Year 5, Day 72: 1 Corinthians 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Information, Imitation, Innovation

• Information: This is the initial phase of become a disciple of Jesus.  Before we can do anything meaningful we must begin to understand what we are doing.  We may never gain full understanding of God and His ways, but God calls us to study Him, His Son, and His ways as the foundation of being His follower.
• Imitation: This is the second over-arching step of the discipleship process.  First we gain information, then we imitate our spiritual mentor.  Imitation leads to innovation of spirituality in our own life.
• Innovation: When we have studied God and learned to imitate Him, then we can begin to apply what we have learned and practiced into our life in new and innovative ways.  In this way we truly become the person of God that He sees us to be.

Paul opens this chapter with an incredibly harsh critique.  He tells the Corinthians that they are still only capable of spiritual milk.  He couldn’t give them spiritual food because they simply weren’t mature enough!  They weren’t developing.  They weren’t growing.

Let’s remember something.  Paul was likely with the Corinthians longer than he was with any other church that he planted.  We know that he stayed 18 months after he got frustrated with the Jews in Corinth.  So that means that Paul was there at least a year and a half – and probably longer than that.  (See Acts 18:1-11)  Paul was there a long time, long enough to see the people transition from spiritual infants to spiritually maturing.

What is preventing their maturation?  They are divided.  Rather than focusing on God and God’s work in their midst, they are focused on themselves and their own desires.  They are focused on their own ways, their own perspectives, and their own status.  They are focused on being right so everyone else is wrong.

What are they missing?  They are missing humbleness.  They are missing the crucified Lord who allowed Himself to die so God could be at work in it.  They are missing submission.

In truth, they are missing discipleship.  They are refusing to be humble and submit.  They are refusing to move beyond the information stage.  They may be learning the how’s and why’s, but they are missing the transformation that comes through imitation and innovation.  They are missing the transformation that comes by abandoning their own desires and embracing God’s ways and allowing that transformation to happen.

What I find sad about this chapter is that truly Paul was with the Corinthians for a long time.  They more than any of his churches had time to not just learn the information but imitate his behavior and then allow their transformation to be innovated into their own life.  They had an incredible amount of time in the presence of Paul and they seem to have wasted much of it.  We clearly see Paul imitating Christ and innovating in his own life.  But the Corinthians just don’t seem to be willing to do that.  Because they are focused on their own agendas and their own status, they are unable to submit, imitate, and innovate.  So the information stays simply that.  It stays as information and not life-altering transformation.

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Year 5, Day 71: 1 Corinthians 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Imitation

• Imitation: This is the second over-arching step of the discipleship process.  First we gain information, then we imitate our spiritual mentor.  Imitation leads to innovation of spirituality in our own life.

This is a great chapter of the Bible to get a true sense of Paul’s genuine humility.  Look at the claims that Paul says here.  He doesn’t come in haughty or lofty words.  He came only knowing Christ.  In fact, he came promoting Christ crucified.  He came to them humbly while proclaiming a message of a humble man.

Furthermore, Paul reminds us that we don’t receive a spirit of the world.  Life isn’t about how much I know or how much I can do.  Life is about God and His ways.  Life is about receiving a spirit of God and depending upon His wisdom and His ways.

I really think this is a great chapter about imitation.  When Christ came, He didn’t put the focus on Himself.  Jesus pointed us to the Father always.  It wasn’t about Him, His miracles, and His awesomeness.  It was about God’s work.  It was about God’s plan of salvation.  Jesus came saying, “Not my will but thine.”

That’s the Paul I see in this chapter.  He came to the Corinthians humbly so God’s ways might shine.  He taught humble so God’s wisdom might get the attention.  He imitated Christ.  So should we.  The world would be a better place if Christians were less interested in proclaiming themselves and more interested in getting out of the way so that God is seen as the focus.

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Year 5, Day 70: 1 Corinthians 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Ambition, Chemistry, Identity

• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.
• Chemistry asks whether the person in question can work with the other people that God has called.
• Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.

Ambition, Chemistry, Identity.  Where do these three discipleship concepts converge?  Where the converge is really different for everyone.  But I can tell you where they should converge: the cross.  They should converge upon the abandonment of the self and the embracing of God’s ways.  They should converge in the place that Paul speaks about in Galatians 2:19-20.  “For through the Law I have died to the Law so that I might live to God.  Therefore I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”

You see, we all have ambition.  We all look to our life and say, “I want to accomplish this or that or something else.”  We all look to life and want our own way.  As followers of God, we learn to put aside our own ambitions and embrace Christ.

