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More Than a Story

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After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord . . .  Judges 2:10-11

I grew up hearing Bible stories. My Sunday school teachers would thrill me with tales of David’s bravery as he faced a giant with only a sling and a stone, or three heroes’ miraculous walk through a fiery furnace. I even had a series of storybooks highlighting biblical adventures, and I loved to read about Daniel and the lions or Joseph and his colorful coat.

As a child, I loved the stories. But as I grew, I began to wonder if that was all they were.

Do you ever wrestle with believing the truth of God’s Word? Do your children know that Jesus is more than a fairytale?

Several years ago I was preparing dinner when my son burst through the door in tears. My eldest reported in anger that his younger brother had just pelted him in the head with a rock.

I guess frustration over consistently feeling inferior had finally taken its toll.

I called him into the house and sent him to his room to consider what had just happened while I finished my task. Then I climbed the stairs to find him on his bed, a tearful mixture of defiance and regret.

He told me he had just been so angry, he picked up the rock and threw it at his brother in a rage. He knew it was wrong, but he just couldn't help it. And he was sorry.

I could see his remorse and I told him I had forgiven him. Then I advised him to ask his brother's forgiveness as well as the Lord's. He took my hands and prayed with me on that bed. I'll never forget what he said.

You see, I expected him to simply bow his head and ask God to forgive him for hurting his brother by throwing the rock. Instead he confessed that he had a problem with anger and asked God to help him with it. His next words caught in my throat and stung my eyes with tears.

"I believe that you can help me with it because my dad had a problem with anger and he prayed to You to help him and You did, so I believe You can help me too."

My 8-year-old son had faith in a redeeming God because he had witnessed firsthand the power of His redemption. He had seen God temper a short fuse that could explode into harsh words, transforming it to increasing patience and gentle replies. He had felt the love of God flowing through to him in the form of a changed father. He had experienced firsthand the transforming power of resurrection life.

So he believed.

And that faith moved him to take action to trust God with the sin in his own heart.

Do people see that Jesus is real through your life, dear one? Do you allow Him to reveal His glorious power in you?

Jesus is more than a story. He is the King of Kings seated at the right hand of God who has taken authority over all sin through the cross. He is the Lord who raises the dead, who transforms, renews and restores.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20

Isn’t it time we experienced that power instead of just reading about it? You and I can’t continue to stand in faith on yesterday’s stories. We need fresh works of God to reveal His presence today. A life that doesn’t experience God firsthand will struggle with believing He’s there at all.

The fate of the Israelite children bares witness to that. When Joshua finally led Israel into the Promised Land to claim their inheritance,

The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.  Judges 2:7

These were the children of the generation God led out of Egypt who had witnessed the mighty miracles of God’s deliverance. They held on in faith to what they had seen, and they remained faithful to the Lord. But they didn’t believe God for fresh works in their midst, so their faith didn’t pass to their own children. They may have shared stories of God’s miraculous provision in the past, but with no fresh work revealing God to them in the present, that’s just what they became. Stories. And,

After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.  Judges 2:10

Within one generation of entering the Promised Land, an entire generation of Israelites grew up that didn’t know the Lord. So they wandered from Him into the idolatry of the culture around them.

Oh, how I pray we would break the cycle of unbelief in our generation! Let’s become the generation that returns to the Lord full of faith and experiences the outpouring of His glory.

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”  John 11:40

The power of sin is broken. I think it’s time we see Jesus raise the dead.

You Will See Me

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“Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.” John 14:19

Do you see Jesus, beloved? According to Jesus’ own words, you ought to. That’s one of the rights and privileges of being His disciple. While the world cannot see Him, His followers can.

Perhaps that statement has raised your eyebrows in disbelief. After all, seeing Jesus was a blessing reserved for those who lived in His day, right? How can you and I see Jesus?

Yet before He left them, Jesus told His Disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.” John 14:18-19

Dear one, followers of Jesus aren’t just supposed to hear about Him at church. We’re supposed to see Him at work.

I’ll admit that for many years I didn’t see Jesus. I went to church. I had memorized Scripture. I had followed someone through the recital of the “sinner’s prayer” and asked Jesus to be my Savior. But I couldn’t see any evidence of Jesus at work in my life, and that left me floundering in my Christianity, doubting my salvation, and wondering if He was even real.

