; “One person can make a difference and everyone should at least try”. Are you willing to “at least” try to make a difference? Will you be that willing vessel that God can use to accomplish a great work for someone in this day and age? If you are that one, then you will surely possess the same attributes as Nehemiah.
1. You will have a concern for the things of God.
2. You will have a burden for the people of God.
3. You will have a passion for the work of God.
Nehemiah 1:1-6 NASB
Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the [a]capitol, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, [b]and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped [c]and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 I said, “Please, Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments: 6 let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; I and my father’s house have sinned.
Let us take a hopeful, hope-filled look to verses 1-6 and ask the question:
I. WILL YOU BE THE ONE WITH A CONCERN FOR THE THINGS OF GOD?
Though Nehemiah was serving the King in Shushan, his mind was focused on his homeland. He asked his brother Hanani about Jerusalem. Jerusalem is often called “the Holy City”…. it is the “city of God.” Nehemiah would come to learn that God’s city lay in ruins. The walls were broken down, the gates had been consumed with fire. In these first two verses of chapter one, we can see where Nehemiah’s heart was. He was a man who was focused on the things of God.
What an incredibly inspired response from Nehemiah! Oh how we need people like this in our day. There is such a great shortage of men and women who are focused on the things of God. One of the most devastating issues plaguing the Church today is the transitioning priorities of its members. There are many men and women who claim to be born again, many who profess their un- dying love for Jesus yet they seem to put everyone and everything else in front of Him.
Where are the “other people – our neighbors” on our list of priorities? Where is our worship on our list of priorities? Where is prayer on your list of priorities?
Where is bible study on our list of priorities? Where is evangelism on our list of priorities? Where is our Acts 3 Christian service on our vast lists of priorities? Do the things of God come before or after our career? Do they come before our family? Do they come before our recreational activities? Do they come only after our leisure time? Do the things of God come before our hobbies? What is the focus of our lives? What is most important to you? Where is God in your life?
Let me remind you what Jesus had to say about priorities.
Matthew 22:35-40 NASB
35 And one of them, [a]a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him: 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and [b]foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments [c]hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 6:19-21 NASB
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Do the priorities in our lives reveal an immense love for the Lord? Nehemiah’s priorities certainly revealed that he was concerned about the things of God! Will we likewise be the one’s who are concerned about the things of God? Will we be the one who is concerned about the condition of our communities? Many would love to quickly answer that question with a hearty… YES! But as the old cliché goes “Actions speak louder than words”! If we are really ones with a concern for the things of God, it will be evident not by what we say, but, too, by what we do!
Let’s move on to question number 2:
II. WILL WE BE THE ONES WITH A BURDEN FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD?
Verses 2b – 4
Even worse to Nehemiah than the news concerning Jerusalem was the report he heard concerning the Jews that survived the exile. They were enduring “great affliction and reproach”. The Jews were a despised people and oppressed by the neighboring nations. Anyone one of us can easily say that they have a burden for the needs of others and not mean it, but a true burden will prompt action.
Nehemiah had such a burden that it caused him to grieve for his brethren – v4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven …,
There was a 4 step response by Nehemiah…. He Wept, He Mourned, He Fasted and He Prayed.
Nehemiah says that he “sat down and wept”.
He was brought to tears by the condition of the people and the city of God. Oh that we would be brought to tears by the condition of our communities.
When we see how far our communities have drifted from God’s original intent we should be moved to tears. When we see the “I will just cancel everything” that is prevalent in our society it should move us to tears. When we see the apathy among any professing Christians in our day it should break our hearts!
When we consider that many of our brethren are being persecuted, brought to shame and reproach because of the name of Christ we should weep and mourn!
When we think of the multitudes of hopeless people who are not being reached with God’s Gospel, we should not hesitate to all fall down and weep and mourn.
One of the greatest pictures of Jesus in the Bible, is when He approached Jerusalem and wept over the city. Jesus saw the people as “sheep having no shepherd”. He had so much love for those people… (the very people who would crucify Him) that He was brought to tears over the condition of their souls.
As His followers we should have that same compassion. How long has it been since we have wept over one single soul? How long has it been since we have cried out to God on behalf of our Acts 3 lost loved ones? We say that we have a burden that needs Jesus’ focused attention, if so WHERE ARE THE TEARS????
Nehemiah did not just weep and mourn, he also fasted and prayed. Fasting had become a frequent practice among the Jews during the captivity. Daniel fasted (Daniel 9:3; Daniel 10:3), Esther fasted (Esther 4:16), Ezra fasted (Ezra 10:6). Now we read in Nehemiah, that he was crying, praying, and fasting before God.
Though he was a close friend of the King, Nehemiah went way over his head with this issue. Nehemiah humbly bowed and cried out to God almighty on behalf of his people! In great anguish, great hope and great faith Nehemiah prayed one of the most beautiful and powerful prayers recorded in the Bible. This was not a selfish prayer, this was the prayer of an intercessor. Nehemiah went to God on behalf of his brethren. Take a moment and listen to his cry:
Nehemiah 1:5-10 ERV
5 Then I prayed this prayer:
“Lord, God of heaven, you are the great and powerful God. You are the God who keeps his agreement of love with people who love you and obey your commands.
6 “Please open your eyes and ears and listen to the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night. I am praying for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we Israelites have done against you. I am confessing that I have sinned against you and that the other people in my father’s family have sinned against you. 7 We Israelites have been very bad to you. We have not obeyed the commands, rules, and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 “Please remember the teaching you gave your servant Moses. You said to him, ‘If you Israelites are not faithful, I will force you to be scattered among the other nations. 9 But if you Israelites come back to me and obey my commands, this is what I will do: Even if your people have been forced to leave their homes and go to the ends of the earth, I will gather them from there. And I will bring them back to the place I have chosen to put my name.’
