NEHEMIAH 5:14 - 7:60
FEAR OF GOD: It's a good governor, and holds us accountable to God, and it pretty much keeps us from offending the Holy Spirit. The "fear of God" tells us not to demand our rights, but to be led by love.
ENEMY TACTICS TO WEAR OUT THE SAINTS: (Dan 7:25) The most troublesome enemy we have is our own carnal mind. These attacks come from inside my own head and heart. (1) Offers of compromise through negotiations. We think we can co-exist with just a little evil. So we allow the leaven to sit there without dealing with it. (2) Insinuations regarding our motives: "What does Nehemiah get out of this?" (3) Fear and intimidation that isolates us and makes us feel too small, too weak, too unimportant for God to "fix". This fear can make us sin through self-interest. Then we would really be in trouble!
BELIEVER TACTICS TO KEEP ME MOVING FORWARD: We have inner strength and discernment, based on our relationship with God. He gives us a sense of belonging and worth. The Holy Spirit keeps us on the right path, and empowers us to say, "no". And in our character development, the Holy Spirit and the Word are working in us to give us integrity and credibility, so we aren't so vulnerable. Our success is attributed to character, confidence in God, and the courage of faith.
IS YOUR NAME IN THE BOOK OF LIFE? Nehemiah took the census to determine the purity of those who would repopulate the City. Are you fit for the Kingdom of God? Some were actually dismissed from the priesthood as impure! (Matt 8:10-12)
RESPONSE: If I looked at myself and my circumstances, I might think that I will never be able to just get some rest, or that I can never do what I want. My responsibilities keep me almost homebound! BUT, I have "inner strength and discernment" because God's Presence is in me, with me, and around me. I can feel God's pleasure in me as I care for my elderly mother and take care of my family and home. There is NOTHING that feels as good as God's approval. Ask Nehemiah. He felt "the hand of God upon him". It changed everything.
1 CORINTHIANS 8:1-13
MATURE SPIRITUALITY AND FREEDOM: The NT defines "freedom" as "liberty", or "release from human frailties". This means I don't HAVE TO do anything. But I GET TO, because I am not limited by my flesh telling me, "I can't" or "I don't want to". We also know, that as Christians, we can have, own, eat, play, etc. anything we want to. But, the mature spiritual man knows that when we don't have God's explicit okay, we could be sinning. When we cause an immature convert to sin, we are sinning. Spiritual maturity is not about privilege, but about responsibility. What you know is not as important as what you love. Wounding an immature convert inflicts pain on and sins against Jesus Christ. Anything that draws us from being faithful to God, is a snare and should be avoided. That goes for seasoned Christians and new, immature believers as well. YES, I AM MY BROTHER'S KEEPER!!! YES, I live to please God, and pleasing God means not offending "the least of these, My brethren..." It is not "what would make me feel good?" BUT, "What would please God and help the young believers?"
KNOWLEDGE THAT "PUFFS UP": Knowledge that is only in our heads , without love in our hearts, produces presumption. It isn't real knowledge at all, because it isn't mature knowledge of how things work in the spirit realms. But when we LOVE God, then we have access to real knowledge that BUILDS UP instead of MERELY INFLATING (filling you with hot air). "THEREFORE": our DECISIONS about what we are "free to do" is not determined on common knowledge, but on real knowledge that comes from loving God. And here is where the difference comes: immature believers don't have the same depth of spiritual knowledge as the old, seasoned believers. Love obligates us to submit and serve, to edify and strengthen - not to criticize or talk about our "rights". LOVE LIMITS PERSONAL FREEDOM.
RESPONSE: I am a "survivor" of the 60's. My generation thought we had the freedom to do whatever we wanted to, and now it's even "politically incorrect" to criticize me or hold it against me if you don't agree with what I'm doing! The truth is, God wants us to use our freedom to INFLUENCE others with the Kingdom of God, with the atmosphere of His Presence. We can't do that if we are being critical of their "hang-ups". Our freedom is not so that we can do whatever we WANT to. Our freedom is from the flesh, from sin, and from the devil. That means I am free to do what is helpful, what is needful, what is the kind, God-pleasing thing to do, because my flesh can't stop me, and the devil can't either.
PSALM 33:1-11
WHAT IS "A NEW SONG"? A "new song" is for a "new thing" - a new place in God because of new revelation we have received. God wants us to KNOW HIM IN CONTEXT. He wants to be the center of our lives. When we go through things, we get victory when we praise and thank God "in everything" (1 Thess 5:18). As we go through situations with praise and thanks in our mouths, we release the Presence of God into our circumstances and learn a "new thing" about the God Who is with us. As we turn another corner with Him, we sing "a new song". We can ALWAYS KNOW: that God created everything from nothing, and therefore He needs nothing outside of Himself. That all things are sustained by God's power. And, any plan or "counsel", purpose or device, that conflicts with "God's will" will be subordinated to God's plan, or broken and annulled. A contrary plan or purpose cannot be forced if God said, "no". PROVERBS 21:8-10
Sin and wrongdoing make you paranoid. You have to "watch your back".
Exposure to wind, rain, snow, hail, hot sun, anything is better than a bitter, scolding wife. A bad man's love of evil outweighs his concern for anyone but himself.
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