The Book of Esther ... Read it and Rejoice!

This week I am not going to say too much about the story in the book of Esther. You should read the entire book yourself in one sitting. You can do this in about 30 minutes. If you have time, read it again. It's a great story! An exciting plot! Interesting characters! You will be introduced to a wealthy, egotistical king who loves being surrounded by beautiful woman; a queen who loses her position because she doesn't show up to one of the king's parties; a beautiful young Jewish girl named Esther who later becomes queen; a wise (older) cousin named Mordecai who raised Esther like his own daughter and suggests that Esther not tell anyone that she is Jewish; a character named Haman, who you learn to despise because of his evil plots to kill Mordecai and all the Jews and of course God, whose name is actually never mentioned in the story but you can see Him working behind the scenes in every scene / act of the story.


You will cheer when you see how the tables turn and the good guys win and the bad guys get what they deserve.  You will also learn about an important fast which will drive you to consider fasting when your life depends on it.  You will also be introduced to Purim, a feast or holiday that the Jewish people still hold in the middle of March celebrating their deliverance and salvation. Aside: This would be a great holiday for us as believers and followers of Jesus to consider celebrating at least once a year because of what Jesus has done for us when we were saved.  Something fun to do in March (usually)!

I was personally interested in learning more about Purim.    When doing an Internet search, I found a great site worth looking called Judaism 101 which is actually written by a devout Jew "lay person" but it is a site that is well used and respected by rabbis.  It is written in an easy to read style (which I like) and full of very interesting "stuff".  It doesn't hurt to learn more about our spiritual heritage ... since Jesus was a practicing Jew.  The site provides an excellent overview of the story in Esther, an understanding of Purim and a recipe for making a desert called  Hamentaschen - "Haman's Pockets".  They look yummy - could be a new Tim's product! To all my friends who like desert ... let me know if you make some Haman's Pockets.


Thank you Heavenly Father for always being there and working on our behalf and looking after us even though we can't see You. Forgive us for when we fail to seek You and Your kingdom first. Thank you Father for giving us all these true stories in your Word which encourage us and increase our faith and help us to live by faith and to see what You have done and are doing in our lives.  Thank you Son of God, Jesus, for paying the penalty of our sin and providing us salvation by your shed blood.  Thank you for Holy Spirit for coming into our lives, filling us, directing us, teaching us, counseling us and encouraging us.  You and your Word provide us what we need to live for you. Without You we can do nothing of value for expanding His Kingdom.  Empower us.  Anoint us for the works you have planned for us to do.  Lord thank you for the family of God, our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Thank you for your commandments and promises. Help us to obey your commandment to love You and others so that others will know that we are your disciples. We bless your Holy Name.

Here is song from my past that for some reason I have been singing often this week ...
Heavenly Father We appreciate You - Chorus

Remember.... Communion Sunday this Sunday.  Prepare!  Examine self.  Confess any sin. Be filled with the Holy Spirit! and  ... Read Esther and let the Holy Spirit speak to you pesonally.

 

       

Focus ... Don't quit!

This week many of the small groups are looking at Session 19 in The Story - The Return Home. I thought Bobby Neerholf (and the Holy Spirit) did a great job last Sunday with his message covering the return of the Israelites to Jerusalem from captivity. I do not have a lot more to say but I will try to make some points as the Holy Spirit is still dealing with me and reminding me of lessons I have learned but must relearn as I seek to serve Him.

The Israelites were pretty excited about getting to go home and rebuild the temple. Things were going a long pretty good. They were seeing results. But then words were said and stuff began to happen that discouraged them and the project slowed down. They lost their focus. They began to focus on personal things and looking after themselves rather than giving themselves to the work that God wanted them to do ... rebuild the temple.

This scenario often happens in our lives too. To be honest I enjoy starting a new project or being involved in a new ministry but over time "stuff" happens which slows you down or discourages you and your team or group and you feel like quitting or giving up. The enemy wants you to quit and give up and make you feel like a failure ... which often leads to depression. So ... don't!  Don't give up! If you do, you will never know what God might have accomplished through you. He never would have called you to the task or project if he didn't want you to complete the task and accomplish the result. Remember He is with you. Rest in Him. Remain in Him. Rely on Him. Receive your encouragement from Him. He will provide the encouragement you need through people, circumstances, His word and His Holy Spirit. There is much joy in completing whatever you have begun! Don't quit.

Ok ... I have just been preaching to myself! Maybe some of you also needed to hear that message too!

We need balance in our lives in terms of how we spend our time and money but we also need to remember to "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will given to you as well" - Matthew 6:33. This verse has been one of my key "life verses". If we put God first, he will ensure that we are looked after ... and He always has! He wants you to succeed at the work he has given you. Be strong and courageous and carry on.