10 “The Israelites are your servants and your people. You used your great power and rescued them.
As he cried out to God on behalf of his people, Nehemiah recounted, reclaimed the heritage and promises of God. God would soon honor that heritage and His request, but, in the process, God would require a commitment from Nehemiah.
Do you have a burden for the people of God? How long has it been since you’ve prayed for the people of God? You cannot profess to have a burden if you are not moved to tears and prompted to intercede on their behalf! If you will go to the extra mile, to Lord in prayer… if you will be an intercessor on behalf of others, then you (like Nehemiah) can claim the heritage and the all promises of God.
What promises you ask? Here are just a few:
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matthew 7:7)
“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22)
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14)
“And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” (John 16:23)
These are promises that we can cling to!
But also I want you to notice that when Nehemiah began to claim the promises of God, God enlisted Nehemiah to go to work for Him.
The prayers concerning the vast burdens of the people of God would be timely answered, but Nehemiah would have to roll up his sleeves and go to work. This is the part of the devotional where I sadly expect to lose quite a few people.
You and I will start talking about Acts 3 work and people will tune us out and turn us off in less time for our hearts to beat. We wont like it, but it is necessary for the people of God to do more than just pray to God, we must labor for Him!
To explore this, pray look with me to verse 11 as we consider question number 3:
III. WILL YOU AND I BE THE ONES WITH A PASSION FOR THE WORK OF GOD?
Nehemiah 1:11 AKJV
11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
Please take careful notice of that last phrase “for I was the king’s cupbearer”. This speaks to the selflessness and the sacrifice of Nehemiah. He was a man who lived a great life. It was a life of peace, prosperity and power. He spent his days tasting the kings food and wine before it reached the king. His duty was to protect the king. King Artaxerxes quite literally trusted Nehemiah with his life.
Nehemiah was a man who lacked nothing. He didn’t live with the others in the ruins of Jerusalem. He spent his days in the king’s palace. He ate the best food and drank the best wine. He was protected and provided for.
But God was doing a great work in his life. God had placed an immense burden in his heart for Jerusalem and the people of Israel. Nehemiah was about to step miles out of his comfortable lifestyle, he would “sacrifice his life of plenty” to leave his trusted job with the king in order to do a great work for God almighty.
i. He had a concern for the things of God.
ii. He had a burden for the people of God.
iii. He had a passion for the work of God.
His burden to accomplish this God given task was so passionate and purposeful that King Artaxerxes could see it all over his face. (Nehemiah 2:1-8)
The king supported Nehemiah and allowed him to return to Jerusalem for a time in order to rebuild the walls and replace the gates of the city. And immediately, Nehemiah went to work doing what God had called him to do.
I genuinely believe that it was a direct result of Nehemiah’s prayers that God worked in the heart of Artaxerxes to allow his servant to go to Jerusalem and do this work. If you continue to read this great book of the bible you will see how God used this one man to have a tremendous impact on Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. Jerusalem needed to be restored and Israel needed revival.
Today, undoubtedly, there are many of the things of God and our neighbors which absolutely need to be refreshed and restored – things like hope, trust.
We need people in our communities, who (like Nehemiah) are willing to step even a few inches outside of their comfort zone and get to work. We need some people who will dare to look around and realize that the walls are broken down and the gates of somewhere or another now lay in ruin and it is time to rebuild.
Will I be the one?
Will you be the one?
Will we be the one?
a) who will say that we have a genuine concern for the things of God?
b) who will say that we have a genuine burden for the people of God?
c) who will say we have a genuine passion for the work of God?
If we will be the ones that God can use to spark that fire that is needed: It will begin with us being passionately concerned about the current situation of our community. God will reveal what is broken and in need of repair. He will show us those people that hurting and in danger. He will give us such a burden that it will cause us to weep, mourn and pray. Following that period of grieving and prayer, God will show us the proper steps to begin the process of restoration.
As for myself, I am publishing this Blog titled “LivingRomans15verse4Hope.”
As for you, I cannot say, nor will I even begin to speculate your contributions.
God is the only One who can bring revival and accomplish the restoration of His people. But in His infinite wisdom He has chosen to use His people to do a great work in this world. It is vital that we become willing vessels that God can use to bring revival and restoration. “Will I be the one? Will you be the one? Will we?”
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us Pray about it,
Savior Jesus, I embrace You as my Burden Bearer. I name each burden one by one (take time here and be specific) and release them into Your care. I thank You that You daily bear my burden. I thank You that Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light. I am so used to working things out on my own that I need Your help so I can depend on You more. I am sorry for all the times I have tried to bear my own burdens-not leaning on You.
I lift before You Father, those in my community who are weighed down with cares and burdens too great for them to bear. May they be filled with joy and peace and overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Give them grace to trust You in all things. (Pause and pray for those people and places the Holy Spirit brings to mind.)
May we at (name of community or church) become those who reach out to those who are burdened with cares of all kinds or who have fallen away, become discouraged or doubtful in their faith journey. May those who are weak in faith, in hope and in love be raised and strengthened and all who stumble be lifted up!
Lord I need Your peace that surpasses my understanding, so according to Your Word I open my heart and receive it from You. I have cast my cares on You, and I am grateful that this peace will guard my heart and mind. Thank You Jesus for being a Burden Bearer! Blessed be Your holy Name, Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 