Of course, much of our ambition will also affect the chemistry that we have with other people.  Do our goals mesh well?  Are we seeking the same purpose in life?  Are our pursuits running parallel to one another?  We typically get along with people who are pursuing the same goals, the same ideals, and the same values as we pursue.

But where do these goals, ideals, morals, and values come from?  Where is it that we get our identity?  It should come from the Father.  It should come from our abandonment of the self and the embracing of His character.  And here we see that it is in identity that chemistry and ambition find their rule.  When our identity is right, our ambition will be godly.  When our identity and ambition are right, we will have chemistry with the people in our life that God places before us.

So how does this all tie in with 1 Corinthians 1?  in this chapter, Paul speaks much about unity and divisions in the church.  Why are there divisions?  Divisions occur because we are often too busy pursuing our own ambition and not pursuing God’s ambition for us.  Division occurs because when our ambition is apart from God it is hard to have chemistry with the people around us.  Division occurs when our identity is not coming from God.

If we want the kind of unity about which Paul speaks in this chapter, we need to get our identity from God.  We need to be able to have chemistry with the godly people around us.  And we need to let go of our own ambition and pursue God’s ambition for us.

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Year 5, Day 69: Esther 9-10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Appetite

• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.

I think I’m going to take a fairly unusual angle on the topic of appetite.  Usually when we talk about appetite we talk about how much it gets out of control and leads us down the wrong path.  But today I’m going to talk about a group of people who were able to keep their appetite in check.  Today we’ll look at a people who don’t succumb to appetite.

The Jews get permission to defend themselves from the king.  Furthermore, they seem to get all kinds of governmental support from those who don’t want to get on Mordecai’s bad side.  They have every right to defend themselves and then take the spoils.  They have every right to assuage their appetite for revenge by claiming the goods of those who rose up against them.

But they don’t.  The Hebrew people don’t even look at the goods.  They don’t claim the spoils of war.  They don’t need to claim the spoils because it is God who sustains them.  They don’t need to sustain themselves with the things of the word.  They are sustained by God.  That’s what the whole story of Esther is all about.  The Hebrew people can keep their appetite in check because they are focused upon God.

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Year 5, Day 68: Esther 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Competency

• Competency: Being able to accomplish what one is called to do.

There is one thing that is true about Mordecai.  He may not have chosen wisely by not bowing down before Haman – even if he had his reasons.  But from that moment on – from the moment that he learned about the destruction of the Jews – he has made every step count.  He has been obedient to God’s will at every step.  He has been a competent follower of God, waiting upon God to lead his actions.

Even here in this chapter we see Mordecai’s competence.  Mordecai is promoted through Esther’s influence.  But look at what he does with that promotion.  For the record, note that Esther is a part of this as well, revealing her competence as a follower of God as well.

Mordecai and Esther don’t force the king to admit that he had made a mistake.  They don’t force the king to repeal his edict.  In fact, in many cultures kings were looked upon as infallible, so for a king to admit they had judged something incorrectly was an admission that they were unfit to rule!  No.  Mordecai and Esther go before the king and ask that something be done about the edict.  They are competent in that they achieve what needs to be done and allow the king to save face.

The Jewish people are allowed to defend themselves.  Anyone foolish enough to attack them would have to pay a heavy price.  King Ahasuerus does not need to repeal this edict, but he is allowed to make life miserable for anyone desiring to act upon his earlier edict.

All of this brings me to perhaps an even greater truth.  What is it that we see Mordecai and Esther being truly competent at doing here?  They are competent at being gracious.  Everyone knows that the king messed up and listened to bad advice.  But they are gracious in that they don’t humiliate the king.  They are gracious in that they allow the king to make a mistake without rubbing it in his face.  They are gracious in that they still allow the king to go on and move forward in spite of the mistake.  That’s a truly Christian calling right there.  People will always make mistakes around us.  The question is whether we will allow them to continue on and give them a second chance with our support or will we humiliate them and cause them to lose face?  Grace allows mistakes to be made while still being able to support the one who made the mistake.  

