157 - "Brick by Brick for the Little Broken People" Nehemiah 1-3

                                                              

It may be small, brick by brick, but it's a great work. Nehemiah 1:6 - Oh God! Let your ears be attentive and your eyes be open to the prayers we offer you this day. Nehemiah heard about a broken down wall and prayed. What is broken in our lives? What does God keep hearing us say over and over and over, do not stop, O God! I love it that Nehemiah moved forward and built a wall.nAnd Nehemiah thought he was doing a "great work" for God. Whatever we do out of sincere hearts to know You and make You known---it is a great work, a great privilege. May we be more concerned with the little great works we are doing than what we are receiving. May we be more concerned with loving others than what they are doing to us. May we be more concerned with advancing God's Kingdom than managing our lives well. Psalm 25:15-16 ~ O God, Our eyes are ever on You. You can release my feet from the snare that I am in.  Trapped. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me, from myself and from my sin, from what I want. O God, hear these out-loud words of mine.

Cup-bearer to the King of Persia.  Nehemiah lived in luxury.  Wanting for nothing.  The good life.  A place of honor, sitting next to the King.  

Yet.
He never forgot the suffering of his people.  He heard of it.  He went for it.  He responded to it.
What can I do this day to show kindness to you?  We all have problems---we live with ourselves, we know it.  When a noble reaches down to a commoner, he makes the heart of God glad.  No respecter of persons here.  No big people and little people for Nehemiah.  Just a very big heart for his God.

So.
He inquires about how they are really doing.  Makes me want to go inquire.
And as soon as he hears, he presents his first application to God not man:  Nehemiah 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

PHOTO:  The Great Divide in my life.  I will remember this story of Nehemiah 1 forever.  It's a pivotal point for me.  Another great divide of longing to pray.  Present your 1st application to God not man.

156 - "We Blush For Our Iniquities Have Risen Higher" Ezra 10

This is the city where I live, Austin

All our days are made up of brief moments.

May they be brief moments of grace shown by God.

God has appointed our times and places.

He is giving us a peg in His Holy Place opening eyes.

Dear God, We can be swept away by terrors in a moment. We can be filled with grace in that same one. Come Lord Jesus in our brief moments of this life You have appointed. Show us this day in the city where we live, a brief moment of grace.

There is Hope for our Sin. Ezra 10:2.  Oh my goodness.  This so speaks to me right where I am today.  I may be 10 percent wrong in an argument, a disagreement, an exchange---however---if they are 90 percent wrong, I can only deal with myself.  And God says it right here...hope for our sin.

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.  From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt.  Ezra 9:6.  And the LORD listened to them.  That's it.  God is listening to me this evening as I want to give up on Christmas and it hasn't even happened yet.  What am I really saying?  Sometimes, I think I'm saying that the pain is too great.  And just how did I get to this place?

 “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” We will never forsake our God.  So, what's the alternative----either God's Hand is on us or not.  And His Hand is on each of us this day for good.  I have to believe that.

Ezra made confessions. Begged forgiveness.
Ezra 10:1
Therein lies the beauty of his obedient life.

Father, here is a telling story of Your mercy and kindness and love toward the life of this Ezra.  May we apply ourselves to study the Word, to do the Word, to teach the Word.  Help us this day dig deep within to make confession to you for missing the mark.  Oh God, we long for Your Hand on our lives.  Acceptance with peace for what You have gifted our way.  I'm so shaken tonight by my own mess.  Help us find a beautiful hope to press in, press on.

PHOTO: The city where I live. Austin. Peg by peg. Hope for our sin.

155 - "Don't Make Over Others to Get Them to Like You" Ezra 8-9

Ezra 9:2 "The leaders led the way in this betrayal."  The exiles were plunged into a sea of joy in one chapter praising God, then in chapter 9, they are betraying the God they just exuberantly praised.  This band of escapees entered and embraced the lives of those who are not holy.  Ezra's response?  Ezra 9:3 When I heard all this, I ripped my clothes and my cape; I pulled hair from my head and out of my beard; I slumped to the ground, appalled.

Ezra prayed. 
Ezra fasted.  
Ezra wept.  
HE listened.
God, You allowed this battered band to get a firm foothold.  
God, You put us in good graces and gave us a heart to restore The Temple.  
But, Ezra 9:10 says:  "We have thrown your commands to the wind even though the prophets said, 'Don't cultivate their good opinion; don't make over them and get them to like you...don't build your own money and a tidy estate.' "  Don't I cultivate the good opinions of others?  Do I make over them to get them to like me?  What's beneath that?  I think about pursuing a full-time job soon and find myself  "making over" others because the job market is not in my favor. What do I want more than my Christ?  A job.   Can I just trust HIM and know HE doesn't need my help to make others holy.  Faithful is HE Who called and HE will do it.  HE is looking to restore repentant hearts.

