Time and Time Again! (Nehemiah 2:19)

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”       

THE STUDY:

          Not one brick has been laid. Not one tree has been cut, Not one hour has been completed in the rebuilding of the wall and already the criticism has begun. We read that Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem are mocking and scorning Nehemiah and the people.

          These enemies, especially Sanballat and Tobiah, knew that Nehemiah had credentials from the king. Thus they tried to stop the work by disheartening the people who were building. They used ridicule as their tool. The enemies even accused the Jews of rebellion, which would have brought back memories of the official action against Jerusalem noted in Ezra 4:12.

          When the enemies of God’s work can find no legitimate basis for opposition, they may use ridicule, questioning the significance of our labors. This sometimes does more harm than even questioning one’s credentials or good intentions (which Nehemiah’s enemies also did) because it attacks the very incentive for action. Ridicule is especially hard to endure when the recipients are in the minority. Chrisitians experiencing it should remember what Heb 11:36–39 says about the biblical heroes of faith: “Some faced jeers and flogging.… The world was not worthy of them.… These were all commended for their faith.” Jesus also suffered ridicule and mocking on many occasions (Luke 22:63–64; 23:11), and his followers can expect to face the same kind of opposition.^[1]

         

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away this morning with the understanding that no matter how excited you are, no matter how motivated your team (family, church, co-workers) is to do the work of the Lord, there will always be someone who will be in opposition. How we deal with these individuals is what will be the key to success or failure.

APPLICATION:

I am reminded of my days before Christ. I was Sanballat or Tobiah, ridiculing the believers and challenging their walk with God. I was very hard on one certain individual at my work place. I made fun of him, laughed at him, and even at certain times was angry with him. WHY? One on the major reason for this was due to what he had and what I didn’t have, PEACE! I felt I was fighting to succeed (survive) and he was sailing toward success.

What he had was, what I now realize, the key to it all, CHRIST! Nehemiah was anointed by God and blessed by the authorities of the land and this is what gave him peace. He was not disheartened or discouraged by all the negativism pointed in his direction. He knew this project was going to succeed and God was going to be the key to it all.

Today you may be facing something in your life that can compare to Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the wall. You may have people who are ridiculing and/or trying to discourage you and those on your team. Remember this, with the anointing of Christ, whatever it may be that He has you do, it will be successful. We read it time and time again in the scriptures. We read it time and time again in the newspapers and books. We will read it time and time again in our lives as long as we remain in Him.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

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^[1] Breneman, M. (1993). Vol. 10: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (electronic ed.). The New American Commentary (182–183). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Mercy, Peace, and Love! (Jude 2)

          May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

THE STUDY:

          Jude continues the threefold Scheme by stating mercy, peace, and love. Many translators give the reader a paraphrase of the text. They do so because the literal translation is difficult to comprehend and explain. The exact translation is, “May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you” (NASB).^[1]

          Mercy and peace were part of typical Jewish blessings (see the priestly blessing of Num 6:22–26). Mercy (eleos) denotes God’s kindness toward his covenant people and peace (eirēnē), the resulting well-being. Mercy is rarely found in NT blessings (1 Tim 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2; 2 John 3). Usually, grace appears in its place. But “the meaning is much the same: God’s unmerited favor bestowed on sinners for their salvation.” The prayer-wish of love (agapē) reinforces the Christian character of the blessing. God’s love is a repeated theme in the letter (vv 1, 2, 21).

All three terms indicate what God does for believers. “Mercy is his compassion, peace is his gift of quiet confidence in the work of Jesus, and love is his generosity in granting us his favors and meeting our needs”. These virtues are neither attained nor sustained through self-effort. They are God’s gifts.^[2]

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• What we can walk away with this morning is that mercy, peace, and love is not just an expression that is to be used out of habit but out of compassion, confidence and love. Compassion found in Christ, confidence in the work of Jesus, and love that is extended to us. God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good!

CONCLUSION:

          A Flemish sculptor was extremely poor. He frequently went without food and worked in a clammy studio. It was bitter cold the night he finished his masterpiece. The thoughtful and meticulous artist was concerned lest the firm, fresh clay of his creation should freeze and crack. He had too much of himself in the design to run the risk of its being ruined, so he wrapped it in his warmest coat.