And may He receive all the glory as He works through you and me by his Holy Spirit.

 

Daniel and Friends - Great Faith, Much Prayer

It has been a while since I have read the account of Daniel and his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azarriah or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  I have been blessed and challenged again!

These young guys are amazing!  Because of their integrity, faithfulness, commitment to God and strong prayer life, God blesses them and places them all in very influential and powerful positions within a kingdom of a foreign land - Babylon. These young men remind me of Joseph and how God blessed his life and allowed him to find favour in whatever He did while in a foreign land.

The miracles that we see God do to protect "his kids" also standout.  Their (our) God obviously gets the attention of the king of this foreign land after seeing the miracles God does to protect and save them.  God is recognized as the God of gods.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abendengo get thrown into a fiery furnace because they wouldn't bow down and worship the 90 feet high golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar makes.  They would die if necessary but believed God would save them.  Even if He didn't save them, they would still not bow down and worship this image.  I wonder ... would I be able to respond like these young men?  Would I take such a stand for God? Would my faith be this strong? Would I be willing to die for my faith?  I'd like to be able to say "yes"!  Sure, I know I have said, like Peter, I am willing to die for my faith ... but I am also hoping I am never tested to this extent.  If ever faced with this kind of situation, I trust that I will be given enough grace to have this same kind of bold faith in God regardless of the outcome.

Daniel also takes a bold stand when later in his life, king Darius was tricked into making an edict that forced everyone to only pray to him for a 30 day period or else they would be thrown to the lions.    Daniel ignores the edict and doesn't change his practice of praying three times per day and is consequently thrown into the lion's den. Like his friends, Daniel is protected and delivered. The lions somehow  - actually we know how! - were not hungry that evening and Daniel remains alive. King Darius was overjoyed that Daniel was still alive. Darius ultimately gives a decree that everyone in his kingdom must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.  Daniel prospered  during the reign of Darius and later, the reign of Cyrus.  Wow!  God receives all the glory and was well know to everyone while Daniel lived.  

These are amazing miracles ... not unlike parting the red sea or providing manna daily for 40 years to over three million people in the desert, and more! But we know that nothing is impossible for God.

Some of us may be going through some very challenging times.  As you face your "mountain" and difficult time, continue to put your trust in the One and only God of all creation and His Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that we have been given.  Trust Him.  Pray about everything.  Let Him protect you and carry you through. Remain faithful. Remain strong and courageous.  Do not fear. He is able to deliver thee! He has promised to be with you always.  We are praying for you.  Pray for those in your small group. Prayer, I believe and am learning, is the most important work we can do. God hears and answers. Be filled and stay in step with the Holy Spirit. Spend time reading His word. Pray that I do the same!  As the chorus says, "Dare to be a Daniel!"  

Happy New Year - Despite Our Circumstances

Happy New Year ... a little late!

As you know Joyce and I were away on a mission trip to Papua, Indonesia for most of the month of January. This was a great experience for us that generated several stories that we can now share with others. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!  Consequently, this blog entry is a "catch up" entry so that I can get back in sync with where we all are in The Story. We are covering ... at a very high level ...Sessions 13 to 17. The big message if you decide to not read the rest of blog is "don't do evil in the sight of the Lord by committing idolatry or there will be serious consequences if you don't turn from these wicked ways".

As followers of Jesus Christ we will experience good times and periodically we will go through some "bad" times. God uses both and especially those times that we consider difficult or hard or "bad" times.  We wish we didn't have to go through some things ... we wish that life would be easier or go more smoothly! Unfortunately, we will all probably experience some difficult times in our walk with the Lord. I have in the past and we all know others who love the Lord who are experiencing some hard times right now. This is when we need to remember God's promises such as Jeremiah 29:1 and pray for one another.

God loves you and me very much. He cares about us. He wants us to draw close to Him especially when we are going through difficult times. He has infinite grace available to pour out on us. Sometimes we get out of step with the Spirit and start doing life in our own strength. He uses various means to get our attention. If we have sinned, he wants us to simply confess our sin, repent and return to Him. He forgives. He delivers. He restores. He revives. Unfortunately, sometimes our pride gets in the way and we become stubborn and rebellious just like the Israelites and remain in our difficult state longer than we need to be.

In The Story for the last several weeks you have seen the Israelites (God's children) continuously go astray under a number of kings.  Things started to get bad when Solomon failed to follow his own advice / wisdom in some areas. Idolatry entered the kingdom and God gets pretty upset when we disobey His first commandment ... no other gods. The majority of kings after Solomon also did "evil in the sight of the Lord". Some of the kings tried to do some house cleaning ... tearing down the shrines and places of worship and sacrifice to other gods. When this occurred, God's blessing returns to His children. Unfortunately, king after king fell into the trap of "doing evil in the sight of the Lord".

