Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Worship that is costly


When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
Daniel 6:10

There was a very real culture war for Daniel that would cost him when he chose to take sides. The document in reference deified the king of Babylon, with a special 30 day “celebration” in which no other type of worship could be done except bowing to the king. Most Babylonians probably saw it as insignificant. Daniel know the unjust and ungodly law was scheduled to be signed by the king. And he knew that his daily practice would not change. The law went into effect, and Daniel kept his spiritual disciplines three times a day, in his home, praying to the Lord.

No unjust law, no persecution of the people of God, no pressure from culture should keep our hearts from worship. Daniel was thankful even as expressing that thankfulness to God was a crime punishable by death. He would not bow to any other god of this world. He would not agree that a man should be worshiped. He would continue in the king’s court, but he would only worship God.

Fast forwarding to the end of this conviction at the end of the chapter and we see it was rewarded. Daniel was indeed punished under the terms of the unjust law for disobeying it. He was thrown into the lions den. God thus delivered him and the king repented of the vain law he had enforced. Those who conspired to destroy Daniel were thrown into the same den and mauled to death before they hit the bottom of the floor. God will honor and protect those who worship Him even in hardship.

Friday, July 27, 2018

joy with those who serve


On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered.
Nehemiah 12:44

The revival of obedience to the Law and love for the Lord that had begun in Jerusalem had now spread to all of Judah. The surrounding villages and farms in the countryside spreading out from Jerusalem now brought in their tithes and firstfruits to the temple in order to support the ministry of the priests and Levites. And the attitude that accompanied their obedience was joy.. They rejoiced in what God was currently doing. There was a clear motivation of personal engagement. They worshiped and they gave with grateful hearts, rejoicing in worship as they brought their gifts.

The people of Judah were glad to have the temple rebuilt. They were glad to see Jerusalem secure with walls around the city again, knowing their gifts would not be pilfered by an army of invaders. They were rejoicing in the LORD for temple worship to be once again a part of their lives, happy to have servants of God ministering to them once more. They rejoiced in God, with temple worship and the Law at the center of Jewish life as well. This was the joy of being committed in covenant with God Himself.

Personally, I love that they rejoiced OVER those who served. This was more than “clergy appreciation day”. This was a joy that was found in the realization that these men served the God Who loved them and these men helped the people know, love, and obey the Lord. It was a thankfulness to God for His servants. It is an awareness of the beauty of mutual ministry. One of my absolute joys, a thrill that is hard to express with words, is when the people of my church, whom God has called me to love and serve, come alongside me and on occasion rejoice over me and the others who serve in ministry positions at Mill Creek. It is a thrill to work with volunteers who love God, love each other, and love me. It is a joy to have them rejoice in what God is doing through all of us together. It is the beauty of mutual ministry by God’s design and one of the deepest experiences of pure grace that I know.

Thursday, July 26, 2018

giving my best


We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord;
Nehemiah 10:35

The worship of God deserves the very best we can give. It isn’t something we do as an afterthought. It isn’t a rote routine we can sleepwalk through. Worship is about giving ourselves to God. It makes sense then at this point in the story of Nehemiah, as the Jews in Jerusalem have had a renewal in commitment to love and obey God, that they would also commit to giving to the temple worship. And they solemnly vowed to keep the covenant. They would bring in their tithes. They would give God the very best they had.

Of course this was all specifically mandated in the Law. And the goal was for obedience to come from a heart of love. These commitments made by Nehemiah’s generation were just that. Their commitments to give sprang from hearts fully alive in the wonder of worship. The whole group of resettlers had just had a renewal and revival sweep through their midst. They wanted to give God the best they had in their firstfruits. They wanted the worship of the Lord to be as visible in their lives as the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem were. Their generous obedience in giving would show this.

When my heart is most in love with the grace of God in Jesus, I want to give. I am most generous when I am swimming in grace. God, keep me in awe of your grace so that I may give out of grace like You!

