Time for a Feast?

This past month I have been working through Kelly Minter's study of Nehemiah:  A Heart That Can Break.  Here's what I got out of this past week's lessons...get ready...it's exciting!

In Nehemiah 8, we read that the people are participating in a Feast of the Trumpets ("a special day for God's people to begin anew and remember the grace God had poured out on their lives," p 106), yet the people are in mourning.  Crying.  A celebration that equates to our New Year's Day.  I cannot ever remember our people crying, mourning throughout this holiday. (No, this is not the exciting part...wait, though, it's coming!)

Why such depths of spirit?  The Israelites now realize how far short they have fallen from where they should have been.  On second thought, yes, maybe this country should be crying on such a holiday.

Back to the Israelites and Ezra and the Levites and Nehemiah, though.  In verses 9-11, they tell the people three times that this is a sacred day and to not grieve, for, as Minter points out, holiness and gloom just do not, cannot, go together.

Then, as I was working through the scriptures in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Nehemiah, it clicked. The Feast of the Trumpets was held on the first day of the seventh month, so I actually read the chart going across the pages of Leviticus, and this holiday's timing equates to the modern Sept/Oct.  Get this...our church's 125th Anniversary is scheduled for October 7.  This is just what we need...a Feast of the Trumpets!  "...a special day for God's people to begin anew and remember the grace God had poured out on their lives."  Yes, absolutely!

Then, as I continued to read,  Kelly Minter stated, "God loves celebration, community, feasting, and lightness of heart." Again, just what our church needs as we are currently between pastors and are working through this process, also.

Nehemiah says in 8:10, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared.  This day is sacred to our Lord.  Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."  What a tremendous theme scripture for our 125th birthday!

I just met with the 125th Anniversary Committee last evening.  Then, as I worked through the study, I felt such a sense of joy, exactly what Minter said would happen.  God is good!

I encourage your committing to such a study.  Oh, the wealth of joy you will receive.

Verse by Verse

Currently, the discipleship training class I lead is studying Anne Graham Lotz's The Magnificent Obsession. So very interesting!

Lotz's bible study time focuses on just a few verses that are analyzed by completing three steps:

1. List the facts in each verse...no paraphrasing. 
2. Learn the lesson from each fact.  This may differ from person to person depending on life's lessons.
3. Listen to what the Lord is telling you in each verse and respond to that in the form of a question.

I have learned so much about Abraham and Lot that I did not ever catch/learn before when reading their narratives and lessons in Genesis.  Abram should not have taken his father nor Lot with him.  Abram failed to pray when confronted with a famine and made some very poor decisions, including giving his wife Sarai to Pharaoh to be a part of his harem.  Horrible!  Bad Abram!  To return to God, Abram had to...literally...return to the spot where he left God.  Lot was selfish.  Very selfish.  To the max.

What a difference this method has made and is making in my comprehension of the facts within the verses and the lessons that the Lord wants me to learn.

One thing that really stood out to me in this week's five-day selections of verse study was the differences between Abram and Lot.  I had never noted before that the Bible makes no note of Lot ever praying.  Quite the contrast to Abram, who builds several altars to the Lord.  Oh, the power of prayer!  And the rewards of of that prayer are wondrous.  Powerful!

May we pray...on this day of loss of so much life in Theater 9?

Lord, we come to you, not ever wanting to be a Lot, who did not turn to you.  Lord, for the families of the victims, may you surround them with a peace and a sense of comfort that only You can give.  Please place the people in their lives, the angels such as the ones you sent to Lot to warn him and his family, may you take care of those families.

Lord, for those injured, please guide the hands of the doctors and nurses and bring them such healing, both physically and mentally.

Lord, for the family and close friends of the shooter, I pray for them comfort also as the endure the anguish that is a result of such a horrific act against humanity.

Lord, for our country, may you forgive the sins our country, for her many misdeeds and her conduct, conduct that so not pleasing to you.  Lord, may you bring healing to our country.

Amen.

