From Passion to Pursuit in the face of Persecution

This week we will complete Nehemiah 2 as we see the result of Nehemiah's prayer coming to pass in his pursuit of God. 

(Nehemiah 2:9-20)

9 I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent officers of the infantry and cavalry with me. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased.

11 After I arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days, 12 I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the one I was riding. 13 I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Serpent’s Well and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but farther down it became too narrow for my animal to go through. 15 So I went up at night by way of the valley and inspected the wall. Then heading back, I entered through the Valley Gate and returned. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work. 17 So I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned down. Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 18 I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me, and what the king had said to me.

They said, “Let’s start rebuilding,” and they were encouraged to do this good work.

19 When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked and despised us, and said, “What is this you’re doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

20 I gave them this reply, “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success. We, His servants, will start building, but you have no share, right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”

Nehemiah's actions were key in this... As Nehemiah prayed, he made preparations to be used by the Lord in answer to his own prayers, and because the prayers which Nehemiah were praying were based on the promised of God his requests were granted. 

Now it is important to note here that not everyone was on God's side here - we see in vs 9-10 that there was enmity between the follower of God and the follower of this world... 

However Nehemiah knew that this was a possibility and unlike Ezra who was ashamed to ask for an escort (Ezra 8:22) Nehemiah made use of one. Both men are trusting God but their trust is expressed indifferent ways. The point is whether we take Ezra's path or Nehemiah's we shouldn't condemn those who choose to take the other route - It is not our place to judge the servant of another (Romans 14:4).

Nehemiah's recognition of those who sought to oppose the work of God probably also informs his caution in (2:11-16). We see in these verses Nehemiah again preparing himself for the task at hand, going on his night ride, keeping to himself the vision that God has laid on his heart until the time was right... The end of (2:16) is a key passage as well (those who would be doing the work) because it shows Nehemiah wasn't expecting to do this job alone...

So having prayed, studied God's promises, and acting on God's direction we see in (2:17-18) as Nehemiah reveals the Lord's vision to the leaders... He pleads with them “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned down. Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 

Today, God's name is no longer at stake in a city with walls and gates. His name is now at stake in the lives and hearts of his people...

What walls and gates need work in your life? In your marriage? In your children?

Greetings from way down south...

Good morning one and all, as most of you read this post our team will be hard at work about the Lord's work in El Cotorro. We appreciate your prayers while we are here!

I am excited as to what God is doing this year both in the life of First Baptist and in the life of Las Brisas. God is moving in a great way!

As we launched our new series last week, preaching and teaching through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, I could see lights coming on around the room in the eyes of those in attendance.

This Sunday and next we will be looking at the first hurdles that Nehemiah encountered in his obedience to God.

The first hurdle which Craig will be talking about this week is Nehemiah had to get permission to return to Jerusalem from the king - now as we mentioned last week, Nehemiah had a very prominent position in the kings house as cup-bearer. This was not a job that was taken lightly nor was this a job that Nehemiah could just walk away from. As cup-bearer Nehemiah would have been privy to many state secrets, private conversations, war-time plans, etc...

Nehemiah knew this which is why we see in the very first verse a clue as to Nehemiah's approach.

Chapter one starts off saying in the month of Chislev (November-December) however at the start of chapter 2 we see it's now the month of Nisan (March-April)...

So Nehemiah has been fasting and praying for about 4 months at this point when the king questions his demeanor... He has been preparing his heart to go before the king and rightfully so, in those days the king could have just as easily killed Nehemiah as look favorably on him.

We see as the chapter unfolds that he has dutifully thought through the whole processes and even requested letters from the king as to ensure his safe passage.

What can we learn from Nehemiah?

Nehemiah didn't allow fear to stop him, he PRAYED and  PREPARED, and next week we will see how he PURSUED God's vision for his people.

Will you do the same?



Nehemiah 2:1-9

2 During the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence, 2 so the king said to me, “Why are you sad, when you aren’t sick? This is nothing but depression.”

I was overwhelmed with fear 3 and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

4 Then the king asked me, “What is your request?”

So I prayed to the God of heaven 5 and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”

6 The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me.

7 I also said to the king: “If it pleases the king, let me have letters written to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah. 8 And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple’s fortress, the city wall, and the home where I will live.”The king granted my requests, for I was graciously strengthened by my God.

9 I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent officers of the infantry and cavalry with me. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased.

