(This entry is completely inspired by the New Year 2009 message given by the Senior Pastor of Philadelphia Church Villivakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)
The Background
Because the people of Israel continued in sin, God sent them out in 2 exiles from the Promised Land ; Israel and Judah. The former conquered by and deported to Assyria around 721 BC and the latter by Babylon around 586 BC. Babylon was much gentler, in a way that they deported the people in 3 groups at three different times, approximately about 606 BC, 597 BC and 587 BC. By this time Judah was virtually empty and temple totally destroyed.
Under the leadership of dynamic Nehemiah, the construction of the entire city wall was completed within 52 days in spite of severe opposition and interferences. Since the people were gripped with the fear of attack they preferred to live outside the cities, so the next task for Nehemiah was to gather the children of Israel to live in the now fortified cities.
At the Feast of the Tabernacle Ezra reads the law publicly from his wooden pulpit from the daybreak till noon.
With this much of background information we can now proceed further to understand the specific counsel God wants to give His children for the new year.
"Then [Ezra] told them,...And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold." -Nehemiah 8:10
We want 2009 to be easy, comfortable and packed with pleasant surprises. We want it to be happy and successful. Since our God does not raise spoilt children, he gives us victory only if we labor and work.To work through hardships, exhaustion, hard taskmasters and high levels of perfection; and for this we need strength; tremendous strength and energy.
And from where are we going to get this energy??
A joyful heart can produce a lot of strength to enable us to finish the tasks set before us,but ordinary joy is short lived and based on circumstances.That is why God gives us a share of His own joy. For that to occur, He expects us to satisfy the yearning of His heart so that He could channel His joy in our life,and let loose the fountain of everlasting energy to empower and enable us throughout the year.
"The governor ruled that they could not eat from the holy food until a priest could determine their status" - Nehemiah 7:65(The Message Bible)
But the exile ended and there were 3 returns to match with the 3 deportations during 537 BC (50,000 people under the leadership of Zerubbabel), 458 BC (1800 people under the leadership of Ezra a priest). Around 444 BC Nehemiah returned with a few craftsmen.His chief concern was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem which had been destroyed, without which the city was vulnerable to attack.
Under the leadership of dynamic Nehemiah, the construction of the entire city wall was completed within 52 days in spite of severe opposition and interferences. Since the people were gripped with the fear of attack they preferred to live outside the cities, so the next task for Nehemiah was to gather the children of Israel to live in the now fortified cities."When the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities. - Nehemiah 8:1"
At the Feast of the Tabernacle Ezra reads the law publicly from his wooden pulpit from the daybreak till noon.
With this much of background information we can now proceed further to understand the specific counsel God wants to give His children for the new year.
"Then [Ezra] told them,...And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold." -Nehemiah 8:10
When God is happy we are Happy
We want 2009 to be easy, comfortable and packed with pleasant surprises. We want it to be happy and successful. Since our God does not raise spoilt children, he gives us victory only if we labor and work.To work through hardships, exhaustion, hard taskmasters and high levels of perfection; and for this we need strength; tremendous strength and energy.
And from where are we going to get this energy??
A joyful heart can produce a lot of strength to enable us to finish the tasks set before us,but ordinary joy is short lived and based on circumstances.That is why God gives us a share of His own joy. For that to occur, He expects us to satisfy the yearning of His heart so that He could channel His joy in our life,and let loose the fountain of everlasting energy to empower and enable us throughout the year.
- 1) We have to participate in His holiness.
"The governor ruled that they could not eat from the holy food until a priest could determine their status" - Nehemiah 7:65(The Message Bible)We cannot partake in a communion with God, in a thriving fellowship with the Most Holy God without holiness. We need to constantly evaluate ourselves with Jesus Christ as our High Priest to check if we fulfill the standards of God.
God longs for the holiness gene to be seen in His children. It is my personal conviction that Christians are devoid of power and success today because we fail to meet the standards of Holiness that God wants us to keep.
God longs for the holiness gene to be seen in His children. It is my personal conviction that Christians are devoid of power and success today because we fail to meet the standards of Holiness that God wants us to keep.
- 2) We need to be eager to seek His will in all our decisions.
The breastplate of the garment of the priesthood held the mysterious stones called the Urim and the Thummim.These transliterated Hebrew words mean "Lights" and "Perfection". Together their names mean "perfect knowledge". These stones were meant to assure the priest that God would reveal His true judgment to him. Hence the Urim and Thumim is a sign that the priest can confidently expect the Lord to resolve the issue.
We all need to make important decisions this year in our different ventures. God is happy when we wait in His presence to receive His counsel. When we completely depend on God's strategy to bring us success; God is glorified.He is happy and rewards us more than our efforts in all our endeavors.
"And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground."- Nehemiah 8:6(NKJV)
How many times have we 'brushed' our way through worship? Do we consciously enjoy and surrender yourself every moment that we spend in worship? Does our worship depend on the style of music and the worship leader or does it depend on a heart overflowing with gratitude? How many times have we just carelessly used the profound "Hallelujah"? True worship is not dependent on any person or the musical arrangements, it is birthed out of a continuous connection to the heart of God.
Worship is not an act that lasts for 45 minutes every Sunday morning rather it is a lifestyle. A lifestyle that honors God and brings pleasure to His heart.
We all have mental blocks in our life. These things stop us from achieving our true potential. God's Word teaches us more than just the obvious. He who has ears let Him hear. It is not just a Book of Law but a manual that can be used to maneuver our life. However few of us have learnt how to use this Book for more than just a 15 minutes skimming in the morning. Not just reading the Word, but understanding and consuming the Word helps us break our mental blocks and pushes us forward.
