Ezra, Israel's Prophet and Project Manager

Last night I decided to reread the book of Ezra. There is great encouragement for the Church being built in the 21st century. Ezra brings out the plan of God for the re-building of the temple in ten short chapters. It will definitely hold your attention.
As He always does, God goes before His people to prepare the way, He stirs the spirit of the king of Persia, modern day Iran, and Israel is given all they need to begin the rebuilding. The first thing they build is the altar! Prayer, worship, praise, commitment, giving, at the altar. First things first!
Then, the adversaries come. They are armed with proposals they think will work on God's people. They approach the project leader and the HEADS of HOUSEHOLDS! They say, we worship the same God you do, we have sacrificed as you have. That was all a lie, trying to water down what God is doing. God knows who His people are!! Thank God for leaders with discernment! Without hesitation this leader pulls no punches, "you have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord..." Ezr.4:3.
There will be one opposition after another when God's people are building what He has said to build. The opposers write to the king, complaining of course that the Jews are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. Calling what God has ordained wicked and rebellious, that should have made them shake in their sandals, but their arrogance wouldn't allow that. Their next step is to appeal to the king, these were men of high political standing fighting God's work. They had the ear of the king and he agreed with them and ordered the work on the temple to cease. That's what arrogance will do, first they say, we worship the same God you do and have made sacrifice to Him. "...make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt..." 4:21. Selah.
The enemy of the Church is still saying the same thing. That is why I am rejoicing all the more in the description of the Church in Revelation 21:9-27.
Try what he will, there is nothing our enemy can do to stop the building of the Church, be it bribery, lies, threats, temptations, discouragement, fear. Whatever he tries to use, God's Church is being built. Every day we are being changed into His glory, we are being matured and being made strong. There is nothing he can do to stop God's will. Persecution couldn't do it; fires, betrayal, whatever weapon, God defends His Church.
Be encouraged in the Lord today, He is ever faithful!

So Loved

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 ESV
I really had a good time today going back to the most familiar scripture in the Bible. This one verse is so descriptive of the wonders of God in such a simple (uncomplimated) way; "...so loved..." I have to think about that. I don't want to skim over this word. It's a word that has eternal impact on our lives, from the hour we are saved, to the end of our lives on earth and on into eternity. This impact comes because God's word is living word and when we have revelation of it, we are changed.
Sundays One Prayer message from P. Francis Chan on God's strength is like that. Sure we know God is mighty, but do we know because we have experienced His strength or do we know because we have read about it? So loved is like that.
Just as P. Chan said, we take one breath, two breaths because God has given us the strength to do so. Our God is the all-powerful God and it is He who has so loved. We have His love because He alone is Sovereign. He takes no counsel from anyone, He doesn't need it. Because God is love, He can so love.
We have lots of new babies in TRC, thank You Jesus! A church full of beautiful kids, thank You again Jesus. When we first hold our babies in our hands, we are being taught God's lesson on so loved. It is the love that stands the test of time, and stands the test!!
This is the love that so loves the proud and arrogant. It doesn't stop when the proud go about their way doing whatever they want, the so loved of God continues to the hardest of hearts. When we see the look of the hard hearted change, we know that heart has been broken at the experience of God's forgiveness in being so loved.
My prayer today is that we will come face to face with so loved. I pray we will exhort and encourage and demonstrate to each other this experience of so loved. Imagine what would happen in our families, our churches, our neighborhoods, our country. God's so loved is full of mercy and forgivness. It doesn't hold grudges. God's so loved, sets us free because His love gave us His only Son. Imagine getting rid of the burden of bitterness because we say and believe, God so loved me.
Imagine your heart has different rooms in it, room for all the people that we love and for the God we love. This love for God encompasses the whole heart. When new people come into our lives, no one has to shift spaces, lose space or share space. The rooms our family and friends have stays the same. When we make new friends, so loved makes the heart bigger and there is more room.
There is more coming on so loved.
Jesus, you are the Author and Finisher of our faith, I pray that each of us will grow into so loved. May Your so loved come as revelation to each of us.

