Honest Reflections

“He read it aloud from daybreak till noon…in the presence of…men, women and others who could understand…all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.” (Nehemiah 8:3 NIV)

Understanding creates interest.

Today’s verse resumes the story of Nehemiah, our topic recently.  After the completion of the Jerusalem wall, the town gathered together.  From early morning until noon, Ezra read the Old Testament to the crowd.  The people are hungry for God’s word after the miracle they witnessed.  The restoration of the wall was miraculous to them.  They had a new understanding of God they didn’t have before.  Listening to the Priest read His words had new meaning to them.  Understanding created an interest in God, possibly for the first time.

The Israelites experienced God.  The experience gave them understanding.  Understanding created a new interest in God.  

Experience generates understanding.

When we found out my Mom had pancreatic cancer, I experienced God in a new way.  My mother didn’t tell anyone she was sick.  When she ended up in the hospital in need of emergency surgery, we knew.  The operation revealed cancer.  The surgeon didn’t know if the cancer was colon or pancreatic.  He said to pray for colon because it was not recurring.  Pancreatic cancer almost always returns within five years.  I prayed for colon cancer, it was pancreatic. My ultimate prayer, let her live.  The news crushed my heart.  But then God worked a miracle.

Ten years prior my mother had another emergency surgery.  This operation removed an obstruction in her colon caused by an aspirin.  They removed a section of her colon.  The scar tissue from that surgery saved her life.  Mom’s pancreatic cancer grew towards the scar tissue.  The cancer grew into my Mom’s colon instead of up through the middle of her body.   The percentage of cases where surgery is a treatment option for pancreatic cancer is low.  My mother was one of the few.  The true miracle, the surgeon removed all of the cancer.  God gave us five more years with her.  Time to tie up loose ends.  Time to come to grips with her death.  Time to prepare for life without her.  Time to say goodbye.  

God answered my prayer ten years before I prayed it.  He knew I would one day ask Him for more time with my mom. Part of my struggle the first time she had surgery was, “Why?”  Now I knew the answer.  God was prolonging her life.

My experience with God deepened my understanding of God. My new understanding of God made me want to know Him more.  My hunger for His word grew.

Experiencing God deepens our understanding of Him.  Understanding creates a new interest only deeper relationship with Him satisfies.  

Experience, Understand, Grow. Repeat.

Question of the Day:

How are you experiencing God today?

Further Reading: Nehemiah 7:73-9:21 NIV, 1 Corinthians 9:1-18 NIV, Psalm 33:12-22 NIV,  Proverbs 21:11-12 NIV

“So I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3 NIV)

Know your task, know your focus.

Nehemiah is rebuilding the Jerusalem wall.  People are scheming to get him off track.   Four times they tried to get him to stop work.  His reply was the same each time: no.  Basically, he said, “Give me one good reason why I should?”  They couldn’t.  Nehemiah had his priorities straight.  He knew Who had given him the job.  He knew what the job was.  He didn’t let anyone or thing keep him from his assigned task.

“Keep your head in the game,” means not getting distracted.  In the game of life, distractions are plenty.  As a Christ follower, God has given us clear instructions of what our job is.  We are to love God, love others (Mark 12:30-31 NIV).  We are to make disciples everywhere we go (Matthew 28:19 NIV).   Nehemiah’s God given job was building a wall, ours is helping others know Jesus through acts of love.  God given task requires God given focus.

God given tasks requires God given focus.

Nehemiah’s focus was God given.  He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, he was doing the Lord’s work.  Nothing is more important than the Lord’s work. How did Nehemiah know?

First, he prayed.  When he found out about the situation in Jerusalem, he prayed to God for guidance.  He was cupbearer to the king.  He couldn’t just leave his job.  He was stuck where he was unless God moved.  

Second, God answered.  A couple of days later he’s bringing wine to the king, who notices Nehemiah’s sad face.  The king wants to know why he’s sad, Nehemiah tells him the truth.  The king asks what would make Nehemiah happy.  Before answering, Nehemiah prays again.  Then he tells the king he wants to leave his job and rebuild the wall.  The king lets him.

Nehemiah knew he was doing God’s task.   God opened the doors for him to go.  In no way could Nehemiah have caused what happened to happen.  He had no control over the king, the king controlled him.  However, God controls the king.  Whether the king believed in God or not, God still used him to answer Nehemiah’s prayer.  Without a doubt, Nehemiah knew what he had to do, nothing was taking his head out of the game.

