9/1/2011 10:08:26 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: The goodness of God PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Nehemiah 9:7-18
Message of the verses: “7 "You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham. 8 "You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite-To give it to his descendants. And You have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous. 9 "You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the Red Sea. 10 "Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that they acted arrogantly toward them, And made a name for Yourself as it is this day. 11 "You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And their pursuers You hurled into the depths, Like a stone into raging waters. 12 "And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go. 13 "Then You came down on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven; You gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. 14 "So You made known to them Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses. 15 "You provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You told them to enter in order to possess The land which You swore to give them. 16 "But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments. 17 "They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them. 18 "Even when they made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, ’This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies.”
In today’s SD I begin the second main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary which is entitled “The goodness of God.” This main point covers verses 7-30 and has three sub-points that are under this main point of which the first is “Forming the nation,” and that is the subject of today’s SD. As mentioned in yesterday’s SD this ninth chapter of Nehemiah is a prayer, the longest prayer in Scripture, and so I do not want to rush through this but take the sub-points one at a time. This is a rich portion of Scripture, something that needs to be dealt with slowly so that I do not miss any of its richness.
There are different parts found in the Word of God that tell some of the history of the nation of Israel, and this is one of those portions of Scripture. There is one of these in the NT that also tells the story of Israel and that is found in Acts chapter seven, also the 78th Psalm tells the history of Israel. When one reads through the book of Judges they can see a roller coaster type ride for the young nation of Israel, and that seems to continue all throughout the history of the nation. Even today when one looks at the newly established nation of Israel one can see a lot of worldliness in it, and this was even prophesied by the prophet Ezekiel in chapters 36-39, especially in chapter 37 where we read about the famous valley of bones which tells that what that is going on in Israel at this present time is being fulfilled.
The goodness of God is seen in this section in that God “gave” many things to what would become the nation of Israel starting with Abram whom God called out of Ur where he was an idol worshiper (Joshua 24:2-3) and made him the father of many nations including the nation of Israel. Abraham was seventy-five years old when the Lord called him and he walked with the Lord for the next 100 years having only a few times when he did not follow the Lord. Dr. Wiersbe points out that the word “give” in some way or another is found sixteen times in this chapter in the KJV of the Bible, God giving things to Israel and Abraham was a part of this giving from the Lord. God gave them His Law, food and water while they were in the wilderness, the land of Canaan, the ministry of the Spirit (V-20), deliverers, and victory over their enemies. According to 1Timothy 6:17 God delights in giving to His children,” Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”
The problem with the nation of Israel, and for that matter many believers today, the gifs of God are enjoyed, but living for the God who gives these gifts is not what it should be. We must not only enjoy that gifts that God gives us, but we must enjoy the God who gives those gifts, and obey Him. When God gave the Law to Israel it was not given to spoil their fun, but it was given to free them from the world’s system, and it was also given to them to lead them to the Lord, for in the Law of the Lord we see God’s perfection, and we as humans cannot get to the Lord by following the Law so we then have to seek God’s mercy and grace saying that we cannot follow the Law perfectly, but God, in the person of Jesus Christ has followed the Law perfectly for us and all we have to do is accept that along with His death for us and resurrection on our behalf and then we will have new life in Jesus Christ. Not all of Israel understood this and not many today understand this, for Jesus said that there was a broad way and a narrow way, and that narrow way is to accept this free gift of salvation from the Lord.
I have underlined verses 16-18 in the text for today showing how Israel responded to the goodness of God, and we can learn from them in not responding to God’s goodness in the way they did.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: When I look back on my life as a believer I have not responded to the goodness of God in the way that I should all of the time. God’s Word is like an x-ray showing me the issues that I need to correct and responding to the goodness of God on my part is something that I desire to do better.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Respond to the Giver of the gifts better than the gifts that the Giver gives to me.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
3. As I look for a different car, my prayer is that the Spirit of God will guide me, and direct me to where His desires me to go.
9/1/2011 11:23:36 AM
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