WORKING WITH GOD!

 

LABOR DAY

Monday, September 7, 2026

 

WORKING WITH GOD!

 

Ps 127:1

127 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

 

          This psalm is likely to have been written for the building of the second temple under Nehemiah. You may recall that Nehemiah had many challenges and opposition to his building efforts. First there was, as he said, “much rubbish” (Nehemiah 4:10). The walls of the city had been broken down, and the gates were burned with fire. Later, after his initial success, there was Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite. It grieved them exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel (Neh 2:10).

 

          Solomon warned that any work done without God’s blessing and cooperation is doomed to failure and ruin. Jesus, in John 6, warned against working only for things (meat) that will perish. He suggested working for those things that are eternal. This indicates a God-focused labor.

 

          Today, when labor is curtailed, let us renew our understanding of and commitment to God-focused labor.

 

 Col 3:17

17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

 

Lord, we pause today to remember that the success of all our labor is dependent upon you. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands. AMEN

 

PLEASE TELL ME AGAIN!

 

Saturday, September 5, 2026

 

PLEASE TELL ME AGAIN!

Ps 119:33-38

33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.

34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.

37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

38 Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.

 

          We are emotionally forgetful! We constantly require reassurance regarding our relationships. A marriage soon falls into disrepair if either party fails to reassure the other of their love and devotion. So, it is with our relationship with God. We are always asking God to tell us again how much He loves us.

 

          We are functionally confused! We need constant instruction and practice to become proficient at doing the will of God. The text this morning is clear when it gives voice to our heart. “Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord.” God keeps Himself invisible and He is non-verbal, so we are constantly needing to be told over and over again by reading His Word. Moreover, modern circumstances do not always fit comfortably into Bible language.

 

          We are directionally challenged! We are like sheep who go astray and soon lose sight of the proper path. Without the Shepherd’s rod, staff and voice we become lost. We require constant contact and correction.

 

          We are stubborn and self-reliant! We need to be taught that the best plan is always His plan. We have some wonderful ideas and schemes, but they may not be His plans. We need to be reminded repeatedly.

 

Dear Lord, please tell me again how much you love me. Sometimes I forget. Please tell me that everything will be alright. My circumstances keep trying to make you a liar. Please show me the right way. All my ideas seem stale and doomed to failure. Please, Lord, tell me again. AMEN

 

LET’S BUILD A PASTOR!

 

Friday, September 4, 2026

 

LET’S BUILD A PASTOR!

 

John 10:1-3

10 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

 

          The Teddy Bear was invented in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt. While on a bear hunt near Onward, Mississippi, Roosevelt’s aid cornered a bear, but the President refused to shoot it. “Teddy’s Bear” was modeled after a political cartoon by Clifford Berryman on November 16, 1902. Now you can design your very own Teddy bear at a company called Build-A-Bear, but “Build-A-Preacher” has not been as successful.

 

          My shepherd friends and I dream of a huge flock of adoring and applauding sheep. We dream of huge facilities manned by an army of loyal hirelings who perform every function except the weekly public sermon. But it is all a dream and not the model for the New Testament church.

 

          The New Testament model is that of Jesus sitting on a well’s edge talking to a tainted and tortured woman who had come for water. It is Paul at the riverside talking to a lady who had come to dye fabric. It is a slow but exponential growth that requires patience and intimacy in shepherding.

 

          Jesus is the model for shepherding. He is the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep. The shepherd knows his sheep by name because he has been with them in birthing, untangled them from the briars, or pulled them from the mouths of beasts. He wears the dew of morning and feels the heat of noonday. He smells like sheep.

 

 Jer 23:4

4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.

 

Oh, great Shepherd of my soul, thank you for your leading, feeding and love. AMEN