Can you relate? Do you see Jesus at work in and around you? Or are you left trusting that Jesus exists only because you’ve heard stories of how others have experienced Him? Are you secretly longing to have your own story to share?

You, dear one, are meant to witness Jesus revealed in your life. That blessing is available to you by the power of the Holy Spirit. Consider Jesus’ words from Luke 4:18.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.”

Jesus came to set the oppressed free and restore sight to the blind. He didn’t claim that promise merely for those suffering the limitations of physical blindness. Jesus speaks that promise to you and me. The gift of the Spirit He sent us after His death and resurrection restores our spiritual sight.

So how can you experience the revelation of Jesus in your life? Let’s see what Jesus had to say about it.

“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” John 14:21

Did you see His promise, dear one? Jesus claims He will love and reveal Himself to a very distinct group. He will show Himself to those who love Him.

Seeing Jesus isn’t about how often we go to church or how much Scripture we know. Seeing Jesus at work relates directly to the condition of our hearts.

Do you want to see Jesus reveal Himself? He asks one thing: offer Him your heart. Fully. Completely. Unashamedly. Jesus simply requires that you love Him.

That was the part I missed all those years. All the rituals of religion couldn’t open my eyes to see what I desperately needed. I had to open my heart to Him. I had to love Him. And I had to demonstrate that love by walking in obedience to His commands. I had to be willing to follow where He was leading me. 

Here’s the great news. Ezekiel 36:26-27 teaches,

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

The ability to love and obey Jesus has been given to you by the Spirit Jesus sent. You need only ask Him to empower you to love Jesus as He deserves. The Spirit within you will “circumcise your heart” to love Him (Deuteronomy 30:6). And as you draw on His strength and submit to His authority, He will “move you to follow” His commands. As you follow Jesus through loving obedience, you will see Him revealed in your life.

Don’t settle for someone else’s experience of Jesus, beloved. He longs to give you your own.

 

The Son Rises

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 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. 
See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, 
but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.”

Isaiah 60:1-2

Have you ever had the joy of watching the sunrise? Of witnessing light splitting the darkness on the horizon?

I’ll admit that until recently, I’ve never been much of a morning person. Opening my eyes to welcome the day while darkness still blankets the earth never offered much appeal to me. I’d much rather wait until the sun is shining. To me, rising to the bright radiance of its warmth seems much more inviting.

But on a few occasions when I have allowed the Lord to draw me out of bed before the sun made its entrance, a spectacular sight greeted me. My willingness to rise in answer to the Lord’s invitation made me privy to a special blessing: I witnessed the waking of the earth.

Have you had the privilege, dear one? Have you observed the glorious transition from night to day as the sun draws back the heavy curtain of darkness? It’s wondrous to see. Anticipation stirs the heart, kindled by the sight of a hazy glow forming on the horizon to announce the sun’s ascent. Then light slowly penetrates the blackness, illuminating the earth with shades of yellow, orange and gold. After washing creation in a glorious array of color, the sun takes its place in the sky.

Beloved, we miss the glory of the sunrise when we refuse to awaken while the sky remains dark.

And yet, that’s what most of us choose. We’d much rather pull up the covers and settle back into sleep, waiting out the cold blackness that lingers before the dawn. We decide that we’ll rise from our slumber when it’s a bit more comfortable and inviting out there.

We take that same approach when Jesus calls us to rise in His name. The evil we see penetrating the earth makes us want to burrow under the covers and sleep through it. We reason that we’ll get up and stand for Jesus when circumstances are a bit more agreeable. Yes, we’ll wait for His light to rise and shine brightly, and then we’ll emerge from our slumber to bask in its warm glow.

There’s one problem with that line of thinking.

“You are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14 

If you and I do not shine the light, dear one, how will it ever dispel the darkness? As followers of Jesus, our calling is clear.

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” Ephesians 5:8

Christ’s glory rises, dear one. The hazy glow forms even now on the horizon. Can you sense it? For that glow to pierce the darkness and fully illuminate the sky, you must do your part. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you” (Isaiah 60:1).

It’s time to awaken from our slumber. Sure, we can remain in our cozy beds and wait for someone else to step up. We can let someone else experience the heavenly glory of the “Son rise” as it unfolds and continue on with sleeping. But we will miss the blessing of witnessing His revelation, and our complacency will only prolong His coming.

