Tag: Zechariah 4

Posted in Bible Journaling, Christian Service, Life Inspiration

There it is, And it’s how I feel

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion Leave a Comment on There it is, And it’s how I feel

Today is a gloomy Gus kind of day outside my window. Spring rains are in the day and I noted in my mind that there is a difference between a spring rain and a winter rain. While obviously the temperature difference is much easier on my arthritic bones, but the spring rain hydrates the land and suddenly overnight the trees are out and the flowers are blooming. I need my spirit to fall in line, it’s still in the winter mode.

I have projects that need done and a house that needs cleaning and repairs and all I want to do is set and space out which is not healthy for my mind set in so many ways! And it’s surely not healthy for the things that need done. So this morning I pushed past it and turned to another book in my reading through the Bible, the book of Zechariah.

One of the minor prophets who always have a major word.

Zechariah 4:6-10

6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

His Spirit Not mine

Trying to do things in my own always leads to trouble, but I do it none the less. While I need to focus on my personal ministry work I have the collective work of the church on my heart as well. Which Zechariah spoke directly to this morning.

Chapter 4 begins speaking of a candlestick which represents the church. We are supposed to be a light to the world, but we seem more to be a flashlight under the bed looking for our lost socks. Wow… where did that analogy come from?

But there it is and its how I feel. There’s always something we’re looking to do and finish, like the other sock that never gets found. And rather than making progress, we’re looking for the lost sock while the laundry is stacking up and there’s plenty of other stuff to do, but the sock is important.

His Mountain, Not Mine

7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

Truthfully right now I don’t have a mountain of laundry, I have only a couple of loads, but what I have is a mountain of mayhem going through my brain. Bills that need paid, things that need done, people that need visited,  blogs that need written, lessons that need prepared, songs that need sung… each one of them seems to be a missing sock. I just can’t get it together. I need God to flatten this mess out. 

Grace, grace unto it!!! Please Jesus.

His Mercy, My Message

Have you ever been told, or told your children (probably both) “I’m going to straighten you out!”

Well, that’s what I feel like God needs to do to me. I’m out of line.

8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.

10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

The plummet was used to make sure everything was in line in the building of the house of God. Now, how that plays into the missing sock, I’m not sure. Other than God is in the details of house work. Be it, the House of God, or the house of Shari. God’s aware of everything that happens to and fro through the whole earth. Even the times that I sit in frustration and feel that the mountains are just too big to move, And God sends a guy like Zechariah to say that no matter the mountain, God’s work will be done in me. And you!

We just need to stay faithful

God knows where’s that sock is. And He knows every missing piece of our work in His name. Keep looking… we’ll find it.

Posted in Bible Journaling, Christian Service, Evangelism, Leadership, Life Inspiration

It’s Time to Reclaim It

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion Leave a Comment on It’s Time to Reclaim It

For our Sunday morning crowd, at Victory Baptist Church, I work up a PowerPoint of Welcoming slides, announcements, and various words of encouragement. As I worked on it over the weekend I came across an imag

e of a tree that was dead on one side and alive on the other with the caption “Making a Difference.” The image stays in my mind as a representation of the church today. From the beginning of time, God’s people would lose and gain ground, until Israel lost all bu

t a small, but mighty piece of land. And while God still very much blesses and protects Israel, His people now cover the earth. The piece of ground that God concerns Himself with for now is the inward heart, regardless if they are Jew or Gentile. He is concerned with all who trust Jesus as Savior. Israel will one day garner God’s attention in end times, but until then, Glory to God, His eye is on the church of His Son Jesus Christ. There’s just one problem with that; we too are going by the way of Israel. We’re losing ground.

It’s never more obvious than when you listen to the un-churched speak of the churches in their community. The churches belong to “those people.” Those whom they don’t feel apart. They’ll call them out by name “The church that so and so family goes to.” Many, not all, but a lot of churches have become family run businesses. A select group of people determines who preaches, sings, participates in service, and every other avenue of decision that is made on behalf of the body of Christ in their church.

So why is this on my heart? It’s not the condition of the church I attend, but it can be the church that anyone attends if we’re not careful to guard the ground for which God has entrusted them with.

The heart.

We’re responsible for taking the gift of Salvation, which God blessed us with through the sacrifice of His Son, and share it with the world within our reach. In and out of the building. On the web and in the newspaper. Every source of media and outreach that can possible be used as fertilizer for the ground for which we serve; the local church. Else we run the risk of losing the ground our predecessors have sown and reaped on.

It’s why my services have been used for the past 22 years in design and marketing of tools evangelists and churches can use to promote the church in a positive light. Not a light of the world, a light to the world. I have heard so many people in the circles I travel who have no understanding of the power of the media, and yet it runs most of their lives and they’re not even aware.

I’ve taught youth for the past twenty years in one form or another and they can quote the words to every secular song, tell you the name of every player on a national team, and discuss the vilest behavior in a network hit with blinking an eye, but they’ll not talk to their friends about Jesus. It breaks my heart! They’ll open themselves to drama on social media and tell everything that was once taboo outside the home, and poke fun of other people like they’re not people just like them. It’s why I understand the power the world has. Little and large churches become dynasty’s of power and serve to appease a select groups, and occasionally there are those that you’ll find Jesus in. We really have lost ground.

So how do we gain ground?

Wake Them

Zechariah 4

1And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.

The church seems almost oblivious across the aisles. In my journey’s I almost always experience a pocket or two of people with a real desire to see their church alive again. But most of the p

eople in the church are asleep. We need to awaken our congregations!

Watch Them

2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

Zechariah was concerned with the trees. The Angel seemed shocked that he didn’t know their significance. I doubt I would know the significance either and would likely be so shocked by the appearance of an angel, I probably wouldn’t know my name. But this is a different time; but it’s not a different message. We need to be watchful and aware of the messages that God is sending to us. We’re not without warning that our churches are dying.

Warn Them

6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. 7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. 11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? 12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 14 Then said he, These are 

 

the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

I usually don’t cover that much scripture in a blog. People tire of reading… sad world. But I couldn’t not use every word!

What’s causing us to lose ground in the church is that the Spirit of God is missing out of the equation. Just as I would be shocked if an angel appeared in my sight, half the church would be shocked if the Spirit of God showed up. They’re so use to the formality of religion that anything else is just too celestial.

“Crying grace, grace!”

We should be crying out to the church that grace has been extended to the church, but for how long? How long will God wait before He takes the church out of the world and our loved one are left lost without hope. Warn them!

Alas, the Angel explains the symbolic vision in the last of the chapter, but Zechariah is still concerned with those trees.

The two trees, the anointed ones as I understand it, were Zerubbabel and Joshua, King and Priest anointed for those roles. My shout just came up from the depths of my heart. Who is it that God has anointed for the role of crying grace, grace, but His people. You and I who are called by God to share the gospel. We have Pastors to lead us and people to serve. It’s time we reclaim the ground the world has taken!