Despite many prophets being sent by God to warn His children ... Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and many minor prophets ... the Israelites remained stiff necked and rebellious and did not turn from their wicked ways. They went through some very difficult times. The kingdom was divided. The northern kingdom of Israel was taken over and destroyed by the Assyrians and anyone who survived was dispersed.

Years later because of the same problem of idolatry in the southern kingdom of Judah, Jerusalem is destroyed and many are taken into captivity by the Babylonians. They were warned by God through His prophets to get rid of their idols and return to God but they just wouldn't listen!

When you read these stories in the Bible, you begin to wonder ... "how could they be so dumb?!" They could have avoided problem after problem if they would have only obeyed God's basic laws. God always wanted to bless them. God is patient. He is willing to forgive us and cleanse us and ultimately use us for His glory. He wants to use our stories ... both good times and hard times ... so that others will be drawn to the Lord and enter into His kingdom where Jesus is and will be their King of kings and Lord of lords and where we will all worship the one and only true God!

God uses our difficult times so that we are "pruned" in order to be more fruitful (John 15) and to become more and more Christ-like. He wants us to draw close to Him and get to know Him more and love Him more so that we can represent Him and serve Him and share His love with others.

If times are difficult for you right now .. stay close to Him ... remain in Him ... get back to basics. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matt 6:33). Spend more time in the Word. Pray without ceasing. Rejoice in the Lord. Recognize that He is in control and that all things do (and will) work together for good to those who love Him. He has plans for you! There is hope and a future! He also wants you to share your story with others.

Next week we are looking at Daniel who is a great example for all of us in our day in age and as we do our jobs, serve Him and have some influence on those around us.



    

   

We're beginning to look a lot like Jesus!

Merry Christmas fellow followers and shepherds!

In 6 days it will be Christmas Day and we will be celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus, if indeed, we remember to. It's easy to get caught up into the busyness of the season and forget Him, especially when some in our families are not fellow followers yet. Sometimes Jesus doesn't even become a part of our conversations.  Have your way in our lives Lord as we gather together during this Christmas season.  Let's pray for our family members, friends, neighbours and coworkers that we have a burden for. Lord, open their eyes and help us to be Your hands and feet and mouth.

Let's BE those expressions of the fruit of the Spirit to others... Love Joy, Peace ...we see these words a lot in Christmas cards! ... Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control ... these last six characteristics can often disappear from our lives when we get stressed out ... don't allow that to happen!

We have taken a break over the Advent season from our study of The Story.  I trust you have been benefiting from this study as much as I have as you listen to the messages each week and fellowship with your small groups.

Over the last few months, as we have been doing The Story together, I have been trying to capture Christ-like characteristics and attitudes of some of the main characters in The Story.  If you go back and review the blogs, you will see that so far we have looked at 7 characters who I think we can learn some good "stuff" from - Adam, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Ruth and David and 1 character, King Saul who we can learn some things that we should try to exclude from our own character.

Here is summary list that I pulled out from the various blogs of some of the good "stuff";  Praying, Having Fellowship with God, Being Honest, Being Humble, Being Obedient, Confessing Sin, Repenting, Trusting, Waiting, Persevering, Believing, Having Faith, Forgiving, Not Being Bitter, Being Blameless, Being God Dependent, Being God Confident, Being Holy, Being Righteous, Being Strong, Being Courageous, Not Fearing, Loving God, Praising God, Being Thankful.

We can thank these men and women of the Old Testament for being good examples of how to live Christ-like lives before us even though none of them were perfect. They were being transformed and we saw just a glimpse of their lives. Lord help us to incorporate these good characteristics into our lives.

It's too bad that being transformed into Christ-likeness couldn't be instantaneous. God's goal for us is to be perfect and holy and indeed we are already IN CHRIST from God's perspective.   But while here on earth there is still much for us to do to work out our salvation as we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit and His Word.  Sorry fellow followers ... it takes time and it takes practicing some spiritual disciplines (our part) and it takes a whole lot of Grace (God's part by His Holy Spirit).  One day we will see Him and be like Him. What a great day that will be!

Thank you for your service and leadership as you help fellow followers grow stronger in His Word and in the Holy Spirit.  Please feel free to share this blog with the members of your group.


Joyce and I will be on a mission trip to Papua, Indonesia for most of January, 2014.  Pray for us that we would be in the centre of His will and have His health, protection and wisdom as we help Lois Belsey and Mary McElhone.  We appreciate your support and encouragement and will be praying for you too.

May God Bless you and your small group.

