THE CHRISTIAN WALK

Friday, April 21, 2017

REJUVENATED AND STRENGTHENED

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“I will strengthen Judah and save the tribes of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.”

“The Ephraimites will become like warriors, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the Lord. I will signal for them and gather them in. Surely I will redeem them; they will be as numerous as before. Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will return. I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them. They will pass through the sea of trouble; the surging sea will be subdued and all the depths of the Nile will dry up. Assyria’s pride will be brought down and Egypt’s scepter will pass away. I will strengthen them in the Lord and in His name they will live securely,”
declares the Lord.

Zechariah 10:6-12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Israelites had sinned against God badly, disrespecting and disregarding Him by disobediently worshiping false gods and idols. God had tried and tried to get His people’s attention by way of warnings sent through prophets but the people just ignored those warnings. It was as if they were daring God to take action, challenging Him to do what He threatened to do.

And so God had no other choice. He sent harsh judgment on His people, rejecting them before evicting them from the land He had given and sending them into seventy years of harsh captivity in a foreign land. If the Israelites wanted to abandon God, then they would find out how abandonment felt, living in exile without Him.

Thank goodness it didn’t last forever.

For if you recall, this Book of Zechariah, the next to the last book in the Old Testament, is set in the time after the exile, the time when things got better for the Israelites as God put events in motion that resulted in them being restored back to their homeland.

The Persians defeated the Babylonians and assumed their empire.

God placed it on the heart of the Persian’s ruler, King Cyrus, to allow a remnant of Israelites to return home to rebuild their nation, their homes, God’s temple, and their relationship with Him (2 Chronicles 36:22-23).

The Israelites returned in three distinct waves, the first of which we find covered in Zechariah. This remnant returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel, who became the new governor of Judah. The second and third waves would come under Ezra and Nehemiah respectively, and as you probably know, each of them has books of the Bible named after them as well. I highly recommend reading them to get a good feel for how the Israelites changed after their captivity once they returned home.

Well, as we turn to our scripture passage from the closing verses of Chapter 10, we find the Lord vowing to help His people now that they had returned, having paid the penalty for their transgressions. Look again at these words here:

Note here that the Lord did not intend to beat His people down forever. They sinned against Him. He sent consequences in response. But now He was ready to restore them out of His deep compassion, rejuvenating and strengthening them as they pieced their lives back together.

Indeed, the Lord promised He would bring His people back to the place they were before He rejected them. After all, He had shown over and over again across the history of the Israelites that He was a God of redemption and mercy. The post-Babylonian captivity Israelites were simply the latest exhibit of that truth.

So what would this renewal and empowerment look like?

God painted this picture with a focus on the people of the northern kingdom:

1. The Ephraimites would become like warriors, their hearts full of gladness. This gladness would spill over to their children who would be joyful, their hearts rejoicing in the Lord.

2. These Ephraimites were gathered in from all the places God had scattered them after the northern kingdom fell at the hands of the Assyrians, a fall that preceded the fall of Judah to Babylon.

Where were the Ephraimites scattered?

The scriptures tell us they were dispersed to Egypt and Assyria but now they would inhabit Gilead and Lebanon where they would flourish and multiply while living in the strength and security of God. As for their captors, they would end up experiencing God’s judgment as the Lord vowed to bring down Assyria’s pride and cause Egypt’s scepter to pass away.

Friends, what we see here is a snapshot of how God operates, how He operated in the days of Zechariah and how He still operates today.

For our Lord is a Lord of correction, a Lord who will never tolerate the sins of His people and will send discipline whenever it’s warranted.

But conversely, our Lord is not a Lord who condemns us forever. He is a Lord who forgives and restores out of compassion for His people, a Lord who redeems, rejuvenates, and strengthens those who He returns to His good graces and favor.

It’s a great balance God strikes but we would be well served to not test His judgment side and instead always seek to be obedient to His word, will, and way. For it’s far better to revel in the bounty of His blessings than to languish in the throes of His consequences.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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Thursday, April 20, 2017

THE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“From Judah will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler. Together they will be like warriors in battle trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets. They will fight because the Lord is with them, and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.”

Zechariah 10:4-5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Here’s a statement that will forever prove true:

In Jesus, we have everything we could ever hope for, all we could ever need.

Why do I say this?

Well, go back to what Jesus said Himself:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

In other words, Jesus is the source of everything.

If one wants to know the way, then they turn to Jesus who is the way.

If one wants to know the truth, then they turn to Jesus who is truth.

