Day 256: Ezra

3 John; Ezra 7-8; Psalm 94

In ministry it is so easy to let our opinions of others' purposes cause us to not support them. Each person has been given a different role in the kingdom of God and sometimes it may be something that we personally don't understand. This letter written by John reveals that this person named Gaius is doing the right thing by showing love and welcoming follows. This other dude, Diotrephes, is gossiping and not welcoming fellow believers and according to John, this is very wrong. While they may be different, we don't understand how it's going to work, or it doesn't seem logical, we need to love on and support fellow believers who are living and loving for the kingdom.

Ezra "had spent his life studying and obeying the Law of The Lord and teaching it to others." Ezra was a man of God and a great leader because he was devoted to God, not just his spare time, but his whole life. God is able to do great things through him because he was obedient. As mentioned before, this book records how God takes care of his people. First, God, through powerful kings, is giving the Israelites everything they need--permission and treasures. They have the blessing of the most powerful rulers to go and worship. Secondly, God gives them protection. Ezra mentions that he was tempted to ask the king for an army to protect them along the way, as this must have been a dangerous trip. But he doesn't succumb to his fears of humans and trusts The Lord. His faith pays off because God proves himself as their protector and they have a safe trip. God wants to be involved in our lives; he wants to help and protect us from hard; we open the door for him to work through being devoted to him and obedient, like Ezra.

This psalm seems completely relevant to how I feel about the world sometimes. How is it that wicked and deceitful people prosper? Why doesn't God do something? It can be so frustrating to watch the poor and innocent be abused and no one is there to help. This psalm talks about how useless our plans are and how good our God is, even in the midst of pain and frustration. God gives all things, he blesses and instructs, he keeps us steady and gives comfort, he is our safety and our security. Despite the craziness and evil of the world around us, despite how alone and hopeless we can feel watching and trying to help the victims, God is still there ruling and teaching and sheltering. The psalmist says it beautifully: "When I felt my feet slipping, you came with your love and kept me steady. And when I was burdened with worries, you comforted me and made me feel secure. But you are opposed to dishonest lawmakers who gang up to murder innocent victims. You, Lord God, are my fortress, that mighty rock where I am safe."

Day 255: Love Then Truth

2 John; Ezra 5-6; Psalm 93

There are two main concepts in this letter. First, love. It seems a reoccurring theme in a lot of the books. Hm, must be important. Again the emphasis is that we love God by DOING what he says. Actions. Secondly, this passage talks about holding onto the true teachings and not even welcoming those who teach falsely about Jesus. Wow, that's pretty serious. John warns that we are not to change the original teachings about who Jesus was because God will no longer be with us. We must believe the truth of Jesus' words and who he says he was, not try to search for something else that fits our lives better. I also think the order of these messages is important. First it communicates that we are to love. Cultivating that attitude of love is primary. That was Jesus' purpose. Secondly, we seek truth and hang on to it. This is done through prayer and studying God's word. Something that I was discussing with my family: we spend so much time talking about truth, what we shouldn't do, that we don't ever talk about what we should do--love.

This story in Ezra about rebuilding the temple is interesting because it shows how God uses people to bless his followers and make his plans succeed. These leaders who would typically not help the Jews, not only let them build the temple, but gave them money, encouragement, and warnings to anyone who hindered it. What would it benefit them that the Jews would rebuild the temple? Maybe somehow, but I can't come up with anything! God made sure that his plan succeeded and at the end, everyone celebrated and praised God for helping them.

This psalm is just a beautiful praise of who God is. He is majestic and eternal, more mighty and powerful than anything on earth. God is awesome!

Day 254: Not Rambo, Just Obedient

1 John 5; Ezra 3-4; Psalm 92

Believing in Jesus brings lots of blessings. According to 1 John 5, we become God's children and receive love. Because God is love, we learn to love him and love others. Secondly, we have victory over the world. To me, this means that I don't live bound by the worries or trappings of this world; money isn't that important, simply a tool; the only reputation that matters is God's; struggles don't have to leave me empty because I believe in something more. And finally, we have eternal life through Jesus. That's what God promises through his son and so if we believe he is truthful, we can trust that Jesus is the way, truth, and life.

In Ezra, the people return to the rubble that was Jerusalem and soon they rebuild the altar so they can offer sacrifices to The Lord. It says that they did this "even though they were afraid of the people who were already living there." I don't know the details of the people living there, but whoever they were, the Jews were a little nervous to be around them. But did they cower and hide their faith? Nope. This passage acknowledges their fear and doesn't discount it. Being nervous or fearful is a part of being human. God doesn't expect us to rush into every situation as if we are Rambo or Chuck Norris. But, their desire to be obedient was stronger than their fear--that's what God wants from us.

Then, when the foundation of the temple is finish, they throw a huge party honoring and praising God. This seems kind of silly, like, hey guys, you aren't really even very far yet. Why throw a celebration? Because they had been faithful, because any reason is a good reason to throw a celebration honoring God. It was a milestone on their journey of faith and life and so they were celebrating it and God. I think it's cool. Why do we wait until emotionally powerful occasions to honor God? What's wrong with doing it simply because it is Tuesday, or because there is air to breathe, or because we have a job? God deserves parties for any and every occasion.

