31 July 2009 Devotion for Today “Together As One Man” Ezra 3:1-4

31 July 2009 Devotion for Today “Together As One Man” Ezra 3:1-4

1 And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak[a] and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. 4 They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day.” (Ezra 3:1-4)

As I read this passage, I am impressed b y the unity of the people as they reinstitute the sacrificial system and the burnt offerings. In this Scripture, we see a prescription for so much sought after unity. The phrase “the people gathered together as one man” says much more than we realize.
First- their priorities were right on target. Before they had built their homes and places of business, they focused on the God who had given them that land, and the One who had brought them back to it. Even though the people feared the hostility of the pagans whom they were displacing, they resisted the urge to fortify themselves until they had set up the altar of God. Their foremost desire was to glorify God and not themselves.

Second- they had godly, spiritual men as leaders of the people. We must not overlook this when it comes to unity- in fact it is essential. The notable men who led Israel from Babylonian captivity were focused not on themselves, but upon rebuilding a nation with God’s help, with a deep love desire to serve the people under their care. There is clearly no substitute for this, whether in the church or in any organization where unity is crucial for its survival. Show me a group of unspiritual and selfish leaders, and I will show you a fragmented organization and a people writhing in a quagmire of discontent. It is not enough to desire unity or even to strive for it. Take this from someone whose ideas have been voted more down than up: as leaders, unity must begin with ourselves. There will always be differences of opinion and a whole host of ideas that will be sound. But the strength of our ideas lays only in our desire to be able to sacrifice them in humility for the greater good of all concerned.

There is a wonderful quote that is attributed to St. Augustine that says: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” Of all organizations, the Church of Jesus Christ must strive for this in all that we do- for this is the first glimpse of our witness to the world. Like Israel, we must stand together as one man. If we have trouble here, and are feeling put out or unhappy where God has placed us we might consider asking ourselves: 1) Does my desire for such and such contribute to the unity and the greater good of the whole body of which I am a part? 2) Have I prayed about this matter to the point that I would be willing to sacrifice it to the will of Jesus Christ and; 3) Will the concern that I have matter five or ten years from now?
May God give you the grace to bring peace and unity into the situations you find yourself today to bring honor and glory to Him.

Prayer: Father, everywhere around me there seems to be turmoil and discontent. Everyone is looking for unity, but distrust and disorganization is rampant. Since You have shown this to me, it is clear that it is not enough for me to complain about it. Give me the desire to follow the leaders over me and to cooperate with them joyfully. If there are no such leaders, then give me the humility and the grace to be one of them myself, one who strives to get things done, but to glorify you in the joy of unity and in the peace for which helps my group to thrive. May the focus I give You today cause others to want to follow my example. In Jesus Name, Amen.

July 30, 2009 Devotion for Today “FAIL!” Ezra 2:59-63

July 30, 2009 Devotion for Today “FAIL!” Ezra 2:59-63

When you are raising teenagers, you become exposed to their fads and their language. My daughter said something this week that clued me in that a new expression was being coined by the younger generation when she said, “FAIL!” That is an expression of disappointment for seeing something that did not work as it was supposed to- and very appropriate. Fail is a term we can apply to a lot of things that we see around us today, especially with mediocrity and failure to live up to what we should be doing.

In reflecting once again on the gentleman I told you about yesterday. As I mentioned, I was shocked to learn of his passing. We had not spoken in many years-at least twenty. It made me sad to think that our parting words did not bring good memories to my mind. But I bore him no ill-will or bitterness. My heart broke for him. Yet God used him to sharpen me and to help me to become more accountable- even though at times he made me miserable. I believe he was hard on me because he was hard on himself because he had failed so miserably in his own ministry and walk with the Lord. I do not want to go into too many details here, but he had gotten dismissed from his position as a high school teacher for indecent liberties with his students. At the time he was serving as pastor of a small church, and resigned that position as well. His marriage also failed, and his children rejected him. When he and his wife were members of our church, they were going through some of the things but not all of them. But it ought to serve as a warning of how easily a man or woman of God can get sidetracked and disqualified from service because of unchecked sin. I tremble for myself when I learn of situations like this, because but for the grace of God so easily go I. My own personal failings, though different, are seen as just as bad before the Lord. May God help me, and all of us who serve in ministry full-time or part-time, and as laypeople, to always be circumspect around all people, and to keep our hearts pure and clean before God and toward others.

In the book of Ezra we find some pertinent words here:

Ezra 2: 59-63
And these were the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addan,[o] and Immer; but they could not identify their father’s house or their genealogy,[p] whether they were of Israel: 60 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, six hundred and fifty-two; 61 and of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Koz,[q] and the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name. 62 These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found; therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled. 63 And the governor[r] said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till a priest could consult with the Urim and Thummim.

Ezra had to sort out the people, especially the priests who were going along in their expedition and return to Israel from exile. When the time came to rebuild the new Temple, they would need priests to serve in it. But they had a problem, because so many of the priests, like the rest of the people, were scattered and records of them vanished. They did not have Facebook to help reunite everybody together again! Among the priests names that they did have were ones who probably should never have been priests at all but for some reason were serving about the time of the capitulation of Israel and brought into captivity. These men were probably not Israelites, but proselytes from other lands who perhaps bought their priesthood positions by patronage to the former kings of Israel. FAIL! These were now considered defiled- or not qualified to serve-even though some had served very faithfully for many years. The memories of the people had faded over seventy years, so the only thing that the governor knew to do was to test them by the Urim and Thummin- the priestly stones that were cast to determine the will of God in certain matters.