Mordecai and Esther are great models of competency in this chapter, especially when it pertains to grace.

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Year 5, Day 67: Esther 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

If you have read my theological commentary from three years ago, you hear about my struggle with this chapter.  Haman is rightly accused.  But then Haman begs for his life.  If this is a self-centered plea for life, then he deserves to hang.  But if this was a repentant recognition of his error, then where is grace?

In the end, Esther 7 always leads me to understand that I need to be grateful for God’s forgiveness.  I deserve to be condemned.  No amount of pleading for my life can make up for my sin.  No amount of begging should change God’s mind.  I am guilty of sin.

But the word that I hear from God is, “You are forgiven.”  God does forgive.  I deserve to hang by the same gallows that I’ve figuratively built for others in my own life as I pronounce them deserving of my hate, anger, irritation, whatever.  But although I deserve punishment, God spares me.  He can spare you, too.  He can spare anyone who is contrite, humble, and repentant!

What a great chapter of the Bible.  What a great chapter to gain perspective on true repentance.  What a great chapter in the Bible to evoke a conversation on the blessing of God’s true forgiveness!

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Year 5, Day 66: Esther 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

Imagine that you are Mordecai.  You uncover a plot to kill the king.  No reward comes.  Some time later, you find out that a decree has come out of the mouth of the king that your own people are to be killed!  How do you respond?

I’ve got to hand it to Mordecai.  We don’t hear Mordecai grumbling against the king.  We don’t hear him asserting himself into the king’s business.  There is no slander of the king.  Mordecai simply continues to go through life.

I can’t help but wonder why.

How can Mordecai continue to live in what appears to be peace when his people are scheduled to be executed and he never got the reward for his good deed?

I believe Mordecai can do this because he has his eyes set on a higher king.  Mordecai has his eyes set upon the king of the universe.  He knows earthly reward is nothing next to godliness.  He believes God will be the one who hands out true reward, not King Ahasuerus.  Mordecai believes that God is in control, not some earthly king.  Thus, when trouble comes his way and he doesn’t get what he genuinely deserves, he can continue to live in peace.

God honors His people.  His reward never falls short.  If we live with our eyes on the true king, we will know His peace even in the midst of persecution.

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Year 5, Day 65: Esther 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Abide

• Abide: This is a moment, day, or even a season when we focus on God.  It is a time when we are rejuvenated by God.  It is the time for us to gather up what we will need for the coming growth after a season of pruning.  However, abiding is not the end.  We abide so that we can grow, bear fruit, prune, and abide again.

This is a great chapter in the Bible because it shows us something we do not expect.  In this chapter we see incredible patience.  We see a woman who is willing to wait upon the Lord rather than take her advantage.

What do I mean by this?  Esther goes before the king.  She receives a pardon for going before the king unannounced.  She asks for a feast with the king and his servant Haman.  Her request is granted!  She seems to have everything going for her!

So let’s think about this.  How many of us on this kind of a roll would be able to stop all the momentum and say, “You know, why don’t y’all come back tomorrow?”  Esther has a private audience with her husband the king!  She has the enemy of her people in her grasp!  Yet she pauses and waits for a second day.  She stops and abides with her God.  She doesn’t force things, she has the patience to wait for God to show her that the timing is right.

She could have sought her own advantage.  She could have sought her own will and gotten vengeance upon Haman.  But she is patient.  She abides in God until God tells her to grow and bear fruit.  What an incredible perspective of the faith!

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Year 5, Day 64: Esther 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: In

• In: This is the word we use to express our relationships with our spiritual family.  These are often the people who hold us spiritually accountable.  They are the ones to whom we typically go for discussion and discernment.  These are the ones with whom we learn to share leadership.  They are the ones with whom we become family on mission.

This is a great chapter for the study of In, because we have two great examples serving two distinct purposes.  We see In forming community of support.  We see In leading to discernment.  It’s a great chapter.

We see In happening in community around both Esther and Mordecai.  First, notice that Mordecai hears the news.  He is troubled.  He mourns.  Mordecai’s community comes around him to support him.  When they learn what is happening, Esther is told and Esther has an opportunity to be In for Mordecai and support him as well.  When the weight of Mordecai’s pride comes to rest upon him, Mordecai mourns.  But because of his In, Mordecai is not alone.