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

God’s Word renews


You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
Nehemiah 9:20-21

This recounting of Israel in the wilderness is part of a broader, beautiful season of renewal in which the priests and Levites assembled the Jews returned to Jerusalem. It all starts in Nehemiah 8:1-12, where they began with three hours of reading the Law, followed by instruction and explanation upon what had just been read. This led to worship and praise spontaneously.  The very next day they agreed to celebrate the feast of tabernacles as a step of obedience and spent an entire week doing so again with a daily emphasis on much reading of God’s Word. This was done every day of the feast (Nehemiah 8:13-18).

It is after this intense season of exposure to God’s Word that a time of repentance and confession begins which culminated with the Levites leading a public confession of sin that recounted all the history of Israel in its scope and confessed the specific ways the nation had sinned against the Lord. It was an amazing, tearful, broken, but renewing day, and again for three hours they publically read scripture, followed by three more hours of prayer and confession.

And all this led to strong commitment which is what true repentance does. There is a tangible turnaround. By the end of this extensive revival, the Jews produced and signed a sealed covenant document that committed the people to the Law, to obedience and worship of the Lord, and to God’s mercies for their confessed sin. And it was all saturated in God’s Word... the entire process... from beginning to end. Truly the Bible can change us, if we will let God do so through His Word!

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

both sword and trowel


Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built.
Nehemiah 4:17b-18a

Nehemiah lead a tough construction crew. If I pulled up to a job site today and saw the workers all side armed like they were part of some NRA convention, I’d worry about the neighborhood I was visiting! Jerusalem was a dangerous place without her walls, and there were enemies around the city who did not want to see the city secure again. Threats were made against Nehemiah and the rebuilders. This just convinced them the wall really needed to go up... and fast!

So Nehemiah’s response was to carefully arm the workforce and set up an early warning system to muster them to defense if it was needed. The force was armed to the point of overkill, with even the unskilled day laborers at the alert with a weapon in their hands as they carried stone. Stone masons built with a trowel in one hand and a sword strapped to their side. The trumpets were ready to call this blue collar army to defense with a simple blast.

The crews were dedicated to their task, camping near the work and sleeping in their work clothes nightly to always be ready to both protect and build the city. And this strategy succeeded without any skirmishes and with the work completed on schedule. The well-armed construction crew got the job done. God kept them safe as they wisely empowered themselves through protection, good defense, alertness, and commitment.

Monday, July 23, 2018

Trust God; ask the king.


And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
Nehemiah 2:8b

As a leader, Nehemiah demonstrated both faith and common sense wisdom in the initial planning stages of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He went to the Persian king (his employer) carefully with his proposal, and was granted complete royal backing for the project. But that is not what was behind his success. He had carefully organized the details while simultaneously trusting God to help them happen.

Nehemiah asked the king for all the funding, security details, and requisition of materials that the returning exiles would need to get the job done. He knew what to ask for and how to ask for it with proper royal decorum and respect. He knew that for Jerusalem’s walls to be rebuilt, Persia’s king would be able to finance and protect the work as well as the people doing it. Nehemiah wisely asked the king for everything that he needed. And the Persian government backed the entire proposal.

Nehemiah was wise enough to ask the king, yet humble enough to worship God, knowing that the only reason he was favored by the throne was because God’s good hand was clearly sovereignly working. He took no credit for what God was doing. He demonstrated proper planning as well as strategic asking, but was also passionate in trusting God as he worshiped in his work.

So it is with much of life. It is lived at the intersection of temporal need, earthly resources that can meet those needs, and eternal providence that radically changes the significance of what we do in this life. All my plans need to blend my “now needs” with faithful trust in the good hand of my God. God’s Word shows me this. Fortune is always brought about and blessed by faith.

Friday, July 20, 2018

tears and joy


But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.
Ezra 3:12-13

As the returned exiles began construction of a new temple for the worship of God in Jerusalem, a spontaneous worship service erupted as the foundation was laid. And it was highly emotional. The elderly among them who had seen the temple of Solomon as children wept with the memory even as the new generations rejoiced that the work of rebuilding could begin.

And this has me reflecting on both worship and motives for ministry. First... worship. It would seem that worship is what people bring to it, in terms of emotional connection at least. That is what happened here. The place we come from in our own personal walk with God emotionally charges our worship experience. God is the same for all those assembled, but emotion is highly affected by experience.