Jael, the Wild Goat

One of the more interesting things about history, any history but especially Bible history, are the things we can learn and apply to our lives. Without application, history is just an interesting story and we can soon forget what its meaning is for us in this day
The story of Jael was one that made an imprint on my heart. She knew who she was. Can't really imagine a woman like Jael waking up one day and saying to herself, "I'm having an identity crisis." She fully accepted who she was and what her life was about. She knew she could get the job done in this difficult wilderness life she led. She got familiar with the tools she had to work with, didn't fret because of what she didn't have. When she had a job to do, no matter how hard, she was ready to get it done. Jael is an example of a woman who could climb the mountain before her. Jael is memorable enough that her life and experience is in the word of God and was celebrated by the Judge of Israel, Deborah. God has a specific reason for including Jael in scripture and if we approach it with this in mind, we will find revelation in the scripture.
"Every scripture is God breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action), so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2Tim. 3:16-17 Amp.
No question about it, no second guessing, Jael knew who the enemy was and what this enemy was like. She knew her mission was to get rid of this enemy, or he would destroy them. This enemy represents the enemies of our souls, and what God calls us to do in destroying these enemies, none of whom are people (Eph. 6:12). Our work is to do the will of God with the weapons He gives to rid our hearts of these enemies.

mor-ti-fy: to kill, put to death, to deaden, to subdue. This is what we do habitually as the Amplified Bible says in Rom. 8:13, Col. 3:5.
Here is the victory we have, Christ has overcome sin, death, hell and the grave. He has given us our weapons! Did you know that His word is as a fire and a hammer? The weapon in Jael's hand was a hammer and nail. "Is not My word like a fire? says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" Jer. 23:29. Every promise in the Bible is an assurance that all things are possible in Jesus. It doesn't matter how hard the heart is, God is able to turn it into a heart of zeal for Him.
My prayer for the Church today is that we will walk in the overcoming power of Christ. Rom. 6:7-14.
So, here is what I hope we will all take from the life of Jael. Know your identity in Christ, be content with who you are, when God is in the mission, we can do all things because He prepares the way, know the tools we have in Christ, don't fret about what we think is missing in our lives, know the enemy, know the mission, commit to the mission, no doubts, get ready! There are other people on this mountain, you are not alone!
I love you Church! We have the victory in Jesus name!

Jael: A Canaanite Woman Used By God

The story of Jael is found in the book of Judges 4:11-24, 5:24-27. Very short piece of scripture to tell an extraordinary history of one woman and how the Lord used her to deliver Israel. Jael's story is so important that Deborah, judge of Israel at the time, sang praise to the mighty warriors of Israel, including Jael!! P. Jeff recently brought a message about climbing the mountain because that's where God is. Letting nothing stand in our way from reaching God at the top of the mountain.
First thing I did when I decided to reread Judges was to look up the meaning of the name 'Jael' in Strongs Concordance. This is what I found: Jael in Hebrew is pronounced 'Yaw-ale,' and it means the following; WILD GOAT, (this woman was a mountain climber!!) ibex as climbing. The primary root meaning is to ascend, to be valuable, useful, beneficial, set forward, can do good, be profitable, have profit. Can you get a picture of this Canaanite woman? She lived in a tent and I see her long, wild dark hair blowing in the wind. This woman knows she can do. Do you have a picture of a goat climbing a high mountain? We saw goats climbing all the time in Alaska. Nothing seemed to stop them.
There is no scripture reference of the Lord giving Jael instructions for what she was about to do, no word from Deborah who was judge at the time, although, Deborah prophesied that a woman would get the glory, "...for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman..." (4:6-9). What she did have is personal experience of what war with oppressors was doing to Israel. The people that Jael was from were the Kenites and Jael's husband Heber had earlier made peace between his house, the Kenites and King Jabin. This peace pact plays an important part in what Jael would do in helping to save God's people.
God knows the beginning, to very end of this thing He is doing. First, He called Deborah who knew how to spend time with God under the palm tree (4:5), seeking His wisdom. Next, Deborah called Barak who was in Kedesh (meaning sacred place)to lead the troops of Israel. Deborah herself lived in the land of Ephriam, and only 10,000 men came from two tribes; Naphitali and Zebulun. Out of the twelve tribes, only three were represented. The Few, Matthew 20:16. A few years ago, P. Jeff had an excellent series on 'The Few.' Check it out.
Next, God had plans for the enemy. The leader of K. Jabin's army was Sisera. The army had 900 chariots and as they were preparing for what they think will be a decisive victory for them, the Lord confused and terrified Sisera and ALL his chariot drivers (4:15). This apparently was too much for the enemy leader, Sisera left his chariot and fled the scene while every last one of his soldiers were slain by Israel.
Sisera knew he would have sanctuary at the tent of the Kenite, Heber. Jael is on the scene again, ready to make things happen! She calms all his fears, invites him into the tent, gives him a cover. He requests water and she goes the second mile and gives him milk with curd, that would be cottage cheese to us. She knew exactly how to disarm the enemy. This wild goat of a woman had everything set in place beforehand by the God of Israel. Now Jael herself was ready with everything she needed; the hospitality, the nourishment, the covering for him, the hammer, and the pin she used to stabilize the tent, and some assurance to keep him at ease. She knew everything about these tools, she was resourceful and well practiced in taking down tents and setting them up again. She quietly comes near the enemy who was in an exhausted, deep sleep and used the tent pin (we would call it a stake) and hammer to kill the the enemy who had oppressed Israel for twenty years.
I was up til 1:30 this morning reading the story of Jael, the wild goat. There are precious details here. I encourage you to read her story, take notes and talk about it with friends. Her story isn't done yet, this scripture was written for our instruction! You might have asked what does a wild goat have to do with me, or what does the Old Testament have for me? We are there!