Nehemiah's Vision

Do you have a vision for what God wants you to do?

Vision is the ability to see what could be…

…To see things different and better than they currently are.

Goals and visions are similar yet different. They both look forward to the future and see things better than they currently are. The difference is that, goals you can accomplish; a vision can only be accomplished by God. In fact, He is the one who gives it to you. 

God must be actively involved in achieving the vision. You don’t have the power to accomplish it on your own...  

God is the one who gave Nehemiah the vision to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. God is the one who aided Nehemiah in accomplishing the vision He gave... 

But it still required a response from Nehemiah - 

Look at how Nehemiah responded to God as God gave this vision in chapter 1:

(Nehemiah 1:1-11)

During the month of Chislev in the twentieth year, when I was in the fortress city of Susa, ² Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah, and I questioned them about Jerusalem and the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile. ³ They said to me, “The remnant in the province, who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned down.”

Nehemiah’s Prayer

⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. ⁵ I said,

Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commands, ⁶ let Your eyes be open and Your ears be attentive to hear Your servant’s prayer that I now pray to You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have acted corruptly toward You and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances You gave Your servant Moses. ⁸ Please remember what You commanded Your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. ⁹ But if you return to Me and carefully observe My commands, even though your exiles were banished to the ends of the earth, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have My name dwell.” ¹⁰ They are Your servants and Your people. You redeemed them by Your great power and strong hand. ¹¹ Please, Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to that of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success today, and have compassion on him in the presence of this man.

At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.

How did Nehemiah respond? 

Nehemiah demonstrated a passion for his people... 
He prayed... He recognized God for who He is...
He repented of sins... He reminded God of His promises...
He was specific in his request... He didn't let his job or status hinder him...

How are you going to respond to God today? What is hindering your vision for God today? 

The End...

The last 3 months we have gone from the Beginning (Genesis 1) thru the fall (Genesis 3), the promise  pt 1 (Genesis 3), the promise pt 2 (Genesis 12), a foretold King (Genesis 49), the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12), and David's House (2 Samuel 7). We've seen the prophets tell of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53), Power over death (Ezekiel 37), and the New Creation Foretold (Isaiah 65)... 

Finally after 4000+ years since the fall the one who had been promised arrives (Mark 1) Jesus is declared to be the Righteous Son of God. He becomes the Servant and is hung on the cross (John 19) and thankfully for us did not stay dead (John 20/Romans 1). Christ the paid the price for our sins to make way for us to be made right with God (Romans 3).

We saw in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth His plan was to dwell within his creation but unbeknownst to us in his sovereignty it would take far longer than we could have imagined. But we see the promise in Revelation 21 reminding us that he is not done yet... 

Take a look - Revelation 21:1-8

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed. I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: 

Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them.

They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.

Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life. The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. 

But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

What do we see? Finally in the end God will be taking up his residence with his people. How is this possible? Hasn't sin contaminated this earth? What does he say in vs 5? "Look! I am making everything new." 

And guess what! This isn't something in which is still up for debate because look at the very next verse... "It is done!" 

Praise God!!! It's not resting on our shoulders anymore... God says it's over, it's finished, it's done... 

Justified Fully in Christ

Romans 3:21-26

²¹ But now, apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been revealed—attested by the Law and the Prophets  ²² —that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction. ²³ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.²⁴ They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. ²⁶ God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

One of the most critical questions of all time is this – How can man be right with God?

The answer to this question is one in which God spent 4000+ years preparing his eternal answer…

Rightness with God is an important subject stretching all the way back to the garden when Adam and Eve rejected God’s design for them. Each generation has wrestled with this question right and will continue until Christ returns and restores the world itself to its right state.

Mankind's sin is not right, it is unrighteous, intolerable to a righteous God. Sin thus renders us unacceptable to God. So then this sets the context behind the usage that God is “right/just” he alone sets the standards of rightness.

To be justified means to be made right, I've heard this described as “Just-as-if-I’d never sinned…”

You see when we are justified we are brought into a new status of being acceptable/right with God through our faith in Jesus.

According to Mosaic Law the only way for an individual to be declared right was for an atonement to be made... Now days the word atonement isn't something that we would use in every day conversation, but when I was younger I learned a great way to define atonement  by breaking the word out similar to the way we did justified – “At-One-Ment” – while it’s not a perfect definition it is apt we are “atoned,” “made one,” made acceptable to God through the blood of Christ.