“What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” 2 Peter 3:11-12

Let’s answer Jesus’ call to shine His light and usher in a new day. He’s poised and ready to reveal His glory. Will you allow Him to do it through you? 

Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. 
Put on your garments of splendor . . .
Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. 
Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.

Isaiah 52:1-2

 

A Gift of Grace

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Today’s Word on Wednesday comes from my dear friend and partner in ministry, Juliet Sharrow. You may have read some of her testimony in recent months about God’s pursuing love. Now she shares how His gift of grace empowered her to finally respond to Him. After reading her words, you may be blessed to know she just had the privilege of watching this beloved son walk the stage to receive his high school diploma. Whatever you may be going through, know this, dear one. There is ALWAYS hope in Jesus.

A Gift of Grace by Juliet Sharrow

From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. John 1:16

I had spent my life running from God. Desperate for love and caught in an abusive relationship, I made one destructive choice after another. Then God did something I didn’t expect. He chose to bless me with a child.

I was so excited when I found out I was pregnant.  I would love my child in all the ways I hadn’t been loved.  I would somehow make it all right.

Then I got the worst news an expectant mother could hear.  The doctor called to tell me that something was wrong with my unborn child.  The routine blood tests they had done showed that my child would have Down’s Syndrome and possibly Spina Bifida as well.  I felt like my world came crashing down.  Then the doctor said something I could scarcely believe.  They were recommending that I have an abortion.

I sunk down on my knees, horrified at what I was hearing!  How could this be? My baby was alive; I could hear the heartbeat and I could feel the kicking.  How could I destroy this precious gift I’d been given?  I did not understand what I was getting into, but I knew one thing: I couldn’t end this child’s life.  He was my hope! I told the doctor in no uncertain terms that I would never choose that for me or my child.

The next several weeks were a blur as medical personnel escorted me into private rooms to watch videos about children with these conditions, “so I would know what I was getting myself into.”  I met with doctors who tried to explain that a woman in my situation— unmarried and with no support network—could certainly not handle a child with issues of this magnitude.  They assured me I did not understand how impossible things would be. But I never wavered.  Somehow I knew that God had blessed me with this child, and I would have this baby no matter what they said.

So a month after I heard the devastating news, I underwent a sonogram to see if the doctor could see the abnormalities that are usually present with these conditions.  What happened next can only be described as a miracle.  There were NO abnormalities.  The baby was perfect in every way!

The doctor insisted there must be some mistake.  And so she checked and rechecked, and decided that the baby was too small for me to be as far along as they originally thought.  Her new measurements said I was one month behind where I should have been and so they changed my due date to one month later.  They retook the blood tests and assured me that everything had come back normal this time!  I cried as I left the doctor’s office that day.

I know now the enemy had tried to convince me to give up on my child, to destroy his precious life.  But somehow God had given me the strength to hold on. Just like He promises in 1 Corinthians 10:13,

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

I believe that Satan tempted me with an easy way out.  My life was not good at the time, and bringing a child into that world was what some would call crazy!  But, I know that God provided a way out for me.  He helped me to stand up under it.  He filled me with love for my unborn child. He gave me strength to endure, and His peace soothed my soul.

A few months later my son was born. The doctors said he was 4 weeks premature.  It was 4 days after the original due date they had given me.  And he was perfect, not premature in any way, a healthy 6lb 4oz baby boy!  He was my gift from God.

Psalm 127:3 says, “See children are a gift from the Lord.  The children born to us are our special reward.” (NLV)

At that time in my life I did not deserve any special reward.  I had run from God and turned my back on Him more times than I could count!  But God in His infinite wisdom knew that what I needed was grace.  He gave me this gift instead of what I deserved.

I needed that child because I was in a pit. A pit of self-loathing and self-despair, a pit of oppression.  I was so low I could not find a way out. In fact, I did not WANT out.  I felt like I deserved everything that was happening to me.  God knew what I needed to give me the strength to get out of that pit.  I needed someone else to live for, someone else to love.  I did not love myself enough, but He knew I would love my child enough to claw my way out of that pit.  That through the love of my child, I would finally turn to Him, finally seek Him instead of running from Him. I learned that when I resist temptation and do what I know is right, God will provide the strength I need to endure.  And I would learn the greatest lesson of my life: that God’s grace isn’t based on what I’ve done. It’s about God giving me what He knows I need, even when I don’t deserve it.

