Inspire Others. Repent!

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly.

Ezra 10:1

Ezra was innocent before God, but his people were not. As the one who was to teach them the law and help them return to living in accordance with God's Word after their 70 year exile in Babylon, Ezra felt the weight of their sin on his own shoulders. And so he began to repent of and mourn over the people's sin publicly before God. His heartfelt and sincere repentance quickly had an effect on the others and they began to repent in earnest too. 

The point? Your sincere repentance over sin can lead others to repentance too. In fact, setting the example out front of those you lead will very often yield better results than driving them from behind with a whip. So too exemplifying true repentance before others is often a quicker road to bring them to repentance than confronting them with their sin would be. 

I have seen this over and over again in worship services. I've sat in countless services where no one came forward after the sermon to repent or pray, and I have sat in quite a few services in which two or more came forward. But, I would estimate that there have been fewer services in which only a single person came forward. Why is that? Because the brave vulnerability of the one often inspires others to follow suit. If a single person comes forward to repent, the likelihood of others coming increases greatly. 

So, put this into practice in your own life. In a world that makes light of sin, make much of yours instead. If you know someone who needs to repent, don't accuse and attack them. Try genuinely repenting of your sin in front of them instead and see if they won't follow suit.

Praise God No Matter What!

All creatures look to you

    to give them their food at the proper time.

When you give it to them,

    they gather it up;

when you open your hand,

    they are satisfied with good things.

When you hide your face,

    they are terrified;

when you take away their breath,

    they die and return to the dust.

When you send your Spirit,

    they are created,

    and you renew the face of the ground.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

                                      Psalm 104:27-31a

God is worthy of praise. This is true even when He isn't blessing you. God gives life, and He takes it away. In both these ways He shows power and His glory and therefore both reveal that He deserves praise. God provides for all creatures everywhere and sometimes He hides His face allowing them to go without. In both these ways He shows that He is the Great Provider and that we have nothing that does not come from Him.

As many psalms do, Psalm 104 makes this point in more than one way. Consider, for example, this psalm's recurring theme of water. In verses 6-8 it calls to the readers mind how God used water to flood the earth in judgment. Not even the tallest mountain was left uncovered. Yet just a few verses later it details many of the ways God blesses His people and creation using...water. So not only do blessings and curses both come from God, but He can also use the very same thing to bless or curse. Often whether it is counted a blessing or a curse depends on quantity. Too much or too little may bring hardship whereas the right amount is a blessing. 

This means that your biggest blessings can become curses. Conversely, in time your worst trials may prove to have an element of blessing in them. So, if some terribly destructive event is carving deep ravines through your life right now, remember that those same ravines may one day be used to deliver God's blessings right where they are needed most. Verses 10-12 give us this image as springs of life-giving water flow through the ravines that were likely carved by the flood to nourish the earth and animals. So, remember this, it doesn't matter if you are in a season of blessing or judgment, plenty or hardship God is still worth praising! Though it is difficult and counter intuitive, we can look back on God's judgment and offer up praise just as much as we can look back on His blessing and do the same. Both reveal who He is. Both reveal He deserves praise.

Matthias Waited (W.o.W. Rewind)

And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Acts 1:24-26

Have you ever been passed over for something that was then given to someone who didn't deserve it? Maybe it was a promotion at work that went to the kiss-up. Or perhaps your crush chose someone else over you, someone who just wasn't good for them. Whatever it was, I bet you've felt this way at least once. And if you are anything like me then you probably whined and complained and raged about the unfairness of it all. Well, the next time you feel this way, think about Matthias.

Scripture tells us that Matthias had been with Jesus and the twelve disciples from the very beginning, "from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us” (Acts 1:22). But in spite of that Jesus didn't choose Matthias to be one of the twelve. From all that we know, Matthias was a faithful follower with a good reputation who had followed Jesus for three and a half years right alongside the other disciples, yet he had been passed over...for Judas. 

I wonder if Matthias ever felt overlooked? Did he ever think Jesus had made a mistake not choosing him? We know that Judas not only betrayed Jesus in the end but that he also embezzled money from the ministry along the way (John 12:4-6). Did Matthias ever question Judas'  place among the twelve? If he did, Scripture doesn't mention it. In fact, this is the only passage in all of Scripture that mentions Matthias at all. He is never mentioned before or after his selection to replace Judas. So why does it matter?

