Scripture ponderings – Page 16

Nehemiah Devotions Chapter 2, Day 4

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of my arrival, they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of Israel. (Nehemiah 2:10, NLT)

Not everyone got the memo.

Nehemiah watched as God prepared and provided. Nehemiah witnessed the overwhelming kindness and favor of the king as he supported Nehemiah’s plan 100%.

But not everyone was on board. Not everyone wants to see the plans of God succeed. There will always be those who’s self-seeking and self-serving plans come against God, and us.

Awareness of this doesn’t necessarily make it easier. Jesus wanted us to be ready for this kind of thing. He told his followers: 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12, NIV)

Nehemiah Devotions Chapter 2, Day 3

The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?” (Nehemiah 2:4, NLT)

Six months. One hundred eighty days, give or take a few, Nehemiah opened his eyes and wondered if today would be the day.

He trusted God each to be laying the ground work. And each day he prayed to be ready.

And the time had arrived.

Nehemiah opened his mouth and shared his heart with the king and queen. He laid it out. He said needed. He had prayed for favor and kindness.

And that’s exactly what he got.

I can’t begin to what had been going on in the heart and mind of the king. Was he just having a day of benevolence? In the six months that Nehemiah waited had something happened to endear Nehemiah to the king making the favor expressed as natural as the sun coming up in the morning?

I don’t know. I am just convinced that Nehemiah was seeing God’s greatness unfold before his eyes. If God could do that then there’s nothing he can’t be trusted with.

Nehemiah knew that. Do we?

Sermon Seeds: Nehemiah Prays

In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign,[a] I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.

Within Nehemiah’s brief account, there are twelve prayers. Prayer bookends the story. One might (and should) determine prayer is important to the process.

I read once that there are many things you can accomplish after you pray, but there should be nothing you do until you pray.

Having that thought this week, as I prepared for the message, has impacted my thinking and my praying.

I wonder what it will do for you.

Sermon Seed: Investing a Treasure

Imagine, you have been given a fortune. More money than you could make in twenty lifetimes.

Actually, you haven’t been “given” it as much as it has been entrusted to you by another–your boss.

What would you do?

In Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30 ), he tells a story about a master who does that with three of his servants.

The first two double what was entrusted to them, but the third is some combination of fearful and lazy so he buries his.

The investors are rewarded and invited to celebrate, while the non-risk taker is cast out.

There are mountains of theories and interpretations for this story.

For me it boils down to this:

Sermon Seeds: Get A Grip

This week we add self-control.

When I think of self-control I hear my dad’s voice telling me to get a grip. I keep this broken handle to remind me I really do have a grip.

Self-control follows knowledge in our list of things we must add to our faith. So it would seem, self-control involves putting into practice what is learned of God.

A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out. Proverbs 25:28, The Message.

When we lack self-control or are lazy about engaging it, we set ourselves up as easy prey for the enemy.

The self-control spoken of in the Bible is a gift from God through the Spirit. The Spirit “teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” (Titus 2:12)

So I we need a grip on the Spirit to get a grip in life.

Sermon Seeds: Adding Knowledge Without Being A Know-it-all

Last week we considered what it means to add goodness to our faith. This week’s “add” is knowledge.

One of the things I’ve learned in my study of the Word, is order is not an accident. Peter doesn’t instruct his readers to add knowledge before they add goodness.

The Apostle Paul warns the Corinthians: We know that we all possess knowledge…but knowledge puffs up. (1 Corinthians 8:1)

Knowledge is desirable, but alone: it’s dangerous!!

Without goodness knowledge is often wielded to humiliate, intimidate, or alienate others, not for what God intended it to be: a tool to build and bless and serve others.

Goodness renders knowledge beneficial rather than impressive.

Peter also is clear that we are are to add knowledge, not opinion. We have to know the truth, and be sure truth is what we’re standing on and for.

As I was thinking about how knowledge can puff up and the importance of truth over opinion, I began thinking about my marriage. After 36 years my husband and I know the pain that comes from acting like we “know it all.” We have learned the value of a heartfelt apology and staying open to learning.

