TUESDAY - SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 - JOURNAL NEHEMIAH 8:13-10:39 NEHEMIAH 9:1On October 31 the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads. 2Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors. 3They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the lord their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the lord their God. -These guys were SERIOUS...they were publicly showing sorrow for their disobedience and genuine repentance. -Wearing these emotions publicly seems uncomfortably transparent to me....so PUBLIC!!! But then I am reminded of this question: Who am I trying to please?!?!? If, in fact, public confession was the guaranteed ‘ticket to Heaven’, would we not all be standing in line to bare our souls????? Well, hiding our sins is sure not the ticket......... -Okay...how about this....THEY REMAINED STANDING IN PLACE FOR THREE HOURS WHILE THE BOOK OF THE LAW OF THE LORD THEIR GOD WAS READ ALOUD TO THEM.....woe nelly!!!!! Think about that! A sermon nowadays is 20-30 minutes long and we get to SIT....still some people fidget, check their watches, check email/texts/Facebook/Instagram....even fall asleep! Do we really LOVE & WORSHIP GOD...or are we going through ‘religious motions’ out of some sense of duty or habit?!?!? -THEN FOR THREE MORE HOURS THEY CONFESSED THEIR SINS AND WORSHIPED THE LORD THEIR GOD!!! How long do I spend confessing MY sins...do I even remember all the ways I sin against God....am I even AWARE of all the ways I sin.....or AM I SO DILUTED BY MY CULTURE THAT I DO NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE SIN FOR WHAT GOD SAYS THAT IT IS?!?!? I think I need to get this figured out and corrected...NOW...because one day it will be too late!!!!! -I think it is interesting and important that it says they: 1-confessed their sins, and then 2-worshiped the lord their God. Here’s what I am thinking....if worship ushers us into God’s presence....but because of God’s righteousness He cannot tolerate sin in His presence....does it not make sense that our worship should be preceded by confession?!?!? NEHEMIAH 9:6“You alone are the lord. You made the skies and the heavens and all the stars. You made the earth and the seas and everything in them. You preserve them all, and the angels of heaven worship you.7“You are the lord God, who chose Abram and....renamed him Abraham.....9“You saw the misery of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cries from beside the Red Sea. 10You displayed miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh...11You divided the sea for your people so they could walk through on dry land! And then you hurled their enemies into the depths of the sea....12You led our ancestors by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night....14You instructed them concerning your holy Sabbath. And you commanded them, through Moses your servant, to obey all your commands...15“You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry and water from the rock when they were thirsty. ...16“But our ancestors were proud and stubborn...17They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them, 18even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!’....19“in your great mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness....20You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst. 21For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell!22“Then you helped our ancestors conquer kingdoms and nations, and you placed your people in every corner of the land....23You made their descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and brought them into the land you had promised to their ancestors.24“They went in and took possession of the land. You subdued whole nations before them.....25Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings.26“But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you.....27So you handed them over to their enemies, who made them suffer. But in their time of trouble they cried to you, and you heard them from heaven. In your great mercy, you sent them liberators who rescued them from their enemies.28“But as soon as they were at peace, your people again committed evil in your sight, and once more you let their enemies conquer them. Yet whenever your people turned and cried to you again for help, you listened once more from heaven. In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them many times!29“You warned them to return to your Law, but they became proud and obstinate and disobeyed...They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen. 30In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen! So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them. 31But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!....33Every time you punished us you were being just. We have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what we deserved. 34Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors did not obey your Law or listen to the warnings in your commands and laws. 35Even while they had their own kingdom, they did not serve you, though you showered your goodness on them. You gave them a large, fertile land, but they refused to turn from their wickedness.36“So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment! 37The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins.....We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery.”.........38The people responded, “In view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing.....10:30“We promise not to let our daughters marry the pagan people of the land, and not to let our sons marry their daughters.31“We also promise that if the people of the land should bring any merchandise or grain to be sold on the Sabbath or on any other holy day, we will refuse to buy it. Every seventh year we will let our land rest, and we will cancel all debts owed to us.32“In addition, we promise to obey the command to pay the annual Temple tax of one-eighth of an ounce of silver for the care of the Temple of our God.....35“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. 36We agree to give God our oldest sons and the firstborn of all our herds and flocks....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......“We promise together not to neglect the Temple of our God.” -Knowing history SHOULD help us not to repeat the same mistakes over and over...why don’t we learn? I feel like an addendum to this story could be the ‘chapter on the United States” right now!!!! -Since Bible times...God’s people 1-receive blessings and protection from God 2-slowly begin to take the blessings for granted 3-start relying on the blessings instead of God and even take personal credit for them 4-let the blessings take our focus and attention away from God 5-begin to sin more and more as God is pushed out of the picture 6-start reaping the consequences of sin and rebellion 7-when the consequences are unbearable turn to God begging forgiveness and alleviation 8-God listens, forgives, reverses circumstances, bestows blessing & protection 9-the cycle begins again......... -Self check: Do my blessings make me think of God? Do I give Him credit for all my blessings? Do my blessings make me feel self-sufficient or do they remind me I am nothing without Him? Do my blessings draw me closer to God or closer to the world? Do I realize that, when I start repeating the above cycle, He will do whatever is necessary to get my attention and get me refocused on Him?!?!? Do I realize He does this only for His children...and I am His...and He loves me?!?!?!?!?
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 17:35:47 +0000
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