Reflection on the Past Week – 9-30-12

There was no reading assignment today for Read the Bible 4 Life.  (There are no assignments on Sundays.)

Here are my reflections on this past week’s readings (Esther 6-10; Malachi 1-4; Psalm 50; Ezra 7-10; Nehemiah 1-10) –

In Ezra and Nehemiah we have specifics as it relates to the people returning to Jerusalem.  They got there and began to rebuild the city’s walls and the temple.  Even though they faced opposition, God helped them to complete the tasks.  They trusted God to help them do it.  Also, there was a bit of a spiritual revival during this period of time.  They realized that this was a new time for them as a nation.  They needed to focus on God again.

You and I need to trust God to help us with whatever we’re facing.  He will give us the strength to see the task to completion.  Also, we need to experience a revitalization from God.  To experience this, we need to turn back to God, focus on the Bible, and seek to follow Him.

Six Hour Church Service

Today’s reading comes from Nehemiah 8-10.  Here’s what I journaled –

Scripture –
Nehemiah 9:3 – They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God.

Observation –
In these chapters we find Ezra the scribe reading from the books of the law (from the Old Testament).  As they read from these books, they began to see their needs to obey God more.  So, they had a festival that Moses talked about – the Festival of Shelters.  For 7 days straight they gathered the people and read from the Book of the Law of God.  Then, we find them having an assembly of people.  This brings us to our verse for the day.  On this day they had a 6 hour church service.  For half the time they stood in place and listened while the Book of the Law was read out loud.  But, that wasn’t enough – they responded to the readings by admitting their sin and worshiping God.

Application –
How incredible this is.  They were dedicated to reading the Bible and responding.  They spent 6 hours straight doing this.  But, how often do I struggle to find 5 or 10 minutes to read the Bible?  Why is this?  I need to spend more time really listening and responding to God.

Prayer –
God, Help me come to love Your word.  Help me to spend more time reading it, praying about it, following it.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Angry at Injustice

Today’s reading comes from Nehemiah 5-7.  Here’s what I journaled –

Scripture –
Nehemiah 5:6 – When I heard their complaints, I was very angry.

Observation –
Nehemiah began to hear from people.  Some of the Jews were taking advantage of some of the other Jews.  They were making life difficult for the others.  They were taking advantage of others.  They were charging interest and weren’t supposed to be.  Basically, some people were being oppressed by some of the other Jews.  Nehemiah decided to try to defend the oppressed.  He was going to care for those who needed to be cared about.  In our verse, we see that he has become angry at injustice.

Application –
When’s the last time I saw the need in someone and did anything about it?  I want to be moved like Nehemiah was.  Too often I’m so focused on me and what I want that I miss out on seeing the needs of others.  I want to change this.

Prayer –
God, Help me to get angry when people are being oppressed.  Give me the courage to speak up for them.  Give me the knowledge of how to best help them.  Help me to look beyond myself so that I can help others.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Fight For Your Family

Today’s reading comes from Nehemiah 1-4.  Here’s what I journaled –

Scripture –
Nehemiah 4:14 – Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy!  Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”

Observation –
Nehemiah was the cup-bearer of King Artaxerxes.  He got word of the condition of Jerusalem – that it was in ruins, that the gates had been destroyed.  He was saddened by this.  The king noticed he was sad.  When Nehemiah told him why, the king agreed to allow him to go back to Jerusalem to help solve the problem.  Nehemiah went back and immediately began a wall rebuilding project.  However, they faced opposition from some enemies.  The wall was needed to be rebuilt to give the city its identity, protect it from outside invaders, and to create a natural barrier to protect its people from the outside sinful influence of others.  Their enemies didn’t want the wall rebuilt.  They wanted to stay in charge and didn’t want Israel and Jerusalem to regain any influence or power.  Nehemiah came up with a strategy to continue the rebuilding project while making the people feel safe and secure.  Part of his strategy is found in this verse.  He called on the people to trust God.  As they trusted God they were to fight the enemy if they needed to.  They were to do all of this while fighting for and seeking to protect their family and their homes.