Furthermore, we see In form community around Esther.  Look at what happens when Esther has a tough choice to make.  The Jews around Mordecai hold a fast.  They support her.  The women around Esther likewise fast and support her.  When Mordecai was down, Esther and Mordecai’s friends were there.  When Esther is down, Mordecai and Esther’s friends are there for her, too.

So where do we see In being something other than support?  Look at Mordecai’s interaction with Esther when she has to decide whether to go before the king and risk her own life.  Mordecai brings incredible wisdom to Esther’s life.  Mordecai brings challenge.  Mordecai is a part of the discernment process.  That’s what In does.

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Year 5, Day 63: Esther 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Ambition, Approval

• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.
• Approval: We all need to feel as though we are accepted.  When we seek the approval of God, our Up is in the right place.  But when we seek the approval of other people besides God, we open the door to pursuing false gods and risk putting someone or something other than God in our Up position.

I’m going to go out on a limb here.  I don’t think Mordecai is right in any way, sense, or manner in his action against Haman.  As I explain in my blog post from 3 years ago, I think Mordecai’s actions are full of personal pride and probably even a bit of a generational blood feud.

The truth is that our scriptures are full of strong religious leaders who walk close to God and who also submit to the worldly authority over them.  We see Jeremiah continue to live in Jerusalem even though the Hebrew leadership would not listen to him.  Daniel lives with a great relationship with Babylonian and Persian kings.  Nehemiah seems to have great respect for the Persian king he was under.  There is no reason to think that Mordecai necessarily needed to rebel against Haman.  I think his heart was rooted in personal rebellion against Haman and his ambition for his personal agenda led him astray from God’s agenda.

However, Mordecai isn’t the only one interested in ambition.  At first, Haman doesn’t even seem to notice Mordecai’s actions.  He isn’t bothered by what he doesn’t know.  But when people point it out to him, they force a confrontation.  because Haman is seeking the approval of the people around him, he has to show up Mordecai.  He has to win.  So Haman falls into the sin of seeking the approval of the people around him.

But that sin of approval also then leads to a sin of ambition.  Haman escalates his action.  Rather than just seeking punishment for Mordecai, he means to kill all of Mordecai’s people!  If that isn’t escalation, I don’t know what is!  Haman takes what should have been a small matter and because he wants to win he allows his ambition to get the best of him.

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Year 5, Day 62: Esther 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Obedience

• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from our Father.

I find obedience to be a striking picture in Esther 2.  Esther is obedient to just about everyone around her.  She is obedient to her uncle Mordecai.  She is obedient to the director of the harem and finds favor with him.  She finds success in her obedience.  Rather than demanding that her needs be met, she humbly works in obedience to the people around her and God blesses her through it.

However, I actually find Mordecai’s story even more inspiring.  Here is a man who takes in an orphaned relative.  She then becomes queen.  How easy would it have been for Mordecai to collect on what Esther owed him?  Mordecai could have sought his own advancement through Esther’s position as queen.

But this isn’t what Mordecai does.  Mordecai continues in his life.  He celebrates Esther’s promotion, but he continue to live obediently to God’s plan.  While he is living obediently to God’s plan, he uncovers a plot against the king.  Because Mordecai and Esther are living humbly before their God and the people around them, God can use them.  Mordecai shows us that it isn’t about living humbly so God will bless us.  It is about living humbly so we can be of service to God.  When we are humble, we can be a part of what God is doing in the world.

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Year 5, Day 60: Esther 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus:

• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.

There is a preponderance of love for Vashti among modern culture – especially those who are involved in the Feminist movement.  It is not at all uncommon for people to lift up Vashti’s unwavering dedication to stand up for her rights as a model and exemplar to follow.  Vashti is often lifted up by feminists as the first public stand for women’s rights.  People who say this are missing the point entirely.

What we know historically speaking about Vashti is that she was a person who was solely concerned for herself.  She was cruel in public and to her slaves.  She was routinely disobedient to the authority of the king.  She was focused upon her wants, her desires, and fulfilling her will.  She was a person so engrossed with her own ambition {and perhaps even her own appetite} that she was problematic as a queen!  The role model that she was setting for her culture was destructive!  This is why the nobles want to get rid of her.  This is also why Esther – a woman know for her humility, gentle nature, desire to serve, and desire to look out for others – is chosen in her place.

