Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself...

I cannot even begin to imagine why the book of Nehemiah doesn't end on a high note with chapter 12.  The Jewish people totally rallied, repented, and recommitted themselves to God.  They joyfully dedicated the Wall to the Lord.  They had been redeemed and recognized how good and faithful God had been.

So what changes in chapter 13?  What's the difference?  How can these people who had been in great distress, spending hours in confession of their sins and then joyfully offering praises to God now be committing the same sins they had recently confessed and repented of, even making a binding agreement to God?

But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king.

Nehemiah 13:6

Nehemiah was a brilliant and passionate leader.  He was more than ordinary.  He was faithful in prayer and fasting.  He knew when to ask for help and when to assign specific tasks.  He wasn't afraid to intercede for others and ask God for help and wisdom.  He was selfless and caring, and was a good and godly leader.  Nehemiah was wise when responding to his enemies, and was determined in the midst of public threat and intimidation.  He was bold, and without demanding it, he had earned a great deal of respect from those living in and around Jerusalem.  And people followed his lead.

But he was out of town.  And as the saying goes, "when the cat's away, the mice will play..."

This is not the only reference to this kind of behavior recorded in the Bible.  You might recall a similar incident in the book of Exodus when Moses is having a little one-on-one time with the Lord whilst receiving the Ten Commandments, only to return from the mountain top to find his people worshipping a golden calf...

Why is this?

My take-away: Too often we depend on our leaders to take care of our spiritual lives.  We want our pastors to preach the right message on Sunday morning so that we can "make it through" the week.  But we may or may not pick up our Bibles Monday through Saturday for our own personal study.  And if our pastor is gone, we might skip church too.  We don't own our spiritual growth.

But that's not the deal.  I cannot depend on anyone else to keep me accountable to my God.  I have to take responsibility for my actions and my thoughts.  I need to invest in my own relationship with God.  I have to be in His Word - knowing and understanding what it says.  I need to seek God and what He wants not only from me, but for me as well.  I can't rely on a pastor or Bible Study leader or a friend or my husband to be responsible for me - because if they are the only reason I serve God, then when they are gone, or not looking, or fail - I probably won't continue serving Him.  Why would I?  I'm not grounded in my relationship.  It was more of a show for my amazing leader.  I was not personally invested.

But in the end, if that is the way I live - living life to impress people and not actually living my life for God - then I am only hurting myself and God.  And I will go on serving myself...

For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:21

Nehemiah gets all kinds of real in chapter 13, doesn't it?  It is when we have to check ourselves.  Who am I serving and why?  It's not too late to confess, repent, and ask for forgiveness.  You can still recommit your life to God and be your own passionate leader!

                                                This morning I am joining other women as we reflect on Nehemiah 13 at She Reads Truth.

A Letter to My Sisters

"we weren't sisters by birth, but we knew from the start...fate brought us together to be sisters by heart"

For the first time in my life, I have the most amazing group of friends!  We not only adore one another and can spend hours laughing and chatting, our friendship is grounded in Christ, and is therefore deep and unique.  I do not take these ladies for granted.  There are days where they are my lifeline, and I have learned that I rely on these women in ways that I never have before.  Please don't misunderstand, my husband and children are my number ones, but these women are no longer friends...they are my sisters.

And then I ran across this little treasure:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe...They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

Acts 2:42-43; 46-47

This is what Jesus' Church looked like at the beginning!  People devoted to learning and fellowship; eating, both meals and Communion; and praying.  And all of this was done with glad and sincere hearts that were busy praising God instead of grumbling and fighting.  They worked together for the good of all, selling their stuff and giving to anyone who "had need."  This fellowship of oneness and sharing enjoyed in the early church are fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, with joy being the mood of the believer.  The church has changed over the last 2000 years - we no longer enjoy "the favor of all the people."  But it is refreshing to know that my Church community - my girls - embrace much of these traits and characteristics.

This is a letter that I wrote last weekend in the midst of my 102 degree fever that accompanied my Strep throat event.  As I was texting a friend to see if she could pick up my oldest from school, I realized that this was not the first time I have called on my friends over the past nine months, and although I know I have expressed my gratitude, I wanted them to know just how amazing I think they are and how much I love them.  And, because I believe you can never say thank you too many times!