Application –
This verse is a wonderful verse. Its principle is that in everything we do we should trust and honor God.  We’re to constantly fight for our families because they are what really matters to us.  Unfortunately, too often we fight with our family instead of for our family.  Why is that?  God blesses us with families that we love and yet we argue, complain, and lack patience with them.  I’m not proud to admit it, but I didn’t live out this verse very well today.  I spent much of my afternoon and evening frustrated at and lacking patience with some of my family.  I don’t know why that is.  I love all of them with all of my heart.  But, for whatever reason, I wasn’t the kind of dad and husband I needed to be today.  I’m not going to try to make excuses. I’m just going to ask God to help me to do better tomorrow.  I want to have the kind of reputation where I am known as a man who fights for his family.  But, I need God’s help to do this.

Prayer –
God, Help me to have a better day with my family tomorrow.  Help me to be understanding.  Help me to be patient.  Help me to be loving.  Help me to be grace filled.  Don’t let me be satisfied with a day like today.  Help me to be able to say at the end of each day that I was faithful to fight for my family.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Living Out the Word of God

Today’s reading comes from Ezra 7-10.  Here’s what I journaled –

Scripture –
Ezra 7:10 – This was because Ezra had determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and to teach those decrees and regulations to the people of Israel.

Observation –
Ezra was a scribe that went back to Jerusalem.  He noticed their continued sin.  They were not keeping themselves separate from the other people in the land.  As a result, they were being influenced by the worship of false gods.  Ezra spoke out against this sin.  The people responded by confessing their sin to God.  The only way that Ezra was able to lead out in this way is because of what this verse tells us about him.  He studied, obeyed, and taught the word of God.

Application –
I need to be more disciplined in studying, obeying, and teaching the word of God.  If I’ll do that then my life will be impacted.  The lives of the people at my church will be impacted.  Ultimately, the world will be affected as well. It is my desire to be this close to God.

Prayer –
God, Help me to live by the example of Ezra.  Help me to follow You completely.  Help me to not back down from the truth of Your Word.  Help me to do all of this in love in order that people’s lives might be positively affected.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Always Hope in God

Today’s reading comes from Malachi 1-4 and Psalm 50.  Here’s what I journaled –

Scripture –
Malachi 4:5 – “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives.”

Observation –
Malachi talks quite a bit about the shortcoming of the sacrificial system.  They weren’t always understanding the purpose of it.  It wasn’t just sacrificing an animal.  It was about repentance and right living.  So, God called His people to faithfulness and repentance.  Malachi also talks about the day of judgment that was coming.  In this verse, we have something that is referring to the coming Messiah – Jesus.  This is the next to last verse of the Old Testament and there is a promise of an Elijah type figure before the day of the Lord arrives.  John the Baptist came right before Jesus and he prepared the way for the Messiah to come.  John the Baptist is referred to as an Elijah type figure.  When the Old Testament concludes there is about 400 years of “silence” from God.  But, as we head towards that – God is still pointing to the fact that the Messiah was coming.

Application –
In the midst of a book about the need for repentance and adjustments to follow God, we see that He is pointing towards the Messiah.  In other words, there is always hope found in God.  We need to point others toward that.

Prayer –
God, Thank You for having a plan to forgive me of my sins.  Help to always remember that my hope is found in You alone.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Work for the Good of Others

Today’s reading comes from Esther 6-10.  Here’s what I journaled –

Scripture –
Esther 10:3 – Mordecai the Jew became the prime minister with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself.  He was very great among the Jews, who held him in high esteem, because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.

Observation –
The rest of the book of Esther continues with quite of bit of irony.  Haman, the second in charge, was angry at Mordecai and built a pole to impale him.  The King found out about something that happened in the past.  Mordecai had protected the king by putting an end to an assassination attempt.  The king decided to do something to honor Mordecai.  Haman assumed that the person being honored was himself but he wasn’t.  Then, when Queen Esther revealed to the king that she was Jewish and that Haman was trying to kill her people, the king had Haman executed on the pole that he had planned on using on Mordecai.  The King issued a decree giving the Jewish people the right to defend themselves against those trying to kill them.  The Jews won and were saved.  As this verse points out, the greatest irony is that after Haman was killed, the king elevated the man he despised (Mordecai) to take his place as prime minister of the nation.  This verse points out that Mordecai was a sincere man who was seeking to defend his people and not just himself.  Because of this, he was honored with the critical task of prime minister.

