God’s Wisdom

Readings for today: James 1-3, Psalms 31

I have met many people over the years who claim to speak for the Lord. They claim they hear from the Lord. They claim they have words from the Lord. They claim they’ve received some form of special revelation from the Lord. Now do I believe God still speaks to His people? Of course. Do I believe God visits His people in dreams and visions? Absolutely. Do I believe God sometimes gives His people a prophetic word of encouragement or conviction? Without a doubt. But how does a person know when a message is actually from the Lord?

Years ago, I was a Manage of Patient Access Services at Boulder Community Hospital. I had about four departments and around fifty employees working for me. One of them was a believer who often would claim to hear special messages from the Lord. She would wander around the office delivering these “messages” to her fellow employees. It made people uncomfortable. Her words often didn’t make sense. She asked people to share inappropriately with her. It was disruptive. It was manipulative. And it created a lot of resentment and frustration in our office. When I confronted her and asked her to stop, she grew angry and resentful. She began spreading all sorts of rumors and lies about my leadership. Eventually, she had to be terminated. It was a sad episode that taught me a lot about the importance of discernment.

So how do we discern if a message is from God? James 3:17-18 is clear. “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.” Looking back, it was clear the wisdom my employee was offering wasn’t pure or peace-loving or without pretense. It was more designed to promote her own sense of self-worth. Her intent wasn’t to sow peace but to sow pride. And I know I’ve made similar mistakes myself. Especially as a preacher. Every week, I am responsible to get up and share a message from the Lord with God’s people. I always have to check my heart to make sure I am not sharing from a place of pride or selfishness or anger or frustration or a need for affirmation. Every preacher I know wrestles with their motivations every time they get into the pulpit. We have to crucify our ego and desires and fears. We have to empty ourselves of all pride and pretense so God can fill us with His wisdom through His Spirit. And, at the end of the day, we need to be judged on our fruits. What do we produce? Not numbers. Not butts in the seats. Not influence. Not the number of followers we have on social media. But the fruit of purity and peace. The fruit of gentleness and mercy. The fruit of righteousness. This is the ultimate determination of whether we are sharing God’s Word or our own words. And the same holds true for every believer in the world.

Readings for tomorrow: James 4-5, Psalms 32

The Power of Corporate Worship

Readings for today: Nehemiah 7-9, Psalms 50

I remember attending a men’s conference when I first became a Christian. Tens of thousands of men gathered together to sing and pray and hear some of the best preachers in the world at the time. They came from every tribe, tongue, and nation. They come from every ethnicity and socio-economic class. They came from every denominational background and church experience. Worshipping in that environment was one of the most powerful experiences of my life and I will never forget it.

Human beings are worshipping creatures. Our earliest records from the prehistoric cave paintings in places like Spain and France to the depictions on walls of temples and palaces to the written accounts we have from the ancient world show how important worship has been to the human race. There is something deep inside that seeks transcendence. Something within that is drawn to contemplate eternity. One of my favorite professors at Princeton, a leading intellectual in the science and religion debate, believed this was one of the features that made Homo Sapiens unique. We seem to be hardwired for worship.

We see this on display in our reading today. All of the families who have returned from exile in Babylon gather in Jerusalem, within the safety of her newly rebuilt walls, to worship. And what is at the center of their worship experience? The reading and preaching of the Word of God. What we read today is one of the main reasons the church still centers her worshipping life largely around preaching. We believe the “foolishness of preaching” is the primary vehicle God has ordained to advance His Kingdom here on earth. For days, the people of Israel listened to Ezra read the Law. They celebrated as it was interpreted by their leaders for their understanding. They feasted and prayed and sang together. It must have been Woodstock on steroids!

Now reflect on your own worshipping experience. How do you feel when you gather with God’s people? How much do you participate or do you find yourself holding back? When the songs are sung and the prayers are prayed, are you part of it? Or do you consider yourself to be more of a spectator? And what about when the Word of God is read and proclaimed? Do you find yourself hungering and thirsting for more? Or does it barely make a mark? The most important thing you can do as a Christian is come to worship fully prepared to engage. The more you give yourself to the experience, the more you will get out of it. Furthermore, you will find yourself influencing those around you to join in as well. And the more God’s people get engaged, the more the Spirit moves, transforming and changing hearts, and lifting us up into the Lord’s very presence where there is an abundance of joy.

Readings for tomorrow: Nehemiah 10-11, Psalms 51

The Power of God’s Word

Readings for today: Nehemiah 8-10

A friend of mine asked me a great question the other day, “Why do Christians preach?” Why not just feed the hungry, care for the sick, or lift up the poor? Why not just engage in good works across the world and let those things stand for themselves? Why not gather week after week to sing which is far more participatory than listening to one person speak for 30 minutes or more? Why not prep videos and encourage smaller groups of people to study the Bible together so you can focus on fellowship on Sunday mornings? When you think about it, there are so many other things we could organize our life around as Christians and yet preaching has always been an essential part of what we gather to do.

God’s Word is powerful. It is no ordinary book. These aren’t just everyday stories. They are not just words on a page. There is power in God’s Word and when it is preached that power becomes available to us. It convicts us of sin. It lifts up our hearts. It connects us with God Himself for this is His Word to us. We see this on display in our passage from Nehemiah today. Ezra is asked to preach the Word of God. To read the Revelation of God to His people and revival breaks out. The people of God are convicted to the core and they respond by recommitting themselves in faith to the Lord. It’s a powerful reminder of what happens when God’s people come with an eagerness to hear God’s Word and an openness to God’s Spirit. Listen again to how Nehemiah describes it…

“So Ezra the priest brought The Revelation to the congregation, which was made up of both men and women—everyone capable of understanding. It was the first day of the seventh month. He read it facing the town square at the Water Gate from early dawn until noon in the hearing of the men and women, all who could understand it. And all the people listened—they were all ears—to the Book of The Revelation. The scholar Ezra stood on a wooden platform constructed for the occasion. He was flanked on the right by Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and on the left by Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. Ezra opened the book. Every eye was on him (he was standing on the raised platform) and as he opened the book everyone stood. Then Ezra praised God, the great God, and all the people responded, “Oh Yes! Yes!” with hands raised high. And then they fell to their knees in worship of God, their faces to the ground…On the second day of the month the family heads of all the people, the priests, and the Levites gathered around Ezra the scholar to get a deeper understanding of the words of The Revelation. They found written in The Revelation that God commanded through Moses that the People of Israel are to live in booths during the festival of the seventh month. So they published this decree and had it posted in all their cities and in Jerusalem: “Go into the hills and collect olive branches, pine branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and any other leafy branches to make booths, as it is written…Ezra read from the Book of The Revelation of God each day, from the first to the last day—they celebrated the feast for seven days. On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly in accordance with the decree.” (Nehemiah‬ ‭8‬:‭2‬-‭6‬, ‭13‬-‭15‬, ‭18‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

We are a spiritually hungry people. The problem is we seek to satisfy that hunger and quench our deep, spiritual thirst with all the wrong things. We turn to social media, the latest fads or trends, money, exotic vacations, even mission tourism to try to find significance and satisfaction and a sense of purpose and meaning. Sometimes these things help but they provide temporary relief at best. What we need is to hear from God. What we need is a Word from the Lord. What we need is to sit under His teaching day after day, week after week, so we might better understand Him and how He made us and what His plans are for us. This is why we preach. This is why we teach. This is why God’s Word is at the center of Christian worship.

Readings for tomorrow: None