Matt 7:24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
1 Cor 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Neh 5:8 And I said to them, "According to our ability we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?" Then they were silenced and found nothing to say. 9 Then I said, "What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?
Hypocrisy is the great terror to the Christian. Or should be.
Lest we forget the fear of the Lord, we are more than likely to place our feet on shifting sand. That’s just how we are because of the lure of the world and the weakness of our flesh. In this we place ourselves in grave danger – but even worse, as Nehemiah reminds us, we poorly represent the Lord to a world that desperately needs Him.
If we call our self a Christian, and use our position as a Christian for our own personal interest – are we not disavowing all Christianity stands for? Are we then no different than the world? Have we not been changed by our love for the Lord?
This is exactly what Nehemiah faces as he deals with those wealthy brethren of his at Jerusalem who are using the poor condition of the people for gain. We recognize this behavior as ‘gouging,’ and we are familiar with it taking place in the times just before and immediately following hurricanes. People who ‘have’ use the opportunity to gain even more from those who ‘have not,’ (in our case gasoline, or maybe motel rooms.) In the case of the Jerusalem, the situation was much more dire than maintaining a condition of relative comfort or convenience – it was life and death. It was charging usury (interest) to those who were starving, in direct contradiction to God’s Word, causing their own brethren to sell their sons and daughters into slavery to pay the interest. Nehemiah says, “Stop!” (as if God’s Word had not been enough – because clearly it had not been!) What we must always remember is the fear of the Lord. Hypocrisy, (self-interest,) is always a life and death issue, because it holds the potential to turn people against God.
- Pastor Bill
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
What Do You Want?
Nehemiah 2:1 And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2 Therefore the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart." So I became dreadfully afraid, 3 and said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?" 4 Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Now here’s an opportunity if there ever was one! But is the answer obvious?
King Artaxerxes, the most powerful king in the world presently, is entertaining the request of one of his trusted servants, his loyal cupbearer Nehemiah. For Nehemiah, I suppose the possibilities are potentially endless. After all, he has heard the homeland of his people is in shambles – and the situation seems entirely hopeless back in Jerusalem of Judah. Things are so bad there, in fact, Nehemiah has been sickened by the plight of his brethren. It is that very sickness displayed on Nehemiah’s face which has prompted the king’s query: basically, “What is wrong with you?”
This is an opportunity for sadness and despair to go one of two places. An attempt can be made to do something about the problem which is causing the sadness, or an attempt can be made to treat the symptom of the sadness itself.
In this example, we see clearly how the Lord desires to move. According to the Word, Nehemiah has been praying to the Lord for four months about the problems back in Jerusalem, (Nehemiah’s emotional and spiritual homeland, even though he has never stepped foot there.) After 90 years of return from exile, the city still lies mostly in ruin, and the walls have not been touched. The temple has been rebuilt, as well as some of the houses, but there is absolutely no protection from any outside force which may desire to destroy the Jewish people.
I suppose after 90 years the most likely response from an observer might be that there is nothing that can be done about this problem. It appears the people have absolutely no desire to do what needs to be done to protect themselves. Who could possibly motivate them? The amount of work to be done to bring about restoration must appear completely impossible.
So, the choices: Is it time to take a vacation to try to forget all about this despair? Is it time to buy some stuff to help distract himself from his sadness about the problem? If Nehemiah had looked within himself, perhaps these may have been the answers. (Treat the symptom of sadness.) But Nehemiah, in his wisdom, did something we should not take for granted: He asked God. And God called Nehemiah to do what he could about the root cause of the problem – not the symptom of his sadness.
- Pastor Bill
Now here’s an opportunity if there ever was one! But is the answer obvious?
King Artaxerxes, the most powerful king in the world presently, is entertaining the request of one of his trusted servants, his loyal cupbearer Nehemiah. For Nehemiah, I suppose the possibilities are potentially endless. After all, he has heard the homeland of his people is in shambles – and the situation seems entirely hopeless back in Jerusalem of Judah. Things are so bad there, in fact, Nehemiah has been sickened by the plight of his brethren. It is that very sickness displayed on Nehemiah’s face which has prompted the king’s query: basically, “What is wrong with you?”
