rebuilding the walls of life

Rebuilding Broken Walls and Broken Lives Linda McCutcheon 0 Comments When cancer shows up on a routine medical visit. Or when an out of country vacation leads to a serious illness. Or when a spouse reveals they have been in a secret affair for months. What do you do when the devastatingly unexpected happens? “But you also said that no matter how far away we were, we could turn to you and start obeying your laws. Then you would bring us back to the place where you have chosen to be worshiped.” Nehemiah 1:9 (CEV) In the book of Nehemiah, we read that the Jews were in a similar predicament. Life had taken them by surprise: they had been attacked, taken captive, and had lost their homes. Some of them had escaped, but even in their freedom they still experienced heartache. They came back to a ruined city, to crumbled walls. They were disgraced. And they had no idea how to repair their city for safety and for dignity. God in His grace used the prophet Nehemiah to give the Jews hope again, and Nehemiah interceded on their behalf. They were in a mess — with no fixed address and no city to protect them. Plus, they had forgotten the miracles of the past. They had ignored God’s promises and had lost all hope. But Nehemiah stood in the gap. He prayed, “Please remember the promise you made to Moses. You told him that if we were unfaithful, you would scatter us among foreign nations. But you also said that no matter how far away we were, we could turn to you and start obeying your laws. Then you would bring us back to the place where you have chosen to be worshiped. Our Lord, I am praying for your servants...” (Nehemiah 1:8-10a, CEV). God was faithful then and He is still faithful today. The Jews needed a new perspective and a new start to re-build not only their homes, but also their lives. Maybe you can relate. Are you feeling like the people of Israel right now? Is life overwhelming and unbearable? A few years ago, I stood in a similar place as the Jews did. I needed to rebuild my world. I found myself with a broken marriage and a broken heart, and I began to look for another home, a new start, and a fresh perspective. I had to choose to either live in ruin or slowly rebuild my life, one brick at a time. Sometimes, you need to gain perspective on your situation, especially in the midst of tragedy, heartache, selfishness, or a sense of hopelessness. You need to reflect, to sit quietly, and to determine healthy changes in your personal life. This process allows you to re-build your character, acknowledging that you have worth in God’s eyes. Are you willing to ask God to fulfill His promise to refresh and rebuild your life? Or, maybe you are a Nehemiah who can help and intercede for others and encourage those in need. Once you take the step of obedience, He will help you move ahead. Because God is in the business of rebuilding broken lives. Nehemiah 6:16 says, “On the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, the wall was completely rebuilt. It had taken fifty-two days.” It happened to them, and it can happen to you, too! Tags: restoration Nehemiah Israel love-god Photo Credit: westpark Connect Discuss

shame and guilt

Question: "What does the Bible say about shame and regret?" Answer: Everyone experiences a certain amount of shame and regret over sins committed in the past. The Bible has much to say about shame and regret, and there are numerous examples of people in the Bible who experienced these negative feelings. Can you imagine the shame and regret Adam and Eve lived with after their sin? They spoiled the perfect creation God had made. Adam and Eve were in a perfect world, had perfect minds and bodies, and had perfectly close fellowship with God. When they chose to sin against God, all of God’s creation was made subject to sin’s effects, including disease, decay, death, and separation from God for eternity. Every human being afterward was born with a sin nature—the natural inclination to sin. Thankfully, God is sovereign, and He had a plan even then to redeem His world through His Son, Jesus Christ, and give mankind a choice for salvation and eternal life with Him. But Adam and Eve must have lived out their lives on earth with much regret over their loss of innocence and its associated blessings. We know they were ashamed at their nakedness (Genesis 3:10). They must have lived the rest of their lives in regret—after all, they remembered paradise. Another biblical example of shame and regret is the experience of the apostle Peter. John 13:37–38 describes the night of Christ’s betrayal. Right after the Passover meal, Peter tells Jesus that he would lay down his life for his Lord. Jesus responds by telling him that on that very night Peter would deny three times even knowing the Lord. Later that night, out of fear of losing his own life, Peter denied ever knowing Jesus (John 18:15–27; Matthew 26:31–35, 69–75). After Peter’s denial of Christ, “he went outside and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62). Later, Peter was restored and grew in his faith, becoming one of the founding fathers of the early church. Peter did indeed “strengthen his brothers” after being forgiven, just as Jesus had foretold (Luke 22:32). While Peter must have lived with much shame and regret over his public denial of Christ, his deepened understanding of the person and work of Christ overcame his feelings of failure. He realized that he was forgiven by the grace of God, and he moved past his personal regret to feed Jesus’ sheep (John 21:17). The Bible teaches us that, when we confess our sins and have faith in Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection, we become children of God (John 1:12). We are cleansed from all our unrighteousness (Colossians 1:15–22), and our salvation is eternally secure (John 10:27–30; Hebrews 7:24–25). As we grow spiritually by spending time with God daily in prayer and reading His Word, we find ourselves loving and trusting Him more. We trust that God has cast our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).Yes, we regret our past mistakes, but that is not our focus. We keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Paul put it this way: “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of [the goal]. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14). Shame and regret are part of what is behind us. We must learn to forget. Romans 8:1 is a great comfort to any believer who struggles with leftover feelings of shame and regret: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We are sinners, but we are justified. We have a shameful past, but we have a better future. We used to walk in foolishness and rebellion, but now we walk in newness of life (Titus 3:3–7; Romans 6:4). God has forgiven those sins we feel shame and regret over. We can move on. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Keith Green remembered

