Ephesians

is the next book. Enjoy:)

Prayer...

I have read through it and the things that most stand out to me are the prayers of Nehemiah.They are so intimate personal and ask God to remember His words/promises. Theprayers remind me that I should have this time spent with Christ as a defining characteristic; but also, like any conversation, I should know what my Heavenly Father has said concerning me. Too often I fail. I make my words many, repetitions, and sadly, I forget I should be listening at all. I tend not to wrestle with God over the welfare of others. I fail to see the Joy and privilege prayer should be.

God's Word Held High

I read the first 6 chapters of Nehemiah and felt like God was beginning to speak to me about in the area of commitment and perseverance in the work that he has for me. I was actually looking for sermons on Nehemiah and couldn't find anything!! So I went to this church last night in Houston and what do you know, the pastor is giving his message out of Nehemiah 8!

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

The pastors main point was that the people were attentive (they stood up), expressive (they lifted their hands), and they were reverent (they bowed down low). He said that sometimes the Word can become to us like that piano we have in our house that no one really knows how to play but we walk by it every day. Every once in a while we go dink around on it and play chopsticks but we never practice regularly enough to play anything beautiful. He asked the question, "Are we going to be satisfied with playing chopsticks for the rest of our lives when God wants to teach us play a symphony? His final point was that the Word of God must be held high and his people bowed low which is the picture of the people before the Word of God in Nehemiah.

Hearing this message really completed what God had been trying to speak to me and I think to all of us doing this study. I could care less whether we're posting on here everyday. I just want the picture of the people in Nehemiah 8 to be true of us as we do this study. I need to quit getting distracted by the stupid things of the world and of Christian culture that are so comforting to me and begin lifting the Word of God high in my life. There's no excuse for me not reading Isaiah in the past two months. There's no excuse for me not to be constantly in the Word every day. My priorities need to be eternal and I know that the Word of the Lord stands forever!

Nehemiah

Gus chose Nehemiah as the next book. Just wanted to let everyone know. It's only 13 chapters so let's try to get some good studying in it. I know I haven't been as diligent in some of the others book but am looking forward to this one!

Isaiah...

I was continually blown away by how Passionate our God is in puruit of those He loves. It is easy to see the judgement against His people for inactivity...or wrong activities. I started underlining every time "but the LORD has caused...", "So that you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior", etc. I thought it quite repetitive, but then I realized how many times I have had to be reminded that He is each day...especially recently. Thank you Seamas. Good pick.

SevenYears

I think this might actually work... still not as techno-savvy as I pretend to be, apparently.

So, Isaiah. Staggering. I've been drawn to it over the past few weeks as we've been working through the Advent liturgy at church, and as I've been listening to Handel's Messiah in a failed attempt to get into the Christmas spirit (whatever that is). It's a pretty amazing text, and I find that I'm really enjoying reading large chunks of it at once. You really get a feel for the epic, sweeping quality of the oracles, and in certain spots you get to see the incredible, proactive, pursuing compassion of God for His people, and in the next moment, His hurt, frustration, and anger as they turn from him. A beautiful portrait of the character of God, and an insightful glimpse into the kind of things that he is worried about.

I've spent a lot of time in the past year thinking about Christian social action, and re-reading Isaiah with that new set of eyes brings out stuff in the text that I hadn't focused on in the past. It starts early - think about the number of times in Chapter 1 where God focuses on Israel's evil treatment of orphans and widows as one of the sins that makes their offerings detestable to Him. Someone mentioned a dissatisfaction with the American church because of their/our 'buddy Jesus' mentality - and I agree. Personally, I am also dissatisfied with their/our limited focus on certain specific sins, (especially those that have to do with personal piety and sexual morality) while largely ignoring others. It is a sin to ignore the pleas of the widows and orphans, just as much as it is a sin to lust after a woman who is not your wife. I've spent a lot of my Christian life fretting about the one, while basically ignoring the other. I like Isaiah because it helps me develop a Biblical picture of true righteousness, instead of an over-whelmingly culturally conditioned one.

Also, and this is one of the many benefits of jumping back and forth between New Testament and Old, you have Paul's use of many of Isaiah's quotes in Romans fresh in your mind. Now we get to see them in their original context, which can expand our understanding of why Paul chose them, and what that means for us as Christians. The one I'm thinking of is early - ch1, vs 9. Paul quotes it in Romans 9. Pretty intense stuff, not easy to understand. But for the thinking Christian, something that needs to be looked in the eye and dealt with. What does this actually mean? How does it apply to Israel, and to us? Difficult, but exciting to think about.

Just a few initial thoughts.

Also, my computer at work now allows me to access blogspot.com stuff, where it didn't before. So I will have much more frequent access to the site.

Peace in Jesus,
Seamas

Isaiah

So I talked to Seamas and he picked Isaiah for the next book. Sorry for the late notice. I am a little intimidated by Isaiah to be honest and if you feel the same I would recommend hitting up some outside souces in conjunction with the reading like sermons and websites or something. Love you guys and hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy Everything!!