If one wants to know how to live, then they turn to Jesus who is the life.

And if one wants to live with God forever, then they turn to Jesus, the only One through which they can have eternal life with God.

Indeed, Jesus is one stop shopping for all our necessities. There is nothing we can’t find in Him.

With all this in mind, let’s now turn our attention to a scripture passage from the Old Testament where we find God telling His people about Jesus, using different words and analogies that result in the same overall message. Look again at these words here:

Here we find yet another Messianic reference to Christ’s coming and note the imagery God uses to talk about His Son, comparing Him to the following:

1. A cornerstone.

Look in the dictionary and you’ll find this definition of the word “cornerstone”:

An important quality or feature on which a particular thing depends or is based.

Now apply this to Jesus and ask yourself these questions:

Isn’t Jesus the one person that all mankind can depend on, the one person who is perfectly reliable and trustworthy?

and

Isn’t the salvation of all mankind based on Jesus and His death and resurrection?

God promised to send His Son, the cornerstone, out of Judah and we know that this is what happened. He was, is, and will always be the foundation mankind is to build upon.

2. A tent peg.

What purpose does a tent peg serve?

Doesn’t it anchor the tent into the ground to keep it from collapsing or flying away in the wind?

Now ask yourself if Jesus isn’t the One who anchors everything in place for anyone who would choose to put their faith in Him.

I know He is for me.

3. A battle bow.

A battle bow is a symbol of strong defense and protection. Jesus brings this to all who believe in Him and remember this:

He has already conquered sin, death, and the grave.

Can He not conquer anything else we might come up against?

4. A ruler.

Judah would produce rulers but none of them would rival Jesus who was not only the King of the Jews but the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. Here’s what He told us about the authority God gave Him:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” Matthew 28:18

Did you catch that?

God didn’t just give Jesus some authority. He gave Him ALL authority in heaven and on earth. All.

In other words, God put Jesus in charge of everything.

So in sum, in Jesus we have the One all people depend and are based on. He is the One who keeps people anchored and firm. He is the One who provides us perfect protection and defense. And He is the One who has been given all power over creation.

In other words, there isn’t anything we don’t find in Jesus for He is the source of everything.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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Wednesday, April 19, 2017

FAILED SHEPHERDS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.”

“My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for His flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle.”

Zechariah 10:2-3

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

From the very beginning, God has shown a desire to have His people led and cared for. Over and over again, we see how He appointed leaders who were given the responsibility of shepherding the Israelites.

There was only one problem.

None of those shepherds were able to do the job properly and many of them down right failed God’s people and Him in the process, something that garnered God’s anger as we continue to look at the opening verses of Zechariah 10:

“The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.”

“My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for His flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle.” Zechariah 10:2-3

You see, the shepherds were supposed to lead the Israelites away from danger and peril just as a shepherd protects his flock but as we see, that wasn’t happening. The people of God were drawn into worshiping pagan gods and idols, listening to diviners who spoke falsehood through their visions and dreams. These wicked messengers were doing nothing but leading the Israelites down the path of God’s judgment. Death and ruin were in their future, all because the shepherds had not done their jobs.

And so God railed against these failed shepherds, His anger burning against them. We see where He promised punishment because of their ineptitude in caring for His flock, a flock that He deeply loved and cared for.

Well, it ends there, right?

At least in Zechariah it does but God wasn’t finished, not by a long shot. For as we see in this passage from the Gospel of John, God had a new Shepherd (capital “s”) in mind for His people, a Shepherd who would never fail.

“I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.”

“I am the good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me—just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” John 10:11-16

Of course, these are the words of Jesus, God’s only Son who He sent to be the good Shepherd of His people. Note the following promises associated with the good Shepherd:

1. He would lay down His life for His sheep.

“The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

“I am the good Shepherd…and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

A true shepherd would do anything for their flock, even putting themselves at risk to save a sheep.

Jesus was the perfect Shepherd and as we know having just observed Easter, He in fact laid down His life for the sheep, whether they were in His flock or not. More on that in a few.

Compare and contrast that to a mere hired hand who cared more for himself than the sheep. He was really only in it for the pay so when any peril would come, he would flee and leave the sheep to fend for themselves.

Aren’t you glad that God chose to not leave us in the hands of a hired hand?

2. He has a special relationship with His sheep.

“I know My sheep and My sheep know Me—just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father.”

Think about the close intimate relationship Jesus had with God, His Father. He is saying here that His relationship with His sheep is just as close, that He knows His sheep like He knows His Father.