CHRISTMAS 2017

Mathew 1:18-25 (Joseph) Luke 1:26-56( Mary and Elizabeth) Both Mary and Joseph it seems were descended from David Joseph, was engaged to Mary and she was pregnant We are told that he was a righteous man. (That is what God said about him) He considered putting her away secretly. This would have been merciful as he could have had her put to death (Remember the woman caught in adultery. She could be stoned to death) Joseph did as he was told and I think that took courage Can you imagine the gossip? Joseph, why are you marrying her? Have her put to death and get a much better righteous wife. I expect he had to bear the jibes as she would. He stood by her I also think Mary would have been afraid of what Joseph would do and what society around her would say and do. We tend to read the story of the angel appearing to Mary and telling her she would bare a child and we have reduced it to a nativity play that is like a Christmas card, it is all sweet and lovely. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TERRIFYING FOR HER. WHAT SHE DID WAS SUBMIT TO GODS WILL All this had been revealed by Isaiah Isaiah7:14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Have you ever felt that you are doing Gods will, but you are afraid? I think that is how both of them were. To put is a good scots way, ABSOLUTELY BRICKING IT. We are not told anything about their families. She went to see her cousin Elizabeth. This would be out of the ordinary because,… • She was a much older woman and her husband was a priest • Elizabeth was legitimately pregnant whereas, by human terms, Mary wasn't • She was the wife of a priest and should disapprove of Mary's state However, this was no casual visit. Mary stayed with her for three months. Can you imagine the conversations they would have had about both of their forth coming children? Elizabeth would say, Zachariah saw an Angel and he could not believe what he was told and now he cannot speak until the baby is born. I am calling him John for the angel told him to call him John even though there is no one else in the family called that. Mary, Oh is that so, well, I saw the angel and I am calling mine Jesus. There is no one else in the family called that, but I am just doing as I am told. At least you can tell people your husband is the boy’s father. I dread going out for they must all be wondering. Both of my nieces were pregnant at the same time and one day as one of them was struggling to get her shoes on she said to her sister, Carolyn, do you find it hard to get your shoes on? These two ladies were in a similar situation as the boys would only have been up to six months apart. So there we have it, four people in extra ordinary situations Zachariah stuck dumb His wife who had been barren (and thus shamed) was pregnant Joseph engaged to a pregnant woman because God told him to. Mary pregnant by the Holy Spirit and probably shunned. What would we do in their shoes, or what if we knew them? Would we welcome them? We like to think we are understanding, and welcoming people, and I trust we strive to be, but how easy is it to JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER. How well do we trust God in frightening situations? I think we become far more dependent on prayer. Desperately looking for answers. I think that it is only when we are in the situation that we find out what our relationship with God is really like. We may be found wanting. It is easy to say that we are willing to be used by God, it is quite another to actually be used by God as it usually comes with a price. Are we willing to pay the price as all of those in the Christmas story did? We are like clay, to be moulded by God in the fashion God wants. Sometimes when we are going through difficult times we may not enjoy what God does. However, like all of them, we have to submit to Gods will. In the end, we will find his way is best. (Do we really have that much confidence in God?) MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.