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Another way in which I feel God is leading is how I spend my time in the mornings. Currently, I get up check out Facebook, my email, and update my Smurfville, a game I play on the iPad.  What if I spent that time studying His word?  I would not be so far behind in my attempt to read the Bible through in a year!

  

I am also reading Lotz's book by the same name, reading the chapters as we study that focus in discipleship training.  In this week's chapter, Lotz shares how God had her get up early to study and listen.  "...it's better to be sleep deprived than God deprived." (pg. 55)

Right now, I have time the time to read study, but what about when school starts, and class work dominates my time, and I am, oh, so tired in the evenings...what about that?  If I sat my alarm for 5 AM, that would give me an hour to study and listen.  Can I do it?

I really would rather be sleep deprived than God deprived!

Sister to Sister

This past week, Mrs. Dawn and I had our first meeting for our study of Nehemiah.  What a blessing for me!

We met in my home and shared a dinner consisting in part of the enchilada recipe provided within the workbook.  So good!

Then we watched videos and discussed scripture.  This is the first such Bible study in which I have been involved.  This is a learning experience!  Not quite sure I am dong this right!  Then, Mrs. Dawn suggested we study the scripture using the model we are learning on Sunday evenings in Discipleship Training as encouraged by Anne Graham Lotz in her study of The Magnificent Obsession.  Interesting!

Following this, I have been working through the daily sessions in the workbook and am truly appreciating studying God's word verse by verse.  I get in such a hurry to read so much a day...or worse, I get behind in my attempt to read the Bible through in a year, and I read too fast, not comprehending even a fraction of what is embedded within each book, each chapter, each verse.

I praise the Lord for opening my eyes and finding my way to both of these studies...Nehemiah through Kelly Winter's book Nehemiah:  A Heart That Can Break and Abraham through Anne Graham Lotz's The Magnificent Obsession.  An added bonus is the opportunity to get to know all three of these ladies better...authors Kelly and Anne and my friend Dawn as we study together.  Truly empowering...sisters studying together.

Today's Nugget:

In Nehemiah 2:3-15, the phrase "put its doors and bolts and bars in place."  Nehemiah paid very close attention to detail, making sure that the wall would be very secure, doing his best work for his God.  I fail in this area of my life.  I need to check more diligently the doors, bolts, and bars of my life, tightening up here and there, better securing my walk with Him.

For instance, I love to read, and in this love of reading, I do not always censor my selections closely enough, yet the Lord is working in my life in this area as "we" have chosen to not read two series:  1) Fifty Shades of Grey and 2) Diana Gibaldon's Lord John series.

According to this blog post "Fifty Shades of Magic Mike"  (and a follow-up post here) that I came across via link on Facebook, author Melissa Jenna had made the decision to NOT read Fifty Shades of Grey due to God's convicting power.

• UPDATE:  Just came across this link via Facebook to another blogger similar belief on this topic who wrote this post entitled "Magic Mike Who?" 

I have struggled with this choice, even went several times to Amazon.com and placed them in my shopping cart, yet I could not bring myself to purchase them.  Another series that I am choosing not to read is Diana Gibaldon's Lord John series...Lord John is a homosexual and promotes that lifestyle.  I purchased the books before realizing the topic.

Also in watching Kelly Minter's video for week two, she comments on watching movies because "it's just so funny," never-minding what other inappropriate topics might be involved.  Yes, I have given that very explanation myself.  Once when dealing with this, though, she heard the Lord say to her, "Because I went to the cross, then it's not funny."  We should not feed our minds on topics that contradict our Christian walk.

Now, let's just clarify something here:  I am NOT perfect! The Lord "is still working on me to make me what I ought to be."  Every day He works on me!

It's does feel good, though, to make this decision, to decide for spiritual reasons that I will not read these series.  Making such decisions with music also...I listen to more and more gospel music...love KLOVE!

I like to think that God is breaking my heart and putting it together to be more like Him.  You see...that is just the kind of God I serve.  He loves me enough to die on the cross just for me AND then to continually work to make me, to guide me to live more and more in his image.

How are you and God doing today?