When God Stirs, He Hears

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This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15

On Sunday we celebrated Father’s Day at church. A guest speaker—a husband and father from the congregation—brought the message. Well, perhaps I should rephrase that. The Holy Spirit brought a powerful Word through a real estate salesman. The result?

At the close of the service, our Pastor took the stage and gave an invitation. Moved by God’s presence hovering in that place, his voice caught as he told the congregation that he would be joining the speaker on his knees at the altar. He invited any willing man to join them . . . any man desiring to lead his family by submitting himself daily to Christ’s leadership . . . any man ready to believe that true power comes when we bow down.

The next moment bore witness to God’s glory. Men from all over the sanctuary began to rise and walk to the front of the church, dropping to their knees one by one as they reached the altar. When the floor space at the front could no longer hold them, they began filling the aisles between the chairs. I wept before the Lord in worship as my gaze took in the empty seats and the sight of hundreds of men kneeling before their Creator, committing to know Him more, to follow Him more faithfully, to be the example for the next generation.

I could do nothing but bow in my own seat, lifting my hands in worship and my voice in praise.

It was a beautiful moment, glory descending as worship rose to heaven’s throne from the hearts of a people united, carried on the wings of praise. You know what made it even sweeter? The moment reflected an answer to prayer.

Have you ever felt compelled to pray for something that reached beyond the scope of your personal circumstances? That focused on the rise of Jesus’ glory instead of your own needs? If not, I challenge you to listen for the stirring of the Spirit within your soul to intercede for His kingdom. That’s the kind of praying that calls heaven down.

In response to God’s prompting, several women within our congregation have been praying for a spiritual awakening among the men of our church. Specifically, we had prayed for God to raise up leaders among them who would turn their hearts toward the Lord. We asked God to stir up mighty men of faith who would model whole-hearted devotion to God and lead others to follow in their steps.

Those prayers began almost 8 years ago.

And God did it. Last Sunday morning, we saw visible evidence of the invisible work God had been doing within the hearts of our congregation as a result of our prayer. And He raised an ordinary man to challenge His people with powerful truth at just the right time when the hearers were ready to respond.

Don’t you just love God’s faithfulness? It shouldn’t surprise us. It’s what God does. He stirs among the hearts of His people to pray and then He delights in answering. As we read in our opening Scripture,

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15

Even if it takes 8 years to see the evidence of it.

Just this morning, I came across these words in David Earley’s, 21 Most Effective Prayers of the Bible (Barbour Publishing, Inc., 2005), a prayer journal I’ve been working through in my quiet time. [Original quote from David Jeremiah, Prayer: The Great Adventure (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), p. 40-41]

Pastor David Jeremiah has written, “I scoured the New Testament some time ago, looking for things God does in ministry that are not prompted by prayer. Do you know what I found? Nothing. I don’t mean I had trouble finding an item or two: I mean I found nothing. Everything God does in the work of ministry, He does through prayer. Consider:

·      Prayer is the way you defeat the devil (Luke 22:23; James 4:7)

·      Prayer is the way you get the lost saved (Luke 18:13)

·      Prayer is the way you acquire wisdom (James 1:5)

·      Prayer is the way a backslider gets restored (James 5:16-20)

·      Prayer is how saints get strengthened (Jude 20; Matthew 26:41)

·      Prayer is the way to get laborers out to the mission field (Matthew 9:38)

·      Prayer is how we cure the sick (James 5:13-15)

·      Prayer is how we accomplish the impossible (Mark 11:23-24)

. . . everything God wants to do in your life He has subjugated to one thing: Prayer."

 

Do you see the work of God displayed in and around you, dear one? If you are missing out on experiencing the revelation of His power, perhaps you haven’t picked up the key to unlock it.

Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in prayer, beloved. As He directs you to pray the Father’s will, you can know with confidence that God hears. And when He hears, He acts.

And you get to witness glory.

