Monthly Archives: May 2009

Time to Worship (Week 6 Monday)

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This was an interesting Memorial Day weekend. We went away to a friends and then got home pretty late, but we’re hoping to get everyone in bed a little bit earlier just to get some more time with my wife. Anyways, it kinda worked this weekend. We were just packed with things to do… But we did manage to get a few moments to read scripture together.

To summarize this weekend, we read through Nehemiah 1-8. It was a humbling chapter where the Israelites went to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem. It was a spiritual and worshipful time as they rebuilt the wall for God.

Nehemiah 1:5-7 “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

Nehemiah 2:17-18 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.

It was a time of confession and repentance as well as remembering the covenantal promise made by God with his people. After they rebuilt the walls, they had a worship service, Ezra and others were reading and teaching the law of God to the people. All those able to understand were there to hear the preaching and teaching of the word.

Nehemiah 8:5-11 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear [u] and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

What a great sight that would have been. People wanting to cry and weep, but instead of guilt, there is forgiveness and a call for JOY. The joy of the LORD is your strength.

We were extremely tired from the day’s activities, but even after we read this portion of scripture, we were comforted and rejoiced with the Israelites…

Time to Worship (Week 5 Friday)

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We continued with our reading of Ezra, finishing the book and starting Nehemiah next. Ezra concludes with a public confession of sin and moving to a list of all the people found in sin. This was actually a good portion in understanding a little about what happened to the Israelites when they were in exile.

It appears intermarrying with the people around them and idolatry were the major sins.

“O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.

8 “But now, for a brief moment, the LORD our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not deserted us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

10 “But now, O our God, what can we say after this? For we have disregarded the commands 11 you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. 12 Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’

13 “What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this. 14 Shall we again break your commands and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? 15 O LORD, God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.”

The prayer is an intercession for his people and a acknowledgment of how far they have gone from God’s word. They adopted the detestable and corrupt practices of the surrounding people.

But there is also a sign of grace. v. 13 says that God has punished them less than their sins have deserved and have given them a remnant to return from exile. It is Ezra who knows the heart of God and calls Israel to repentance.

Two points we discussed was how do we reconcile the call for a divorce for the Israelites and what areas nowadays are detestable to God?

We concluded with prayer and confession of sins.

Time to Worship (Week 5 Thursday)

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We had a quick reading in Ezra 8.

It continues with Ezra recruiting a group of people to return with him to Jerusalem. Ezra 7:28 Because the hand of the LORD my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

It was repeated throughout chapter 8 that the hand of the Lord was on them. 8:18, 22, 31. Ezra noted that every situation was part of God’s sovereign plan and even more obvious was when God protected them from their enemies.

God’s sovereign and gracious hand was upon them and so Ezra fasted and prayed and worshiped. This was the posture that they took when they went to rebuild the temple. It was reminder for us that when we take on any task… our first reaction should be that of worship. Our first move should be to our knees in prayer, to song in praise, to our hearts to worship.

So we read chapter 8 and worshiped God…

Time to Worship (Week 5 Wednesday)

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We had an hour and a half online session yesterday listening to and discussing chapter 1 of Sonship by Jack Miller. Just read a review of it by Van Dixhoorn concerning it from WTJ vol.61-2. I’m a little biased since Van Dixhoorn was my professor last semester.

Anyways, we looked at sin, grace, Christ, adoption, the Gospel… The audio was a bit dated but the message was received. I think after listening to the Gospel Coalition, I was spoiled by some really good teaching. But one thing that this has is community. We were able to connect with different people and have a little bit of discussion and prayer. This is different from individual learning and studying. As we’ve been learning, change happens in a community. We were blessed last night with a community of believers that was willing to share.

…

We had our family reading last night as well. We looked at Ezra chapter 7. In it we see that Ezra came from a long line. He was descended from a line that was recorded by the author. He was also highly respected by the King as one who knew the Law of the Lord. Ezra spent his life studying and teaching and preaching. This is one man who was purpose driven. He was goal driven. And had a singular vision… to glorify God.

In the letter from Artaxerxes, Ezra was claimed to possess the knowledge of God, he was claimed to know the law of God so well that he was able to command his fellow Israelites in the ways of the Lord.

That was my prayer last night. That we as a family would know God so well that we can not only live well, but also be a witness of our Great God and make him known to others.

Praise be to the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put it into the king’s heart to bring honor to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem in this way and who has extended his good favor to me before the king and his advisers and all the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the LORD my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me. – Ezra 7:27-28

Time to Worship (Week 5 Tuesday)

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We continued reading through Ezra today. Chapters 4-6

With all building projects, there is opposition. After Cyrus came Xerxes and Artaxerxes. The enemies of the Jews brought reasons to stop the building of the temple. It is a reminder that even though you are doing God’s work, there will always be people opposed to it.

Following Artaxerxes came King Darius. He gave a decree after the Jews reminded him to go back to the archives. He discovered the decree that King Cyrus made in the past. Thank God for records. In the records and even in the decrees of the kings we see God’s sovereign hand. In each instance, God’s name was glorified and exalted. Even Gentiles proclaimed this temple as the great God’s temple.