We need to be careful of ambition, especially in our modern culture.  In today’s day and age we are all about getting what I want, how I want it, and when I want it.  But if we are not careful we end up tearing apart the very fabric of our community around us when we live like that.  We all need a certain amount of ambition – or drive.  But when our ambition turns inward, it is a destructive force.  That is what we can learn from Vashti today.

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Year 5, Day 60: Nehemiah 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Competency, Obedience

• Competency: Being able to accomplish what one is called to do.
• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from our Father.

In Nehemiah 13 we see that the Hebrew people quickly devolve into sinful patterns when Nehemiah leaves to report to the Persian King.  After all Nehemiah does and after all God has done for the Hebrew people, they revert back to sinful patterns in life very quickly.  It isn’t long before they are making decisions based upon what makes sense according to human logic.  It isn’t long before they are defining the terms of their life by human standards.

You see, God isn’t looking for people who can rationalize things out along human reasoning.  God sent His Son into the world by becoming man.  That doesn’t make sense.  God sent His Son to die.  That doesn’t make sense.  God raised His Son from death on the third day.  That doesn’t make sense.  God asks we believe this to be true and profess it to others.  That doesn’t make sense, either.  Let’s face it, God’s action seldom ever meshes well with human logic and reasoning.

What does God ask of us?  How are we to continue living godly lives while existing in this world?  God wants us to be competent.  He wants us to accomplish what He asks of us.  He doesn’t want us to set the agenda; He wants us to fulfill His agenda!  This naturally leads us to the idea that God also asks us to be obedient.  If He sets the agenda, He expects us to obey that agenda.

The Hebrew people get themselves into trouble on both of these accounts.  They forget who is setting their agenda.  They also forget that they are supposed to be obedient to God’s ways rather than living up to human logic.

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Year 5, Day 59: Nehemiah 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Up

• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.

What a great chapter on Up.  Imagine, if you will, all the important leaders of an area walking around their area and worshipping God as they do it.  Imagine the prayers they could pray over such an area.  Imagine the testimony and witness that it gives to anyone who is watching about what those leaders really think is the most important thing in their life.

That is what Up is all about.  That is what it means to be devoted to God.  Having God in our Up position means that we are indeed giving a witness that God is the focal point of our life and God is the center of our worship.

And where do we see this great chapter of Up leading?  The moment of Up brings the people together.  That’s In.  The moment of Up drives the people forth in service to God.  That’s Out.  A properly developed Up naturally leads to a meaningful In and Out.

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Year 5, Day 58: Nehemiah 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Identity

• Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.

I was intrigued by my thoughts on this chapter from three years ago.  When I studied this chapter three years ago, I confessed to skimming the list of names in the chapter – much like I did this year when I read it.  However, I remembered the discussion that I put up on the blog about what it meant in an ancient context to live in a city.  Yes, there were benefits: protection provided by the walls and geographical location, social rank from living in an important place, proximity to important people, or even easily felt community.  However, I had forgotten about the negative aspects of living in a city: unable to own land, unable to live off the land, necessity to depend on money to buy things.

In the modern world, we accept all the negatives as a simple assumption in life.  We understand that we work for money and use the money to buy the things in life we can’t make ourselves: electricity, cars, gasoline, computers, cell phones, etc.  Money and economics are a way of life to us.  But to the ancient mind, living in a city was a big risk.  If you owned land, you could farm and raise animals for your livelihood.  You could use the trees and rocks in your land as building materials.  Owning land meant you could get by without money, especially if you were willing to barter.  In the ancient world, depending on having access to money was a huge risk – a risk that could easily end up in starvation and death if a few things went poorly for you.

All of this leads me to identity.  Those people in Nehemiah 11 who went to live in Jerusalem were living in faith.  They were living upon a promise that God would remember them.  Voluntarily giving up their land to live in Jerusalem was an act of faithful submission.  It would have been a humbling experience for each of them.  It would have been an experience that was either a source of frustration from being forced into doing it or a source of satisfaction of doing it because one’s identity is in the Lord.

Winning – or losing, as the case may actually be – the lottery and being selected to live in Jerusalem would have been a trial.  It would have been a moment of finding out where one’s identity really is located.  It would have been a gut-check moment of asking whether I lived to provide for myself or if I was willing to live where God would provide for me.  That’s the fundamental question of identity.