I love when I can learn something new about my husband. It keeps our relationship fresh and growing.

God wants us to have that same attitude in our relationship with him. We can never learn it all, but we can commit our entire lives to trying.

What are you doing to add knowledge to your faith?

(Thanks to Mark Buchannon and his book “Hidden in Plain Sight” for these concepts about knowledge.)

Sermon Seeds: Faith and Foundation

I’ve been meditating all week on Bible verses about faith. Here are a few:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Heb. 11:1

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. Heb. 11:6

So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Ro. 10:17

And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:22-24

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Lk 17:5

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Tim. 4:7

So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. James 2:17 NLT

What I’m about to tell you is true. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, it is enough. Matthew 17:20

So, how is your faith today? Growing? Fading? Active? Passive?

Today as I was reflecting and preparing for Sunday’s message, I realized I’ve been pretty comfortable with where my faith has been. You can translate that as stagnant. I don’t feel good about either of those words. I went to front of our sanctuary and knelt in prayer. And wept.

I talk about the great things God wants to do in this church, in the lives of this body of believers, in this community…in me. But am I willing to step into that growth, willing to take on the changes for me? That’s scarey…and it’s all good. God’s promise and plan shouldn’t be a fearful thing.

So this revelation is going to cost me. Bonhoeffer wrote that there is no cheap grace…the same is true of faith.

This thing we call faith is the foundation for everything we build your spiritual life upon. We need to make sure it’s rock steady.

Sermon Seeds: Everything We Need

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

This afternoon my grandson stopped by the office for a few minutes. There was about a twenty minute lag between when his mom needed to drop him off and his grandpa (my hub) got off work. We played a few points of air hockey and then went to my office where I was working on the sermon.

He asked what I was doing and when I told him his eyes lit up and he begged to help. Since I have taken this interim position, he has developed a new outlook on church. On Sunday he told his Sunday School teacher his favorite part of church was the preaching. (Go ahead, picture me grinning quite hugely.)

This afternoon, I told him I would love his help. I showed him the text (see above) and asked him to look at it and tell me what he thought the most important parts were. Let’s see if they match up with what you think stands out.

First he pointed out how cool it is that God has given us everything we need to follow him. Next he liked the part that God chose us. And finally, he felt it was pretty amazing that we get to share in the God’s nature…and we need to be sharing that.

Seems to me that preaches pretty well. Not bad for a nine year old.

Sermon Seeds: It’s All About The Fruit

⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

It seems so obvious. We wouldn’t argue the point if we were discussing grapes, or squash, or pumpkins. The only way to produce fruit is for the branch to be connected to the vine.

In this section of the gospel (John 15), Jesus identifies himself as the true vine–the genuine item, the real deal. He would only make that point if there were false, fake, or dead vines people were trying to attach themselves to.

The way to know who or what we’re attached to is to examine the fruit. Good fruit comes from abiding in the true vine.

So, how’s your fruit?

If we are going to produce fruit for the Kingdom, fruit that brings glory to God, then we need to be a people of the vine.

Sermon Seeds: Finishing

(On Wednesdays my blog posts will be related to the text of the upcoming Sunday message.)

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6, NLT)

We just finished walking together through Lent to the Resurrection. The intention of these devotional thoughts was to get us ready to see Jesus!

How’d you do?

Each time I reach the resurrection story I am moved when I try to imagine Jesus speaking Mary’s name. I listen hard to hear him whisper my name.

But that’s not the end of the story! More work needs to be done. We have our part. God is not finished with us!

Sunday morning I will preach my first official sermon as the interim pastor of Ashland First Church of the Brethren. It is not my first time in the pulpit with these precious people. I’ve been filling in for a while.

On Sunday we embark on a different phase. We are focusing on where God wants us to go, who God wants us to be…and how we’re going to get there.

I love our verse from Philippians. For a long time I took it personally…individually. But it’s plural. Like: He began a work in y’all. And He wants to finish it.

What work has God begun in you? In your family? In your faith community–your church?

Will you join him in the work? Will you let him finish?

You hold a piece to the whole that only you can fill.

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