God works the same way in our lives.  We have a dilemma that is out of our control.  We pray.  God opens doors we can’t.  He directs our paths in ways we cannot predict, but cannot deny. Once we know the task, God gives us the focus.  Know your task, know your focus.

Question of the Day:

Do you know what your God given task is for today?

Further Reading:  Nehemiah 5:14-7:73 NIV, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 NIV, Psalm 33:1-11 NIV, Proverbs 21:8-10 NIV

“Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.” (Psalm 32:2 NIV)

God’s blessing is forgiving your sin.

God’s grace is available for all who believe in Him.  When you humble yourself and admit, “I’m a sinner,” to God, He forgives you.  Not only does He forgive you, He can no longer see your sin:

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12 NIV)

God forgives our sin, He removes it from us.  What does that mean about future sin?  Truth is, we never stop sinning.  We’re human, perfection is not part of the definition.  We all have struggles which we battle daily.  We know the right thing to do, we do the wrong thing.  

Nothing separates us from God’s love.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)

Future sin won’t separate us from God.  However, that fact doesn’t mean we have free reign to do whatever we want.  Sin has consequences.

A memorable moment in my childhood involved my little brother tattling on us.  Three siblings in the house, we decided to try smoking.  We found cigarette butts from my Dad and smoked them.  My little brother, also smoking, told my Mom.  Her punishment, she gave us what we wanted.  She had us smoke a cigarette.  Needless to say, we couldn’t.  My oldest brother inhaled, turned green and was immediately sick.  My little brother and I didn’t even try.  None smoked again after that.

We experienced grace from my Mom.  In order to teach us, she gave us what we wanted. When we got what we wanted, we didn’t want it anymore.  My Mom didn’t stop loving us or end her relationship with us because we sinned.  When my younger brother confessed, she forgave him.  God forgives us when we repent, but He also wants us to learn and grow from our mistakes, just like my Mom did.

God’s grace is His greatest gift to us.  His love covers all sin.  When we accept His grace, our relationship with Him begins.  As we pursue a relationship with Him, He will teach us as a loving parent.  He knows we battle the flesh daily.  Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.  Either way, God still loves us. 

Sin is a lifelong battle.  Seeking God’s grace isn’t a one time journey.  Each time we falter, we seek His grace.  God’s grace renews us for the next battle.

Question of the Day:

What area do you need God’s grace in today?

Further Reading: Nehemiah 3:15-5:13 NIV, 1 Corinthians 7:25-40 NIV, Psalm 32 NIV, Proverbs 21:5-7 NIV

“When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”(Nehemiah 1:4 NIV) 

Grieve the circumstances, fast and pray to God.

Nehemiah worked for King Artaxerxes as his cupbearer.  He served the king his wine.  His crisis is the remnants of Israel and their predicament:

“Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” (Nehemiah 1:3 NIV)

His immediate response: grieving for his people, while fasting and praying to God.  Four verses in, we see the type of man Nehemiah was: a man of prayer.  Because He started with God, He gave Nehemiah direction.  The king gave him his blessing to go to Jerusalem and finish the wall. They worked with weapons in one hand, tools in the other.  Nehemiah’s journey was not easy, nor short, but it was victorious. 

Fasting and Prayer paves the way to victory.

Crises in life are a given.   We all have them, we all endure them.  We have a choice of how we travel through them: with God or without Him. Fasting and prayer invites God into the situation.  God’s involvement causes  miracles to happen.

My mother, in the last years of her life, battled pancreatic cancer.  At one point, early in the fight, I was at odds with my family about her care.  We weren’t speaking to each other, it wasn’t a good time for us. For ten days I fasted and prayed to God.  On the seventh day, I felt victory in my spirit.  I didn’t know what God had done, but I knew He had done something.  The thought that ran through my head, “I don’t have to fast and pray anymore.”  But then, just as quickly, I heard, “Do you want a partial victory or a full victory?”  Without a doubt, I had to finish what I had started.  I wanted the full victory.

Just like Nehemiah, the changes weren’t evident immediately.  God didn’t change my family with my fasting and prayer, He changed me.  God gave me opportunities to reconcile with my family.  He gave me direction, just like He did Nehemiah.  In time, we found peace, our relationships restored with each other as God worked in our lives.

Fasting is abstaining from food or anything that hinders your relationship with God. The purpose is to deepen your relationship with God.  When you’re hungry for what you’ve given up, it’s a reminder to pray and seek God.  Fasting is a powerful tool that invites God into your crisis.  When you do, He’ll give you direction in the midst of despair.

Fast and pray, God will answer.

Question of the Day:

Have you tried fasting and prayer as an answer to your crisis?