This goes to show us that God’s people are not perfect, neither are the ones whom God has chosen to serve them. Israel bent the rules on the priesthood qualifications before the exile because there were so few priests and they needed to get the job done. They corrupted themselves for the sake of their bureaucracy and did not follow God’s commandments. May God help all of us to keep our minds and hearts and lives pure before Him so that we do not become disqualified in serving Him. This is a matter that we must pray about every day and walk with God in purity and in His righteousness. May God give us grace to do that each day, and that when our name appears before Him, it should not be stamped: FAIL!

Have a blessed day!

29 July 2009 Devotion for Today “The Numbers” Ezra 2:1-2

29 July 2009 Devotion for Today “The Numbers” Ezra 2:1-2

Now^a]"> these are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his own city.² Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar,Bigvai, Rehum^]and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel.”

I recently saw the obituary on line of a gentleman who had been in a church I pastored back in the 1980s. It made me sad to think that he had died, but a scene from my memory flashed into my mind. He called me very upset and said he would be over to see me in ten minutes. As I waited for him to arrive, the tension mounted- what could he want? When he finally showed up at the door, he did not look pleased. He had gotten himself dressed up just so that he could intimidate me. Then after a few tense greetings, the man started in on me, how I was driven by success- a desire to succeed- as he put it. Then as I listened, he said, “You don’t care about anything but numbers! Numbers, numbers, numbers, nickels and noses, is all they taught you down there in that seminary!” The words stung, and, were partially true. I did have a desire to succeed, but more than anything I had a desire to serve my Lord. After all, I was in my late twenties- and had a lot of youthful enthusiasm to reach people for Christ. And it was probably true, I did not have a lot of wisdom, but how could he mistake my heart like that? He left the house and slammed the door. He and his wife soon left our church. I felt sorry for him, but I began to ask the Lord to help me examine my motives.

I came to the conclusion that, as bent on success as I was, the numbers indeed did matter. Each number represents person- an individual- for whom Christ died. There was no other way to qualify it. I think what the man in question was concerned about was that perhaps I needed to spend more time loving the so-called numbers who showed up in my congregation.

If I were like the gentleman I just described to you, I would read the Scripture passage at the beginning of this second chapter and completely over look it, and move on to chapter three. Ezra makes careful records of the number of people who are accompanying him back to Israel from exile. He does so for a very important reason. He does not do this to demonstrate success or to bolster his ego. He lists first of all the leaders of Israel who came out of King Cyrus’ court- Nehemiah, Baanah, Jeshua, and Zerubbabel. Mordecai is also named, but I do not think he is the same Mordecai of Esther’s fame. People’s names are listed and counted several times throughout this chapter- if not for any other reason than to demonstrate that when it comes to the numbers, God knows how to get things done.

We preachers do have to keep things in perspective when we see our congregations growing that we do not become overcome with the feeling of our own self-importance. God is the one who placed those numbers there- we can be sure about that. But we ought not to discount the numbers, either. Sometimes I think that those who would have a disdain for them are masking either their own jealousy or laziness. After all, If numbers were not important to God, why would there be a special book in the law of Moses with that name?- Numbers?

Have a blessed day!

Devotion for Today "Receiving it Back" Ezra 1: 5-11

Devotion for Today "Receiving it Back" Ezra 1: 5-11

Scripture Passage:

5 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. 6 And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.
7 King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods; 8 and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, 10 thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem."

Devotion

Have you ever received something back or had anything returned to you that you had forgotten about? Back in 1979 I think I remember loaning a friend some money- about $500.00. They had recently lost their job and needed to make a payment on a car. I thought I had made it clear that it was a gift, but we each went our separate ways when we each had gotten married and moved out of state. Twenty-five years later, I received a check for $1000.00 from this person. He said he thought he had understood that I loaned him the money, and that was it plus interest. I told him it was a loan only to protect his dignity- not that I ever expected to receive it back again. I had all but put it out of my mind, but it came at a good time since my family was moving back to the states from overseas.

Ezra must have felt something similar to this as he prepared to return, with the king's edict, back to Jerusalem. King Cyrus made found the treasury of Israel which was plundered by the Babylonians and issued it all to Sheshbazzar (the king's representative) who was in charge of the new colony returning to the land of promise. Ezra probably had little if any memory of this sum, nor was he in a position to know it at the time until the king revealed it to him. It would take a lot of money just to get settled- to say nothing of what it would cost to rebuild the Temple and other buildings back in Jerusalem. It was certainly a welcome surprise. When I think of this I wonder what could have prevented King Cyrus from pocketing the money for himself? I am sure he had a lot of bills to pay in military expenses after the war with ancient Iraq. Yet the funds had been so carefully catalogued by Israel's former captors- probably to protect it from corruption seventy years before. It was a miracle in itself that it was still there.

This was not just a lapse of memory or something "falling through the cracks." It was not even a banking error in Israel's favor. This the hand of God and how He works in the affairs of men. Though our memory lapses and fades, God never forgets and keeps careful records, and restores and rewards us when we most need it.

Prayer

Thank you God for providing for me today. I know that you are keeping careful accounts of what I have done in the past to ensure your provision at another time. Often I know or can remember nothing about it. Thank you, Lord, for looking out for me and helping me when I most need it. Lord I pray that you will help me also to be a good steward of what you have provided for me.

In Jesus Name, Amen.