What a comfort it is in knowing we are loved and cared for like that!

3. He is the Shepherd for all sheep, even sheep who are not currently in His flock.

“I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

Here, Jesus is talking about those who have chosen to not be a part of His flock, the non-believers who roam astray and unprotected. Note that Jesus, the good Shepherd, is not turning away from these sheep. No, He sees it as His responsibility to bring those sheep into the fold as well.

In other words, He is always seeking to receive new sheep into His flock, sheep who will listen to His voice just as the other sheep have. Ultimately, the good Shepherd Jesus hopes and prays that there will only be one flock someday under one Shepherd, Him.

Given all this, if you are a Christian today, give thanks for being in the flock of the good Shepherd and the care He brings.

If you’re not yet received Jesus as your Savior, know the gate to the sheep pen is wide open for you to enter in. All you need to do is commit yourself to the care of the good Shepherd who has already laid down His life to save you.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

THE GIVER OF RAIN

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.”

Zechariah 10:1

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I don’t know about you but I simply love spring. I love everything about it, except maybe the pollen that covers my car and terrorizes those who suffer from allergies.

It’s spring that brings us out of the literal dead of winter where everything seems to be laid bare and ushers in signs of life all around us, from the leaves on the trees to the flowers sprouting from the ground to the grass growing green again in our yards.

And with this, don’t think for a minute that it’s a coincidence that our blessed Easter holiday falls in the season of winter as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection to new life, emerging from the confines of the tomb after dying on Calvary’s cross.

Why the focus on springtime?

Because as we see, it’s at the center of the opening verse of Zechariah 10 as we’re reminded who the true source of life is, spring or otherwise. Look again at these words:

“Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.” Zechariah 10:1

Note that the Lord is the source and wellspring of life, the One who sends the nourishing rains needed for all the aforementioned blossoming to occur. It is He, the Lord, who showers His people and everything else in creation and we need to look no further than Him for the cause of all weather events to include thunderstorms. After all, He is the Maker of all things.

So why all this talk about rain in this book filled with prophecy?

Because the Israelites needed a reminder. Let me explain.

Before God gave the Israelites custody of Canaan, they were a nomadic people, constantly on the move from point to point after being delivered from the clutches of Pharaoh in Egypt. You’ll recall their first exodus lasted forty days but with entry into Canaan before them, the Israelites got cold feet after ten of twelve spies sent to scout the land came back with a negative report regarding the opposition ahead. As punishment for not trusting Him to deliver them into the land He was granting, God sent His people back into the wilderness, this time for forty years, a year for each day they had traveled before.

After those forty years, the Israelites did go into Canaan under the leadership of Joshua with each tribe assuming the portion of land allotted to them. The people within those tribes settled down for the first time in a long time, establishing homes for themselves and planting crops for sustenance. Thus, the harvest became something of great importance to the Israelite people.

Enter the pagan god Baal onto this landscape for the Israelites were not living within Canaan alone. They were supposed to be but they weren’t because they were disobedient to God’s command to drive out all the people who were inside the nation when they took over. Those people who were allowed to remain worshiped false gods and before you know it, the Israelites were being adversely influences by those practices which included worshiping Baal, the god of fertility. It was one of the things that drew God’s anger and led to Him punishing the Israelites with seventy years of exile, an exile that had just ended with God restoring His people to their nation.

This is why God felt it important to remind His people that He was the God who sustained life and provided for His people. He was the Giver of rain, not some lifeless idol or non-existent deity. It was true in Zechariah’s day and it remains true today.

Indeed, God brings the rain, literally but also figuratively. And that rain can be good and bad (Matthew 5:45).

For example, go back to Sodom and Gomorrah for a perfect example of how God’s rain can be bad. These two cities had become so wicked in God’s sight that He wiped them both out.

How?

By raining down burning sulfur from the heavens.

I think you’ll agree that this wasn’t rain that was life giving; rather, it was rain that was life ending.

In other words, as we look at God as the Giver of rain, we need to know that He can rain down judgment on us if we choose to be sinful in His sight.

Conversely, God can shower His people with blessings as well when they choose to live in a way pleasing in His sight, following His will and way in a quest for righteousness. For He rewards those who live in obedience to Him, serving Him and Him alone while serving others through Him.

In the end translation, God grants life but He also can take life away for He is the almighty Giver of rain whether in judgment or blessing.

How will He rain down on you in your life today?

It’s a question every person needs to carefully ponder.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com