Further Reading: Nehemiah 1:1-3:14 NIV, 1 Corinthians 7:1-24 NIV, Psalm 31:19-24 NIV, Proverbs 21:4 NIV

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.” (1 Cor. 6:12 NIV)

Whoever God has given you to do life with daily are the relationships that take the most work.  Words matter in relationships.  Not everything needs said, not everything needs done.

For me, the relationship that takes the most work is with my husband.  He is the one I live with daily.  Today is our 8th wedding anniversary.  I have grown more as a person since I married my husband than any other time.  Marriage has taught me life isn’t all about me.

Early in our marriage, we were getting ready for bed.  My husband was still in the bathroom, I was in bed writing in my journal.  As he pulls back the covers to crawl in bed, he jostles me.  Yes, the brat I am, said: “Can’t you see I’m writing?  You jostled the bed. Be more careful”  At that point, my husband broke my selfish bubble.  He looked at me and said these words:

“This is not the Beth show.  If I do everything you want it’s the Beth show.  That show ended.  It’s now the Ron and Beth show, we’re in this together.  I can’t get in bed without “jostling” it.”

Happy Anniversary Honey!  I love you more today than ever.

My husband uses words well.  He knows when to say something, when not too.  He also knows moderation.  He teaches me every day. Relationships require moderation.  In any relationship, we have the right to do or say anything, but that doesn’t mean we should.

When my husband reminded me the world didn’t revolve around me, he did it with the right words, at the right time.  We are responsible for the words we say, the things we do:

But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:36 NIV)

We are all accountable to God.  In His grace and mercy, we learn moderation.  

Ron was right, the Beth show had ended.  Life wasn’t about me, it was about us.  The life God gave us when He brought us together.  God is the managing partner in our marriage. In Him we trust all things.  Every day He gives us is a blessing.  As we learn to trust Him more, moderation becomes a way of life for us.

Not everything needs said today.  Not everything needs done today.  Some things never need said or done.  Each day with God, we learn moderation.  As we follow His leading, we’ll know when to speak or do, when not too.

Live fully in moderation.

Question of the Day:

Are you living life in moderation?

Further Reading: Ezra 10 NIV,  1 Corinthians 6:1-20 NIV, Psalm 31:9-18 NIV, Proverbs 21:3 NIV

“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?” (1 Cor. 5:6 NIV)

You can inflate a situation with boasting, just as yeast raises bread.

“Yeast is a living microscopic single-cell organism that, as it grows, converts its food (through a process known as fermentation) into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This trait is what endears yeast to winemakers, brewmasters and bread bakers. … Baker’s yeast, as the name implies, is used as a leavener.”  Food Network

Yeast is small, round balls.  Baking bread requires very little yeast, yet it infects all of the dough.  As time goes by, the dough begins to rise.  My mother made yeast rolls.  The vision of the stainless steel bowl, covered with a dish towel meant warm rolls were in my future.  The yeast needs time to work itself through the dough, it doesn’t happen immediately.  The same thing happens when we boast about ourselves.

Boasting inflates the situation.

Boasting is “talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one’s achievements, possessions, or abilities.”   We boast about everything: family and friends, sports, money, pets.  You name it, people boast about it.   Nothing is more irritating than listening to someone boast about someone or something that’s not worthy of praise. 

Boasting creates disunity.  When someone brags about something, it creates distance in the relationship.  Just like yeast causes bread to inflate, boasting inflates the space in the relationships.  Instead of drawing closer together, we do the opposite.  No one wants to listen to someone tell you how great they are, it only makes them focus on their faults.

“Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth–a stranger, not your own lips.” (Proverbs 27:2 NIV)

My mother always said, “If your kids are worth bragging about, someone else will do it.” If we’re worthy of praise, someone else will praise us.  My mother was strict.  She had high expectations of her children.  She set the bar and then helped us achieve it.  But she was not quick to brag about us.  She knew, pride goes before a fall (Prov. 16:18 NIV).

Boasting is verbal pride.   

Pride: Inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one’s own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments, rank or elevation in office, which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others.

No one likes a braggart.  When we boast, we’re the braggart.  We are overestimating our abilities.  We’re saying we’re better than others, which goes against Jesus words:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.’ (Phil. 2:3 NIV)

Boasting indicates we’ve taken our eyes off of Jesus.  He didn’t boast about anything but God.  When we keep the Son in our eyes, we keep pride out of our speech.

Question of the Day:

Have you boasted lately?

