How Do You Define Success?

Read: Nehemiah 12:27-31

We are drawing closer to Christmas Day and the end of 2019.  If you are a lot like me, you are spending some time reflecting on this past year.  What has gone well?  What has been difficult?  What goals have I achieved?  Where have I fallen short?  It can often leave us feeling we have not measured up, that we have failed in what we set out to do on January 1^st. 

Today’s reading is about the prophet Nehemiah.  The ancient Israelites had been in exile far away from their homeland.  The walls around their city, Jerusalem had been demolished, and the city had become inhabited by other nations.  After nearly 70 years, the Israelites were released from their captivity and began returning home.  They settled in and around Jerusalem, but they were a broken people.  They lived in the shadow of the ruins, the boulders of the once magnificent wall mocking them. 

Yet they were content there.  The prophet Nehemiah comes on the scene.  During the time of his exile, he was the cup bearer to the King of Persia.  He takes a trip back to Jerusalem to visit.  What he sees makes his heart melt, and he is overcome with grief.  Nehemiah prayed. And God stirred up a vision in his heart.  He must rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. 

It must have seemed crazy!  Afterall, what was he going to be able to do?  He was just a lowly cup bearer to a King in a foreign land. 

Fast forward 13 long, hard, trying years!  Miracles happened, opposition arouse, setbacks came.  Defeats and disappointments seemed to be winning.  But the day finally came when the wall was completed!  What a day to celebrate!!  Yet there is more.

I have been enjoying a book based upon the story of Nehemiah by Andy Stanley called “Visioneering.”  Listen to what Andy says about Nehemiah and success:

“There is a tendency to confuse success with the rewards of success. If you are where God wants you, fulfilling the responsibilities he has given you, you are successful. In fact, when that is the case, you are as successful as you will ever be. Granted, you may not be seeing or experiencing the rewards of your success. But you are successful nonetheless.

Success is remaining faithful to the process God has laid out for you.”

Nehemiah remained faithful to what God had called him to do every step of the way. 

Do you see the parallel in the Christmas story?  Mary, a young teenager, received a vision from God.  When the angel appeared to her and told her she would be the mother of Jesus, she said, 

“I am your handmaiden.  Let it be to me as you have said!” 

When did she see the rewards for her faithfulness?  On their way to Bethlehem when she was 9 months pregnant?  When Herod killed all the newborn babies?  When they had to flee to Egypt?  Or maybe when Jesus was arrested, put on trial and sentenced to death?  Maybe at the foot of the cross when she watched as her beloved son was crucified? 

Mary too remained faithful and put her hope in God even when all seemed lost.  She pondered ALL the things God had put in her heart and remained faithful to the process God had laid out for her, being the mother of the Savior of All.  Imagine the JOY she experienced what Jesus was raised to life again! 

Lord, thank you for the gift of Your Son Jesus, born for us! Help us to remain faithful to the vision You have for us and entrust ourselves to Your divine plan, to rescue and redeem the lost and broken people in this world!  We place our hope in You, that You have all things in Your hands and one day, You will restore US and all things beyond all we could ever ask or imagine.   

        

GOD’S REMNANT

Reading: Romans 11:1-6

“REMNANT SALE,” I read aloud in the flyer from the fabric store.

“What’s that?” my friend asked. I hadn’t heard the term in years, but I recalled buying remnants back in the day when I was into making purses from heavy fabric.

I explained, “It’s a small amount of material left on the end of a bolt of fabric, usually less than a yard. It would seem useless to sell because there isn’t enough to make something from a pattern for a dress or a suit or a robe. But these can be great for small one-of-a-kind items like purses, placemats, potholders, etc – or they would be perfect for making a patch-work quilt.”

When I read the verses for today, the word “remnant” caught my eye. Several translations used this term for the small group of Jews whom God “reserved for Himself” during Elijah’s time – Jews who had remained faithful to Him after all the others had walked away in disobedience and followed different gods (see Romans 11: 4; also read the story in I Kings 19: 10-18).

Paul further expanded the term to include Jews of his day who had been chosen by God’s grace (and indeed, extends today to those who are a faithful remnant of Jesus). We believers who are not Jewish by birth are included in the remnant by adoption. “The grounds for the existence of the remnant was not [our] good works but [only by] God’s grace.” (From note on vs 5 in the NIV Study Bible).

We, God’s Remnant, are set apart by His grace and favor for a special purpose, which I am imagining to be that patch-work quilt of believers from “every tribe and tongue” that enjoys, appreciates and shares the unique pattern He has created us to be together!

How grateful I am, Lord, that through your grace and mercy, I am among the quilt remnants that make up the whole Body of Christ. May we individually and together be a display of your beauty to the world around us.  Amen

Faith is strengthened in tandem

Has your world fallen apart lately? Some of us live in a perpetually broken environment. How do we cope? How do we live with the pain and heartache that life can dole out? Some of our pain may be self-inflicted, the result of poor choices and bad relationships. Some of our pain is through no fault of our own, but we find ourselves in the midst of it.

Be strong and focused - Sometimes we just have to tough it out and be OK with nothing being OK. But, if we want to come out on top, if we want to survive and eventually thrive, we need to recognize that God is faithful and He wants the best for us. There are things we can do while in the midst of a crisis. We can find someone to walk with us. Having a friend who will listen and who will pray for us will make a difference.

Don't go through it along - No matter what the struggle, it is easier to wrestle the giant with someone with whom you can tag-team. Job, the subject of our study, is in the midst of great trail. Job is not alone, he doesn't allow his sorrow to lead him into isolation. He is surrounded by community, his friends sat with him and silently supported him in his grief.

