Waiting for God

Zechariah 5 & Psalm 27

The Bible tells us that that the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. Let’s invite Him in to lead us today.

Holy Spirit teach us. Help us to understand, receive and walk in what You speak to us today. We love you and trust you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

We know that it is our hearts that our Abba Father desires. He wants us! I find it so beautiful one of the many ways that He seeks that engagement and intimacy with us is through revelation of what He is going to do or is doing. He reveals to us, draws us in to be part of it, and then brings it about. This process is so blatantly laid out for us in black and white in many of the prophets. He gives them a vision of some sort and then asks “what do you see?” He is training them, engaging them, creating intimacy, building trust and faith! I am so grateful that He has included these interactions for us to study!

I enjoy allowing these characters that we study come to life in my imagination. As we read these accounts, if we allow our minds eye to play them out in living color, it’s not just the Lord telling them what is happening … there is humor and chiding in them from time to time. That is what I envision in a portion of yesterdays reading, Chapter 4:13 “Then He inquired of me, “Don’t you know what these are?”, “No my Lord,” I replied … I can almost heard the tone of playfulness in it. Our Abba is a good, good Father!

And so in Zechariah 5, he receives a vision of a flying scroll, and the Lord asks, “What do you see?” Zechariah tells Him, and includes the details. The Lord then expands onto its intended message meaning.

I love that the Lord also allows Zechariah the freedom to explore the visions himself … vs 10, “Where are they taking the basket?” Allowing Zechariah to use his own mind and curiosity. Allowing him to ask the questions.

The time and priority that Zechariah gave to the Lord in order to receive these visions. He was a man, just like us. With busy lives and responsibilities. He didn’t just sit around and wait for the vision. But he did make the Lord his priority. He did stop when the Lord spoke and spent the time to listen and explore. He gave time to the engagement.

How amazing to just hang out with the Lord. To not be rushed. To not be so focused on requests, prayer needs, gotta get to this or that. But to just sit in what the Lord is speaking. To explore it and meditate on it. Just imagine to allow ourselves to fully absorb it. How amazing it is to not have our time with God be the icing on the cake, but to actually be the cake! To have Him be our reason and purpose of living here and now. Not to have other “responsibilities” and “real life” squish out our time with Him … but instead to have Him be the true purpose and everything else is the icing on top.

Can we intentionally sit just a little longer with our Savior? Can we linger just a little longer with our Abba Father? Can we read just “one more” paragraph with the Holy Spirit, “tell me one more story”! I encourage each of us, myself even more, to linger a little longer! Sit just a little longer! Absorb just one more story! Allow the depth of intimacy to grow.

Psalm 27:8, “My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.””

Oh how we love you Abba Father! How precious you are to us! Holy Spirit give us today the desire and discipline to linger with You! To cherish our moments with You and truly never want to leave! We love you Lord! We trust you Lord! Amen.

Psalm 27: 13-14, “I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord.”

Strength in Weakness

Zechariah 4 by pastor Sherry

Can you imagine having the responsibility of rebuilding the temple that was torn down in Jerusalem? The pressure on Zerubbabel must have been insurmountable. He knew the temple would be nothing like Solomon’s temple. It would be much smaller and lack the beauty and glory that they all once loved. Thank goodness he had great encouragers, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah gave him his moral and spiritual guidance to carry the project out during the rough times.

Do you have a project to carry out? Maybe to climb the ladder of success? How about trying to keep up with your bills or get a better job? Do you struggle with health issues and  need healing? Are you trying to beat an addiction? You may think you have to be tough in this world. To just move out in your strength, make up your mind, be rigid and hang tight  to survive in this world. One of the most powerful Scriptures are found in these verses. “Not by might not by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty. The most important is “by my Spirit.'

This is the key to accomplish anything in this life that is resilient. I failed at this miserably this week. I had to have an echocardiogram.

I layed on my back on the table with my mask on. I knew I was in trouble because I can’t keep the mask on long. So, I started concentrating on my breathing not a good idea. The lady was getting irritated with me telling me if I didn’t stop holding my breath she wouldn’t be able to get the right pictures and I would have to come back. I asked if I could lift the mask so I could breathe she said no because of Covid. I was claustrophobic at that point and called on the Lord. Too late, panic attack took over. At that point I was weak and distressed.

When the exiles came back from captivity they were quite weak, distressed and demoralized. They were also very poor. The one major thing they did have was God was with them. They had learned great lessons while they were in captivity. Many of the Jews that were older could remember Solomon’s temple with all its splendor. It was a bittersweet time remembering the old and moving on to the new.

How about you! Do you think bigger is better? Do you think being rich is better than being poor? Do you think strength is better than weakness? The way you answer these questions may be the reason you get so disheartened so easily, if you feel what you do is small and insignificant.

God thinks differently than we do. He rejoices in the truth and what is right and faithful. He is the one that takes our weakness and gives us strength.

In the beginning of this chapter, the vision of the gold lamp stand with a bowl and seven lights on it, is important to understand. Oil for lights was produced from crushed olives and was used in bowls with wicks. This gave them light. This vision represented a continual supply of oil and Gods power would be reflected through that light. Isn’t that light the very thing that flows through us when we are saved. We are enlightened, the light exposes all our darkness and shows us which path to take.