This is key for us to remember, we are made right before God not by anything we have or are able to do.  Believers are made right with God (justified) solely by God’s grace.

Praise be to God it’s not about what we can or cannot do… rather 100% about what Christ has done for us!

Are you justified fully in Christ or are you attempting to do it yourself? 

Purpose and Power in the Resurrection

This Sunday we celebrate the victory of our great God over the curse once and for all... On Thursday Christ was arrested by the Jewish leaders, tried and sentenced to the most brutal death possible at the time. Death on the cross... As he was led to and hung on the cross Friday morning prophecy after prophecy predicted hundreds of years before came to completion... The authors of the New Testament recognize this and if you look to Paul's letters you see him spell it out - 

Romans 1:1-4
Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and singled out for God’s good news— 2 which He promised long ago through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures— 3 concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh 4 and who has been declared to be the powerful Son of God by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness.

Paul recognized that Christ was fulfilling the promises of the past and that because he was the descendant of David his throne, his rule, would last for ever (2nd Samuel 7:12-14). 

Finally Christ was declared the "powerful Son of God" not by Paul or any of the Apostles rather by his resurrection from the dead according to who? The Spirit of holiness! Remember the power of the Spirit back in Ezekiel 37? 

Death has no power when it comes to the Holy Spirit!

Because he lived a perfect life, man's sin debt was paid in full with his death and through his resurrection on the third day the rest of the curse on man was defeated once and for all --

Sin was overcome by his death, death was overcome by his life! 

Homer Rodeheaver got it right when he penned these words... 

I serve a risen Savior

He's in the world today

I know that He is living

Whatever men may say

I see His hand of mercy

I hear His voice of cheer

And just the time I need Him

He's always near

He lives He lives

Christ Jesus lives today

He walks with me and talks with me

Along life's narrow way

He lives He lives

Salvation to impart

You ask me how I know He lives

He lives within my heart

The Title on the Cross

As a Christ follower the details of his death, burial, and resurrection should be of the utmost importance to us. In John 19 we see the account of Christ's trial and death on the cross. His death while gruesome  has a major significance to us. Without Christ's death on the cross our sin debt would not have been satisfied. Sin would not have been defeated once and for all.

On route to his death however Christ encounters Pilate. Pilate makes several feeble attempts to free Christ, he didn't believe his accusers any more than he believed Christ was the Son of God but the priests and leaders of the day wanted nothing of it… in fact they were so anxious to see Jesus executed they were willing to forsake their national heritage… proclaiming they have no king except Caesar… 

So it’s only fitting that when Pilate handed Christ over to the execution squad the sign he had created read "Jesus of Nazareth: King of the Jews" nailed up on the cross for all to see…We see in vs 21-22 that as the chief priests read it they pleaded with Pilate to change it, feeling betrayed by Pilate they wished him to soften the statement or at least explain it – but Pilate stood his ground and said what is written is written thus the title was just one more example of the mockery that Jesus was to endure that day…

In comparison with the mocking of Herod’s men, Pilate’s soldiers, the robe, crown and scepter,  the brutal scourging, the hate of the priests and Pharisees, the cries of the mob…  this mocking title was quiet in tone with all the rest…

We can take the Roman’s words of mockery and read them calmly, truly ourselves. Little did Pilate dream how true those words of his were… He is the King, Sovereign, Ruler in a higher, wider, greater realm that Rome or Israel ever dreamed of…

Let our prayer be that He would make us true and loving subjects in His realm, to be owned in the new heaven and the new earth, as having followed His banner and upheld His Kingdom.

Have a great weekend see ya Sunday! 

Time?

Thanks to class I have been focusing on the realm of philosophy, specifically metaphysics the last few weeks and it has gotten my wheels turning –a dangerous thing for sure-

Augustine said something along the lines of, "If you don't ask me what time is, I can understand it. If you ask me what time is, I will not be able to understand it." 

Such an interesting question... What is time? Is time an illusion? A tool? Is it linear or cyclical? 