David - Learning to Love God with All Our Heart

There are 3 men in he Bible (besides Jesus) that really stand out for me: Joseph, David, and Paul.  I guess I see so much Christ-likeness in these men.  Joseph was almost perfect!  Paul, after his encounter with the Lord became pretty close to being perfect and teaches us how to live for Christ. David simply lived to glorify God and you can see how he loved God with all his heart, soul and mind.  I must admit I am forgetting, at this point, the sins that David committed.  But once he was convicted and after confessing his sin, God continues to love David and forgives him of his sin, as He does for us. Amazing how God can forgive and forget!  Paul says he was the worst of sinners, yet God also forgives him.  There really is room at the cross for all of us.  Thank you Lord for your so great salvation!  How I praise and worship You, O Lord!

It's easy to praise the Lord for what He has done for us ... isn't it?  How great Thou Art, O Lord God Almighty!  You, O Lord, are my Rock, my Fortress, my Strength. Without You I can do nothing.  With You, nothing is impossible.  Thank You Lord. Have your way in my life, I pray. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I might serve You and live for You and glorify your name. Hallelujah Lord Jesus!  We certainly can learn how to praise and worship and cry out to the Lord from the Psalms that David wrote for us.

David is an example for all of us on how to:
Praise the Lord, Pray to the Lord, Glorify the Lord, Receive our strength from the Lord, Wait on the Lord, Rest in the Lord, Trust in the Lord, Minister to the Lord, Sing to the Lord, Dance unto the Lord, Serve the Lord, Be friends with the Lord, Fight for the Lord, Cry out to the Lord, Fear the Lord, Bless the Lord, Thank the Lord, Honor the Lord and His anointed, and the list goes on!

You can see why David is considered a man after God's own heart.  (Almost) everything he did, say, and think about was done for Lord and to glorify the Lord.

That's a life well lived.  He was a forgiven sinner who lived for God, desired to do His will, rejoicing in the Lord, praising Him, giving Him thanks and talking to Him in prayer regularly (if not always).  I sense from reading Paul's epistles, Paul also learned much from David's life and character just as we can.

Let's all have hearts that are bent towards God and that are becoming like God's heart, full of love for others!

Saul - A Carnal King

There is something about Saul I don't really like.  Actually there is much about King Saul I don't like.  I hope I am not being carnal by saying that!  I know for sure I never want to be Saul-like!  Now if we were talking about Saul in the New Testament whose name was changed to Paul ... he is someone that I am confident we would all like to imitate ... Paul even encourages us to do that.  I think we can all agree that he is a good example of Christ-likeness!

 
But as far as King Saul is concerned, there is nothing in his character that I would want any of us as shepherd-leaders to become like.  If you see something I am not seeing, please let me know!

Sure he was tall (very tall), dark and handsome!  But who cares about these physical characteristics.  What kind of man was he on the inside?  God gave him his Spirit and empowered him to perform the role of king and even allowed him to rule as the first man-king of Israel for 40 years but he sure messed up ... by not walking and being led by the spirit and at least waiting for Samuel to seek direction from the Lord and obeying what he was told to do by God.  I can see how easy it would be for Saul to fall into this trap.  We need to learn from King Saul's mistakes.

Last week we looked at the story of Ruth and Boaz and when we examine their character, we couldn't find anything that we didn't like about these two.  They lived what we would call a Christ-like life and we hope that their character qualities will show up in all our lives as we are transformed into His likeness by the Word and His Holy Spirit.

We need to learn to be filled by the Spirit and walk in the Spirit as Paul instructs us and not do the works of the flesh which are sins of our old nature.  Let's look briefly at some of the the characteristics of King Saul who I consider to be quite carnal (operating in the flesh), even though he had God's spirit at least for a while.  Unfortunately, as believers and followers of Christ we can slip and become carnal if we are not careful. Paul addresses this in 1 Corinthians 3 and Galatians 5 and a few other places.

Here are a few negative Saul-like character qualities that stood out for me as I read King Saul's story. He seemed very insecure right from the beginning.  He wasn't strong and courageous.  He was foolish and disobedient and impulsive or impetuous and impatient (just couldn't wait!),... etc.  He consequently did things his way rather than God's way which got him into trouble and in my opinion tarnished his character. We know as we read the rest of his story that he becomes very jealous of David, angry and even bitter to the extent that he tried to murder David several times.

I am surprised at how well King Saul's son, Jonathan turns out, considering he was such a bad example for his kids to follow.  Jonathan was very much the opposite of his dad and became a true, faithful friend to David.  You can definitely learn some great things when you examine Jonathan's character more closely.    

I am sorry to have to say (again) that Saul is obviously, to me, someone I hope none of us become like regardless of our role and position in life!