Month: July 2025

Do not be Hasty!

Published on by DanLeave a comment

It has been my observation while reading Solomon’s thoughtful epistle Ecclesiastes, he recommends we guard our steps when we enter the house of God to worship. Being near to each other in corporate worship helps us to draw from the common expression of adoration towards Elohim by the community of God. On Sunday morning we move about with quiet expectation, we allow the lion within us to sing, but also to listen, we avoid haste and lack of self-control in our heart, guarding and measuring our thoughts before we utter anything to God. Please understand, He is close, not because we are in the House of God, but because He is close 24/7. He hears our thoughts even before we think them, he surrounds us with his presence; Under his protection, we rest and lean into his shelter. We are wise to let him envelop our worship, and then, in that framework, offer up a respectful sacrifice of praise, embracing and expressing the fear of God (massive respect for the formidable nature of God) in our worship.

Solomon writes — Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few (Ecclesiastes 5:1-3).  

Solomon’s focus is to guide us away from the world, by showing us the vanity of human-ness, we find the path to God and to our calling, that we may not walk in the way of the world, but by God’s will, nor depend upon the wealth of the world, but focus on prayer, praise, worship and doing the will of God for others. This is why we linger with the community of God; this is why we listen more and talk less.

Consider the fact that Solomon is nudging us towards the House of God; our place of public worship, created by men and women – at God’s direction. Notice in Ecclesiastes that Solomon reflects with regret on much of his life activities (implied in Ecclesiastes 2:4) claiming they were meaningless. I do not recall Solomon regretting creating God’s House, rather he indirectly reflected on God’s House with pleasure, completing the task his father David had assigned years earlier. This observation is not openly discussed in Solomon’s epistle lest it appear to be a point of pride. I think he did find quiet pleasure in building this focal point for the community to gather and worship the one true living God. Some things do not need to be spoken about in detail to be clear.

When David was anxious or confused, he went into the sanctuary of God. David wrote — If I had spoken out like that, I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood (Psalms 73:15-17).

We read in Proverbs – Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way (Proverbs 19:2). We should render our approach to the one true living God with a quiet pause, take time to compose our heart, avoiding carelessness and haste with our feet. During worship preparation we should harness our thoughts from roving and wandering from the task; for when we worship the one true living God – our sacrifice should be an all-encompassing effort. Some think this level of worship embodies the request from God for Moses and Joshua to put off their shoes (Exodus 3:2-6, Joshua 5:13-15) as a sign of subjection and reverence. I suggest you keep your feet clean (Exodus 30:17-21).

The Deeper Truth is — our sacrifice should not be the sacrifice of fools, that we bring our passive attention, lame thoughts, and careless words (implied Proverbs 15:7-9). We should not bring second best to the table, we should not revel in the sign, ceremony, and performance, without embracing the sense and full meaning of it, for that would be the sacrifice of fools not the sacrifice of praise.

You all know I am a musician; I have spent considerable time on worship teams; I have struggled with this. But, in the end, God accepts our meager offerings. He knows we are broken people who bring a ‘less than perfect worship’ to his alter. If our heart is in the right place, God’s mercy washes over all our failure and brings the true worship to surface. We are blessed to have permission to enter into the temple. Embrace it. Humble yourself and worship the one true living God…

I choose Jesus.

Rebellion is their Name

Published on by DanLeave a comment

It was my observation after reading Ezekiel chapter 1 and then progressing to chapter 2 that we are given a detailed image of the throne. Why did God show this to Ezekiel? Consider the message that Paul heard on the Damascus Road. Paul was clearly chosen by God, things happened around hi to be sure he got the message. There was no question in his mind what had happened. Now in the case of Ezekiel we see something similar.  His nickname appears in this chapter – Son of Man.  I suspect God applied this phrase to Ezekiel as an affectionate nickname; as a term of endearment. The Hebrew term for Son of Man is Ben-Adam. We see something similar in Daniel 7:17, we find the term Son of Adam, Son of the earth. I think this means he was called to be a representative of God on earth.

