Pastor Jesse's Blog
 
Every week, Pastor Jesse will be posting a new blog, so come back weekly and see what he has to say!
 
Answer the Call
Monday, May 5, 2008
 
This week in my read through the Bible I went through Ezra and the first two chapters of Nehemiah. My head is swimming with so many different insights that I want to share but as I step back and look at my notes over the last week there is a common thread through the stories in these books. These two books tell the story of the three different times God brings his people back from captivity to Jerusalem. In case you’re not familiar with the story, because of the people’s rebellion God allowed the Judeans to be exiled in Babylon. Through Jeremiah he told the people it would be for 70 years. Then, as you would guess, exactly 70 years later God stirred the heart of the people and King Cyrus to send the first group of Hebrews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. That group was led by Zerubbabel. Then a few years later under the rule of King Artaxerxes God again stirred the heart of the king and of Ezra to return to Jerusalem to restore the people spiritually. Then again just a few years later, still under the rule of Artaxerxes, God stirred Nehemiah’s heart to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls around the city.

All three cases have two aspects that are common. It was God who led the charge by stirring the heart of one of his servants to lead his people back to Jerusalem and in all three cases the servants of God faced tremendous obstacles to seeing the call of God realized. Here are just a few of the obstacles: First: they were living a great distance from Jerusalem, approximately 1,000 miles. By the way, that’s a tremendous distance to travel through hostile territory with donkeys and camels as your moving vans. Second: in all three cases they were traveling with a great amount of valuable objects made of gold and silver through territories known for their pillaging of travelers. Third: there was a great deal of materials needed to build the temple and the wall around the city that they did not possess. Fourth: there was a great amount of opposition from nations living around Jerusalem that did not want to see the Hebrews rebuild the city. Fifth: in all three instances there was also internal opposition from leaders within the Hebrew people. I think for many of us today it takes far less for us to either quit on or question what we feel God is calling us to do.

Yet in all three instances the servants lead the people to answer the call of God and in all three instances God provided what was needed to accomplish his will although it seemed impossible when they began the journey. What’s the point? I have come to a conclusion in my personal walk with God that He is in the business of calling us to do the impossible. He often calls us to things that force us to respond in action yet depend on him for the results. My friends, that is Christianity. I heard this long ago but I believe it is still so very true today; God will never call you to do something without providing the means to accomplish his will. What is God calling you to do today that in your eyes seems impossible? Answer the call! It is in those times that you will experience God the most.
 
posted by jesse at 12:13 PM
 
Priorities
Monday, April 28, 2008
 
I received a phone call from an old college buddy who is very close to my heart this last weekend that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. He and his wife of sometime are having some real difficulties in their marriage and they have begun tossing the old D word around. I can’t stop thinking about the situation. It breaks my heart, makes me frustrated, fills me with compassion, angers me, and the list of emotions goes on and on. I could probably fill a couple of pages of all the things that are going wrong. The list would be full of things like terrible decisions, miscommunications, times of not communicating at all, to sin, heartache, tragedy, fear and on and on and on. There are so many things to fix that not only does it seem hopeless to the participants but if they are going to try to fix it, where in the world do they start? With all that said there is one thing that really is the foundation to all the problems, misplaced priorities. Somewhere along the way for many reasons, some probably intentional and others not, God and the commitment to make him #1 in life has greatly slipped behind other things that seem important but are destroying their lives. Honestly, if they together, and it needs to be both of them, would just recommit themselves to making Christ #1 many of the issues that they are dealing with would be resolved. Of course there are past hurt, pain, and situations that would still need to be worked out but 1) many of the hurtful actions that the participants are dealing with would begin to stop and 2) they would have a solid foundation to start from again. But that is a big “if.”

I want to ask you, is Christ really #1 in your life? What situation or situations in life are you dealing with that are mainly because you have become the priority in your life over Christ? I’m reading through the Old Testament right now and I can not tell you how many times we see a follower of God, who is experiencing the blessings of God, make the mistake of moving around their priorities. For many different reasons they begin to make themselves #1 in their own life and from that point on life begins to fall apart. I will give you one example, King Uzziah. We don’t talk a lot about him but in my devotional time today I read about his reign. He became king when he was only 16. In his early days he followed God in a time when being an evil king was the thing to do. He was an anomaly. Then 2 Chronicles 26:16 says, “But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall.” From that point on his life fell apart. When we hear "pride goes before the fall" we think about people who are arrogant and cocky. That isn’t the only pride that this is talking about. It is also prideful when we begin to take our lives into our own hands putting our wants, dreams, desires, etc. ahead of God. So, again, "pride goes before the fall." When we take the reigns and push God down on the priority list life begins to fall apart. I would urge you right now to self-evaluate. The consequences of you misplaced priorities maybe in the baby stages which if that is true is easier to deal with as opposed to catching it later when we have made such a mess of things it literally takes miracle to put you back again.
 
posted by jesse at 1:09 PM
 
Oh, it is so hard to wait!
Monday, April 14, 2008
 
The story of King David teaches us so much about life and following God. In that one man's life we learn about obedience, God's promises, God given blessings because of obedience, trusting God when the odds are against us, sin and the consequences of sin, repentance and forgiveness, and the the list could go on and on. In David's early years there is definitely one incredible lesson we can learn from him that actually is not talked a lot about. David in his youth was incredibly patient and had an incredible ability to wait on the Lord which most of us have trouble doing at any age.