(I don't know the source of this)
- 3) We should worship Him in spirit and truth.(John 4:24)
"And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground."- Nehemiah 8:6(NKJV)How many times have we 'brushed' our way through worship? Do we consciously enjoy and surrender yourself every moment that we spend in worship? Does our worship depend on the style of music and the worship leader or does it depend on a heart overflowing with gratitude? How many times have we just carelessly used the profound "Hallelujah"? True worship is not dependent on any person or the musical arrangements, it is birthed out of a continuous connection to the heart of God.
Worship is not an act that lasts for 45 minutes every Sunday morning rather it is a lifestyle. A lifestyle that honors God and brings pleasure to His heart.
- 4) We must be attentive to His voice that can be heard in His Word.
We all have mental blocks in our life. These things stop us from achieving our true potential. God's Word teaches us more than just the obvious. He who has ears let Him hear. It is not just a Book of Law but a manual that can be used to maneuver our life. However few of us have learnt how to use this Book for more than just a 15 minutes skimming in the morning. Not just reading the Word, but understanding and consuming the Word helps us break our mental blocks and pushes us forward.
(I don't know the source of this)
God's word
"And I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.” -Nehemiah 7:3
Gates were critical to the defense of an ancient city. The gates of a city normally opened at sunrise, but Nehemiah ordered Jerusalem's gates to be closed until the sun was high.This extra precaution would have discouraged the enemies from mounting a surprise attack at sunrise.
Nehemiah also ordered the citizens of Jerusalem to organize a civil defense, with people taking turns standing guard at night outside their own homes. This was a clever strategy indeed as people would have been more alert to guard their own homes instead of guarding a general part of the city.
Though God watches over us, He expects us to be responsible children so that we can protect ourselves. People would complain less about fractured families and dysfunctional homes if only the family as a whole would participate in protecting themselves.Family prayer, Family devotions, accepting each others' mistakes; all go a long way in helping achieve this. If a consistent family prayer operative is powerful in a house, no deception, no evil scheme can prevail over them.
A family that stays together and prays together delights God greatly and His rewards to every member of such a family is overwhelming.
"Also day by day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast for seven days; the eighth day was a [closing] solemn assembly, according to the ordinance." - Nehemiah 8:18(Amplified Bible)
The feast of the tabernacle is a representation of the believer's tabernacle state in the world. True Christianity will render us strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
It is important to be successful so that we can be contagious Christians. Happiness and success helps us to reach out to others effectively. If a successful entrepreneur speaks about the Jesus, people will listen. If a successful student calls Jesus his best friend, many will want to know more. If a successful manager speaks out his faith, then a great harvest can be reaped in the workplace. If an effective teacher manifests Jesus in his counseling, many troubled young people would be on the right track.
When we seek success not just to make our life more comfortable instead we passionately labor for success so that we can transform our environment into mission fields; God's heart overflows with joy and rewards us hundred times more than what we can ever imagine.
To make our Master happy we need to live a life that considers all the wealth and fame earned on earth trivial compared to the enormous glory kept in store for eternity.
References:
Nelson's Study Bible
Unlocking Bible Omnibus - David Pawson
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary of the Bible
Ilumina Bible study tools.
The Amplified Bible
New King James Bible
The Message Bible
- Determines our thinking.
- Thinking determines our emotion.
- Emotions determine our decisions.
- Decisions defines our action.
- Action determines our habit.
- Habits determine our character.
- Character determines our success.
- 5) We must take steps to protect ourselves
"And I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.” -Nehemiah 7:3Gates were critical to the defense of an ancient city. The gates of a city normally opened at sunrise, but Nehemiah ordered Jerusalem's gates to be closed until the sun was high.This extra precaution would have discouraged the enemies from mounting a surprise attack at sunrise.
Nehemiah also ordered the citizens of Jerusalem to organize a civil defense, with people taking turns standing guard at night outside their own homes. This was a clever strategy indeed as people would have been more alert to guard their own homes instead of guarding a general part of the city.
Though God watches over us, He expects us to be responsible children so that we can protect ourselves. People would complain less about fractured families and dysfunctional homes if only the family as a whole would participate in protecting themselves.Family prayer, Family devotions, accepting each others' mistakes; all go a long way in helping achieve this. If a consistent family prayer operative is powerful in a house, no deception, no evil scheme can prevail over them.
A family that stays together and prays together delights God greatly and His rewards to every member of such a family is overwhelming.
- 6) We need to realize every moment that our life on earth is transitory in nature.
"Also day by day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast for seven days; the eighth day was a [closing] solemn assembly, according to the ordinance." - Nehemiah 8:18(Amplified Bible)The feast of the tabernacle is a representation of the believer's tabernacle state in the world. True Christianity will render us strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
It is important to be successful so that we can be contagious Christians. Happiness and success helps us to reach out to others effectively. If a successful entrepreneur speaks about the Jesus, people will listen. If a successful student calls Jesus his best friend, many will want to know more. If a successful manager speaks out his faith, then a great harvest can be reaped in the workplace. If an effective teacher manifests Jesus in his counseling, many troubled young people would be on the right track.
When we seek success not just to make our life more comfortable instead we passionately labor for success so that we can transform our environment into mission fields; God's heart overflows with joy and rewards us hundred times more than what we can ever imagine.
To make our Master happy we need to live a life that considers all the wealth and fame earned on earth trivial compared to the enormous glory kept in store for eternity.
Wishing you a Happy and Prosperous 2009!!
References:
Nelson's Study Bible
Unlocking Bible Omnibus - David Pawson
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary of the Bible
Ilumina Bible study tools.
The Amplified Bible
New King James Bible
The Message Bible
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