PHOTO:  Ezri and Bev at Disney World this year.  Oh my!  I want you to like me so bad, Ezri!  I want my world to like me, way too much.  I'll even barter to get then to like me.  I have to give this up. These verses have my name all over it.  God does not need my help to deal with other people and their responses.  Let it go.  

154 - "Make Confessions" Ezra 6-7

               

Meanwhile.
This Ezra...
Skilled in the Law of Moses.
The Hand of the Lord his God was on Him.
Ezra 7:6

Yes, the Good Hand of his God was on him.
Ezra 7:9
For Ezra set his heart
to study the Law of the Lord,
and to do it & to teach God's Word in Israel.
Ezra 7:10

Father, here is a telling story of Your mercy and kindness and love toward the life of this Ezra.  May we apply ourselves to study the Word, to do the Word, to teach the Word.  Help us this day dig deep within to make confession to you for missing the mark.  Oh God, we long for Your Hand on our lives.  Acceptance with peace for what You have gifted our way.  I'm so shaken tonight by my own mess.  Help us find a beautiful hope to press in, press on.

PHOTO: The Word:  Study. Do. Teach. Live. Love.

153 "Don't Offer Principles and Insights; Offer A Redeemer" Ezra 3-5

           

Ezra 4:4-5 The Samaritans reared up their ugly heads at the building of the temple.  Satan shows up to discourage and undermine and bribe those who want to do good.  These returned revived revelers were beautiful exiles and so full of joy.  But, they were so targeted by the enemy of their souls.  Let us remember that that the god of this world seeks to devour our attempts to walk and worship.  He is out looking for good intentions.  And our fatal flaw is not looking into our own souls when opposition bombards our temples.  

We are all looking for a Redeemer.  But the nails and mortar and curtains and boards trap us into finding our worship on paths that are going straight to destruction---like the offer of these Samaritans. "We must not offer people a system of redemption, a set of insights and principles. We offer people a Redeemer."  Paul David Tripp

The Redeemer in the New Testament. Seeing the face of Christ dazzled Paul to the things of Another Country. It took his eyes off of this world and what he was doing to make this world work. Dazzled by the Holy One. Blinded and offered eternal hope. And Paul cooperated to the fullest extent with the One Who held his hand. Acts 9:9

Who are You, Lord?" asks Saul in Acts 9:5---this one who asks is:
the unmerciful young man who applauded Stephen's stoning, 7:58
the proud Pharisee who wreaked hail and havoc on the church, 8:3
the heartless blasphemer whose very breath slew slaughter, thrashed threats, 9:1.
No one would believe that this wretch could now be a follower.

Now.
"A chosen vessel unto God."  Acts 9:15.
And I weep.
I weep for myself
who has been saved from myself.
I weep for my children
who need to be saved from themselves.
I weep for us all.
That we may bear The Name.
"This Signal Token of the Divine Favor of God, 
by inward working of His Grace" (M. Henry)
in all of us!

We all admire things on this earth more than God.
We all want things more than we want God.

That's evident of the problem of man.

PHOTO: Graffiti in Austin. The graffiti of our soul. What words will we write today in this story we live.

152 - "Don't Look for Coaches; Look for Elders to Lead You Into The Presence of God" Ezra 1-2

 

1:1 "In the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, God prodded Cyrus King of Persia to make an official announcement throughout his kingdom." God stirred up Cyrus to permit any willing Israelite to return HOME after 70 years of Babylonian captivity.  I just wept as I read names of clans of over 50,000 people who had been held captive.  There's something in me that is moved when I hear of captives like my friend Cyd and her driver were taken captive and murdered in Afghanistan --- and her body was just sent back to the U.S. from Afghanistan, 15+ years later. These 50,000+ stable people of substance (remember how they didn't take the very poor captive but allowed them to work the land) are on their way home.  Oh my!  Restored physically.  But there already has been a spiritual restoration or they wouldn't come home to praise God like they have!  Ezra 3:11 "God is good; He will never quit loving us."