The sculptor died from exposure during the night. His cherished statuette was found unharmed. The warmth of sacrifice had saved it. In some such thoughtful way, beyond our ability to conceive or comprehend, the cross is God’s voluntary cloak of sacrifice draped in mercy over His creation.

          Let today be a day we remember the mercy, peace and love of God for each one of us.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

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^[1] Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 16: New Testament commentary : Exposition of the Epistles of Peter and the Epistle of Jude. New Testament Commentary (368). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

^[2] Powers, D. G. (2010). 1 & 2 Peter/Jude: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary (262). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.

Where Peace is Found! (3 John 15)

Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name.

THE STUDY:

Some of you who use the NIV or the NASB is looking for verse 15 but you cannot find it. These translations combine verse 15 with verse 14. The ESV (the one I use) does not combine these two verses. This is a grace-filled Hebraic benediction: peace be to you. Paul typically combined the Hebraic benediction of peace (shalom) and a modified Greek greeting of “grace” (charis). The author of 3 John, however, refers only to peace.

While this was a standard convention of letter writing of the time, it stands in some tension with the obviously strained relationship between himself and Diotrephes. Perhaps John offers the word as not only a customary social exchange, but as something more—a prayer for reconciliation among the churches. Perhaps, peace was forever cemented into Christian vocabulary by its use by the risen Christ (John 20:19, 21, 26). John must have prayed it would have a calming effect in his churches.

This short letter depicts John as an outsider, facing opposition from other Christians. Still, he has the authority of his personal standing among the churches and seeks to exercise it. That 3 John became a part of the NT suggests that John’s understanding of Christianity in the region prevailed as the orthodox view.^[1]

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away this morning with the understanding that one who holds true to the teachings of Christ will face adversity and strife. They also will receive grace and PEACE.

CONCLUSION:

  Only eight percent of the time since the beginning of recorded history has the world been entirely at peace. In over 3,100 years, only 286 have been warless and 8,000 treaties have been broken in this time. Isaiah 48:22 reads, There is no peace, says the Lord, unto the wicked.

My prayer for you today is to have peace in your heart: A peace that exceeds all understanding. This peace will not be found in the world. It is a peace that can only be found in God! I pray that through these devotionals you have found that peace.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

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^[1] Williamson, R. (2010). 1, 2, & 3 John: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary (219). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.

Be the Truth! (2 John 1-3)

The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, 2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

THE STUDY:

          In these three verses the word TRUTH is found 4 times! As I have mentioned before, one of the keys to studying God’s word is looking at repeated words in a certain passage. This morning we want to look at the word truth.

          The concept of “truth” (alētheia) appears more than two dozen times in the Gospel of John, twice as many as in the Synoptic Gospels combined. Truth is the most frequent key word in the letters.

In the Gospel of John truth can refer to content to be believed—“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (8:31–32; see vv 40–46). God’s “word is truth” (17:17).

But truth also assumes living in right relationship with “the only true God” (17:3). Jesus is truth incarnate as God’s revelation, and the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth” (14:17; 15:26; 16:13). The individual who receives God’s truth “lives by” it (3:21), worships “in spirit and truth,” and is sanctified by the truth (17:17).^[1]

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away this morning with the understanding that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Trinity) is TRUTH. John states that his love, as well as others, is found in truth. This truth abides (remains) in them which is brought about by divine grace, mercy and peace.

CONCLUSION:

          Truth is the means by which Christians love one another (v 1). It also refers to content one knows. The truth is personified—it lives in Christians. Characteristics of God, grace, mercy and peace, are with us in truth (v 3). Also, truth is relational and progressive, something we can “walk” in (v 4).^[2]

          Let today be a day that truth is lived out by us as believers. Let people see that which lives inside us as we walk this pathway called TRUTH!

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

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^[1] Williamson, R. (2010). 1, 2, & 3 John: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary (68). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.

^[2] Williamson, R. (2010). 1, 2, & 3 John: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary (186). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.