Restoration

“But they were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: ‘I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?’ Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.” Neh 6:2-4

Faulty foundations in life are painful to have torn down. Christ is the foundation upon which we are to build our lives. But if we do not build our lives on Christ and His words, we are setting ourselves up for disaster. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matt 7:24-27

Wrestling with God

I love the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk’s name itself means “embrace.” It’s three chapters of awesomeness. The subheadings are even better, chronicling which complaint Habakkuk is on, followed by the Lord’s response. Here’s proof that we ‘need to put on a face for God when we talk to Him; we can come as we are and God is perfectly patient and not easily offended.

“How long, O Lord, must I call for help, and you do not listen? I cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ Yet you do not save. Why do you make me look upon injustice, and cause me to look on wickedness?” (Hab 1:1-3). Two questions: how long and why? Habakkuk has been crying to God for help and, apparently, for a long time. Now, he’s fed up. He looks at the injustice around him and asks God, “Where are you?”

Thankful

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 2 Sam 12:7-9

I know, I know. I could have picked a happier verse to drive home the point of gratefulness. I could have picked something more warm and fuzzy like “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Eph 5:19-20. We could all hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Does anyone even know how to spell that word? Did I even spell that word right? Probably not. Well, you get the point.

Cast Down

“‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.’” Ecc 1:2

I wish I could lay before you the entire book of Ecclesiastes, but I can’t. All I can say is its absolutely beautiful. To most of us the above verse is like a rain cloud on a sunny day. Why does the author of Ecclesiastes have to be such a downer? But perhaps our little emo author is on to something. I mean, life isnt all fun and games, is it? “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecc 3:1).

Inevitably in this life you will go through seasons or times where you feel depressed. And in those times Ecclesiastes is just the kind of book you want to read. It gives voice to the sense of apathy and hopelessness that accompanies depression. Have you ever gone to a party when you feel depressed? Everyone else seems so happy, how can they possibly understand how you feel? It’s like they’re in a different world. Its the most isolated feeling in the world; while you are down and dejected, the rest of the world is having a party. And it’s in this moment that you ask yourself, “What’s the point? What’s the point to all of this? We have fun and laugh, and for what?” The author of Ecclesiastes answers that very question. He puts life in perspective and looks at life in light of eternity.

Fear No More

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18

Fear is a paralyzing emotion. One of the most frequent commands in the Bible is do not fear. Why? Because fear holds us back. It holds us back from loving God and abandoning ourselves to Him and it holds us back from loving others. It holds us back from doing what God calls us to do. It is the opposite of trust, the essence of faith. How do you overcome fear in your life? There is only one weapon that fear cannot stand against: love. Love drives out fear. If you want to overcome your fear, you must take up love. There is no other way. Why? Because God himself is love and He will cast out fear, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” 1 John 4:8. Abide in Him who is love. If you give yourself over to love, you will drive out fear from your life and break its hold over you.

Identity Theft

“After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’” Matt 3:16-17

“Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God…” Matt 4:5-6

It’s strange, isn’t it? God affirms Jesus’ identity and immediately after Satan tries to get Jesus to doubt his identity in the wilderness. It’s such a contrast of realities. You have a word, a promise. Then the wilderness. God made his love for Jesus known. Then Satan tries to twist it, “you’re the Son? God loves you? Prove it to me.”

In scripture there is a pattern: revelation before tribulation. A person often receives a crazy revelation or promise and then experiences a strange wilderness. This wilderness seems to fly in the face of all that was previously promised or revealed. Abraham and his barren wife go twenty years waiting for a son. The Israelites experienced freedom from slavery and miraculous demonstrations of God’s power before entering into the wilderness. David starts off with intense military victories and living in the palace then suddenly he is on the run for his life, living just to survive. Joseph has dreams and a promise from God of a bright future before he is sent into slavery and prison.

But these circumstances did not change the reality that was to come. God repeats the above verse (Matt 3:17) to Jesus at the transfiguration right before he endures the cross. “Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!’ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him” (Matt 27:39-41).