Application –
Mordecai was a sincere man – always on the lookout to help his people.  I should be like Mordecai – looking for opportunities to help others out.  All too often I’m focused on myself and my advancement instead of others’ advancement.

Prayer –
God, Help me to follow the example of Mordecai.  Help me to be known as a person who cares for others and not just himself.  Help me to always be on the lookout for others.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Reflection on the Past Week – 9-23-12

There was no reading assignment today for Read the Bible 4 Life.  (There are no assignments on Sundays.)

Here are my reflections on this past week’s readings (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1-6; Haggai 1-2; Zechariah 1-14; and Esther 1-5) –

This week we began a new scene.  This one is all about how God delivered His people again.  They have been in captivity in Babylon.  But, now – some of them are being released to go back to Jerusalem.  They begin to rebuild the temple.  They begin to have religious ceremonies and festivals again.  They are seeking to follow God.  All of this points to the hope that is found in God.  Even when we’re at our lowest point, God comes through to rescue us.

For Just Such a Time as This

Today’s reading comes from Esther 1-5.  Here’s what I journaled –

Scripture –
Esther 4:14 – “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die.  Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

Observation –
The book of Esther is full of drama.  It starts with King Xerxes removing his wife Vashti from being queen.  As a result, he has to get a new wife and make her queen.  He has a beauty pageant of sorts.  He looks all through his kingdom of Persia for a suitable replacement.  Esther was chosen (among many) for this competition.  Esther was a Jew, but kept this secret.  Her cousin Mordecai had raised her as his own daughter.  He worked at the king’s gate.  Esther was chosen and made queen.  Haman was a man who was second in charge of the kingdom.  He expected people to bow to him.  But, Mordecai refused and Haman became angry.  Haman decided to encourage the king to pass a law that would kill all Jewish people.  The king agreed to this – not knowing that Esther was a Jew. When Mordecai heard of this, he pleaded for Esther to help.  She felt powerless because of the customs of the day.  She could not approach the king unless he requested her.  If she approached him without permission he could have her killed.  Mordecai pleads again with Esther.  Part of his speech is found in our verse for today.  He points out that perhaps God had elevated her to become queen for this very reason – to protect His chosen people from being destroyed.  After fasting and praying she agreed to help.  Meanwhile, Haman had a pole erected that he planned to impale Mordecai on.

Application –
There’s no doubt that God had a plan to rescue the Jews and Esther was part of that plan.  I may not be royalty or feel all that important, but God also has plans for me.  But, all too often, I’m cruising through life, not paying attention.  As a result of that – might I be missing out on some of the “for just such a time as this” moments in my life?  What a shame if that’s the case.  I need to do a better job of staying focused on God and responding to moments He has for me.

Prayer –
God, Thank You for the words of Mordecai that remind me that You have a plan and purpose for my life.  Now, help me to not miss out on any of these moments.  Help me to make the most of every opportunity You give me to serve You.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Getting Off My Throne

Today’s reading comes from Zechariah 8-14.  Here’s what I journaled –

Scripture –
Zechariah 14:9 – And the Lord will be king over all the earth.  On that day there will be one Lord– his name alone will be worshiped.

Observation –
These chapters are looking forward to the time that Jerusalem would be blessed, the nation of Israel would be restored, and all would be well again.  A large portion of this is actually referring to when the Messiah (Jesus Christ) would come.  Then, ultimately this would be accomplished in Heaven.  Our verse for today refers to the very end – when the whole world will see that Jesus really is Lord.  He is the only one who is to be worshiped.

Application –
While this verse won’t come true until the very end, I can do my best to live it out in my own life today.  God is sovereign.  He is the only one who is the Lord.  He is the only true God. He is the only one worthy of worship.  He is the King over all the earth.  So, I need to start living my life in such a way that I reflect this truth.  Too often I still want to act as if I’m in charge.  But, the truth is – God should have precedence in my life at all times.

Prayer –
God, Thank You for Your restoration.  Thank You for being sovereign over everything.  Help me to get off of my throne.  Help me to put You back in your rightful place – the throne of my life.  Help me to bow myself to You.  Thank You for the privilege it is to worship and serve You.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.