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After I got up and dressed I settled into my chair for my morning time with God. I always try to avoid allowing my devotions to get too much into a rut. My Dad got so much into a routine with “worship” that it seemed to me that the routine had become far more important than God Himself – maybe even a god itself. I do not say this to be critical, but it has been a lesson of warning for me. So even though I do have a routine that I generally follow, two devotional books and an organized sequence of Bible study, I try to always remember that everything I read is primarily for the purpose of listening with an open heart and emotions to catch what God may want to share with me through what I read. I try to stay alert for impressions inside of me. I take careful note especially of emotion words and descriptions in what I am reading so I can better understand the sense of what people were feeling and especially what God is feeling. This has greatly enhanced my devotions and is helping me to better synchronize my heart with His heart which is what I pray for every day.
I want an experience with God that is far beyond a mere intellectually correct understanding of “truth”, though that is a good structure. I want to experience the beauty and passion of God in the context of truth – I want the best of both and I believe that's what God wants for all of us. Doctrinal truth is like the bones inside our bodies. It is crucial to have all the bones in the right place and in healthy condition. But if that is all you are interested in you will have a spiritual condition that may more resemble a scary Halloween party than a love affair with the ultimate Lover.
This morning I listened for what God might have to say. It is like Him to answer this kind of prayer after He puts the hunger for Him inside my heart early in the day. So I listened and read and dealt with the mental distractions and diversions and brought my mind back to pay attention to what I had missed while reading without concentration. Then I opened to Nehemiah where I had left off yesterday and began reading chapter eight.
This is the story of Israel after they had returned from captivity in Babylon. Ezra and Nehemiah and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah had been working hard to encourage the people and retrain them in the ways of God. There was a lot of problems going on, not only in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (which I found strong parallels to rebuilding the walls around our families in blessing and holiness), but there was a lot of abuse and major spiritual problems going on. The rulers and the rich were exploiting the rest of the people (sounds very familiar) and a lot of arrogance and hypocrisy was evident. At the same time there was a hunger for returning to God and a life more in harmony with Him so they would not have to suffer the terrible consequences that they had just come out of for the sins of their ancestors.
Chapter eight tells about a large gathering of all the people soon after the walls had been rebuilt and they were feeling a bit more secure. It says that “ all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel.” This looks like an interesting event. Something compelling is going on here. There seems to be an undercurrent of strong desire that resonates with what I am feeling this morning.
The next ten verses paint an emotional picture of people very hungry for God and very involved and emotionally connected in their worship. “Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the LORD the great God. And all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.”
Wow! I wish I could participate in a powerful worship experience like that. I believe I will sometime somewhere when the time is ripe.
Then I read something that really grabbed my attention. It lists a number of men – Levites – who it says “explained the law to the people while the people remained in their place. They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.” This is exciting to me. This is the kind of thing that we need today. We need Levite-type people who can read, translate and make sense of what God is really trying to say to us. I realize we have an over-abundance of preachers and writers claiming to do just that, and some of them actually do. But I found this fascinating taking place in real-time in an assembly where people are gathered specifically to discover God for themselves. And I believe there is a big difference between explaining and making sense of the Word of God like I have experienced in inductive Bible studies, and those who want to pre-digest the Word and then insist that their interpretation is the voice of God and you must agree with them completely. The first is a real heart-sharing and opening experience and the second is no more than dogmatism.
But the real bombshell exploded my emotions open when I read the effect that this experience had on all these hungry people soaking up the Word and presence of God. For whatever reason it says that “all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law.” What was really interesting was the response to this situation. The leaders led by God's Spirit pointed out that this day was “holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.”
“Then he said to them, 'Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.'
So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, 'Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.'
All the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been made known to them.”
The Lord spoke to my heart and melted it this morning. I was overwhelmed that He is the kind of God that would lift up the chin of someone who was weeping, like I am when I read these words myself, and say, “There is more than what you thought! Don't just be sad in your repentance. Go past that and celebrate the incredible goodness of God to you. Celebrate by indulging in the blessings God has given you and by sharing those blessing with those who don't have them yet. When you get this close to God, when you encounter the real holiness of God, instead of fear I want you unleash your heart in celebration, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
Thank-you God so much for that blessing, that affirmation that you primed me for this morning. I feel rich just because you honor me with personal revelations of Yourself like this. I feel grief much of the time because I am so unlike You and feel so stuck in my stuff. But you are telling me something very different here than what I expect you to say to me. Please help me to live more fully from my heart free of the suffocating inhibitions that have held me in lies about you all my life. You have lured me to Your heart for years, inviting me to live with abandon in the safety of your love. I give you permission to continue what You are doing inside me. Now its time to go eat some fat and drink some sweet and send gifts to someone who has nothing prepared, who doesn't realize the truth about Your goodness and is still living in terror of You. O God, make my life a better celebration for Your glory.