Focus on the Point

This is short and to the point. Adversity is not the point. Who God is , is the point. What He will do in and through the adversity is the point. Focus on the point.

Another Conversation

This is a back and forth Jim and I had while running errands on this sunny day.
Marlee: (To Jim,) would you feel bad if I twittered what "Pookie" and I are doing today? (Pookie aka Jim).
Jim: (a resounding) YES, I would!! How about "HeMan or somethin' like that??
Marlee: or RealMan?
Jim:
No answer, he's thinking.
So later as I'm fixing our very late Irish oatmeal breakfast; Jim or RealMan, comes in the kitchen.
RealMan: "Pookie" wants a kiss. I figure if I say "Pookie" enough I won't be shocked when I see it in print.
Marlee: You get your kiss Pookie.
The whole point of blogging this conversation is to say that life is full of funny things, along with some very tough decisions we have to make in this life. If you plan on having fun and laugh a lot, it will make you stronger when it's time to make that decision. Pookie and I laugh a lot, so we know when there is something difficult we have to deal with, soon the laughter will be there again, it's become a habit. And besides that, Jim knows that the nickname Pookie will not become a habit, I like Jim just fine.
Everything is going to be ok.

Aspiring to be Great in the Kingdom of God

Former Detroit Piston basketball player, Isiah Thomas, wrote a short tribute to his Piston coach Chuck Daly who recently died. If the article had been a poem, it would have had the word "ode" in the title. This was a work of praise to a man who was well loved and respected. He motivated his team players to be their best at all times. Mediocre did not survive around Chuck Daly. Remember Detroit's "bad boys" of the 80's? I hated it when Detroit came to town! Street ball. Not only were they motivated, but he expected his team to perform each and every game. In describing his coach, Thomas used such phrases and words as "champion," "mentor," "one of the greatest coaches," and "warrior."
Jesus also has words for those who would be great in the Kingdom of God, be a servant, Matt. 20:26. When love and respect for Jesus fills our lives, serving His people is His calling to us. In His time, Jesus makes us into the kind of servants that will become mentors, champions, warriors (we never give up!). The servants of Christ are gracious, well-respected and always teaching His word, telling and living His story. From the Savior who says "most assuredly," we are fully confidant of what we can do in His name. What more do we need in motivation than to have the Savior of the world as our Leader? We have all that we need in the face of adversity, God is the God who raises up champions and warriors! When we read that we can do all things through Christ, do we really believe, or do we admit it's in our minds but not our hearts yet? If you are in the land of "yet" still, take a leap of faith and believe you can because Jesus said it. That truth will bring us to the next step, and the next, and the next. Jesus has given us every word we need to fulfill our role as servant in this life. We can do all things only because Jesus has fully prepared the way for us in His word and on this earth when He was here.
I challenge you today to believe that Jesus will do the impossible for you. To believe that the call to servanthood is real and He has equipped us to do that very thing by imitating His example. No big wondering how I'm ever going to do it, it's all laid out in His holy word. Today is a day of challenges on all sides for the Christ follower and if we accept His challenge to deny ourselves and follow Him, everything we have need of will be taken care of. Trust Him, He is worthy!!