Whatever you are dealing with now, don't face it alone. Reach out to God who is faithful, even if our faith is faltering during this season, God is still faithful.  And then pray seek out someone who will come alongside and be your strength for a bit. Find a person who is safe to talk to and to pray with.

Allow God to speak into your heart during this time and listen for what He is saying, what He is teaching you. Write it down so some day in the near future and can go back and read and remember.

Romans 3:3-4 - God is faithful

Why God?

Genesis 39:13-23

 

 

In this story, Joseph finds himself between a rock and a hard place. If he gives in to the aggressive advances of his bosses’ wife, he betrays the trust of Potiphar and sins

against God. On the other hand, if he resists Potiphar’s wife, he runs the risk of finding the truth of the saying, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”.

 

From the text we read that he did indeed resist her, but with apparently disastrous consequences as Potiphar’s wife makes up a boldface lie.

Here’s how the Living Bible states it.

 

¹² …she came and grabbed him by the sleeve demanding, “Sleep with me.” He tore himself away, but as he did, his jacket slipped off and she was left holding it as he fled from the house. ¹³ When she saw that she had his jacket, and that he had fled, ^14-15 she began screaming; and when the other men around the place came running in to see what had happened, she was crying hysterically. “My husband had to bring in this Hebrew slave to insult us!” she sobbed. “He tried to rape me, but when I screamed, he ran, and forgot to take his jacket.”

 

Joseph was in a situation where he could have easily cried out, “Why God? Why did you let me be thrown into prison even though I was being faithful to you? Why did you let my brothers sell me into slavery bringing me to this god-forsaken place? Why have you turned your back on me? Why God?”

 

You may have cried out like this yourself at some time. “Why God did you let our child die? Why did I lose my job when I have a family to provide for? Why did you let my marriage fall apart? Why did our house burn to the ground? Why did my spouse contract cancer? Why do I struggle with this addiction? Why God?”

 

And yet, being thrown into prison was not the end of the story for Joseph. Although he could have responded by turning away from God or dwelling on his desperate circumstance, he didn’t. Instead he remained faithful to God, and was eventually placed in charge of the whole prison. God didn’t forget him. God didn’t leave him. God had a plan even in the midst of hopeless circumstances.

 

Therefore, the next time you find yourself in a situation where you are crying out “Why God”; remember this. God is in control and He is always at work in your life drawing

you towards Him. He is always with you. He loves you unconditionally and nothing can separate you from His love. He has a plan for your life and is faithful.

 

 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2039%3A13-23&version=NIV;TLB
https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Gen.39.13-Gen.39.23


 

That Family That Redeems Is Faithful It Seems

No, I am not talking about coupons.

Today we read from Ruth 3:2-15. Naomi and her family moved from Bethlehem to the nation of Moab during a drought. While in Moab, Naomi lost her husband and sons to death. Her daughter-in-law, Ruth, a Moabite, returned to Bethlehem with Naomi.

Being widows, both Naomi and Ruth were poor. Naomi had her late husband’s land she could sell, but finding a buyer would be difficult. The land could revert to Ruth’s sons if she remarried. However, because Ruth was not an Israelite, the Sanhedrin (Israeli court) might rule her sons are not entitled to the land. Both widows’ long term future appeared bleak.

Naomi had a well-to-do relative, Boaz, who qualified as a “guardian-redeemer.”  A guardian-redeemer was required to redeem, that is, purchase the land, even at the risk of possibly losing it in the future.

Boaz was in a position to help Naomi, but he went far beyond that. He also helped Ruth, by letting her glean and harvest in his fields, by ensuring her safety, by feeding her, by purchasing Naomi’s land and by marrying Ruth. (Ruth proposed to Boaz when she said “Spread the corner of your garment over me.” That was a custom of the time.)

Ruth, the Moabite, loved and trusted Naomi, her mother-in-law. Ruth, who put her safety at risk, had faith in Naomi’s family to help both of them out. Boaz did not disappoint them!

We have a guardian-redeemer greater than Boaz. We are sinners, and left to our own devices, our future is bleaker than Ruth’s and Naomi’s future at first appeared. Our efforts to earn our way to heaven would provide eternal damnation.

God is faithful and keeps his promises. God sent a guardian-redeemer named Jesus Christ. Jesus purchased our souls with his own blood.

What a great blessing that is!

My Name is Paul ... and I Need a Crutch

“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in time of trouble.”  Psalm 9:9 

“Your God is a crutch!”  

Yes, he is!  A very capable, faithful and loving crutch!  He catches me when I fall, and when my hardened, steely self-will is overwhelmed and overcome, my God is there to support with open arms.  More than that, he rises up and comes to my rescue.  He upholds me with a strength infinitely greater than any I could gather.

What else should I do?  Where else would I go?  Should I, instead, turn away from him and indulge myself when times are “good”?  And when my “good” times turn “bad,” should my estranged heart turn bitter, as though God left me ... as though the consequences of my actions were his fault?  Or would I deny God's existence with rage and cynicism ironically intense for something that does not exist?

O my soul, be honest with yourself!  Be honest about yourself and before your God!  Your strength is no match for the powers of this world, but God is faithful and he forever holds you, secure as in the palm of his hand.  Look back on your life's journey and see that, at every turn, he was with you.  And know that, even though the world would oppress you, you will one day look upon this day and see that your God was no less present, no less faithful, no less worthy of your praise.

Yes, I need a crutch!  I need much more than a crutch.  My Crutch has become my life.  I do not merely lean on him; I live in him, and he lives in me.

“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”  Psalm 9:10