A simplistic definition of time would be that it is what a clock measures but that definition is a problematically vague and self-referential definition that utilizes the device used to measure the subject as the definition of the subject…

You could look at what religious texts have to say about time, the Bible does reference time in many different ways…

Time is fleeting likewise life is fleeting… there are many appropriate parallels there for certain…

I think when you look at the philosophical and spiritual aspects of time what it comes down to is this… Time is what we use to measure Life… in a sense time is life’s currency, one that we can spend wisely or foolishly…

We are each given a specific amount of life, a specific amount of time on this Earth (Acts 17:26). When our time on this Earth runs out we move to the place prepared for us, where that lies is up to us… We are faced with a choice to better our circumstances, to live for God, to be obedient in our walk, to trust in his name and plan for us…

Making this personal I think the better question we could ask ourselves rather than what is time would be what are we spending our time on? What are we spending the currency of our lives on?

Are you spending your time, spending your lives on pursuits of the flesh, pursuits of pleasure for today? Or are you seeking obedience in all things before the Creator of the Universe, the Savior of those who are called out to service? 

Mission to Cuba

Most all of you know by now of my passion for missions and my willingness and readiness to embark on mission trips and projects. Some of you have expressed interest in going but couldn't take off work, have family commitments, or something of the like and I totally understand! It's by God's grace and an amazing wife that I am able to take the trips that I do! However I have an opportunity for you now to be a part of something special without even having to leave your homes...

Last year we formed a special bond with Pastor William, his family, and his church as we worked along side them in digging footings for a new building and helping them to spread the gospel message in their community. Pastor William still needs our help. 13 of his churches leaders have taken leave of their jobs to work full time on building their new church building and home for Pastor Williams family. They have been able to secure financial assistance for 2 of those leaders but the rest of them have no income and are trusting in God to provide.

This is where you come in. The cost of living in Cuba is quite a bit different than here in the USA. In fact each of these leaders need only $20 a month to support their families. This is less than what it costs most of us to go out to eat for one meal after church...

Would you partner with us in providing these families with the support that they need for 1 year so that they can accomplish the work God has called them to do in building a new church?

Maybe you can only afford to cover 1 months pay, that's great! Maybe you can afford 6 months or a year, what a blessing! What ever you can give is appreciated and 100% of what is given will go directly into the hands of Pastor William to distribute to his leaders when we visit him in April.

$20 a month = $240 a year (Total goal 11 families/leaders = $2640)

If you would like to make a donation - you can either bring it by the church office during the week or make a check payable to First Baptist Church of Islamorada and place in the memo "Cuban Pastors".

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!!!

New Creation!

Over the past 9 weeks we have looked at God's plan of redemption through the Old Testament. Since Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden (Genesis 3) We've seen our need for a redeemer (Exodus 12). We've seen the sin defeated by the suffering servant (Isaiah 53), the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), and ultimately God's power over death (Ezekiel 37:1-14).

But what does all that lead to? What's in store? The prophets have a lot to say about this as well... 

In the first part of Isaiah 65 we see God's response to the prophet regarding salvation and judgment starting in (Is 65:17) we see the final stages of what God plans to do once judgment has been rendered. 

“For I will create a new heaven and a new earth; the past events will not be remembered or come to mind. Then be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people. The sound of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her. In her, a nursing infant will no longer live only a few days, or an old man not live out his days. Indeed, the youth will die at a hundred years, and the one who misses a hundred years will be cursed. People will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and others live in them; they will not plant and others eat. For My people’s lives will be like the lifetime of a tree. My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.  They will not labor without success or bear children destined for disaster, for they will be a people blessed by the Lord along with their descendants. Even before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the serpent’s food will be dust! They will not do what is evil or destroy on My entire holy mountain,” says the Lord.

What a promise! What an image!  “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the serpent’s food will be dust!”

This is the fulfilment of the promise given to Adam and Eve in the garden when God told the serpent that the seed of the woman would crush his head!

Our journey isn’t over as we still have to trek through the New Testament but join us Sunday to look at the final chapter of our journey in the Old Testament!

Dry Bones

To this point in our journey we have have seen that God created a Kingdom, and he is the King. He made mankind to represent him in his kingdom but Adam and Eve rejected this call, which led to sin and death entering into the world. But God being a God of grace and mercy did not leave them without hope. He promised a redeemer, the seed of the woman, the promise of Abraham. A king would be raised up from the royal line of Judah, from the City of David, the covenant blessings would come to the world because all mankind was guilty and deserving death. The sacrifices of the Mosaic Law revealed more clearly their need for a substitute – the suffering servant…

So through the Suffering Servant we see that our sins have been atoned for - that still leaves the other side of the curse. Death. How does God intend to deal with that? We begin to see the answer to that question in Ezekiel 37. 