David was very young when Samuel was led by God to go to Jesse's house in the obscure town of Bethlehem to find the next king of Israel. We don't know for sure how old David was at this point. Josephus, the famous ancient Jewish historian, says that he was 10 years old when he was anointed king. Most modern scholars believe that because of the circumstances involved that 10 is too young of an estimation but even still most scholars would agree that he was between the ages of 12-15. Any way you look at it he was young when he found out that he was going to be the next king of Israel. Think about the things that happened after he found out that he was going to be the next king. He served king Saul as a musician, he defeated Goliath, he's cheered by the crowds for his victory, he befriends Jonathon, he becomes an very successful commander of armies, and because Saul tries to kill him multiple times out of jealousy David has to spend years living on the run. During all these events he knew that he had been anointed the next king. We also know that he didn't become king of Judah until he was thirty and he didn't become the king of the rest of the tribes of Israel until he was 37. Think about that for a second. He had been promised the throne from God yet it was over 20 years before it came to complete fruition.

Do you think there was a moment in which he began to think, “God, when is this king thing going to happen?” Do you think there was a moment in which he was tempted to take that promise into his own hands so that it would happen on his own timing. Of course there was. We know that there were years in which he was living in obscurity outside the land of Israel. There had to be moments in which he questioned if God was ever going to come through on his promise. Yet through all of that time David just obeyed God, went where God led, and didn't try to manufacture God's plans on his own time and in his own way. There were two times that David could have killed Saul and his men encouraged him to do so. It seems from an outside perspective that he had every right to kill him. Not only was he promised to be the next king but Saul was trying to take his life. Yet David trusts God through all these years that God's timing is better than his. In I Samuel 26:10 David says, “surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed.” David knew that it would be a sin for him to kill Saul. So...he trusts God, lives obediently, and waits over 20 years through difficult circumstances for God to deliver His promise. That is patience. But because he waits, God establishes Israel under David as one of the most powerful kingdoms to ever exist on earth.

What promise are you eagerly waiting on the Lord for? We learn from David that waiting obediently for God is much better than taking things into our own hands. Conversely we see people of the Bible continually take God's promises into their own hands and really mess things up. If you want to see one of these stories look at Jacob’s life in Genesis as he continually tries to grab hold of God’s promises for him on his timing and terms. It is often through waiting that God does some of the greatest work in our life.
 
posted by jesse at 10:37 AM
 
Jonathon, Man of God
Monday, April 7, 2008
 
1 Samuel 18-23
In contrast to his father Saul, Jonathon is one of the greatest men of character in all of scripture. He is often referred to in teaching because of his incredible faithfulness in friendship to David but it is a rare sermon heard about his incredible Godliness. From a worldly perspective Jonathon had every right to feel anger and jealousy towards David. Jonathon was the first born son of the king. Jonathon was the rightful heir apparent. Jonathon was an incredible faithful servant not only to Israel but to God himself (take a look at last week's blog, chapter 14). Yet when Saul was rejected by God it was David who received the anointing. It only seems right that if God took the kingdom from Saul because of his disobedience that Saul's son Jonathon, if he was a Godly man and he was, would have the first right to the throne. But that is not what God chose to do. It was David that God powerfully came upon to kill the giant Goliath. It was David that the crowds praised singing “Saul has killed his thousands and David his ten thousands.” It was in description of David that the Bible says “he succeeded in everything he did because the Lord was with him.” It was David, not Jonathon, that God through Samuel anointed as the next chosen king of Israel. Yet despite all of that it was Jonathon who stood up for David to his father. It was Jonathon that told David of Saul's scheme to kill him. It was Jonathon that swore his allegiance to David. And it was Jonathon who took David's side even though it that meant the loss of the kingdom for himself. Jonathon was not only an incredible friend to David he was Godly man of character who even though it meant a loss for him personally did what was right in God's eyes simply because it was right.
What can we learn from the story of Jonathon? First, this is another great reminder from scripture that it’s not about you. It’s not about what you are going to get for doing what is right. It is about God's glory and His plan. Jonathon was a Godly man whose life was about loving others and serving God regardless of how that adversely affected him. Secondly, it is a story that teaches an important Biblical truth that following God and doing what is right does not necessarily mean physical blessings on this earth. Many Christians living in America have an incorrect understanding of scripture believing it teaches that if we obey God our life then will be full of nothing but blessing. It is true that we will be blessed but that doesn't necessarily mean by materialistic pleasures. What did Jonathon receive on earth for obeying God? He gave up the right to be the next king and all the privileges that go along with that and then died in battle because of his father's sin. That doesn't sound like God blessed him for his faithfulness. But again, it's about eternity. I believe that today as Jonathon stands before God in heaven he is being blessed forever because of his Godliness.
As we follow God we need to make decisions based upon what is right not what is in it for us.
 
posted by jesse at 10:29 AM
 
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