This is an opportunity for sadness and despair to go one of two places. An attempt can be made to do something about the problem which is causing the sadness, or an attempt can be made to treat the symptom of the sadness itself.
In this example, we see clearly how the Lord desires to move. According to the Word, Nehemiah has been praying to the Lord for four months about the problems back in Jerusalem, (Nehemiah’s emotional and spiritual homeland, even though he has never stepped foot there.) After 90 years of return from exile, the city still lies mostly in ruin, and the walls have not been touched. The temple has been rebuilt, as well as some of the houses, but there is absolutely no protection from any outside force which may desire to destroy the Jewish people.
I suppose after 90 years the most likely response from an observer might be that there is nothing that can be done about this problem. It appears the people have absolutely no desire to do what needs to be done to protect themselves. Who could possibly motivate them? The amount of work to be done to bring about restoration must appear completely impossible.
So, the choices: Is it time to take a vacation to try to forget all about this despair? Is it time to buy some stuff to help distract himself from his sadness about the problem? If Nehemiah had looked within himself, perhaps these may have been the answers. (Treat the symptom of sadness.) But Nehemiah, in his wisdom, did something we should not take for granted: He asked God. And God called Nehemiah to do what he could about the root cause of the problem – not the symptom of his sadness.
- Pastor Bill
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Gone Fishing
John 21:1 After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also."
The statement is often made in Biblical teaching that we are to, “wait on the Lord.” Isaiah 40:31 put it this way, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” The question is: what are we to do while we are waiting?
I really believe Peter thought he was “waiting on the Lord” when he decided to kill some time while waiting on the Lord near the Sea of Tiberias. According to Matthew’s gospel, the disciples were instructed to head to the Galilee where they were to meet Jesus. (Another name for the Sea of Tiberias.)
Once they arrived at Galilee, Jesus was nowhere to be seen. And so we have a classic “wait-mode” situation. What were they to do while they waited? I can imagine the guys kind of meandering along the seashore for a while, perhaps throwing smooth stones into the water, and generally just hanging out and killing time.
Peter, being the natural leader that he is, probably felt a greater degree of pressure about coming up with something to do. He was most likely the one in the crowd who would be looked to for ideas – as it is with most leader-follower relationships. Peter apparently went into default mode: Fishing. Fishing is an obvious time-killer. It occupies the mind in distraction. A perfect veg activity. After all, you can’t just sit around and do nothing while you are waiting...
So Peter makes the declaration he is going fishing. Since he is the straw that stirs the drink, the rest of the guys go along. They fish all night in fact, and catch nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada.
Jesus appears on the shore the next morning, unrecognized. He shouts out them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.” The question arises again, What are we to do while we are waiting? Is waiting simply an uncertain amount of time to kill with leisure activity, vegging out, watching TV? Mindless, distracted activity to pass time? Perhaps we are to be feeding ourselves on the Word of God, and spending time in prayer that we may have plenty of food for His use when Jesus asks us, “Children, do you have any food?” This should ring especially true when we are not just waiting, but in fact are waiting on the Lord Himself to appear.
- Pastor Bill
The statement is often made in Biblical teaching that we are to, “wait on the Lord.” Isaiah 40:31 put it this way, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” The question is: what are we to do while we are waiting?
I really believe Peter thought he was “waiting on the Lord” when he decided to kill some time while waiting on the Lord near the Sea of Tiberias. According to Matthew’s gospel, the disciples were instructed to head to the Galilee where they were to meet Jesus. (Another name for the Sea of Tiberias.)
Once they arrived at Galilee, Jesus was nowhere to be seen. And so we have a classic “wait-mode” situation. What were they to do while they waited? I can imagine the guys kind of meandering along the seashore for a while, perhaps throwing smooth stones into the water, and generally just hanging out and killing time.
Peter, being the natural leader that he is, probably felt a greater degree of pressure about coming up with something to do. He was most likely the one in the crowd who would be looked to for ideas – as it is with most leader-follower relationships. Peter apparently went into default mode: Fishing. Fishing is an obvious time-killer. It occupies the mind in distraction. A perfect veg activity. After all, you can’t just sit around and do nothing while you are waiting...
