Monday, June 23, 2014

Sunday School Lesson for June 22, 2014: Hope for a New Day (Nehemiah 7:1-7; Haggai 2:20-23; Zechariah 4 )


Esther 8:8
Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”


          Have you ever had an undertaking that seemed too large for you? Or, have you ever brought a task to completion, only to be unsatisfied with the results? This was Zerubbabel’s lot. The building of the Temple had begun in August of the preceding year. It was now March and the project was nearing completion. However, Zerubbabel wasn’t nearly satisfied with the results. The beauty in this week’s lesson is that God reveals to us His satisfaction and in doing so, encourages us in the same way that He encouraged Zerubabel. In spite of steady encouragement all along the way, this Temple, this rendition of the Temple just didn’t quite measure up. For one thing, God had expressly forbidden the Israelite to outsource the labor. Only Israelite hands and feet were to do the actual work. They could use whatever material resources were available, but the work had to be done by Israelites alone. Additionally, it still just did not look the same. It was a quarter of the size of the original and it just lacked the splendor and regal bearing of Solomon’s version. No, Zerubbablel wasn’t happy, but God was. Zerubbel came out of captivity as a Governor, not a King, but God’s esteem for him was as great as any of the major patriarchs of Scripture who had come before him. God called Zerubabel His signet ring, meaning that Zerubbabel literally had all of the authority of Heaven behind him.


Deuteronomy 30:9
Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors,


Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

         
God was delighted. He really was. In the rebuilding of the Temple, God demonstrated to the nations of that day and beyond that He would move on the hearts of His people to accomplish His purpose in the earth, even if were only a very few. God has never needed many. A faithful remnant has always been His preference. When we are weak, He is strong. His plan, from the beginning has always been a people who seek after Him with their whole heart, who would obey Him in all their ways. He’ll control the outcomes if we let Him.


Malachi 3:16
[ The Faithful Remnant ] Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.

          This message is so in line with where we live today with our individual responsibility to further the Gospel. What am I called to do and will it really matter? God is encouraging each one of us to not despise ‘the day of small things.’ Each one of us can do something to further the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth. If we will let God guide us by His Holy Spirit, nothing will be impossible for us. No gift to small, no task insignificant because… there is no living soul that God does not desire to reach. Not one.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.


          Beloved, embrace God’s will for your life. He delights in the small things you have to offer. You were made for a specific this time with a specific purpose. And the beautiful little secret is… God is delighted, really delighted when you find your place in Him. As it was with Zerubabel and the small remnant that he led out of captivity, so it is with each of us that have been delivered out of darkness and into the light through His marvelous Son, Jesus Christ. Let God use you..

Blessings,

.wb




Blessings..

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