As we close the book of 2 Chronicles, we find a restored people in the book of Ezra longing for holiness, His Presence.  Something happened to them in captivity---"suffering is necessary until evil is finally banished...suffering opens the holy space in your soul that will be filled only when you're dancing with Me..."  66 LL.  And I'm reminded of Crabb's quote that ended the chapter:  "Don't look for experts to coach you in how to make your life work before you follow elders who will lead you into My Presence."  What are we really looking for in life?  "I want My people to know this:  if even in small ways you live to 'fix your life,' to arrange for your own pleasure in ways that violate holiness, your love for a better life now will eventually corrupt your love for Me."  66 LL.  The question Jesus will ask in about 400 years comes to mind:  John 1:38 - "What do you seek?"  What do I seek this day?

Ezra 3:11 - And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But the old men wept loud. Duplicity of voices coming out of captivity. What it must have felt like.

And Jeremiah's prophecy lives. And the prophets reign while the crowns fall off the head of kings. And these dry bones live again, love again. 

What about my own dry bones.

 Have we inquired of God today to come alive, stay alive. 

What stirs in my heart tonight?   Ezra 3:13

So much joy in my heart---it is God, if you only knew my circumstances.
It's the end of another year and a time of reflection.
I am so overwhelmed with what God has done in my life this year.
Col. 1:29 - What stirs in us?  The Power of the Energy of Christ,
if we just let it be. 
God stirred Ezra to rebuild the temple.
When they saw the foundation laid,
the people wept.  Loud!  Wonder why?
They loved Someone more than the blessings.
The priests and Levites, people who so desired to be holy,
they wept so hard, it was indistinguishable.
What beautiful passion if it was for God and not for themselves.
Who knows?
But I come back to the question . . .
What stirs in me today?
It's been one of the best years of my life.
And we've been stripped of quite a few things.
Stripped and filled by God. 
Oh, to live like Ezra did:
"Ezra was deeply distressed by My people's compromise
more than by their troubles.  His burden for holiness led to tears
of repentance and to his refusal to eat or drink as he grieved
My people's evil."  66LL
Oh, to live like that.

PHOTO:  A tiny country church. Wish it were my husband’s church.

151 - "Urged To Return to God and Move Forward" 2 Chronicles 34-36

151 Sitting on a dock in a bay ... reflecting on moral evils vs. natural evils. II Chronicles 36:22 The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, and put His Words in his mouth.  May the Lord be with each of us and let him go up.

The chronicles of these kings are heart wrenching.  So many lived for themselves. The words of 66LL resonate deeply in II Chronicles.  God wants me to think more about how I relate to Him and others more  than how to get my life together.  He wants me to look deep inside, look into my motives, look to see if I am really looking out for myself when I think I'm living for God. 

"There is an evil greater than bombs, tsunamis, and cancer.  Those are natural evils.  But when people live to get their own way, when they determine what is good for them and live to get it, all hell breaks loose within and between them...frenzied grabs for happiness with no concern for how others are impacted, more interest in making one's point than listening to another's, the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival, ugly parodies of community-like courtesy without connection, laughter without love---these are moral evils" (Gal 5:19-21 The Message.  

Psalm 81:10

O, God, open our mouths and fill them with Yourself.  

All those plans that we inwardly demand happen, 

help us to see where we live for ourselves.

O, God, may we listen today well.
And recognize Your stirrings.
Not our will but Yours.
Nor our own plans
Have Mercy!
Col 1:29

2 Chronicles 36:13 Zedekiah, one more evil king, never gave God a thought; repentance never entered his mind. What do I do on days like today when repentance doesn't enter my mind?  When was the last time I repented? I have been consumed today with how my family and friends do not value me as a person---how very little interest they show in my life; how very little interest they have to spend time with me, much less just pick up the phone and call. I have thought only of myself today. It is quite lonely when you are older and community dwindles. I hope to find a church in our new move back to Fort Worth. But more than anything, I hope to return to God to live for Him in the midst of what I perceive as unreturned love---probably most of it really is. 

I LOVE how today's reading ends in 2 Chronicles 36:23 - "All who belong to God's people are urged to return—and may your God be with you! Move forward!"  

PHOTO:  The Dock where I go to pray.

150 - "The Lord Sent An Angel" 2 Chronicles 31-33

                                                               

King Hezekiah faced harsh words from the king of Assyria. 

Blasphemy. Terror on every side. 

So 

What did Hezekiah do?

He prayed "because of this"

And cried to heaven. 2 Chron 32:20

And what did God do?

The unimaginable. For them. For us. 