And concerning motivations for ministry, this is also true. We serve from differing backgrounds and our experiences of serving God are also influenced by this back story. It is OK to both serve and worship God with joy. It is also equally OK to have some sorrow in these things when it is godly sorrow. God is bigger and blesses both experiences to draw us closer to Him.

Thursday, July 19, 2018

an inheritance


This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord God.
Ezekiel 48:29

Ezekiel’s prophetic message ends with big visions. God reveals to the prophet that one day Israel would return to their ancestral homeland. The tribes will be restored in glory to God. A massive new temple will be on display for the worship of their glorious God. The borders of the land of Israel will be expanded to include new territory where His people live in peace. The city of Jerusalem will be beautifully rebuilt by God Himself on a massive, impressive scale and renamed “The LORD is there.” Every part of Israeli life will be about the glory of God.

And all of this is going to happen because God is a covenant keeping God Who fulfills His promises to His people. His Word is true, so I look to this future glory with anticipation knowing I will see God do these marvelous things. The world will know God’s glory in these events.

And these promises are glimpses into God’s love for His people. They are pictures of the deeper love and deeper covenant God made by sending His Son as the Savior of the world. In Christ there is the greatest glory. He is restoring our lives as we believe and follow Him. He is making His glory known in the temple of my life. He is mine forever! Jesus is my inheritance with God among the saints for all eternity!

Monday, July 16, 2018

God’s concern for God


But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.
Ezekiel 36:21

God’s motives are exclusively bound to His holiness and the glory due His name. He deserves the worship of His creation and will move the forces of heaven and earth so that His people may once again declare His name. When He is not worshiped in holiness, He will not take the profaning of His great name lightly. He will judge His people when their hearts are not committed to the passionate worship that He deserves. This was the story of Israel. They were called out of the nations to declare God’s greatness to the nations so that the world might know the Lord. The didn’t do this. They were judged.

When God acted to deal with the serious matter of the profaning of His holy name, He did so not out of anger, but out of holiness. He did so out of concern for His own unique holiness. He did so in order that Israel might return again to His so that the world could see His restorative love for His people.

The end of this chapter (Ezekiel 36:33-38) shows the lengths to which God would do ALL the restoring work. He would cleanse them of all sin. He would restore them to their cities and farms. God would rebuild Israel and replant Israel so that the nations would know His greatness. Then all will know that God is the LORD.

Lord,
You judge sin and You humble Your people so that we might glorify You in repentance. You restore and You help Your people recover. You specialize in rebuilding lives our sin has destroyed. You are great, holy, and God. The world will know You are the LORD.
Amen

Friday, July 13, 2018

rise... and fall.


I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord God.
Ezekiel 26:21

The Philistines and Phoenicians all were enemies of Israel who tempted Israel into constant materialism and idolatry. When God judged Israel, He also judged the nations surrounding them. And Tyre, the trade capital of the region and Phoenicia’s chief city, would be in that promised judgment. The Lord vows to utterly destroy Tyre: She would lose all her merchant fleet. She would lose all her wealth and influence. She would be brought to an end, never to rise to any kind of influence every again.

And the lost trade empire of Tyre is indeed now gone. There are no more fleets of ships plying the Mediterranean with goods and influence. There is no wealthy city of traders in Phoenicia whose sailers covered the coastline with their influence. God’s decree was real. The mighty city was ruined and is no more. You can tour the ruins in Lebanon today.

The rise and fall of all power among people is overseen by God. He can end empires by His Word. He can reduce the wealthiest of nations to ruin until they are never found again. He can turn the page of history as His will is done, so that all the world may know that He is the Lord and there is no other. And only one King of kings and Lord of lords stands at the center of human history on the world stage: Jesus Christ, Our Great Savior!

Thursday, July 12, 2018

sovereign in life


I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.
Ezekiel 24:14

There may not be a more definitive declaration from God taking responsibility for His sovereign rule anywhere else in scripture. It is clear: God is in control of even our most painful suffering. Nothing happens outside His sovereign rule. And no hardship visits us that is not His direct and loving control. For the citizens of Jerusalem, this meant God’s judgment on idolatrous sin was irreversibly upon them as the king of Babylon began the siege of their city (Ezekiel 14:1).

