Year: 2019

What are we building?

We are building our lives, our character, our history, our testimony with every thought, word, action, reaction and response that we will have today. And even more important than our outwardly visible reputation amongst men — is how we are presenting ourselves before God.

God is not blind to our most personal and secret thoughts, desires, and actions. And when we are truly believing in God for His forgiveness and grace found in Christ Jesus, we not only seek repentance in turning away from sin, but we want to work to see the Good News spread and His Kingdom work here on earth expand and grow here as it is in heaven.

Salvation does not require work that resembles holiness — yet true saving faith always produces holy work — because Christ is now the holiness of God come to live in us.

Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 NLT

Life Application Study Bible

Because God will examine what kind of workers we have been for him, we should build our lives on his Word and build his Word into our lives-it alone tells us how to live for him and serve him. Believers who ignore the Bible will certainly be ashamed at the judgment. Consistent and diligent study of God’s Word is vital; otherwise, we will be lulled into neglecting God and our true purpose for living.

Lord, we ask that our day be your work in and through us. Help us top surrender every aspect of our lives, flinging open every door that was once locked away from your presence and influence — to now be overcome by your freeing grace and truth. Give us a hunger to seek your Truth, to know your Truth, and to live out your Truth — resisting evil instead of resisting you. It is only possible by the power of your Holy Spirit, only through the sacrifice paid by your Son Jesus Christ on the cross, only by the grace and perfect holiness of Almighty God the Father that we see evidenced in the whole Trinity at work in perfect harmoy throughout your Word and throughout our lives. Lord, make us a living testimony to your grave and your glory. Lord, like the prodigal returning to your presence, we ask you to make us your workers, we seek to do the good work of your Kingdom laborers. And in doing so, we find that it is not laborious, it is not a heavy burden, but it is a great and a celebration and a joyous and abundant life. Help us to be consistent and diligent in your Word and your will. Amen.

Constantly

I work in a commercial data center, and one of the key things that we hear about is consistency. Just as we want our systems and services to be “Always On” for our customers (one of the major selling points of data centers with multiple levels of redundancy and security), we want our team to be always on time, always efficient and effective, always available, etc.

Consistency, is about being constant, being solidly founded, being predictable, which all boils down to being reliable.

When things are consistent and reliable, there is a ready amount of evidence proving that they are trustworthy.

My morning verse today is from Paul’s second letter to Timothy, and the word that caught my attention was “constantly” — ἀδιάλειπτος in the Greek, meaning “unintermitted, unceasing, continual“:

Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.
2 Timothy 1:3 NLT

The Life Application Study Bible has this note to consider about this verse:

Paul constantly prayed for Timothy, his friend, his fellow traveler, his son in the faith, and a strong leader in the Christian church. Although the two men were separated from each other, their prayers provided a source of mutual encouragement. We too should pray consistently for others, especially for those who do God’s work.

Constantly and consistently — these are markers of Paul’s Christian character. And isn’t whatever is constant and consistent in someone’s behavior the evidence of their underlying character?

Don’t we expect the one who has lied to us in the past to lie to us again, because we have time after time, seen the evidence of their character being a liar?

Don’t we expect those who are always late to work, or those who are regularly absent, or who show up early but only put in a half effort, to probably act the very same way today because it has become a defining component of who they are — demonstrating and defining their “character” like a role in the movie being played out in our minds every day?

If your friends and coworkers were looking to “cast your part” in a movie about their lives — what would the basis of your “character” be?

Christian, would it look and sound and speak and act in any resemblance to Christ who you claim is in you? Or would it resemble a religious hypocrite or a wayward sinner?

I’m not talking about whether or not you have occasional little shifts towards the light or towards the darkness — but what is the overall, defining truth about what is in control over and guiding your life as a whole?

Is it your own selfish, sinful nature — or is it the Lord?

What fruit is evident on your tree sho that others around you, when in their time of need might know whether you are constant, consistent, and trustworthy — or are not?