 The hand of the Lord was on me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry. 3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I replied, “Lord God, only You know.”

4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. 6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”

7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath,[a]prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that may live!” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me; the breath[b] entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.

11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, My people, and lead you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am Yahweh, My people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 

Look at what God tells our prophet in vs 12 -  "I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them..." 

God demonstrates in this passage his power over death and the grave. This is pretty important part of the story considering the way the story plays out in the New Testament. 

See ya Sunday! 

Just a little angry...

*If you are easily offended I suggest you skip reading my blog post this week… If you do read and you get offended take a deep breath and look in the mirror because I warned you…  I read a lot… I mean a lot a lot –  As I sat back after my weeks reading, I look at the tabs open on my browser articles dealing with eugenics, abortion, public justice issues, immigration issues, presidential primaries, and reformation theology; I just keep getting drawn back to a post made by a friend on Facebook – I don’t know if she was serious or just frustrated at the current political landscape but it doesn’t matter because the original post isn’t even what my mind keeps drawing back to… it was one of the comments… to be precise a comment on a comment…

The original post was a pondering as to if other countries would accept refugees from the USA if Trump were elected this fall – the comment on a comment was made by another friend – her son (adopted from Ethiopia I think he is around 6 or 7 now) was almost in tears explaining to her that if Trump were elected he wanted their family to move, to leave the country, because he was afraid they might all end up in an “internment camp since our kids are immigrants".

Now I don’t care what your politics are that just resonates – even a young child sees the danger in extremism… You might say well that would never happen… tell that to the folks about 100 miles south who lost all their rights when they followed a guy promising them that they would all own a piece of land, have free health care and free education… Anyone who opposed him once he had the power was either killed, imprisoned, or shipped off…

Why are we as adults so blinded by the left or right that we can’t see the hate and lack of maturity in both of our mainstream political parties? I have genuinely attempted on several occasions the past few months to watch both parties debates, earnestly praying and seeking God’s direction for our country but I will be honest it scares me… Neither the right nor the left seem to be willing to look past their own disdain for the other party and for the other members of their own party… The problem is always the other guy…

It makes me sick to think that in a few short weeks I (as the vast majority of you) will be headed to the local polling location to cast a ballot… This ballot, this primary election ballot is one of the most controversial yet the most important we have had in the last 100 years… We are deciding the fate of our country… My hope and prayer is that wisdom from God descends and people come to their senses and stop this madness…

As someone who has actually been to more than one dictator torn countries and seen firsthand the suffering of the socialist state there is much to be feared in handing over the keys of our country…  It’s not roses and daffodils, with free health care and everyone happy and at peace with one another… Nor is it a utopia where everyone is the same skin tone speaking the same language… What members on both sides are proposing is essentially that… Different verbiage but it’s to one extreme or the other… I am afraid that if we the people don’t stand up for our faith and stand up for our rights as people, if we just let the extremists battle it out hoping they fizzle out in the end we won’t have a country standing come November.  

Bottom line is this… our children should not fear internment camps or deportation… what happened to "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." – I am all for the extreme – but where that extreme should be… an extreme faith in an extremely gracious and merciful God – 

God's Acorns

 This week we arrive at the story of David. In 2 Samuel 7 David is sitting on his throne in his cedar palace looking out, his enemies at his feet, he could do no wrong... He's looking out and sees the tent which contained the Ark of the Lord.  David thinks to himself, the God of the Universe deserves better than a tent... His pastor Nathan initially agrees with him... Assuming that David known for being a man after God's own heart would know better than anyone what God wants...

However that's where the story changes - David doesn't get to build a house for God to dwell in, instead God desires to build David a great house - A lasting house, one in which we see the promise of a Father-Son relationship and an unconditional covenant. 

I can only imagine that to Nathan and David, much as with Abraham and Jacob, God revealing this great promise to them would be akin to us holding a tiny little acorn trying to visualize the mighty oak tree that results from within it. They knew that God had a plan and they were blessed to be a part of it, their salvation was accounted to them because of their faith (Galatians 3:6-9).  

Has God revealed any acorns of promise to you recently? What did you do with them? Did you discard them because you couldn't imagine what they could possibly become or did you plant them and nurture them in faith and hope of what God was planning for you?