Nehemiah Tells Us How to Enjoy A Holy Day.

Whether you believe the Sabbath is on Saturday or Sunday, it is a day considered holy. It should be considered that since God has made it so.

 “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”  Exodus 20:11

 “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”  Genesis 2:3

I was reading Nehemiah, and noticed that Ezra told the people how to act on a holy day. The priest had read the law to all of Israel and the people began to weep because they saw how badly they had been acting. They saw the beauty of God’s laws and were sorry they had not followed it.

“Then Nehemiah…said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

“Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”

Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.”   Nehemiah 8:9-12

I think this is example is very important. Yes, we need to acknowledge our sins, but then rejoice immediately by a feast celebration and go on to do good to others by sharing our food. It would be wonderful if every church did this on Sabbagth; celebrate with a meal and give food to the poor.

Sadness saps our strength, 

Joy strengthens us. 

Choose joy.

God and Our Hearts.

The following verse was written about Jesus.

"And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth..."  Isaiah 11:3,4

Most of us judge a person by what they do and what they say. Some of us think we are great judges of character, but honestly, we're not. We simply don't have enough information.

"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."  1 Samuel 16:7  

God judges by seeing a person's heart. What is their intent? What childhood and background did this person have and how did it affect his actions and thoughts? 

I've written about my grandson, Craig, who died one night after drinking too much. He also had a trace of cocaine in his system. He lay face down on a sofa and smothered. He was 21, and a young man full of emotional pain. 

I have said I believe my grandson was saved by Jesus because in his heart he wanted to live better. He wanted to tell teens at high schools not to go on drugs, even though he was doing them himself. He told his brother he wanted to one day have a wife and kids and he wanted the same for his brother so they could always be close and their children grow up together. He was attracted to what was good.

 At his funeral, we were amazed by how many people he helped in his short life. People came who had been in elementary school with him and told us of how Craig had helped them - with school work and also coping with life.

But there was a dark side to Craig, his pain also made him lash out at people. He did some really bad things. He told me once, "I regret so many things I did."  But the problem was, he kept doing them.

Well, the point of me writing this is that one day this year, I was on a Christian site and a man there took a dislike to me. (How is that possible?) lol  He read my post on Craig and came back to the Christian site and said, "This woman believes drug addicts will be saved!"   

The church I grew up in would probably say that a drug addict would have to change before he could be saved. But since our standing with God is not by our works but by our belief in him, I do believe people who are doing wrong will be saved because as the Scriptures say, God looks on the heart. It is our heart we will take to heaven with us when Jesus comes. If our heart loves what is good, (even if we can't do it) we will be very happy in heaven where all is good and beautiful. 

My grandson had a friend who wore spikes around his neck and arms and was pierced on his face. He wore black all the time and I guess some people would be afraid of him. But he was one of Craig's nicest friends. His father was a Hell's Angel and had beaten him all his childhood. All of Craig's friends either had no fathers or mean ones. When you see a young person who looks scary, remember that God sees his childhood and his heart. 

Let's not judge people by what they do, what they look like or what they say. Let's leave all judging to God. Only he is wise enough to judge a human heart.

Small Beginnings in the Mighty Hands of God.

Photo by, Boby Dimitrov

Once, Jesus was a small, little, wee baby. Yet he was God. Mary and Joseph were small people in a big world of famous Romans, Greeks and Jews. Kings would have looked on them as insignificant. Beneath their notice. But they held the Saviour of the world in their hands.

Jesus' ministry started out small. Two followers of John the Baptist turned to Jesus and asked him where he lived. "Come and see," said Jesus. This was the beginning of a church that would go around the whole world even until this day.

When Ezekiel was in a vision he saw something that was a parable of the growth of Christianity:

The man (God) brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.

As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross."

After this, the man (God) showed Ezekiel the result of this living water. Some of these same words are used to describe the city of God in heaven.

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”

Ezekiel 47:1-11

Jesus said our growth as Christians would be small at first, like a shoot coming out of the ground.

He said, "First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens.  Mark4:28

Water flowing, leaves growing, yeast rising, such are the small steady ways of God. Until a trickle becomes a mighty river and a leaf becomes a tall tree and a lump of dough becomes a loaf of bread.

In this way, we are to become like Jesus. We cannot see ourselves growing; (the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. Mark 4:27) but if we give our lives to him every day, we are growing.

"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ."   Ephesians 4:15   

Do You Know Who You Really Are?

Photo by: Runner1928

I remember being at church one Sabbath and everyone was singing, "I Will Not Be Shaken." The chorus repeats those words quite a few times, "I will not be shaken."  I stopped singing, turned to my mother and said, "On the other hand, who knows what I'll do?"

I had finally learned I didn't know myself. That day, I really had no idea if I would continue to live to honor God or not. I had fallen too many times to be confident.

Peter didn't know himself. He said to Jesus, "Even if I have to die with you; I will never disown you." Mark 14:31  He did disown Jesus. Three times.

I also remember a time at a camp-meeting when a pastor said, "Everyone rise who will promise to keep the Sabbath day holy." It looked like everyone in the whole auditorium stood up. I didn't rise, and neither did my mom. We had both found out the hard way our promises to God meant nothing.

I guess, no, I know, this is a good thing. When a Christian realizes what an idiot she can be, it's always a good thing. Pride kind of falls to the ground. Not that it won't try to crawl up again, but at least it has been badly beaten up.

My husband told me when he became a Christian, he thought he would never sin again. Then he grabbed some guy by the throat because of something. As he was choking him, he felt God calm him down. He said he took his hands away, patted the guy on the chest and said he was sorry. He said, "From that moment on, I knew I wasn't going to be perfect."

This is something many Christians find out to their disappointment. And the longer you live, the more the Holy Spirit will reveal things to you. But like Joyce Meyer, I am now glad when God shows me my shortcomings and sins. I know he is doing it for my good. I want to do and say the right things and God knows that about me. So I pray about what he has shown me and ask him to help. He always does and I feel no condemnation.