Thank you Jesus for your Light. Thank you Jesus for your Faithfulness. Thank you Jesus that when I am weak you give me strength. Thank you Jesus that we can let our light shine in this dark world. Thank you Jesus that you are always the same yesterday today and forever. I love you Jesus! And it is in your name the name of Jesus that I pray.........

Clean Cloths for Our Filthy Rags

Zechariah 3 / Psalm 25

By Melody Keena

October 17

Zechariah takes us into the Holy courtroom of heaven, in which Joshua is the defendant, God is the Judge, Satan (adversary of God’s people) is the prosecuting attorney, and Jesus Christ is the defense attorney.  Satan points out Joshua’s dirty cloths and insists that God punish him, thinking it an air tight case.  You see Joshua is God’s priest and is standing there to represent the nation of Israel that has just come out of captivity.  To "stand before the Lord" means to be in a place of service. Joshua is probably doing his best to serve and may not even know all the laws but Satan does.  Priests were commanded to keep themselves clean at all times, on penalty of death (Ex. 28:39-43; 30:17-21), Joshua's wearing filthy cloths would be a terrible embarrassment and broke God's law.  In addition, the Hebrew word translated "filthy" literally meant to be "excrement-covered."  This is how we come to God, filthy with sin and not fit for service in His Kingdom.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Isaiah 64:6)

Wait! Jesus the defense attorney makes His case.  First, He says to the angel take off his filthy cloths and give him fine brand new garments.  This is a picture of forgiveness, a gift from God. Then He says I have taken away your sins. Jesus is both our High Priest interceding for us and our advocate, representing us before God.  Jesus took His wounds with Him to heaven as eternal proof that He already paid the prize for our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Jesus had already chosen the people of Israel to represent Him to the world. (Rom. 8:33-34 Rom. 3:25). Second, comes the turban on his head so that he is fully rode and ready to serve.  The priest’s turban had a gold plate on it that read “HOLINESS TO THE LORD”.  We have no righteousness of our own but He makes us holy before Him so we can serve Him.

With cleansing and restoration comes responsibility to be obedient and to serve. No probation but instead to have a place of service among the angels that obey God’s every command. "God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10).  Then if that is not enough, an announcement of the coming Messiah.  Jesus is called the Branch more than once in the prophets and it mirrors His roles in the gospels.

• Branch of righteousness for David (Jer. 23:5; 33:15) —Matthew, Gospel of the King

• My servant the Branch (Isa. 11:1-2) —Mark, Gospel of the Servant

• The man whose name is the Branch (Zech. 6:12-13) —Luke, Gospel of the Son of Man

• The Branch of the Lord (Zech.4:2) —John, Gospel of the Son of God

Jesus is also the Stone. Messiah is the cornerstone (Ps. 118:22-23; Matt. 21:42; Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:7; see Zech. 10:4, NIV), a stone of stumbling (Isa. 8:14; 1 Peter 2:8; Rom. 9:32-33), the rejected stone (Ps. 118:22-23; Matt. 21:42), the smitten stone (Ex. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4), and the smiting stone (Dan. 2:34-35). Seven eyes refers to His omniscience. The stone is also engraved with “Lord Almighty” pointing to His divinity.  All of this tells us more about who He is and what He will do both in His first and second coming.

Finally, the key message is God did it (removed our sins) in a single day.  No waiting period, no penalty, no payment – it is done.  That is because Jesus finished the work of grace once and for all.  We just have to accept it. 

Then we can sit in peace and security, as the “under your own vine and fig tree” symbolizes.

It’s hard for us to Comprehend that God, has always had a plan,

His mercy is beyond our mind as to how He took sin from man.

God said, “ In one day it would happen, something man could not do himself,”

But Israel like us chose to ignore His word just pushing it back on a shelf.

God punished Judah through a fire of great trials,

He snatched them out in time just before they became a rubbish pile.

This chapter begins with the High Priest Joshua in a vision before the Lord,

With Satan at his right accusing him, as if he were the one that holds the sword.

Joshua was dressed in filthy rags, the Angel was told to take them away,

The Lord told Joshua sin no more , I have taken it and you didn’t have to pay.

Begin to walk in my ways, govern my house, take charge of my courts, always do what I say,

My mercy reins forever and I took your sin all in one day.

There are things to come I’ll send my “Branch” to remove the sin of the land,

Again this will happen all in one day, my Son will come and He will take His stand.

We can easily see that God has always had His plan,

We miss His mercy when we say in pride don’t need it, It is I that can.

There is nothing we can do to save ourselves, it’s all the Spirits job,

Nothing in your life will be lasting your destiny will be robbed.

Are you tired of trying and failing, feeling worthless and without a cause,

Take time on your knees it’s time to confess, you really need to pause.

The enemy will always say, a host of believable lies,

But if you give your life to Jesus, your view of yourself will surely die.

Then you can grow to fulfill God’s plan for your entire life,

His freedom, peace and patience will guide you, through any type of strife.

Most important!

To know the Savior in a personal way, we realize we serve a Risen King,

Then move out to tell others, that they all can have the same thing.

The moral today, no matter what happens, we have this promised hope,

That we can live this life with promises, He will never leave us alone to cope.

Poem By Sherry Nason