Tag: Christian Blog

Returning to the LORD

On By CarmenIn Bible StudyLeave a comment

While reading the books of Ezra and Nehemiah over the last month, I have given much thought to the bravery and steadfastness of these two leaders who took it upon themselves to be used by God to lead His people Israel back to the Promised Land, and to fully return to God.

It was heartening to read about their courageousness to face all the odds against them as well as the willingness of the Israelites to hear God’s word and obey it—at substantial cost.

If you would like to know more about the return of Israel to the Promised Land after their exile to Babylon, I encourage you to read both Ezra and Nehemiah.

God had chosen Israel to be His people many centuries before when He called Abraham out of Ur to follow Him to a new land that He would eventually give to Abraham’s descendants.

God also chose Jerusalem as the place on earth that He would place His name and live with His people, the Israelites.

Today’s post is about the response of obedience of the Israelites after their return from exile to foreign nations which was caused by their ancestors’ (and their own) disobedience to God.

God’s Expectations from His People

First and foremost, God expects loyalty to Him.

Why would He not? After all, He is the creator of Heaven and Earth and all living creatures of which man is made in His very own image and placed as steward over all His blessings.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

God is a jealous God. He wants us to worship Him alone.

Nothing should come before Him—not ourselves, family, desires, money, jobs, material possessions—absolutely nothing.

He loves us so much that He gave us His laws to follow and to teach to our children and to generations to come.

When we put God first and follow His decrees, we will be blessed in family, finances, and needs.  

God promised the Israelites that He would shower them with abundant blessings if they put Him first and worship only Him. (Leviticus 26:1-13)

If not, they would endure hardship and horrific circumstances. (Leviticus 26:14-39)

These promises and warnings are meant for us today as well.

I believe that we are removed from God’s cover of protection when we do not follow Him.

Satan loves this opportunity to sift us when we choose to be on our own and do things our way instead of God’s way.

But, when we repent and turn to God, He forgives us.

God’s Willingness to Forgive

It’s a good thing that God is willing to forgive our sins, because if not we would be eternally lost.

Often in the Bible, we read about God hearing the cries of His children and having mercy on them.

It is when we confess our sin to God and we are truly repentant that God forgives us and takes us back under His protection.

The Israelites’ return from captivity under the rule of Persia at that time (Persia conquered Babylon after the exile), is a prime example of God forgiving the sins committed against Him and blessing His people.

On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God.

Nehemiah 9:1-3

Remember when I wrote earlier that the Israelites were willing to obey God at a great cost?

Well, here it is in verse 2 above. “Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners.”

Many of the Israelite men had married foreign women that worshiped other gods and led them away from God.

Their ancestors did the same including King Solomon. There is most definitely something to be said for leaders appointed by God to set the example for the people they govern.

Yes, these are harsh circumstances, but also fact during that time.  

Perhaps many were unaware of this sin as they were exiled for many years and not allowed to hear God’s word in a foreign country and did not realize they were sinning against God.

It was when they returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple and the walls surrounding the city that Ezra, the priest, stood before them to read God’s word and His commands.

When they heard the words of God’s law, they cried in shame and were repentant and willing to do whatever was just in the eyes of God.

They had endured captivity for so many years and were longing for a fresh start in their beloved Jerusalem.

They were grateful that God heard their cries and granted their desire to return to their own country.

It seems that Israel understood that God is sovereign and appreciated His goodness in making a way for them to return to the Promised Land. 

God’s Desire to Restore His People

Because of the Israelites’ woeful disobedience prior to the exile, they lost everything they had—family, homes, material possessions, income, as well as their country and freedom.

They were once again living in foreign lands and ruled by kings of other nations, devastated and hopeless.

BUT GOD was working in the background and was making a way to restore His chosen people.

God had never planned to desert Israel then nor will He do so today. (Psalm 137:6)

And God will never abandon us, because He has made a way for the whole world, every nation and every tribe, to be forgiven through His son Jesus Christ. 

Jesus is the only way to forgiveness, abundant life now, and eternal life. (John 14:6)

We need only to submit our lives to Him and abide in Him.

By abiding in Jesus, we too are expected to live righteously according to the same rules that God gave Israel.

One may argue that we need not live by the law because of Jesus’s atoning work on the cross.

However, Jesus said that we need to obey God’s commands, because He Himself came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law. (Matthew 5:17)

My one prayer for my beloved country is that we would ourselves repent of our sin individually and corporately and turn back to God.

I am certain that God would heal our country if we did.

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

This is the blessing that God promised King Solomon after he built and dedicated the first temple in Jerusalem.

Because we are grafted into God’s chosen through His Son Jesus Christ, we are also afforded the blessings given to Israel.

Thanks be to God for His grace, mercy, and forgiveness!

I hope this message stirs in your heart a desire to submit to and seek after God, and to abide in Him.

You will be blessed now and forever.

I hope you enjoy the song below.