Green Grass & Muddy Waters

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Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram . . . 2 Kings 5:1

Have you ever looked at someone’s life and felt that twinge of envy because they appeared to have everything you desire? If you lived in Naaman’s day, you might have felt that way about him. Scripture labels him a great man, the highly regarded commander of the King’s army. He had everything. In fact, he had more than he wanted.  

. . . He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

The grass isn’t always as green as it appears in someone else’s yard.

I imagine the acclaim Naaman earned paled in comparison to his problem. I mean, that’s our nature, isn’t it? One struggle has the power to overshadow ten wonderful blessings. And Naaman’s problem was huge; it would literally destroy him. Thank goodness there’s always hope in the God of Israel.

Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.  She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 2 Kings 5:2-3

A young slave girl planted a seed of hope in the heart of a pagan army commander, and desperation led him to believe. That’s often how it works, isn’t it? We’ll cry out to God in desperation, but only when we’ve exhausted all other options. Naaman had nowhere else to turn, so he turned to the God of Israel.

So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

 But Naaman went away angry. (Verses 9-11)

What just happened? What aroused the anger in Naaman’s heart? Let’s take a moment to slip our feet into his army boots. I’ll warn you, you may discover they fit a little too comfortably.

Imagine you are Naaman, commander of the king’s army, pulling up to Elisha’s house with your entourage. You leave the glistening horses and chariots and walk to the door, expecting your host will be delighted by the honor of your visit. But your host doesn’t even bother to come to the door. Instead he sends a messenger with some ridiculous instructions to bathe seven times in the muddy Jordan River. As if that would work!

Can you see why Naaman was so upset? I hope so, because right here is where you and I tend to look most like him. Unmet expectations can send us reeling, causing us to reject God’s instructions and miss His blessing. Naaman believed he deserved better from Elisha. He thought his actions should’ve demonstrated more respect. What’s more, he believed he deserved better than the Jordan from God.

. . . “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. (verses 11-12)

Notice the two parts of Naaman’s complaint. First, he didn’t like the manner in which God chose to offer healing. He wanted the grand miracle, a powerful spectacle befitting his position. He didn’t want to have to do anything; He just wanted a few magic words and a wave of the hand so he could be miraculously cured.

If we’re going to be honest, isn’t that what we all want? When difficulty comes, we want God to wave His magic wand and cure it as we bask in the glow of glory. And when God doesn’t choose to fix it the way we would choose, we turn and walk away in a rage just like Naaman. But when we do, dear one, we may just be leaving our miracle on the table.

You see, God calls us to trust Him.  And very often that means giving us instruction and watching to see whether we’ll exercise the faith to obey. If we allow our disappointment over the means to override our faith, we’ll miss seeing Him work altogether.

That brings us to Naaman’s second complaint. If God was going to make him bathe in a river, couldn’t He have chosen a cleaner one? Obeying this command would mean lowering his standards. Not only did God opt not to give him the grand gesture, he was going to have to get his hands dirty. No thanks; he’d rather deal with the leprosy.

Seriously? Pride can cause us to make some pretty foolish choices. Wasn’t ridding himself of his flesh eating disease worth a few dips in dirty water?

What is God asking you to do, dear one, that pride says is beneath you? Will you take a chance on trusting Him so you can see Him display His power?

Naaman finally came around and received his healing from the Lord. Thankfully, his servants showed him his folly and convinced him he had nothing to lose.

“My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. (verses 13-14)

Naaman chose the road of humility and finally got his miracle. Can you imagine the joy that overtook him as he stood in those muddy waters and watched his decayed flesh restore itself to skin like a young boy’s?

Obedience is always worth it, dear one. What miracle waits to be displayed in your life? Perhaps it’s time to trust God and follow His instructions. Sure, you might get your feet a little muddy, but when you see His arm of power move, I don’t think you’ll care.

 

Favor & Opposition

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They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”

But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” Nehemiah 6:9

I used to believe that God’s favor meant ease. Then I felt the touch of God’s favor.

Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t trade following Jesus for anything. I want to walk in the steps of the God who goes before and experience His presence. And at times I am astounded as I witness His unmistakable hand making the impossible possible.

Yet there are other moments along the journey when difficulties arise that sap my strength. Doubt surfaces, bringing with it a lingering question: Have I stepped out of God’s favor?

Have you ever been there? Have you stepped out in faith, following a prompting God stirred in your heart, only to discover that opposition and difficulty seem to overshadow the favor you thought God had given?

