Nehemiah 3:20 5/31/2022*

“After him Baruch the son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the Angle to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest.”

Nehemiah is leading a restoration project to re-build the wall around Jerusalem. There is great opposition, and his team is under attack.

They all have the honor of having their names recorded in God’s holy Word, but one stands out…His name is Baruch. …. He is the only one who worked “zealously” … If I had to guess, I would bet Baruch’s zeal was evident because he did his work with joy.  The joy of The Lord is our strength, and Baruch enthusiastically built his section and helped his neighbor, with godly zeal. 

Our world is full of sinical armchair quarterbacks who constantly complain and point out the flaws of others, but I bet Baruch was the type that just grabbed some tools and helped his neighbor work.

Each day there is ample opportunity for me to make myself look better by pointing out the mistakes of others - but what if instead, I worked with zeal to help my neighbor succeed. What if I allowed love for others to drive my passion and instead of assigning blame for a problem, I helped solve it?

This is such a great passage for today because each man did his part and, in the end, a massive work is accomplished.

We face an overwhelming task today.  There are so many problems in our country it is easier to just stand back and complain. But if enough of us picked up some tools and repaired just the problem in front of us, our country would move forward.  And if enough of us were like Baruch and joyously did a little extra – America could be restored.

Of course, it is easier to simply blame the other side for the problem but if we do that tomorrow will be the same as today.

I am not sure what part of the wall I am supposed to build today but I intend to do it with enough joy, and passion that people can tell I love them and am zealous for the Lord. If I do it right, some might be persuaded to stop complaining and start working. And only then will tomorrow be better than today.

“A zealous Savior ought to have zealous disciples.” - J. C. Ryle

Isaiah 6:5 5/24/2022*

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 

Have you ever been devastated by a glimpse of the majesty of God?... Maybe you saw it in a sunset…or the smile of a newborn child.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit revealed an inkling of the Love the Father has for you and it overpowered you.

However it happened, it pushed you into the harsh comparison of who you are - and who God is…and forced you to reckon with the magnitude of grace that has been granted to you. 

That is a good thing – occasionally you need to get “down wind” of yourself and get a whiff of your own sin. 

When hunting or camping, after a few days you can develop what is called Anosmia…also referred to as “smell blindness”. You lose the ability to smell yourself…you only notice the problem when you get back to civilization and sit next to someone with reasonable hygiene. 

In this world we develop “spiritual anosmia”. We accept and normalize sin until it produces “sin blindness”.  Which makes us believe we are not so bad - until we are jolted by a glimpse of what true holiness looks like. 

In this chapter Isaiah tells the people five separate times… “Woe to you, there is no hope for you….” Then suddenly he catches sight of the glory of God and says “Woe to me!... There is no hope for me”. 

It completely wrecks him. The Glory of God magnified the stench of his own sin …and he was undone…unable to hide from the uncleanness of his own transgressions, he can only cry out for mercy. 

This encounter re-calibrated his spiritual olfactory senses and produced immediate repentance and humility… and that is exactly what you and I need.

Meditate on God’s glory this morning and allow Him to contrast your sin with His holiness. Take a hard look in the mirror and confess your sins to your Father…Fall to your knees and acknowledge your need for real and immediate repentance. 

 Then rest in the amazing grace of God as He washes your unclean lips with the cleansing blood of His Son. 

“Therefore, when I admonish you to confession, I am admonishing you to be a Christian.” – Martin Luther

Joshua 4:21-23 5/17/2022*

“And he said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’  For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed…”

When is the last time you sat down and told your kids a story about God delivering you from trouble?...

This is the second time in this chapter that God specifically instructs the Israelites to tell their children examples of His power. 

Not just theology, or bible memorization, but tell them about times He delivered them personally. This is an important principal that we may have allowed to slip through the cracks.  

So, we must intentionally take time with our kids, grandkids, and those we mentor to tell them what God has done in our lives. Our children, both natural and spiritual, need to know our story. They need to hear our histories of faith. Great stories of God showing up just in time…  Not just for Moses, but for you as well…. We need to do some planning – maybe some writing – perhaps record a video about water splitting times so they (and we) won’t forget the times God liberated us with His amazing grace.  