Further Reading: Ezra 8:21-9:15 NIV, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 NIV, Psalm 31:1-8 NIV, Proverbs 21:1-2 NIV

“My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” (1 Cor. 4:4 NIV)

God gives us a clear conscience.

The reason God creates a clear conscience in us is because He’s objective. Just because you think you did the right thing, doesn’t mean you did.  What we judge as right, God may judge as wrong.    We are selfish beings.  Our own self-interest conflicts with making the best choice.  We attempt objectivity, but inevitably we fail.  We’re human.  Selfishness is part of the human condition.  God isn’t battling the human condition.  He created us.  He understands us.  He loves us. 

In front of our house are two parking spaces.  The asphalt has no name written on it.  I feel like the spot is “mine” because it’s in front of “my” house. When I come home and find someone parked in “my” spot, I get angry.  I justify my anger.  Whoever should know, that’s “my” spot.  The parking space is a heart issue with me.  God is using this situation to work out my self-righteousness.  I’m not objective about the situation, God is.

God is objective.

God reminds me each time, it’s not your personal parking space.  Whoever has done nothing wrong.  They don’t owe me anything.  The problem isn’t theirs, it’s mine.  I’m the one with the heart issue.  My conscience is not clear.  God’s presence in my life nudges me the moment my anger appears.  God’s reminder is simple: life doesn’t revolve around you, it revolves around Me.

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Eccl. 12:13 ESV)

God has a purpose for our lives.  We aren’t innocent, even if we can justify our actions. When my husband leaves dirty dishes in the sink AGAIN, my anger towards him feels justified.  But that doesn’t mean I’m right.  God has a different perspective.  Life isn’t about who is right or wrong.  Life is about loving God and others to the best of our ability.  Instead of resenting my husband for not doing the dishes immediately, I can use it as an opportunity to show love to him.  When I do his dishes for him, I’m showing him love.  Often, he doesn’t even notice I’ve done them, but God does.

“So that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:4 NIV)

God knows whether our actions are selfish or not.  He is the one who judges our conscience.  When we follow His promptings, we’ll do the right thing.  We may think we’re right, but we’re not.  God is our objective judge whose promptings give us a clear conscience.

Question of the Day:

Has God given you a clear conscience?

Further Reading: Ezra 7:1-8:20 NIV, 1 Corinthians 4:1-21 NIV, Psalm 30:1-12 NIV, Proverbs 20:28-30 NIV

“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.” (1 Cor. 3:10 NIV)

Strong foundation equals strong life.

When building a home, the first thing done is the foundation. A house can’t exist without a foundation.  If the foundation isn’t strong, the house won’t survive the storms of life.  A friend who owned a home in Florida experienced this reality.  After purchasing the home, she learned the house sat on a sinkhole.   Literally, the middle of her living room was falling into the earth.  She had few options of what she could do.  The cost to fix the house was extensive.  She ended up selling the house, losing money in the deal.

Building our lives requires a firm foundation. If we don’t know what our foundation is, we can’t apply it to the world. When we build our lives on Jesus, He is the rock.  His foundation does not move.  We know this because thousands of years later, His word still stands the test of time.  

Jesus is a firm foundation.

When I was younger, the only thing I cared about was my career.  Jesus was in the back seat of my life, possibly even the trunk.  Everything I did centered around one purpose: building my resume. Every decision was from this perspective.  My life was spent working long hours to add new titles to my list of jobs.  Each one a building block from the other one: Store Manager then Area Manager, then District Manager, then Merchandise Coordinator.  Each step was a building block on the path to success.

The only problem, I didn’t have a firm foundation.  When I started working for New York, I realized quickly, I was only a number on the page.  If my numbers didn’t perform, I no longer had a job.  All of the hard work could vanish in the span of a phone call.  Eventually, that is exactly what happened.  On a January afternoon, just before 5:00 p.m. I received a call informing me I no longer had a job.  Poof, just like that, a career ended.

With Jesus, nothing can shake your foundation. Because Jesus is my foundation, the phone call did not shake me. The truth found in His words helps us weather the storms of life.  When we put our hope in Jesus, we’re not putting our hope in the things of this world.

 “Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.” (1 Peter 2:10 NIV)

Solid foundation in Jesus, solid life.

Question of the Day:

What is your foundation?

Further Reading: Ezra 4:24-6:22 NIV,  1 Corinthians 3:5-23 NIV, Psalm 29:1-11 NIV,  Proverbs 20:26-27 NIV

“A person’s steps are directed by the Lord.  How then can anyone understand their own way?” (Proverbs 20:24 NIV)

No one understands the way they are going in life.

