October 18 2018

Rebuild


The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
You shall again be adorned with your tambourines,
And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
Jeremiah 31:3-4

The Lord is rebuilding us.
Rebuilding can be tough. 
Rebuilding often requires some tearing down first. 
Removal of old things that are no longer useful, in order to make room for new things. 
Yet, in the middle of the process He reminds us that he loves us with an everlasting love. 
Everlasting =`owlam = continuous existence, perpetual. 
He also reminds us that He draws us with lovingkindness.
Lovingkindness=checed= in a good sense, zeal towards any one, love. 
So the Lord, because He loves us with a perpetual love, has drawn us in zeal, to rebuild us. 
And the rebuilding will result in the dances of those who rejoice.
Round dances (machowl) that will make us merry (sachaq).
I see children, holding hands, dancing in a circle, with their heads thrown back, laughing.
So don’t grow weary or discouraged at the rebuilding process. 
It sometimes requires tearing down and it requires time to play out in its entirety. 
Be confident that you are loved with a perpetual love that draws you in! 
“Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt.”

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October 17 2018

Much Advice

You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels. Isaiah 47:13

Where do we go when we have a problem?  
Who do we turn to when we have questions that need to be answered?  
Who do we ask when we need direction?  
Most of us have “go to” people.  
They are the ones we think of first when we need a good answer.  
We pick up the phone, or send off a text or email that basically starts with “help!”  
But what happens when our “go to” people aren’t on the same page?  
When the advice contradicts or doesn’t connect with our spirit?  
We tend to be a self-sufficient people who rely on the multitude of voices we hear around us.  
In the Old Testament God told the people, 
“You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels”.  
There was too much advice coming from a variety of directions and the sorting through of it was tiring.  
God tells us to come to Him first; to not reach for the phone or the computer so quickly, but to bring our concerns and questions to Him.  
We are told: 
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 
That isn’t to say that we can’t talk to the people around us; God placed us with “our people” to help support and encourage one another.  
But when you have already taken it to the Lord, then you can sort through and discern the advice you have been given against what you believe you have heard in your quiet time with God.  
Do you have a question or concern today?  
Take it to the Lord first!

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October 16 2018

Obedience

And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. And He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. “For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ “As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.  “And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house. “You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Ezekiel 2: 1-8

Ezekiel’s call wasn’t a bed of roses.  
God was upfront with him.  
God would give him a word to speak to the people of Israel, but they were a rebellious house and God made it clear that they may or may not hear the word that was to go forth. 
God spoke of briars and thorns all in the same sentence as the call upon Ezekiel.  
When God calls us, He doesn’t promise that every experience we have is going to be positive.  Positivity is not the indicator of walking successfully in your call.  
God tells Ezekiel the key to success.  
Obedience.  
Whether the people hear or do not hear, Ezekiel was told to not be like the rebellious house, but to be obedient in the call God had placed on him and to receive the word and then speak the word to the people.  
And God didn’t send Ezekiel in unprepared. 
“Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. “Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.” Ezekiel 3:8-9.  
God will equip us for the call He has called us to, just like he prepared and equipped Ezekiel. 
Are you struggling in the call God has placed on you?  
Are you struggling because your expectation doesn’t fit?  
Remember 2 things:  
1) God has placed, prepared and equipped you for what He has called you to; 
2) all He requires is obedience!

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