This truth has me thinking hard about God’s sovereign hand at work in my own life. 2018 has been hard for me for personal reasons, even though in terms of ministry, many long term dreams are coming into being. Now in the second half of the year, I have found nearly all the year filled with wistful longings for my past. It’s weird because I am usually a forward thinker. I’ve wished to roll back the calendar (often by decades) nearly every day this year. I’ve filled time watching old family videos and flipping  through old pictures. I don’t know if it is a late mid-life crisis, or just what men catch themselves doing in their mid-fifties, but things seemed so much simpler in my life when my kids were not adults. Yet as I think about it, that weird wistfulness isn’t recognizing God’s sovereign care. Peppered with the nostalgia is a worry about the future. I conclude today that this action isn’t very gospel-centered on my part and I should stop.

God is in control of my life and always has been. What He is doing in my life NOW is for His glory and my good and is JUST AS GOOD as what I saw him do 20 or 30 years ago. He has spoken in His Word and it shall be. And it has all been done in Christ because He began the good work in me and is completing it for HIS GLORY! All the promises I have in Jesus are great! I will trust Him in this current life stage and stop idealizing (and idolizing) my past.


Wednesday, July 11, 2018

damning duplicity


When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.
Ezekiel 20:31

The hypocrisy displayed by the Jerusalem leaders coming to the prophet Ezekiel during difficult times to “inquire of the Lord” would not be tolerated by God. They had burned their children in pagan idolatry and now wanted to hear from God! In answer to their request, God recounts the history of Israel’s continual rejection of Him for idols, from the Exodus from Egypt, through the wilderness, into the Promised Land, and up to that very moment. In every episode, Israel rejected God. In every episode, God had the right to judge, yet showed remarkable mercy to them. But now God would act decisively in a strong judgment upon them. And He would not hold back His wrath because He knew these people had no intention whatsoever of turning from their idols when they inquired of Him. It was not repentance.

Sin is an insult to God. And when we pretend to worship God while still treasuring our false worship and sins, God will not hear us. It is a serious matter to love something else above God. Our idolatry condemns us before God. It is why we must regularly repent and trust only what Jesus has done for us... not our own efforts... not our hopes in something of this world.

O God,
You are holy and deserve my undivided worship. I cringe knowing my heart is drawn to idols and from You all too easily. I want to turn from these idols, to Your Son for the grace only You give so I may have His righteousness plead for me before You... always.
Amen

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Only God atones.


I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.
Ezekiel 16:62-63

God does the saving work. Even in the Old Testament, the keeping of God’s Law was powerless to save, as Israel proved. They failed to obey, turned against God, and sold themselves to idols. And it would take God’s atoning work to save them and restore the covenant with them again. They could do nothing to save themselves. They were lost and powerless in the tragic destruction from sin.

I am reminded of Jonathan Edwards’ astute observation: “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” Jesus has done the atoning work. God sent His Son in the fullness of time to redeem us! We are powerless, dead in our sin, and dead men can do nothing! God has done it all for us in Jesus!

“Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy Law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.”

Monday, July 9, 2018

idols & abominations

Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Ezekiel 14:6

I hold them close to my heart
idols that I cherish
I’m not easily torn apart
from the sins I nourish
they shall be my undoing

God points out my idolatry
I cringe as I admit it
His Word warns me of what will be
if I will not repent of it
I find it hard to do the unloosing

I must turn away from sin and turn to
the God I should love with single affection
I must find in Christ what I need to
repent of idols and change my direction
this is about my greatest love

Idols are abominations that damn my soul
and the more I see them killing me
the easier it is to yield control
to my gracious Savior whose love is true to me
He died to kill my idols and will help me rise above

Friday, July 6, 2018

a watchman’s work


But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
Ezekiel 3:19

A watchman has one job. He is to stand on the wall, look for danger, and shout out warning before the danger arrives. And this was Ezekiel’s prophetic call (Ezekiel 3:17). God simply required His prophet to faithfully deliver the words of warning that God was giving to Judah concerning their sin and the coming judgment God would bring upon them.

