Monday Reflection \u2013 May 18, 2020
Faithfully Following a Faithful God<\/p>\n\n\n
Lord, you gave your good spirit to instruct our ancestors. Nehemiah 9:20<\/p>\n\n\n
Following the completion of the walls around Jerusalem in record time, the people turn their focus to God who has been on the journey with them. They spend time in his word and respond in praise, confession and acts of love. They also celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. In today\u2019s chapter, they gather for a time of fasting where they confess their sins and that of their ancestors, read from the Book of the Law, and worship God. The seven Levites cry out with a loud voice declaring God\u2019s glorious name and recounting the gracious acts of God from the beginning of time. They also recall God\u2019s leadership of the Israelites for forty years through the wilderness and into the Promised Land against all sorts of enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n
The Levites anchor God\u2019s journey with his people on God\u2019s compassion. Such compassion is not just lingering about in small doses, but abounding in its nature and work. Notice how verse 19 says how the Lord \u2018in his great compassion, did not forsake them in the wilderness.\u2019 Indeed, God could easily have turned things against them. Yahweh could have moved the pillar of cloud so that it no long guided them during the day, or he could have simply shut down the special pillar of fire by night. The Lord continued to miraculously provide water and manna for that generation who did not trust him fully. Their clothes did not wear out; their feet didn\u2019t swell. It is amazing how God continued to work in their lives. We need to remember that God had greater plans in mind for he was guiding the new generation to trust him and follow his lead. Such guidance was both through God\u2019s marvellous work and his instructions to them.<\/p>\n\n\n
We all are beneficiaries of God\u2019s gracious acts in our lives as he summons us to follow him all the way. Many claim to be seeking God\u2019s will; however, more often than not we are seeking our will rather than his. Many times we have diminished his will to, \u2018Okay, I\u2019ll still go to church if you get me that good job or deliver me from this problem.\u2019 We need to step back and see God\u2019s great purposes for those who dare trust him.<\/p>\n\n\n
God still offers his gifts of grace to us even when we have left him to pursue the world. He is inviting us to return to him. This is not time to refuse God, but to return to him, the source of peace and joy. Many live off the hard work of the generations before us while we refuse God, adopt ungodly morals and do our own thing. Let\u2019s fix our hearts and eyes on God, receive his good spirit and faithfully follow his instructions. God desires to raise us up to accomplish his work.<\/p>\n\n\n
Jermaine Gibson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Monday Reflection \u2013 May 18, 2020 Faithfully Following a Faithful God Lord, you gave your good spirit to instruct our ancestors. Nehemiah 9:20 Following the completion of the walls around Jerusalem in record time, the people turn\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","watchword_topic":[10],"class_list":["post-189","watchword","type-watchword","status-publish","hentry","watchword_topic-leadership"],"yoast_head":"\n