"The Lord sent an angel 

Who cut off all the mighty warriors & commanders & officers

In the camp of the king of Assyria. 2 Chron 32:21

In truth, The Lord saved Hezekiah from

The hand of all of his enemies

"And he provided for them on every side." 2 Chron 32:22

Won't He do the same for us?

You did this centuries ago. You can do it this day, too. For my friend who lost her husband today. For my child who is in a hard place. For my friend who just lost her teen-age boy. For my husband who embraces impossible odds. Send an angel, Lord. 

PHOTO:  A dark day in Florida when the heavens opened up. Whatever darkness we face, may our first words be prayer. 

149 - "The Sovereign Winds are Blowing---Set Your Sail Accordingly" 2 Chronicles 28-30

We can appear religious and be far from it. 

These Israelites were dead serious!  

Reminds me of today's suicide bombers with ISIS.

Selling themselves.

Sacrificing their sons and daughters.

Oh my!

The Israelites followed kings not the King. 

They became faithless not full of faith.
They practiced secrets not surrender/

"And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right."  

2 Chronicles 28:3 Infamous Ahaz —incredibly! indulged in the outrageous practice of "passing his sons through the fire."  That is unbelievable.  Verse 19 says:  Arrogant King Ahaz, acting as if he could do without God's help, had unleashed an epidemic of depravity. I have been thinking a lot about our moral choices.  We read the Charity chapter in Mere Christianity in class on Friday.  When I led the discussion, one student responded that Lewis' words proved "love is a choice."  But we must always allow God to reveal the motives and intentions of our hearts as we love.  Sin is way more than just making a wrong choice to not love or do the wrong thing.  

It brings to mind a quote from Crabb:  "Sin is more than wrong choices, more than bad behavior, more than wrong understanding.  And it is not a reaction to felt need that deserves tender compassion and patience.  Sin cannot be explained, but it can be defined.  Sin is defiantly walking past the living water God provides in relationship with Himself and proudly digging wells with one's own resources in the futile and foolish hope of providing for oneself the water needed for a meaningful and secure life."  Jeremiah 2:9 -13

John Piper calls it "sweet idolatries in which the longing heart embraces the wrong satsifaction."  What are my deep satisfactions this night?  Is it my children responding right to me?  Is it my husband not "missing" me?  Is it my friends responding like I want them to?  Is it life going my way? Is it my God coming through for me?  What do I most want?

PHOTO:  The Hill Country of Texas. 

148 - "Seek Not Great Things for Yourself" 2 Chronicles 25-27

What does our world look like?

The sins of the kings that went before King Uzziah was that of turning their back on God---

forsaking the things of God.  But, this King embraced the things of God.  

But, he wanted them a little too much.  A little too high.  

Uzziah enters the Holy of Holies with pride.  Seeking what God has not given.  

Forbidden Knowledge.  

Why do I seek a door God has not opened. 

 "But when Uzziah became strong," his heart became corrupt, 

and he did things he should not have done. II Chron 26:16. 

 Uzziah. Pride of heart. 

Live the Life that is before you---what God has called you to.

 Seek not great things for yourself.

Two Verses jump off the pages of today's reading:

2 Chronicles 26:16 - "But then Uzziah's strength and success went to his head. Arrogant and proud, he fell. One day, contemptuous of God, he walked into The Temple of God like he owned it and took over, burning incense on the Incense Altar.   

2Chronicles 27:8 -  "Jotham's strength was rooted in his steady and determined life of obedience to God."

Is life about our choices?  Do we really just choose to serve God and it happens.  Do we really just choose to love others and it happens? Am I really trying to choose to make the best out of what has been handed to me in this world?  Of course obedience is a choice---Joshua 24:15 - Choose this day whom you will serve...as for me and my house.  But there is Mystery in God moving His Plan forward.  One of my favorite quotes from 66 LL follows:  "No matter how great your path or how confusing and intense your suffering, live in the Mystery of My Love.  Struggle to trust Me.  Do not live with the priority of making your life in this world as good as you can make it.  You will suffer, at times unfairly, but you will be given what you need to enter strongly and wisely with Supernatural Love into every circumstance you face."  I've spent way too much of my life living with a priority of making my life as good as I can make it.  So what is God calling me to "let go of" where my priorities actually reflect a drivenness to accept my lot and make it as good as I can?  I've struggled lately with feelings of not being wanted---my perception, my interpretation from constructive feedback.  So do I deal with that by making my priority to make my life as good as I can in light of the pull on my life?  Romans 7:24---oh no.  Someone is setting me free from this mess I am in, praise God!