If you want to have a relationship with God and are not sure how or where to start, see my previous posts Relationship with God and Relationship with God – Part 2.

Humility vs. Pride

On By CarmenIn Christian LivingLeave a comment

I’m sure we have all come across people who lack signs of humility and if we’re honest, we could say that we’ve at some point exhibited the same behavior.  

God’s word tells us to be humble, so it must be a quality we should learn and exercise throughout our lives.

God Desires Humility

He has told you, mortal one, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

To walk humbly with God means to acknowledge that He is God and to submit to His wisdom because He knows what’s best for us.

God blesses us when we obey Him and strive to follow Him, especially when He points out to us an attitude or behavior we need to master.   

We need God to guide us through this life on earth because there is so much deceit and corruption lurking to take us down the wrong path.

The antithesis of humility is pride. It seeks its own glory and it demands everything for itself and its preservation but never ends well.

God is the Creator and we are the creation, and He made us to follow Him and serve Him.

Let’s seek His wisdom and exercise humility before Him and others until it becomes second nature.  

Consequences of Pride

Simply put, if we will not walk in humility before God, we stand to lose more than we gain.

Pride leads to disgrace,
    but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2

Consider the outcome of pride for Lucifer (Satan) the “angel of light,” the most beautiful of angels that God created.

“How you are fallen from heaven,
    O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
    you who destroyed the nations of the world.
For you said to yourself,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
    far away in the north.
I will climb to the highest heavens
    and be like the Most High.’
Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead,
    down to its lowest depths.

Isaiah 14:12-15

What a great fall the most beautiful of angels has had to endure!

These verses use imagery to depict not only Satan, but also the proud boasts of Nebuchadnezzar II, the king of Babylon, during his reign (605-562 BC). I encourage you to read the full chapter of Isaiah 14.

As we know, Satan is still at odds with God and is intent on seeing whomever and whatever God loves destroyed like he was and will ultimately be as is written in Revelation 20:1-10.

This is exactly why we need to be aligned with God in thought and behavior. God is willing to forgive our sins when we turn from them and seek after Him, for He has given us the gift of forgiveness through His Son Jesus Christ.

When we turn from God and battle with Him, we never win.

Hopefully when we feel the sting of the consequences of our sin of pride, we turn from it, seeking God’s way to live, and strive to be humble.  

God knows if our hearts are truly committed to Him and therefore works in us to overcome this sin and every other sin we commit.

We only need to ask Him for His help and follow through in obedience to His will.

The Blessing of Humility

God promises us blessings when we are humble before Him and others.

The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord
Are riches, honor, and life.

Proverbs 22:4

I would like to share with you a time in my life that I kept hearing God tell me to be humble, over and over.

I shared this with a group of women whom I considered my confidants, my women’s Bible study group.

At the time, I didn’t understand why He was calling me to be humble, because I thought I had learned from the stings of my past mistakes of pride.

I thought I was done with this sin problem in my life, and I certainly did not want to displease God and undergo any more consequences.

A few months later, I met with one of these confidants with whom I had the habit of discussing plans for our group study.

As I listened to this person speak to me, I was caught off guard because a part of it was not altogether pleasant for me. I was compared to a previous leader, and not in a good way.

Still, I listened and did not become defensive. Rather, I accepted the info she shared with me and began to think deeply about my behavior and why she said what she did.   

I mulled over that comment for a while because I was very hurt by it.  

I recalled varying aspects of her behavior that I had previously witnessed but did not feel it was my place to correct her. I believed God would show her the behavior she needed to correct.

I decided that none of us are perfect and I knew it was my place to love her despite her inconsistent walk with the LORD.

Within a couple of weeks, I saw God work in a way that caused her to leave after she had misgivings with our head pastor.

Later God started showing me that she had twisted something I shared with her in confidence and used it against me for whatever personal gain she was trying to achieve.  

I now understand that God was telling me back then to be humble, because He knew my capacity to speak up for myself—and at times strongly with my own words.

I am glad that God prepared me in advance for this situation and that I obeyed by listening and not reacting.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, 

1 Peter 5:6

God has shown me that I don’t need to defend my reputation.  

By laying it at the feet of Jesus, I found resolution even if it took some time.

When we follow God and let Him lead us through His Holy Spirit, we will not lose our witness for Christ and be ashamed.

Humility Acknowledges Dependence upon God

I would like to close with the following thought that led me to write this post.

With the recent success of the orbit around the moon by the courageous astronauts of Artemis II, I was able to watch the inspiring view from space of our beautiful planet.

We exist in a very small portion of the universe, and we seem so insignificant from high above.

However, we are very important to God as He made us in His image and gave us the ability to accomplish such astounding feats.  

So small, so dependent upon and loved by God. This is reason enough to be humble.

I hope you enjoy this beautiful song below about following our Creator and His perfect ways.

If you want to have a relationship with God and are not sure how or where to start, see my previous posts Relationship with God and Relationship with God – Part 2.