The Lord Is Our God!

Day 207: Zechariah 9-14

Whenever Jesus is prophesied about in the Old Testament, I find myself becoming giddy. I'm excited that I am almost finished with my OT reading and that I will be moving on to the New Testament soon. But I also get excited because of the way that these people who lived in a time before Jesus waited in anticipation of their coming Messiah. Jesus was coming soon, and these prophets were preparing the minds of the Israelites for this to happen. Zechariah describes Jesus as righteous and victorious, yet humble, someone who rides on a donkey. And the Lord God is contrasted somewhat with Jesus. The accounts aren't contradictory, but they merely show that one of the dominant characterizations of Jesus is humility and that of God is power. And our God becomes powerful through humility.

Zechariah 13:9 says:
"I will bring that group through the fire
      and make them pure.
   I will refine them like silver
      and purify them like gold.
   They will call on my name,
      and I will answer them.
   I will say, ‘These are my people,’
      and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

God is good, and He is sending Jesus soon to save these people and to save us. The Lord is our God!

The Meaning of It All in Three Complex Words

Day 202: Micah 5-7

That last post was a bold one for me, and I'm still in my initial thinking about these things, but thanks for all your feedback. What great thoughts all of you have.

The reading for today contains a verse that spells out so clearly what God wants of us. You are probably familiar with it, too. Micah 6:8b says, "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"

Justice, mercy, and humility. There it is, all spelled out in three words.

And all of those terms coincide so much with my thoughts in the last post. He requires us to act justly, to treat others as we would want to be treated. To help those weaker than us--in whatever way that means. He also wants us to "love mercy." Wow, to do something good for someone who can't do it for themselves. To be compassionate and sympathetic but to also take action by forgiving, forgetting, loving, and doing all those other things God does for us. Finally, God wants us to show humility in our walk with God. He wants us to remember that we don't have it all figured out and that we shouldn't judge people for them not having it figured it either. Seeking humility about all else. Putting others above ourselves. Not judging harshly or condemning people for their beliefs, viewpoints, or actions.


These words, though "simple" in the traditional sense, are complex concepts that we could all do better exploring their meaning and application for ourselves and our communities.

Boasting in the Lord

Day 164: Jeremiah 9

Jeremiah 9:23-24
This is what the Lord says: "Don't let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord have spoken!"

When I was growing up, I was taught not to boast. We were instructed not to boast about our gifts, our talents, our accomplishments, and our strengths. We were to be humble about what the Lord had given us.

Over the years, though, we were also introduced to the idea of spiritual gifts--attributes or talents we had that were given to us by God. A few weeks ago, we had an event for women at our church. We get together monthly to spend time together, and the woman who planned it for this month planned hers around this idea of gifts. What were our talents? What were our gifts? We even went around the table and shared what we thought our gifts were. Some women, perhaps surprisingly, responded that they had no gifts. Many others claimed that they didn't know what their gifts were. A small few were able to tell their gifts, but even they looked bashful and embarrased about saying it out loud--out of fear of boasting or seeming prideful.

This response about spiritual gifts is probably very common in church circles. We don't want to boast. We don't want people to view us as bragging or having too much confidence in ourselves. However, it is a worthwhile endeavor to figure out what gifts we have so that we can use them for the Lord, and when we do figure out what our gifts are, we can boast about knowing God. We can brag to our friends and loved ones about God's goodness, glory, sacrifice, and love. Then, we can delight in God and the gifts he has given us. God is holy, and he made us. And because he made us and loves us, we can boast about who we are because we know him and are loved by him.

Praise the Lord.

Prepare, Praise, and Promise: Lessons from the Israelites

Day 91: Nehemiah 9-13

The Israelites are slaves in Assyria, and they have gathered together. They are fasting and wearing sackloth. During this time, they read aloud from the Book of Law, confess their sins, and worship the Lord. They also thank and praise God for all that he has done for them and their ancestors. They praise God for keeping his promise. They tell him that they love him, and they tell him why: "But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love." They also tell him he is just and faithful, forgiving and merciful. They remind themselves of all that God has done for them, and they make promises to God. They tell him they will stay faithful, they will give him the best they have to offer. They "will not neglect the house of God."