Do we see that our consistency is not some obligatory requirement in order to obtain credit for ourselves — but it is an opportunity to provide help for others in their storm, to help bear the burdens of our brothers and sisters, to lift up the name of Jesus Christ in spirit and truth (not in false claims, dead religious practice, and fruitless and self- righteous hypocrisy!

And isn’t the Lord steady and trustworthy?

And aren’t we made in His image?

And doesn’t Christ live in and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Is the Lord God Almighty playing the starring role in your character today — or are you (as the intended understudy) stepping onto the stage to demand control and any applause for yourself?

Be honest in your answer to yourself, friend, because He already knows the truth — do you?

Lord, you are the one who can make us new. You are the one who can chesnee or very nature and being to resemble a new creation in your image. Rid us of our old selves and come live in and through us. Teach us and lead us to be consistently and constantly like you. Help us to be Christ to a dying world. Amen.

The First Part

I encourage you to listen first to:

“We promise to bring the first part of every harvest to the Lord ’s Temple year after year—whether it be a crop from the soil or from our fruit trees. We agree to give God our oldest sons and the firstborn of all our herds and flocks, as prescribed in the Law. We will present them to the priests who minister in the Temple of our God. We will store the produce in the storerooms of the Temple of our God. We will bring the best of our flour and other grain offerings, the best of our fruit, and the best of our new wine and olive oil. And we promise to bring to the Levites a tenth of everything our land produces, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our rural towns. “A priest—a descendant of Aaron—will be with the Levites as they receive these tithes. And a tenth of all that is collected as tithes will be delivered by the Levites to the Temple of our God and placed in the storerooms. The people and the Levites must bring these offerings of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the storerooms and place them in the sacred containers near the ministering priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers. “We promise together not to neglect the Temple of our God.”
Nehemiah 10:35‭-‬39 NLT

After we read our family morning devotional together this morning, we talked about what giving our “first” to God represents. God doesn’t need the blood of herds and flocks from us. God doesn’t need burnt grain and fruit and wine and olive oil from us.

All of this is a “remembrance” of God giving His first to us — of His first and only begotten son, Jesus Christ, being sacrificed for our sins mercifully and graciously to restore us into right relationship with God. A proper tithe is not an obligation, but it is a joyful remembrance of the Heavenly Father and His love for us even while we were still sinners and were His enemies, and it is a joyful remembrance of Jesus Christ the Son of God who lived, suffered, died, and rose again for us, and it is a joyful demonstration of the Holy Spirit who lives in the heart of those who truly believe, repent, and follow as students of The Word and children of God.

In fact, we discussed that this morning devotional time that we set apart at the start of our day isn’t some religious obligation — but it is a remembrance of what God the Father has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and how we receive this gift by the Holy Spirit. So it is a type of tithe of our day, or remembering God’s fully willing, fully loving, fully sacrificial demonstration of His love towards us — not out of obligation or duty, but purely an outward reflection and demonstration of His grace towards us — we have the same opportunity. With each day in our morning devotional, with each week in our Lord’s day corporate gatherings, with each tithe on what we receive given to support the “Temple of God” — we have an opportunity to “do this in remembrance of me”.

Doing these things in remembrance is not just some religious ceremony that we step through to meet some obligation.

The Lord tells us how He feels about such religious, obligatory, hypocritical, self-righteous “religious” offerings:

“I hate all your show and pretense— the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.
Amos 5:21‭-‬24 NLT

This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have festivals or assemblies! This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make offerings to the Lord! It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t praise! It means that we should do these things rightly!

We are to give generously in remembrance of how much God has given us:

Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!
2 Corinthians 9:6‭-‬15 NLT

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
James 4:17 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.4.17.NLT

And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled. For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.
Ezra 8:21‭-‬23 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/ezr.8.21-23.NLT

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.
Ephesians 6:10‭-‬20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.6.10-20.NLT