If you have, you’re not alone. Scripture is full of stories of faith heroes that clearly possessed God’s favor yet faced terrible opposition. Nehemiah is one of those heroes.

His story begins with a stirring in his heart for the Jewish remnant returning to Jerusalem after 70 years of Babylonian captivity. He had been told,

“Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:3-4

Nehemiah poured out his burden before the Lord, confessing the sins of the people and recalling God’s covenant promises. He finished with these words,

“Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king. Nehemiah 1:11

Nehemiah needed the favor of the king he served in order to return to Jerusalem and fulfill his calling to rebuild the city walls. When the time came to seek that favor, Scripture tells us he “was very much afraid” (Nehemiah 2:2). He had reason to be. The king did not serve Nehemiah’s God and had no reason to want to help Israel—or to release Nehemiah from three years of service to complete the project.

Yet after seeking the Lord, Nehemiah stepped out in faith and asked the king if he could go. But he didn’t just ask for time off. He asked for letters giving him safe travel and for King Artaxerxes himself to provide materials for the project. Nehemiah should certainly have been executed for such a request, and yet Nehemiah 2:8 reveals,

And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.

When God’s favor rests upon the head of His own, even a pagan king bows down.

And so Nehemiah set out for Jerusalem—papers in hand—accompanied by army officers and cavalry sent by the king.

Unfortunately, others aren’t always happy to see God’s kingdom advance. As soon as Nehemiah and the Jews began to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, men from surrounding communities who feared Israel regaining strength began to mock and ridicule them.

Still, they worked to rebuild the wall, crying out to God, “Hear us, our God, for we are despised” (Nehemiah 4:4). They managed to rebuild until the wall reached half its height.

Then their opponents plotted to fight against them, so the people prayed to God and posted a guard day and night to meet the threat. Half of the men worked while the others kept watch armed with weapons. Supply transporters even worked with one hand and carried weapons in the other (Nehemiah 4:17). Still, the work progressed.

Then Nehemiah began to help the poor, bringing further opposition. This time they schemed to bring harm to God’s servant another way. They drafted a letter accusing Nehemiah of trying to incite a revolt and proclaim himself king. Now we come to our opening Scripture,

They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”

But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” Nehemiah 6:9

And God did.

So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. Nehemiah 6:15-16

God’s favor rested upon Nehemiah from beginning to end. His hand never left him, even when he weakened under the oppression. The difficulty did not mean God’s favor had departed. No. It gave God an opportunity to provide Nehemiah strength in his weakness and became the very thing that proved God’s hand was with him all along.

Dear one, if opposition comes against you when you set out to answer God’s call, don’t despair that God has abandoned you. He hasn’t. He is faithful to keep His Word no matter how circumstances appear. Opposition often affirms your stance in God’s will and provides an opportunity for Him to reveal Glory. And He may just be doing a good work in you in the process.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

Blessings in the Wait

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Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Are you the kind of person that likes immediate results? I am. I’ll admit I’m not a very patient person by nature. Waiting frustrates me. Just ask my kids.

So when God whispers instruction into my life and I choose to trust Him through faithful obedience, I tend to expect that I will soon see Him fulfill a promise. After all, Scripture teaches that God blesses the faithful.

But I’ve discovered that God’s timetable rarely matches my own. Sometimes blessings loom just beyond the horizon. Time passes and promises remain unfulfilled. And I get weary from waiting. Ever been there?

Dear one, as God calls us to trust His plan, He also insists we trust His timing. So how do you and I keep from becoming weary in the wait? Perhaps we need to allow God to change our perspective.

Recently God led me to consider this thought: what if the waiting is actually part of the blessing? What if that time between the promise and its fulfillment actually provides an opportunity to experience God in a way that I would miss without it?

Caleb knows what I’m talking about. You may remember Caleb from last week’s lesson. He was one of only two men that God delivered from slavery in Egypt through Moses that made it into the Promised Land. The rest of them died in the desert. Let’s rejoin Caleb and the Israelites to watch him receive his blessing.

When we left the Israelites last week they were ready to choose a new leader and head back to Egypt. As a result, Moses and Aaron fell facedown and Joshua joined Caleb to plead with the people to trust the Lord.

Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.  If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” Numbers 14:6-9

You may be surprised to hear how the Israelites applauded their faith.

But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. (verse 10)

You may discover that when you choose to step out in faith, even God’s own people sometimes turn on you in fear. Unfortunately, you can’t follow Jesus and follow the crowd. But you can rest in this eternal promise:  when you stand for Jesus, He will fight for you.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. (verse 10)

God showed up and voiced His anger over their unbelief,

“How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11)

Dear one, how long will our generation persist in its unbelief? How long will we, the children of God, allow what’s popular to dictate our actions instead of the Word of the Lord? Like the Israelites, our disregard for His Word will bring repercussions.

Moses interceded on behalf of the people and God agreed not to destroy them, but their disobedience was not without consequence.

The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked.  Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—  not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. . . But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” Numbers 14:20-24

Friend, even when God offers forgiveness, disobedience will always reap consequences. But just as certainly, faith will always reap blessings. They just may not come in the timing you would choose.  Just ask Caleb. He waited 45 years to see the fulfillment of his promise.

How can that be? Wouldn’t God want to bless His faithful servant? Why make him wait? Consider Caleb’s words when he finally received his blessing.

“Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old!  I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. Joshua 14:10-13

Sure, God could have made a way for Caleb to enter the land at forty, but then Caleb would’ve missed experiencing God’s miraculous presence for the forty-five years he waited.

God faithfully kept His word to give the land to Caleb, but He also gave him an added blessing that had not been promised. He kept age from ravaging his body. Caleb watched the flesh of the rest of the men in the camp wear out while he remained strong. He escaped the aching decay of age and stood at eighty-five as strong and vigorous as he had been at forty. And how much sweeter the taking of that land must have been for him after 45 years!

God always keeps His word, beloved. Always.

If you have been faithful to trust God through your obedience but His promise remains far off, perhaps another blessing waits for you in the interim. Ask God to give you a heart like Caleb, who believed even when he didn’t see.  You may discover your wait includes an experience of God that exceeds what you could ask or imagine.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.  Psalm 27:13-14

 

Enter In

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Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. Psalm 16:5-6 NIV

Last week we turned our attention to what it means to live by faith. By God’s design, faith isn’t something we merely hold in our hearts. Rather, we express faith as we trust His commands through obedience. Each time we actively trust Him, we move one step further into the blessing He has planned for us. There we will witness the outpouring of His grace.

A delightful inheritance awaits you in Jesus Christ. Ground lies ahead of you that Jesus means for you to claim in His name. And yet many of us are stuck floundering in the desert while the promised blessings available in Jesus lay just beyond the river of life. Perhaps it’s time we dip our toes in and let the current of the Spirit carry us into our Promised Lands.

The Israelites once stood where you now stand, their feet camped on desert ground while their Promised Land of blessing lay ahead of them. God had answered their cries for deliverance from Egypt and led them to the banks of their inheritance. Then Moses chose a representative from each of the twelve tribes to explore the land God had promised them and bring back a report.

They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.”  Numbers 13:27

Imagine that! They found the land exactly the way God had described it. God had called them to believe by faith, but now they had witnessed it with their eyes. Surely they would run toward their allotted inheritance!

Unfortunately they also witnessed something else with their eyes.

But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. Numbers 13:28

Suddenly their adversary seemed bigger than their God.

Fear overshadowed and erased their witness of God’s faithfulness. It didn’t matter that God had once again proven Himself Faithful and True, that He had kept His word and led them to a beautiful land. They quickly forgot that God had vanquished their Egyptian enemies before their eyes. In that moment, they chose to focus instead on the powerful enemy that lay ahead of them. Rather than fight and believe God for victory, they chose to remain in the desert and grumble against God for bringing them there in the first place.

So much for “seeing is believing.”

Dear one, how often do we think that if only we could witness the miracles described in Scripture, we would believe? We’ve convinced ourselves that we would easily trust and follow if we could see the things the Israelites saw. Yet the Israelites saw, and still did not believe.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

True faith comes from being certain even when we cannot see. In reality, if we do not possess the faith when we don’t see, we won’t likely possess it after we do. Just look at the Israelites. Seeing didn’t translate to believing.

But one among the crowd did believe. His lone voice rose to proclaim God’s faithfulness.