The Israelites impress me, and I can learn a lot by the way they interact with God. Their whole approach to communicating with God (some of which I mentioned above) can teach me about how I, too, can approach and interact with God. I'm always looking for ways to talk to God and ways to be in relationship with God, and the reading from today gives me several ideas.

1. Prepare: The Israelites approach God with humility.
They wear sackcloth and ashes. They fast in preparation for meeting God and for communing with him. They prepare. They don't just show up and talk. They spend a lot of time readying for meeting God. They recognize that they are unholy and that God alone is holy, and their countenances and actions reflect this understanding. They are humble, and they don't take God for granted.

2. Praise God with specifics.
The Israelites, like us, praise God. However, I notice one key difference between how they praise God and how we (oftentimes, unfortunately) praise God: they use specifics. The Israelites don't just say, "We love you God," or "God, you are so good" (over and over and over again); rather, they tell God why they love him, and they tell him why He is so good.

Being specific has several benefits: 1) It allows them to process what God has done. They can remind themselves about why they love God and what God has done for them. They can remember specific instances in their lives when God has acted--when he has shown them grace, forgiveness, mercy, love, etc. Then, they can thank God for what he has done--all the while remembering for what they are thanking God. They are thinking in specifics rather than generalities. 2) Being specific encourages reflection. This one kind of goes with the previous one, but it's a little different in that reflection breeds remembrance and appreciation. Remembrance of the actual events and circumstances in your life in which God acted, and appreciation for him and who he is in these instances in your life. 3) Being specific in prayer and praise reminds them who God is--his characteristics and his nature. As the Israelites re-tell their story to God in prayer, they also interweave the characteristics of God during these times, which becomes a form of praise to God.

3. Promise: The Israelites tell God what they are going to do as a result.
The Israelites promise God that they, too, will act. They will love the Lord, be faithful to Him, and sacrifice offerings to Him. They have prepared, they have praised God for the specific things he has done for them, and now they make promises to God about what they will do, how they will act, live, and behave.

Next time you are in church and you sing a "praise" song, remember back to the Israelites and how they approach God: they prepare, they praise with specifics, and they promise. Maybe this can be a model for you as to how you can talk to God. I know it helps me concretize something that often seems so abstract.

Elizabeth and the Ten Plagues

After reading about the ten plagues. I had an idea of an activity to do with Elizabeth. So when I got home from work last night, Elizabeth and I sat down at the table, got out markers, glue, magazines, and scissors, and we went to work. First, I read her the story of each plague. Then, we went to work creating a posterboard of the ten plagues. Here is what she made.

We couldn't find magazine pictures of frogs, gnats, flies, locusts, or hail, so we just drew them ourselves. Note that I'm going to have to go back and change where I wrote "Boils" on #7. That's supposed to say "Hail." As you can tell, she did a great job drawing boils in #6!

I had my computer on the table with us and whenever we couldn't find something in the magazines, I searched for a picture of the item on the internet. Elizabeth said to me, "Mommy, you have A LOT of pictures on your computer. You have pictures of EVERYTHING!" It was really cute.

Some of the plagues stories scared Elizabeth (and me, too). But we talked about that--about why might God choose to kill firstborn children or livestock or fish. While we didn't always have answers, it helps to talk about it and to discuss the topic instead of pretend that it is just normal. We also talked about Pharaoh's choices and how had he made better choices or obeyed God earlier, then he and his people would not have suffered like they did. It's about obedience. Obeying God and humbling ourselves.

Overall, we had a great time doing this together. I like how what I am reading in the Bible is permeating other areas of my life. I'm also thinking and reflecting on what I read and what I write many times during the day.