At the end of chapter 6, we see a glimpse of the assembly of God. The temple is complete and the people shout for JOY!
Ezra 6:13-22

Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.

On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests and for themselves. So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

We finished our time of worship with prayer. We acknowledged that we should have greater joy in celebrating the new temple God has made in us by the Holy Spirit. We watched American Idol and Dancing with the Stars earlier today, but even more so, because of our Lord Jesus Christ who died and established us as his people and temples of the Holy Spirit, we should have greater joy, sing songs of praise greater than American Idol and dance with greater passion than Dancing with the Stars.

So we prayed for that reality to be evident in our lives. We also continued interceding for our friends, family, and church.

May God be glorified.

Time to Worship (Week 5 Monday)

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After our monday episode of House and 24, we went upstairs and got ready for bed. While in bed we read the first three chapters of Ezra.

Ezra details the building project of the temple of the LORD as ordered by Cyrus King of Persia. The Jewish community was in exile but this decree to rebuild the temple by the Persian king brought them back to Jerusalem. It was part of God’s sovereign plan to bring his people back to this land.

Some key points we looked at was the number of people and specifically their roles. I thought it was odd that they would bring singers for a building project, but my wife pointed that they were there to worship and praise God during this whole affair. It was a spiritual work that they were doing.

The laying of the foundation was an emotional time for both young and old. For the young, it was exciting time but for the old, it was a time of regret and sadness for they had seen the glory of the previous temple.

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD :
“He is good;
his love to Israel endures forever.”
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

– Ezra 3:10-13

Late last week I reflected on how new things seem to be exciting for the young and but for those who have experienced the old, it was a time of mourning and weeping. Though I was referring to the new Star Trek movie, I could relate to those rebuilding the temple of the LORD. How much more for the people of God today when they see their churches…

Our prayer is for spiritual eyes to see what God is truly building.

Amen!

Time to Worship (Week 5 Sunday)

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Sunday worship was incredible. Pastor Chuck walked us through Heaven. In his sermon, he helped us to envision what we heaven would be like. In it he mentioned some hobby or thing we enjoyed and how we can spend hours on end doing… then he moved us one step closer saying that it is God that created that thing… and if God created it, how much more time would be enjoying him forever. He asked us to imagine a worship service that lasted 12 hours… and then imagined that the worship service took us around the galaxy. God is infinite and in him we can truly worship forever.

We began worship with a reading from Psalm 19, then sang three hymns that I’ve never sang before:

#20 God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand
#73 Our Great Savior

I praised God when I saw “Our Great Savior” in which its chorus went like this:

Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

We continued with a reading of Psalm 139. We had been meditating on that chapter for the past week. What struck me was than when we are with God… his enemies are our enemies. Sometimes I want God to strike down my enemies… at least humble them. But the psalmist puts it in such a way that when we are united with God, when we are with Him, his enemies ARE going to be our enemies.

If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:19-24

Pastor Chuck preached on John 14:1-4 and took us on a journey to heaven.

We concluded with the benediction and doxology.

Time to Worship (Week 4 Thursday)

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In preparation for our three month trek through the bible, we decided to read larger chunks of the word. Tonight we read in bed. This was our regular practice before the start of “church nights.” We would usually read scripture and then pray right before bed. So again, we continued the tradition. Our oldest daughter had her own book and read along but decided to play instead. Our youngest one was getting her feeding while we read.

Today we looked at the LORD’s discourse in Job 38-42. God humbles Job and any complaint that he had by asking and asking him questions that are way beyond his understanding. When our eyes are not on Christ, we do not fully understand the situation.

Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:
“Brace yourself like a man; I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
“Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at every proud man and bring him low,
look at every proud man and humble him,
crush the wicked where they stand.
Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.

Then Job replied to the LORD :
“I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”

(Job 40:6-14; 42:1-6)

Indeed it was God himself that had quieted Job’s complaints. Job realized that after hearing God speak, he did not understand half as much as he thought he did… and so he shuts up and repents.

That is where I feel we are lately. Every time we look at the word, we have been convicted of one thing or another and must repent. But as we’ve been listening to some sermon/lectures… scripture is the Word of God… and when we listen to the word of God, we are in fact hearing God himself speak to us, just as Job had heard it. It is an awesome privilege to hear God speak to us…

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart

Time to Reflect (Week 4 Tuesday)

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This week has been slow. We missed Sunday Worship and have been avoiding some necessary things. We had an interesting talk and reconciled with each other on issues we’ve been neglecting.

We allowed busyness (HEAT) to run our lives and we forgot (THORNS) to care and tend for each other. With so many things going on it was easy to neglect this area of life… so we spent some time talking and reflecting how we can love each other (FRUIT). This was a very serious and much needed conversation that we had been avoiding.

But for now, we will seek the CROSS and pray wisdom.

On a side note, I was reading about reading the bible in three months. It would involve reading about 12 pages a day. This would be like running a marathon for me, but I think it would be good for us. We will start June 1 along with anyone else who is interested following the 90 day reading plan.

Let us know if you are interested… maybe we can do this together.

http://www.biblein90days.com/

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