So Peter makes the declaration he is going fishing. Since he is the straw that stirs the drink, the rest of the guys go along. They fish all night in fact, and catch nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada.
Jesus appears on the shore the next morning, unrecognized. He shouts out them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.” The question arises again, What are we to do while we are waiting? Is waiting simply an uncertain amount of time to kill with leisure activity, vegging out, watching TV? Mindless, distracted activity to pass time? Perhaps we are to be feeding ourselves on the Word of God, and spending time in prayer that we may have plenty of food for His use when Jesus asks us, “Children, do you have any food?” This should ring especially true when we are not just waiting, but in fact are waiting on the Lord Himself to appear.
- Pastor Bill
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Likeness
John 20:19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
The question of how to produce an exact image of someone has always been a difficult one. Some people work in mediums of wood, paint on canvas, stone, or maybe even bronze. Some of the greatest artists history has produced have been excellent copyists, able to wonderfully create an external representation of some of history’s greatest men.
But there has always been something missing in the images which have been created, no matter how closely they have resembled the person for which resemblance is desired.
God knew the shortcomings inherent with all of man’s attempts at resemblance. He also knew of man’s desire to produce resemblances for himself, as an indicator of man’s desire to cling to a hero or leader, once that leader has gone and is no longer physically present. In many cases, this desire of man to identify the greatness of a particular leader and to emulate that life can be admirable, as it is with Christ.
The problem is that no matter how lifelike or “perfect” the representation of the person to be emulated is - there is something huge which is missing: Life itself. I’ve seen some really great statues of George Washington in my life, (having grown up in Washington, D.C.,) but none of those wonderful statues truly captured the essence of Washington because the life was not ‘in’ the statue. The lights were on but no one was home. This is why God abhors idols and idolatry and idol-worship.
Jesus comes to His disciples and says, “I want you to be like Me. I want you to emulate My life. In fact, they will eventually call you “Christians” in My honor, because your very lives will be ‘Christ-like’”, (what the word, ‘Christian’ means.)
In order to accomplish this awesome goal, Christ could have handed out small statues of Himself to each one of the disciples to carry around in their pockets, to pull out and look at and be reminded of Christ each time a decision was necessary. Would this bring them into “Christ–like-ness?” No. Jesus’ answer was to breathe His life INTO the disciples, that their lives might be changed into the image of Christ from the inside out. Jesus lets us know it is the INSIDE which counts in the kingdom of heaven.
- Pastor Bill
The question of how to produce an exact image of someone has always been a difficult one. Some people work in mediums of wood, paint on canvas, stone, or maybe even bronze. Some of the greatest artists history has produced have been excellent copyists, able to wonderfully create an external representation of some of history’s greatest men.
But there has always been something missing in the images which have been created, no matter how closely they have resembled the person for which resemblance is desired.
God knew the shortcomings inherent with all of man’s attempts at resemblance. He also knew of man’s desire to produce resemblances for himself, as an indicator of man’s desire to cling to a hero or leader, once that leader has gone and is no longer physically present. In many cases, this desire of man to identify the greatness of a particular leader and to emulate that life can be admirable, as it is with Christ.
The problem is that no matter how lifelike or “perfect” the representation of the person to be emulated is - there is something huge which is missing: Life itself. I’ve seen some really great statues of George Washington in my life, (having grown up in Washington, D.C.,) but none of those wonderful statues truly captured the essence of Washington because the life was not ‘in’ the statue. The lights were on but no one was home. This is why God abhors idols and idolatry and idol-worship.
Jesus comes to His disciples and says, “I want you to be like Me. I want you to emulate My life. In fact, they will eventually call you “Christians” in My honor, because your very lives will be ‘Christ-like’”, (what the word, ‘Christian’ means.)
In order to accomplish this awesome goal, Christ could have handed out small statues of Himself to each one of the disciples to carry around in their pockets, to pull out and look at and be reminded of Christ each time a decision was necessary. Would this bring them into “Christ–like-ness?” No. Jesus’ answer was to breathe His life INTO the disciples, that their lives might be changed into the image of Christ from the inside out. Jesus lets us know it is the INSIDE which counts in the kingdom of heaven.
- Pastor Bill
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