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Year 5, Day 57: Nehemiah 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Obedience

• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from our Father.

The last few days we’ve focused on God’s forgiveness.  God’s forgiveness is of ultimate importance.  It is precisely what leads us to the cross.  Jesus came because of God’s forgiveness.

But in Nehemiah 10 we get a strong sense of the pattern of life that should exert itself in God.  They declare obedience.  While God is forgiving, our proper response is obedience.  Before we can be anything else in God, we must first respond in obedience.

This makes sense, actually.  Our sinfulness proves that we do not have what it takes within us naturally.  So in order to have what it takes, we need to get it from God.  How will we get it from God?  We will get it from God by listening to Him and being obedient to His ways.  We will be obedient to what we hear Him say.

Nehemiah 10 is all about the people’s response.  They hear about their sins, turn, repent, and declare obedience.  Only then are they ready to move forward.  It is no different for us.

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Year 5, Day 56: Nehemiah 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

I think I’m going to focus on forgiveness for another day.  As we recount this passage in Nehemiah 9, it is clear that the one consistent attribute that God is always employing is forgiveness.  Yes, God is many things.  But every time God interacts with humanity there is an element of forgiveness within.

Look at the history of the Hebrew people.  God was good to Abraham and his offspring.  But by the time of Jacob, God was already being put into the back burner.  Among Jacob’s 12 sons, God was not a priority in most of their lives.  By the time they get to Egypt, God is really only important as they cry out in bondage.  Then there are the wilderness Hebrew people, who die in the wilderness because of their rebellion.  The Hebrew people during the time of the Judges are no better.  Then there are the Hebrew people who come after Solomon when the general decline really takes hold.  Practically the whole time of relationship between God and His people has required Him to be forgiving before the relationship could even exist!

Forgiveness is actually where I think most of the other expressions of faith originate.  Because God is forgiving, we can worship Him.  Because God is forgiving, we can love Him.  Because God is forgiving we can love one another.  Because God is forgiving we do service to reflect His love to others.  Most of what we do is ultimately a response to God’s initial forgiveness.

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Year 5, Day 55: Nehemiah 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

This might seem like an odd day to talk about forgiveness.  After all, the reading today is all about Nehemiah.  It is all about the reading of the Law.  It is all about how the people react to the reading of the Law and how much they are grieved by their trespasses.  Truth is, we should all be grieved about our trespasses.

However, at the same time I was struck at the end of the passage by the leaders reaction to the people and how it was declared that it was to be a time of celebration!  This is the way that it should be.  We should be grieved when we realize just how much we have violated the Law of God.  But as much as we are grieved by that we should rejoice that our trespasses are less than God’s forgiveness and His grace!

You see, God knows how much we get wrong.  He knows when we are genuinely mournful and when we are genuinely repentant.  He sent His Son so that when we are genuinely mournful we can be forgiven.  He sent His Son so that no matter how much we transgress the Law He can forgive.  Our sinfulness is great, but God’s ability to forgive the genuinely repentant is even greater!

On the day we hear about being grieved by the Law, we should also celebrate.  This is a joyous day.  Yes, we are sinners.  But God is a forgiving God.  And that is the greater of the two points.

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Year 5, Day 54: Nehemiah 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Semi-Circle, Rhythm

• Rhythm: We are designed to work from rest, not rest from work.  God has created us to be a people of rhythm in which we rest (abide), grow, work (bear fruit), and prune.  The better we understand this natural rhythm in life, the more satisfied we will feel in life and the more we will be able to be in tune with succeeding in what God desires our life to be about.

Although Nehemiah 7 appears to be a long list of names – and it is – I think there is some depth here that we can ponder.  Before we get to the names, Nehemiah gives orders about when the gates can be open and when they should be shut.  He also gives orders about setting up guards at the gates and within the cities.  I think both of these things lead to rhythm in life.

Nehemiah is telling us to be careful when we let outside influences in.  With respect to the city, Nehemiah is saying, “Only leave the city vulnerable when the sun is high and there are no places near the wall where people can hide and take you by surprise.”  This is the point of the guards, too.  Nehemiah is telling the people that the city needs guards at the points of entry, but it also needs guards throughout the city as well just to make sure.