Psalm 92 could be a song sung at the celebration in Ezra. The psalmist is celebrating who God is. He says that EVERYTHING God does makes him happy. Really? Are we happy about everything God does? I find myself sometimes frustrated with circumstances that I know God set up. Why do I do that? The psalm goes on to tell how wicked people may prosper momentarily, but they will eventually be pulled up like unwanted grass. Those people that love The Lord will prosper and be strong, they will be healthy and fruitful, even when they are old. We have to be in it for the long haul and the present frustrations should bring us joy, just knowing that God is working! God cares enough to put his hand in this mess that we've made called life and do good things.

Day 253: Don't Worry

1 John 4; Ezra 1-2; Psalm 91

This chapter in 1 John is all about how God is love and our expression of being saved is loving others. First it tells us that "God is love." He is love and he is the ultimate expression of it. His unity with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, that perfect relationship, the service and sacrifice of Jesus, the oneness that the Holy Spirit shares with us--that is the perfect example of what love is. Secondly, we are told that "if we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us." This sounds a lot like the "abide in me" verses back in regular John. Love is how we remain connected with The Lord. It isn't through rituals, long prayers, fasting, giving, though all of those can help--it is through choosing to love and demonstrating devotion and compassion to God and others. Finally, it says that the reason we love is "because God loved us first. But if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see? The commandment that God has give us is: 'Love God and love each other!'" Since there is absolutely nothing God needs, nothing we can do for him, we can show our love for him by acting out love towards others. This is a big challenge because there are a lot of people in our lives that we deem 'unloveable' or 'hard to love.' Imagine God looking at his creation: are we easy to love with all of the ways we have hurt creation, mistreated one another, distort who He is? We are so unloveable at times, but God still saved us through his son's sacrifice. And so because of that, we seek to love those around us, even those who are difficult to love.

Psalm 91 shows that God can be trusted to protect us. When we put our faith in him, we can believe that he will watch over us. This doesn't mean that we won't have trouble in this life, but that we will be saved from things that will destroy our souls because God holds our spirits for eternity. The psalmist writes that we don't "need to worry about dangers at night or arrows during the day." Worrying is a big struggle for a lot of people, as well as myself. We worry about our future, about our families, about what people think of us; but this passage reminds us that because of God, because of his promise to never leave us, because if we have faith in him and his son we are saved, we don't need to worry about the things of this world. The worst that can happen is that our physical bodies die. And I know that seems like a crazy stupid thought; but we are going to die eventually, and all that means is that we get to start our eternity in heaven with The Lord sooner. This life that we are living now can be painful and depressing, why would we want to prolong it or hang on to it for more than we have to, when a life of peace and complete joy awaits us? I pray that we can learn to trust God in this life and not worry about the troubles ahead. God's got it. He will rescue us when the time comes.

Day 252: Each Day

1 John 3; 2 Chronicles 36; Psalm 90

1 John seems to have two major themes: if Christ is really in your heart, you will stop sinning, and if Christ is really in your heart, you will love others. The way this works is that if Christ is in a person's heart, then they cannot keep sinning because Jesus did not sin. We will not want to sin, we will choose right. This doesn't mean we are perfect, but it means that sin has zero appeal. The second point, which I think is very powerful is the idea that if Christ is in our hearts, we will love others. The whole second half of chapter 3 is an awesome explanation of living and loving in this world because of Christ. John says that we should not be surprised if the people of this world hate us. That just shows that they do not have Jesus in their hearts and are ruled by the devil. However, it is "our love for each other that proves that we have gone from death to life" through Christ. It is our LOVE. It isn't our baptism that shows we have Christ, it isn't our church attendance, our WWJD bracelet...it is our LOVE that shows we belong to Christ. Are we, as Christians, truly living a life of love? The author states that "we must give our lives for each other" just as Christ gave his life for us. Life has to be more about loving others than loving ourselves. When we love extravagantly, we draw closer to God and prove that we belong to Jesus. And as mentioned in a recent post, love isn't an emotion, it is ACTION.

The people of Judah choose to disobey God despite the examples in the past of both good and poor leaders. God's patience runs out and so he allows Judah to be completely destroyed and the people captured as slaves. What is interesting is that these last few kings and the people of the city who  disobey end up in chains. The idea is that if a person isn't following The Lord, they aren't free, they are bound by their enemies. The same is metaphorically (or even literally) true today. When we don't follow God, we are bound, trapped, chained by whatever it is that wants to hurt us, destroy us--our enemy. In God, there is freedom.

This psalm talks about how short life is and how powerful God is. Our life is but a breath in the span of eternity. The psalmist cries out to The Lord to "teach us to use wisely all the time we have." It's not completely depressing though, because we are to celebrate each moment that we DO have on this earth: "When morning comes, let your love satisfy all our needs. Then we can celebrate and be glad for what time we have left." A healthy dose of humility for how momentary our lives are will help us to make better choices and live not for this life, but for the next.