Regret Behind You....

 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear......So he came and took away His body.  Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came..... (John 19:38-39 NKJV)

 

     Nicodemus had a night time encounter with Jesus as depicted in John 3. Joseph of Arimathea had apparently become a secret follower of Jesus. This unlikely pair never was able to fully muster their spiritual courage and allow themselves to reveal the fullness of their faith until after Jesus died. Joseph petitioned Pilate for the right to bury the body of the Lord, and Nicodemous, a fellow Jew Joseph would have known from their service in the Sanhedrin at the Temple, brought burial accoutrements.

 

     As they performed the tender but morbid act of preparing Jesus' body for burial and placing it in the tomb, I wonder what they felt in their hearts. I don't think I am stretching the

biblically unmentioned very far to assume they had some regrets. Perhaps they regretted not boldly defending Jesus against the unfounded accusations of the Sanhedrin where they held sway. Maybe they regretted not be submitting to sitting under His teaching at the Temple, or perhaps they regretted time spent sitting quietly while their friends condemned Jesus as a heretic instead of confessing their growing thoughts of faith.

     Like the wealthy Joseph and scholarly Nicodemus, many of us have painful regrets of how we have failed to serve Jesus in our own lives. I'm sure these men weren't even aware in their grief that they were also fulfilling more of Isaiah's Messianic prophesy found in chapter 53 and verse 9a -- His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death.... Thoughts of what might of been, the If only I'd of the many times Jesus had been so close to them but they had ignored Him must have filtered through their minds.

 

     The grave Joseph gave Jesus was an expensive gift. It was the custom then that bodies be placed in tombs to decompose. Once all that remained was the skeletal structure, the bones were placed in an ossuary box marked with the person's name, and then left in the tomb. This tomb had been carved from solid stone and was an expensive gift -- especially for one that would only be used for its intended purpose for three days!

 

     Morbid reflection about time lost that could have better been used to serve the Lord is normal for us to experience as Christians, but it should quickly conclude as the fruit of faith replaces regret. For Joseph and Nicodemus, their grief blinded them to seeing that the cross that had brought such sorrow was very close to what they thought was a final burial spot, but was really the birthplace of resurrection. Isaiah saw that too a thousand years before it happened -- "Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth, And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.(Isaiah 54:4,5)

 

     J.A. Motyer wrote of this verse-- Shame . . . disgrace . . . humiliated represent three synonymous Hebrew verbs sharing the fundamental idea of disappointed hopes, the embarrassment of expecting - even publicly announcing - one thing and then reaping another. Joseph and Nicodemus were expecting one thing, burial and decay and got another, resurrection and glory.

 

     Do you mourn the life that might have been if your submission to God had come sooner, or been greater? Break free from the bindings of morbid reflection. End the funeral of your past life and embrace the power of resurrection. Bury the past, God has promised He no longer remembers it. No crop is harvested until it is ripe. God has gathered each of us at exactly the right time. Jesus' concern about the yesterdays of our lives is buried in the Grace of His forgiveness. After that, He is a God of today and tomorrow. We have to trust him for both.The remaining question for us is simple --

 

     What can we do today to serve Him in a way that leaves no accumulating regrets?

 

     Paul expressed it this way in Romans 12:1 -- I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

  

    

Copyright 2013 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com

 

It Takes Faith to Stop Hammering at the Rubble

"This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, 'Says the Lord of hosts. 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" ' " (Zechariah 4:6-7 NKJV)

   

   For many Christians, our personal foundation was built on human wisdom before we knew the Lord and studied His Word. As Americans our foundation stones often include self reliance, personal achievement, the value of accumulation, and freedom to accomplish whatever we want. Even for those raised in the church and steeped in the Word these secular notions and cultural influences have drifted quietly and corruptively into our hearts.

 

   In the biblical account reflected in the verses above, Zerubbabel faced the challenge of rebuilding the temple. In fact, the term the Lord spoke through His prophet Zechariah, "O Great Mountain" probably referred to the mountain of rubble that existed after the temple's destruction. Zerubbabel was what would today be called a community organizer. He had limited ability, resources and power to accomplish the daunting task before him, and he was hindered (as we often are) by self doubt and discouragement.

 

   The work of God often requires resources that exceed our abilities. When we reach the intersection of  the enormity of the task we face and the limitation of our abilities and feel our helplessness, we are faced with many options. We often choose to push on against insurmountable odds in our own power, producing frustration and exhaustion. In the work and way of the world we are taught to fight through these crossroads with sheer self will. But God's message is not one of human dominance, but rather utter dependence on Him. Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, 'Says the Lord of hosts...

 

   It is culturally counter intuitive to follow God's plan -- In order to win, you need to surrender -- but we can only win Kingdom victories when our hearts are fully reliant on the King. Great relief awaits us when we surrender the outcomes of our difficulties to the mighty hand of God, even in the face of critics and those who mock the Lord and His work.  Charles Spurgeon, an early mega church preacher, saw this clearly --

 

“O churches! take heed lest ye trust in yourselves; take heed lest ye say, ‘We are a respectable body,’ ‘We are a mighty number,’ ‘We are a potent people;’ take heed lest ye begin to glory in your own strength; for when that is done, ‘Ichabod’ shall be written on your walls and your glory shall depart from you. Remember, that he who was with us when we were but few, must be with us now we are many, or else we must fail; and he who strengthened us when we were but as ‘little in Israel,’ must be with us, now that we are like ‘the thousands of Manasseh,’ or else it is all over with us and our day is past.” (Spurgeon)

 

   Or consider David Guzik 's commentary on the  conclusion of this passage --  He shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”--

   This is God's assurance to Zerubbabel that not only will the work be finished, but Zerubbabel - he - shall finish it, setting the capstone and declaring that it was all a work of grace. When the work is done through human might or power we can take credit for it, but when the work is done by the continual supply of the Spirit, then it is all to the glory of God’s grace.(Guzik)

 

  Zerubbabel faced a literal mountain of rubble. We often face piles of relationship rubble, financial rubble, or the rubble that remains after sin is departed. Often we decide -- this is my mess, I have to clean it up. The Lord's plan is far simpler. Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit....

 

   So I'm thinking..... what rubble rocks am I am hammering by my own strength while the Lord looks on, thinking, My Spirit could move that entire mountain for you, Steve, if you'd only trust Me enough to let Me.

   It takes faith to stop hammering, and faith releases the awesome power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  
 

Copyright 2013 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be quoted in whole or in part without prior written permission if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com