We may have a plan.  We might have a general idea of where we’re heading, but none of us knows.  We don’t know because we’re not God.  God is sovereign:

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17 NIV)

Think about your day so far.  When you woke up this morning, you had a general idea of what you were going to do.  Have things gone 100% according to plan?  Or have some things happened you could never have predicted?  Those things are God’s sovereignty in your life.

God’s steps equal our steps.

God’s steps are those moments in our lives we didn’t predict.  On the way to work, you get stuck in traffic because of an accident; God step. You’re running late and a parking spot opens up right in front, God step.  An unexpected death of a loved one; God step.  The moment when new life forms in the womb; God step.

God steps in our lives every day.  Some times they are small steps, other times they are large steps.  Sometimes the steps are joyous, sometimes they are painful.  None of them are predictable.  All of them leave us with a choice.  We can either trust God and step with Him, or we can not.

If we choose not to step with God, we get stuck in the moment.  Instead of trusting God’s sovereignty in our lives, we struggle to find meaning in something that doesn’t make sense.  We assume the world is either plotting against us or for us, depending on whether the situation is good or bad.  We make everything about us and nothing about God.

When my nephew died, it was a huge God step in my life.  Did I trust God in my heartache or not?  My nephew sat in my car and gave his life to Jesus.  God imprinted that moment solidly in my mind.  Now years later, do I trust the prayer was real?  Do I trust God’s word that I will one day see my nephew again?  Or don’t I?

The truth is, we’re going to step forward in life.  One way or another, life doesn’t give us a choice.  But God does.  God gives us the option of stepping with Him or stepping without Him.  Every morning when we start our day, we choose again.

God’s steps equal our steps.  Each day He has new steps for us to follow.

Question of the Day:

What is a step God has taken in your life?

Further Reading: Ezra 3:1-4:23 NIV, 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4 NIV, Psalm 28 NIV,  Proverbs 20:24-25 NIV

“Do not hide your face from me,  do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper.  Do not reject me or forsake me,  God my Savior.” (Psalm 27:9 NIV)

David Kennedy is a pastor in Laurens, SC who fights life’s battles with prayer.  His remarkable story is told in the movie Burden.  In 1996, the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) opened a museum in town.  Reverend Kennedy formed a peaceful protest, fueled by prayer.  His example of putting God’s word into practice is one that will impact the rest of my life.

The movie centers around the life of Mike Burden, an orphan raised in the KKK.  He was Grand Dragon, a high ranking position in the organization, when Reverend Kennedy met him.  Burden helped open the museum.  His loyalty to the KKK earned him the deed to the building.

Reverend Kennedy fought the KKK with love:

“The weapons we use to fight fear, they are not brutality.  They are not wrath. They are not hate.  They are and will always be, love.”

Prayer is an act of love.

Reverend Kennedy started his battle with prayer.  He won his battle with prayer.  In one of the most pivotal moments in the movie, he prays.  All hope has been lost.  The KKK looks like they are winning the fight.  When his wife asks the reverend what he’s going to do, his answer was simple.  “I’m going to pray.”  God’s answer was one no one expected.

Burden had met a woman named Judy.  Her influence on his life caused him to leave the KKK.  When he left the organization, people closed their doors to him. He couldn’t get a job.  They ended up homeless, living on the street, begging for food.  When he asks the reverend for change to buy a meal, the pastor took the opportunity to love.  Not only did he buy them a meal, he took them into his home.  He gave them a place to stay until they could get back on their feet.  The reverend saw Burden’s request as an answer to prayer.  God gave him the opportunity to love.

Jesus tells us we are to love and pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44 NIV).   God doesn’t answer the way we expect.  He answers with an opportunity to act.  If you pray for patience, God will give you an opportunity to practice patience.  In the case of Reverend Kennedy, he had the opportunity to practice love. He had prayed for the people in the KKK.  Now he had the opportunity to love one of them like Jesus. His answered prayer was the opportunity to love his enemy. Taking his cue from the Good Samaritan, he went above and beyond in his act of love.

Because Reverend Kennedy didn’t miss the opportunity to love, his church now owns the KKK museum.  The Echo Project is now a rehab for hate.  The church is currently raising money to turn the facility into a community and diversity center.  

Prayer is an act of love.  God answers with opportunities to love.  Don’t miss the opportunity.

Question of the Day:

Who can you love through prayer today?

Further Reading: Ezra 1-2 NIV,  1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 NIV,  Psalm 27:7-14 NIV,  Proverbs 20:22-23 NIV