A watchman did not create the news of warning. He simply delivered what he saw. If he failed, the city would die. And the watchman could be executed for dereliction of duty. But if a watchman warned and the city did not respond, then their blood was on their own hands. And this scenario would exactly be Ezekiel’s experience. He would faithfully proclaim warning. Jerusalem would do nothing. They would not turn from their wicked ways that all had so fully embraced. But Ezekiel, by being faithful, would deliver his own soul.

Lord,
I will value Your Word like a watchman. The gospel is good news, but there must be repentance based on reception of the bad news. I will be faithful to proclaim both your mercy and your grace in Jesus, as well as Your judgment upon sin that is dealt with either on the cross, or by eternal punishment. And may Jesus be lifted high for all to see as I am faithful to You.
Amen

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

He will have compassion.


For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for he does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men.
Lamentations 3:31-33

Although God must justly deal with sin, it is not in His nature to be cruel or vengeful in so doing. God is a God of compassion, even when the outcome of our sins causes us grief and pain. He may bring grief, but it is only so that we might repent and again know the “abundance of his steadfast love”.

I know this because of a historical gospel fact: Jesus came to earth, He lived a perfect life and taught the ways of life, He died for all sin and rose again... all so that we might have new life and know the forgiveness of sin. Jesus is the steadfast love of God known to us! And in that hope all grief can be comforted and all grace is known.

Lord Jesus,
According to the abundance of Your steadfast love my Lord, I am made righteous in Christ! Thank You that You do not treat me as my sins deserve, and Jesus, as the Man of Sorrows You have borne our grief! When I am in pain, I will turn to this truth and find comfort.
Amen

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

accepting responsibility and consequences

The Lord is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
Lamentations 1:18

Once God had judged, and an awareness of the consequences began to set in, the survivors in Jerusalem wept over their losses. And the first step toward repentance began as they acknowledged that God was right to judge them for they had truly rebelled against His Word for generations. This was why they suffered. This was why the youngest, best, and brightest among them were led away captive to Babylon.

Counting her losses and tending to her wounds, Jerusalem is pictured like a war widow in grief. But this widow has also seen her children dragged from her by the enemy and because she was also unfaithful, she found no consolation in her other lovers who themselves have also perished (Lamentations 1:19). She can only cry out in grief and cold pain, well aware that her own sins have brought her this low (Lamentations 1:20).

And true repentance must always accept responsibility for sin and live with the consequences of sin. In that humility and brokenheartedness, God can work to rebuild. Anything less is probably still self-centered. To accept responsibility but not consequences says that God is an unfair judge. To accept consequence without responsibility is fatalistic. Real repentance must accept both.

Monday, July 2, 2018

a culture in chaos


Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful
at the report heard in the land,
when a report comes in one year
and afterward a report in another year,
and violence is in the land,
and ruler is against ruler.
Jeremiah 51:46

Even as the Jews were on the edge of exile in Babylon, God was preparing them for the wild uncertainties they would encounter in their captivity. Babylon may have been the superpower du jour, but God would judge the Chaldeans and even the mighty Babylon would later be conquered by the Medes and Persians. The Jews would not be in a stable political climate while captive, though the Lord would certainly protect them there. The culture would be uncertain, and violence and war would be regular news reports.

The reassurance that would come as God reminded His people He is in control of the actions of kings and nations would keep them from needless worry. They would learn to trust God, ripped from all that was familiar, and held captive in a culture of political and social chaos. Rumors and reports would swirl around their neighbors. But the Jews could be confident and go about their business in faith, knowing God was in control and promised to take them through this well before it ever happened. He spoke peace through His prophet decades before in order to prepare them.

And that same principle holds in any cultural uncertainty for a Christian today. I hold to the promise of Christ’s return because it came from the mouth of Jesus Himself. And I dedicate myself to my Lord’s mandate to make disciples, even as I have watched in my half century lifetime a world culture degrade in violence, war among many nations that have brought numerous genocides, racial tensions filled with hate and ignorance and disrespect of God’s creation, sinful rebellion, and political cruelty that polarizes people. But there is no need for my heart to faint. The gospel comes against all this. God has already decreed a good end. I will trust Him!