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” Numbers 13:30

Caleb chose to trust that the God who redeemed them was stronger than their adversary. The rest of them argued, claiming they couldn’t win against this much larger enemy. They spread a bad report throughout the camp, and “that night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud” (Numbers 14:1). Their fear led to this conclusion, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt” (verse 4).

Really? After all that they had seen God do an their behalf, they thought their best option was to head back to the slavery they had cried out for deliverance from?

You and I can be quick to accuse Israel when we read their story as history. But we also just as easily behave just like them.

Jesus stretched Himself out on a cross to redeem us, not just from sin’s penalty but also from its power over us, “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14

He has promised us victory over sin and the enemy’s power in our lives, but He calls to take up His Word, the Sword of the Spirit, and go to battle to claim it. He guarantees victory, promising that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Yet we often see our enemy as too powerful to overcome, so we refuse to go to battle. Instead we choose to grumble at God from the desert, or worse, run back to the slavery from which He rescued us.

What if you and I determined instead to be like Caleb, choosing to believe God’s promises even if no one else around us agrees? The world may tell us there’s no point in fighting, but God’s faithfulness remains sure. If we will trust Him for His promises, even if we have to stand alone, He will prove Himself. He did to Caleb.

Caleb’s faith ushered him into his inheritance. He was one of 600,000 men who left Egypt to journey to the land God promised them. He was one of only 2 that actually entered it and took possession of it. The rest of them died in the desert because of their unbelief.

Dear one, let’s not die in the desert when our Promised Lands stand within reach! 

Living Your Faith

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“ . . . when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8

Jesus posed an interesting question to His disciples while He walked among them. When He returns to claim His throne, will He find faith among His people?

Let’s take it a step further. When He looks at your life, dear one, does He find faith?

I used to have a very different understanding of faith. I viewed it more like a possession than an action. Somehow I thought if I had enough of it, I would please God; then I would see Him move. When I didn’t see evidence of His intervention, I was left to consider two possibilities. Either I didn’t have enough faith, or God wasn’t who He said He was. Neither of those conclusions offered any comfort.

Have you ever been there? Wanting to believe, yet coming up short of witnessing the power Scripture promises faith will bring?

Perhaps like me you wondered if the absence of God’s power meant you didn’t have enough faith. If so, we’re not alone. Even the apostles cried out to Jesus for an increase of faith when He taught about forgiving their brothers.

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. Luke 17:5-6

Like the apostles, we are free to ask Jesus to increase our faith, to help us believe when it’s difficult. But Jesus’ answer to His disciples applies just as surely to us: we only need a tiny mustard seed of faith to see God move.

I don’t believe our problem lies with how much faith we possess. I believe we struggle because we don’t know how to exercise it. We may claim to have faith, but we haven’t learned to trust.

And trusting makes all the difference.

“But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” Hebrews 10:38

According to Scripture, we can’t simply “have faith” and expect the pleasure of God. Our call to faith must result in action. We don’t possess faith; we live by it.

Hebrews 11:6 adds some crucial information about faith.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Dear one, faith lies at that heart of all of God’s desires for us. It remains the catalyst to encounter every one of God’s blessings. Scripture couldn’t be clearer on this point: it’s impossible to please God without faith.

Another critical point emerges from this verse. Faith is more than believing that God exists. Biblical faith involves approaching Him. We must draw near to Him in belief that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Do you earnestly seek Him, dear one? Do you approach Him? Have you set your heart on seeking His desires?

Somewhere along the way many of us picked up the idea that if we believe enough, God will give us the desires of our hearts.  However, Biblical faith occurs when we choose to trust God for His.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Faith that moves mountains and uproots mulberry trees can only surface in us as we earnestly seek the Lord. As we spend time in His presence, He will begin to align our hearts with His desires. Then He will illuminate the steps we must take to fulfill them.

And then we must choose. Will we trust His way, or will we force our own?

At that moment, all you and I need is a mustard seed of faith—just enough to choose to trust Him, to take one step into His will. The moment that faith becomes action, God’s power unites with our circumstance and ushers us into the realm of grace.

. . . we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Romans 5:2

Do you want to see God move, beloved? Draw near to Him and seek the desire of His heart. Allow Him to whisper His will into your soul, and then trust Him as He leads you to step into it.

You just might get to see some mountains move.