For me, these things actually speak about rhythm.  I am less vulnerable to outside influences when I am living in rhythm.  I am best when I know that I am only opening myself up to the outside when I am safe.  I am able to open myself up to the world when I have taken time to assess who I am.  When I have abided with God and grow, I am best able to be open to the world and do the work of God.  But then when the time is right I need to so bearing fruit, close myself up, and return to abide with the Lord and take stock of what is still inside.

When I live like the city of Jerusalem – open when it is safe and guarded internally so as to always be able to take stock of what is happening – I am best able to do the work of God.  When I have a rhythm of spiritual life – abiding, growing, bearing fruit, and pruning so that I can once more abide – I am best able to be obedient to the call of the Lord.

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Year 5, Day 53: Nehemiah 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Authority

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

I am constantly reminded with how much of life starts with having a properly oriented perspective of Up.  If my Up is focused on God, most decisions really become quite clear.  If I am focused on my Father in heaven, then my identity becomes clear and I can be obedient.  If I am focused upon the true King of the universe, then my authority becomes clear and my power is obvious.  It is this dimension of authority that I want to focus today with Nehemiah.  But in truth it all starts with the focus of Nehemiah’s worship.  Who is in Nehemiah’s Up position?  God.

Three attacks come against Nehemiah in this chapter.  The first two attacks are external.  The first attack is a physical attack.  The leaders of the people around Nehemiah try to draw him out away from Jerusalem so that they can attack him.  Nehemiah will have none of it.  He knows his place.  Because God is in his Up position, Nehemiah knows that his authority – and therefore his power – don’t extend out away from Jerusalem.  Therefore, there is no need to go out into Jerusalem and there is no need to put himself at risk.  Nehemiah is able to avoid this threat entirely because he knows the limits of the authority that God has given to him.

The second attack is a case of defaming his character before the King of Persia.  Nehemiah is told that they are going to tell the king that Nehemiah is planning a revolt.  What is interesting is that Nehemiah allows God to fight this battle as well.  Nehemiah responds with truth: “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them in your own mind.”  But then the next comment we hear is Nehemiah asking for God to protect him.  Once more Nehemiah is able to avoid the bait because he knows the extent of his authority.  He is content to let God fight the battle that is outside of his authority to fight – even though it involves him and his character!

The third attack against Nehemiah is a subtle and deadly attack from within upon his character.  Some of the religious leaders in Jerusalem attempt to get Nehemiah to enter into the temple.  They try to smooth-talk Nehemiah into going where he has no right to go!  He is no priest, he has no business being there!  Once more Nehemiah understands his authority.  Nehemiah has been given the authority to lead and rule over the Jews from a political perspective.  He is their governor.  But he is not a priest.  He has not been appointed by God to offer up sacrifices.  Because Nehemiah knows and understands his place, he understands his authority.  Because he understands his authority, he is once more able to sidestep the bait of the trap that had been laid for him.

Understanding our authority is crucial to living a successful life in obedience to God.  But obedience only comes when we are willing to have God in our Up position.  Want to live a life of obedience?  Get your identity and authority from God.

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Year 5, Day 52: Nehemiah 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Appetite

• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.

Appetite is a funny thing.  The more we have, the more we want.  Logic would tell us that if we have a craving and we get what we are craving then the craving should stop.  Here’s the problem.  Our beings are not logical.  When we have a craving and we get what we are craving, the feeling of satisfaction is such that we want it again and usually in greater quantities.

We have a profound illustration of this here in Nehemiah 5.  The Jews are less than 100 years free of exile.  Many can probably still remember leaving Babylon – or at least know someone who once was captive in Babylon.  You would think that they would remember how much they loathed captivity.

Yet, less than a century away from their national captivity we see the Jews enslaving one another.  We see rich people extorting the poor people with respect to paying interest.  We see families in a position where they have to sell their own land, good, animals, and even themselves in order to pay things like tributes and taxes.  The rich among the Jews are extorting the poor just because they can.

It was one thing for Babylon to come and conquer the Jews.  It is another thing for the Persians to inherit a captive population when they conquered Babylon.  But the Jews were doing it to themselves!  The Jews were making slaves of their own people just because they had an appetite for money, wealth, power, and prestige!