Consider what Jesus said to the twelve disciples (including Judas) in Matthew 19:28: "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Jesus said this before Judas was revealed as a traitor. At the time, Matthias could not have known that this saying would one day apply to him. He was overlooked on earth from a human perspective, but he was not unnoticed. Although he may have felt unappreciated for years, God had a special place reserved for him in eternity. On earth, Matthias wasn't chosen for a center stage role. He was called to work behind the scenes, to humble himself and faithfully follow the Lord while he waited for God to lift him up. He trusted that God saw his good deeds and that God would reward him in due time. And God did! 

So don't be discouraged if you feel underutilized or passed over or forgotten by God. He has a part for you to play and your reward is secure. Don't waste your time coveting someone else's role. If you will be zealously faithful in doing what God has called you to do, you can be confident that even if you feel passed over in this world you will not go unnoticed in heaven.

Death or Fire

“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the Lord Almighty. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones. In the whole land,” declares the Lord, "two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

Zechariah 13:7-9

When God pours out His wrath, we only have two options. The first we find in verse 8. Two-thirds of the people "will be struck down and perish." A majority are destined for destruction due to their sin. Jesus put it this way.

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)

The other third, you might think, are saved and blessed, but not in Zechariah. In Zechariah the remaining third are "put into the fire" to be refined and tested. 

It seems kind of depressing at first. My choices are death or fire. But then you look at the reward of those who go through the fire. What is their end? Even though they had to endure the fire, it's worth it because they are refined and purified. The fire transforms them for the better into a rare and precious commodity. What's more, they get God! Having been refined they dwell in close relationship with Him.

In Matthew 26:31 Jesus says that Zechariah 13:7 was talking about Him and His disciples. I think these next two verses continue to apply to Jesus' disciples as well. Even if you don't think these verses were written for New Testament believers, they do give us a compelling image of what the believer should expect in this life. We are the minority who have escaped God's wrath by the atonement of Jesus, but we should not expect to escape the fire. Our lives will be difficult in this life not only because of our enemy but also because God is working to refine and purify us. He is preparing us for close relationship with Him in Heaven.  

So don't be surprised when you go through the fire. Instead "[fix your] eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Focus on Heaven and bear your cross with joy.

For further reading...

• 1 Peter 1:6-7- "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
• James 1:2-4- "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
• Isaiah 48:10- "See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."

When God Hides

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

Luke 24:13-16

There are times in our spiritual lives when God seems to hide either His plans or His presence from us. There are times when, from an earthly perspective, it’s all too easy to feel as though God is way up there somewhere in Heaven and we are way down here alone on earth. Times when it isn’t at all clear what God is up to or that He’s even paying attention to what’s going on down here. 

These two disciples are experiencing one of these times as they walk toward Emmaus. It’s not clear to them what God is up to. They felt sure that Jesus was the Messiah, but then He was crucified. Now three days later, they've heard stories of an empty tomb and of angels appearing to some of the female disciples; so they don’t know what to believe. And as they walk away from Jerusalem dejected and confused, I am tempted to think that their fledgling faith was in danger of being lost forever.

Whether my hunch is right or not, Jesus saw fit to chase them down. But if He was concerned enough to pursue them, why did He keep them from recognizing Him? Why not appear to them plainly like He did to Doubting Thomas in John 20 and show them the nail marks in His hands and prove the resurrection? Consider what Jesus said to Thomas in verse 29 of that same chapter. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus pronounces a blessing on those who have believed already without having seen Him. Jesus wants them to believe without seeing. Why?

There’s a saying that goes “Seeing is believing,” but that isn't right. Seeing isn’t believing. Seeing leads to knowledge, not to faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 puts it this way, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” Or as someone has said, “If we could see the whole picture, we wouldn’t need faith.” 

So, Jesus could have easily proven to them that He had risen. What He wants to do is to grow their faith. In order to do that, He closed their physical eyes so that He could open their spiritual eyes to see the truth of who He is by giving them patient and thorough instruction about who He is and what He had to do from the Scriptures. He wanted them to believe the truth, not just know it. 

Sometimes God does the same with us. Sometimes He hides His plan from us, so we have to search the Scriptures and grow in our understanding of them. Sometimes He even hides His presence from us, so we can learn to walk by faith and not by sight. Our physical senses can get in the way of our faith. Where there is knowledge and certainty there is no need for faith. So sometimes God doesn’t give you the certainty that you desire in order to develop in you the faith that He desires. But just like He did with these two disciples, He will always give enough to keep going. It may not be all you wanted, but whether it be by His Word or by a faithful Christian friend, He will give what you need to believe and persevere.