Here's my sappy letter...and yes...I am a crier.  I can get teary over just about anything!  A blessing and a curse I think!

Dear Friends-

Looking back over the past 9 months, life has thrown a few curves at me.  Some were not unexpected and some came out of nowhere.  But all seemed to send me to my knees.  Between sickness (my own and that of others), surgery, death, and family stuff, I have been humbled in ways that I have never been humbled before.  I was in that cave the Brain talked about last year.  It was dark and lonely.  And it seemed that with every strike, it got darker and lonelier.  But, when I looked up, there you all were, my Sisters in Christ, standing beside me, united, linking arms and holding me up, with your torches, bringing in the light!  You stepped in when I didn’t even know I needed you and when I was so desperate that I didn’t know what else to do.  I love you all deeply and dearly and I am eternally grateful for you.  You have each shown me what a godly woman represents.  Because you all know me, you know I am teary as I reflect on what a blessing you all are to me.  Thank you for your love, support, and encouragement, as well as your willingness to challenge me and get me out of my cave and back into the world!  I can only hope that I am half the friend to you as you have been to me.

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget."

I love you!!!

Lisa

Run to the Trumpet

In Nehemiah, the Israelites are busy rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.  But, there are threats from the enemy that scare them.  Nehemhiah says:

“Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.  But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.” – Nehemiah 4:17-18

The trumpet is important:

“The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!” – Nehemiah 4:19-20

Ladies, know this.  We still need to sound the trumpet.  And when you hear the trumpet calling, run to it!  Join your sisters in prayer, interceding for those who are under attack.

In Kelly Minter's study on Nehemiah she says this in regards to Intercessory Prayer:

"...this is not only our responsibility, but also our exquisite honor...it builds community as it divinely attaches you to those for whom you are praying."

You see, once you open your heart and allow yourself to see the hurt around you, you will hurt too.  You will get dirty in the trenches.  It will be dark in the cave.  You will be hit by the shrapnel from those you love.  But you will also grow in ways you never even knew you could grow.  You will grow closer to God as you rely on Him and His provision, and your relationships will go deeper than you could ever imagine.  Once you stop viewing intercessory prayer as an obligation and start understanding that it is an "exquisite honor," you will begin to see the beauty that is hidden in the gift of standing in the gap and lifting up those who are no longer strong enough to lift themselves up.  

One of my favorite images of standing in the gap is found in Exodus when Joshua is fighting the army of Amalek.  As long as Moses kept his arms raised, Joshua was winning, but if Moses put his arms down, the Israelites would begin to lose.  Inevitably, Moses' arms grew tired.  And this is what we see...

Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. - Exodus 17:12

Who do you know that needs you?  Open your eyes and your heart to someone who is hurting.  Become vulnerable, because when you are weak, then He is able to make you strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)!

I can't find an image that captures this vision that my sweet friend Amy was given when we were interceding for our sweet Natalie, a four year old fighter who is battling her second bout with brain cancer and another friend of ours who had a breast cancer scare.  God showed her our amazing group of friends, all linking arms, with arrows being shot directly at us.  Each arrow had a word on it, specific for the woman it was aiming for.  Words like "CANCER", "DEPRESSION", "UNWORTHY", "WEAK", "SICKNESS".  Each arrow was a direct attack from the enemy, and was something that we were battling.  But as the arrow got closer to the one it was intended for, the group tightened its grip.  One woman's head would drop in weakness and fear as her arrow got closer, but the group around her grew stronger and more empowered.  And the arrow, instead of penetrating its target, would bounce right off of her!  It's such an amazing vision and I am looking for a real artist to capture this vision for us.

See, there is beauty in the muck and yuck of hurt and pain.  It's the beauty of love, real love.

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” – Matthew 18:20

I will be praying for you that you will find at least one other woman to pray with.  There is not only power in prayer, but power in joining someone in prayer.

Together we will ask, seek, and knock.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6: 33