We tend to overlook the rescues and focus on the times things didn’t go the way we wanted… We should spend more time reminiscing and documenting the times the waters parted – instead of focusing on the times we got wet. Especially since we usually find out later on, that the reason we were treading water - was because our enemies couldn’t swim.  

God is never late. He doesn’t have plan “b’s”, and He is always in control. He has specifically rescued you before and you need to pass that on. Trust God – remember what He does - and tell your kids…No inheritance will hold a candle to them hearing your testimony. Money disappears, stuff will rust and fail. But stories of your faith, will strengthen the faith of those who follow you for the times when they must face their own Red Seas.

“A father’s holy life is a rich legacy for his sons” – Charles Spurgeon

TITUS 3:9 -11 5/10/2022*

 “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are useless and worthless. Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning, knowing that such a person has deviated from what is right and is sinning, being self-condemned.”

The church today seems to have abandoned this instruction. 

We view ourselves as righteous keyboard warriors. We not only don’t avoid foolish controversies, we initiate them. 

This passage says that our method of making disciples is not arguing…You don’t “gameplan” witnessing by attacking your opponent’s weaknesses and lording your superior intellect over them.  

There is a place for apologetics but like the name implies it is not an aggressive attack on another man’s position. It is a loving instruction that helps them grow closer to God. 

This verse says don’t participate in foolish arguments …and avoid people who do. It uses a phrase that is a little foreign to us….” Warning them” …It doesn’t say ignore their argumentativeness, nor does it say to attack them – it says talk to them – more than once – but if they continue - refuse to be drawn into their quarrelsomeness. 

When the eternal destiny of souls is on the line, we must be prepared to speak the truth in love…but we cannot browbeat someone into salvation… at some point, we must stop debating with them and instead talk to God on their behalf. 

Intellect is not what makes people combative…arrogance does. If you are constantly arguing, it is not because people don’t understand your point - it is that you’re trying to dominate, not communicate.

We can’t silently pretend nothing is wrong when sinfulness is normalized.  We must stand up for what is right and that will make conflict inevitable at times. But we must avoid becoming head-hunters – easily offended, and constantly prowling around looking for a way to start an argument.

Balance…Love your brother enough to tell him the truth – but any debate should have restoration as its goal - not conquest.  We are not here to argue with sinners, we are here to rescue them. 

 This is a tough passage - and we don’t follow it well…That’s probably why the church looks so much like the world these days.

 “Discussions are always better than arguments – an argument is to find out who is right, and a discussion is to find out what is right.” 

– anonymous

1 John 1:9-10 5/3/2022*

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

In this verse confession is a deal breaker.  It allows us to be cleansed of unrighteousness. …So, is it part of what we do every day?

When is the last time you inventoried your sins without a disclaimer? 

We have no problem admitting we did something wrong but there is always a reason…” I am sorry, but”…. When I start explaining my actions, I am not sorry for them…Either I regret them, or I have a reason for doing them – I need to decide.

Our culture is unable to confess sin…we deflect it, normalize it, blame it on others…sometimes we change its name and call it an illness. Ultimately, we blame God and say we were created the way we are - and accept no responsibility. 

According to this verse, when we do that, we are calling God a liar…Implying in the end, that it is His fault when we act un-righteously. This passage says that is a dangerous path to follow. 

Let’s compare the amount of time, we spend examining our walk to rid it of sin - against the amount of time we spend petitioning God for things we want. By the content of our prayer life… are we implying that God is a liar? …. And if so, is His word not in us?... Those are important questions. 

The subject of confession quickly becomes critical when I realize the lack of time, I spend involved in it. Most spiritual problems come from either having a faulty concept of God - or having a faulty concept of yourself.  Confession covers and adjusts both areas – perhaps that is why it is so important. 

Spend some time owning your own errors today…Evaluate and confess your shortcomings.  Practice saying, “I am so sorry – that was my fault.” Allow the blood of Christ to cleanse you and reject the psycho-babble that blames others. 

Sin grows in the dark – so drag it out in the light – confess it, repent of it, and watch how quickly it will lose power in your life. 

“The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.”

-Saint Augustine