I find this a sad chapter today.  It makes me sad to see the depths to which we fall as human beings in the pursuit of our appetite.  It makes me sad to read a chapter that tells us that Nehemiah had to be so focused on stopping the internal issues of the Jewish people that we have no report of God’s work being done.  This is the problem with appetite and sin in general.  When we focus elsewhere, God’s work stops.

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Year 5, Day 51: Nehemiah 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: In, Up

• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.
• In: This is the word we use to express our relationships with our spiritual family.  These are often the people who hold us spiritually accountable.  They are the ones to whom we typically go for discussion and discernment.  These are the ones with whom we learn to share leadership.  They are the ones with whom we become family on mission.

This is a neat passage for us to see the challenges of ministry.  Anytime we intend to be obedient to God’s calling – that is, to go Out – we should expect resistance.  The typical human being around us will find it easier to criticize our efforts rather than join in the spirit of following God.  It is always easier to tear down someone else than to rise up to the personal challenge God is bringing to our own life through the example of others.  Thus, most people will tear down before they try to build up.

What do we do when we feel this external resistance – especially external critique?  First of all, we must make sure that we are getting our identity from the Father.  That is to say, we must be sure that we are worshipping and following God.    We must be sure that we are being obedient to His calling.  Because if our Up is in the right place, then we can absolutely know that God will give us the guidance and protection that we need for Him to do His will.

Second, we also need our In.  We need a group of people to help us discern.  We need people who can watch our back.  We need people who can pick us up when we are weak.  We need people who are there for us in our moments of doubt, attack, and confusion.  We need people who will come alongside of us when life is tough and walk that road with us.

This is the example that we see in Nehemiah today.  When persecution started, He talked to God.  Then he organized the people around him so that everyone worked with people who could help.  Nehemiah made sure that nobody was isolated in the work of God.  Nehemiah started with his Up and then made sure that everyone had an IN upon whom they could rely.

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Year 5, Day 50: Nehemiah 2 & 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Capacity

• Capacity asks whether or not the person has the time in their life to obey God.

As I do every day, before writing this post I went back and edited the theological commentary that I wrote 3 years ago.  This is the commentary to which I link at the beginning of each of these posts.  Today I was inspired by the story of Nehemiah and how he set his spiritual life into motion around him.  I was inspired by the applications of Nehemiah’s example to the realm of spiritual discipleship.

Look at what Nehemiah does in these chapters.  Nehemiah goes about his task in small order at first.  He examines the wall at night so that he won’t have to put up with the distractions of other opinions or curiosity that he would no doubt get during the day.  After he formed his own opinion he consulted the leaders around them to see what they thought.  Then he divided the task up into manageable portions that were not too daunting to accomplish.

So how am I going to apply this thought to the concept of capacity?  Well, the idea of capacity has much to do with time.  If Nehemiah had arrived and invited everyone to talk about how to rebuild the wall, the task would have been too daunting and nothing would have happened because everyone around him would have decided that they didn’t have the capacity – or the time – to accomplish everything that needed to happen.  But by going about the process in small and manageable steps, Nehemiah was able to keep the capacity angle manageable.  By keeping the capacity angle manageable, Nehemiah was able to get other people to invest in the construction and fruit was brought forth.  Not one of the people that Nehemiah invited into the plan refused Nehemiah because they didn’t have the time to do it.

I really think this has direct application to our life as disciples of Jesus.  If I get up every morning and say, “Today I am going to be the perfect follower of Christ that He desires me to be,” well, I’m going to give up before I ever try.  I don’t have the capacity – the time – to live up to that statement with all the other things in my day that need to get accomplished.  However, if I sit back and say, “I’m going to invest a few minutes here in God’s Word.  Then I’ll think about it throughout the day.  Maybe I’ll even try and talk to one person about what God is saying to me.  And while I’m at it, I’m going to find one person this day to whom I can show God’s love.”  No, that’s completely doable.  I can manage that during my day.  In fact, I can manage that most days before I even leave my house in the morning!  I do have the capacity to accomplish that list.

The truth is that if I have the capacity to accomplish that list then I will be inspired throughout the day to do even more.  By breaking up discipleship into small and manageable pieces, I can find that I do have the capacity to follow God and do what He asks of me.  The overarching task is daunting.  But the small daily pieces that make up that list are absolutely able to be accomplished.  We all do have the capacity to follow God on a daily basis if we think about it under the right perspective and plan as Nehemiah did.

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