In the passage we are about to read, Ezekiel is told — Get up. Get off the ground, I want to talk to you.  I think that God did not want to talk to the back of Ezekiel’s head. He stood Ezekiel up so Ezekiel was looking at the glory before him – this reveals the affection God has for people who walk with God.  As much as we could imagine, within the confines of extreme holiness and the translucent shroud that protected us, they were looking at each other.  Ezekiel’s instinct is to get prostrate, God says to him, not today.  I am affirming your commission.  Right here, right now. Face to Face.

Ezekiel 2:1-5 says — He said to me, Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you. As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, This is what the Sovereign Lord says. And whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are a rebellious people, they will know that a prophet has been among them. [NIV]

The short version of this passage is simple – Get up.  You are my prophet to Isreal.  They will not like you, but they will know one thing for sure – A prophet has been called to walk among them.  They will know that I am the Lord their God and I am not Silent.  This tells us something about how God thinks.  He is immensely pleased to work with us.  He delights in our willingness to serve.  When we show a tiny bit of interest, he is all over it.  He brings power and strength. He fills us with himself and then works from within us to accomplish his tasks.  If you ponder this for a bit, you will realize how truly amazing this situation is.  The one true living God choosing to work through us, training us in his way.  He does not need help, but he has decided to partner with us to implement his plan.  Goodness.  We are loved.


Matthew Henry said — Thus, in a similar case, Daniel was strengthened by a divine touch (Daniel 10:18) and John was raised by the right hand of Christ laid upon him (Revelation 1:17). The Spirit set him upon his feet, made him willing and forward to do as he was bidden, and then he heard him that spoke to him. He heard the voice before, but now he heard it more distinctly and clearly, heard it and submitted to it. The Spirit sets us upon our feet by inclining our will to our duty, and thereby disposes the understanding to receive the knowledge of it.

We find the conclusion of this passage, Ezekiel is being called, prepared, strengthened and sent to deliver a message to a rabble. A rebellious group of people who have been pushed off the island, the land of the promise to the land of Babylon.  Ezekiel knew what this was all about.  He knew it would not be an easy life.  But he had a calling and purpose.  His people were in captivity for rebellion against Gods law.  He hoped God would be gracious, but his resolve to serve was clear.  We do the same. I choose Jesus.bellion is their Name

Hannah’s Promise

Published on by DanLeave a comment

by Sharla Guenther

This story is about a woman named Hannah who really really wanted to have a child.  Every year she would go with her husband to a place called Shiloh.

While they were there, there would be a big festival and everyone would celebrate all that God did for them.  They would thank God for their crops and everything God gave them, and give sacrifices or presents to God to show how thankful they were.

This sometimes made Hannah very sad because she wanted so badly to be thankful, but was discouraged because she couldn’t have a child.  That didn’t mean Hannah moped around and felt sorry for herself but in her heart she was very sad.  Her husband still loved her very much and tried to make her feel better but nothing seemed to work.

Finally Hannah did the only thing she knew that she could do to help her situation.  One evening when they had finished eating and drinking Hannah went to the temple and began to pray.

When Hannah prayed she was very honest with how she was feeling.  She sometimes cried a lot and probably felt like God had forgotten her.  But while she was praying she promised God, “Dear God, if you would only look and see how sad I am and remember me, please give me a son.  If you would do that for me I will dedicate my son to you for his whole life.”

As Hannah was praying there was a man named Eli, a priest, who was sitting nearby and saw her.  While Hannah was praying she was praying to herself, her lips were moving but Eli couldn’t hear her say anything.  We can pray just like this to if we need to,  we can pray to God in our head so no one can hear.

Eli realized that Hannah was being very honest and truthful with God and he said to her, “Go in peace and may God answer your prayer.”  After that Hannah left she felt much better because she had talked to God about what bothered her.  Early the next morning she even went to worship God before she went home.

You see, sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers, but we can’t just be mad forever and not talk or thank God for all the other good things in our life.  God knows what’s best so there’s always a good reason why he hasn’t answered your prayer.

But a while later a great thing happened.  God of course remembered Hannah (because God doesn’t forget any of us) and gave her a son, and she named him Samuel.

Hannah had waited so long for this child and she loved him so much, but she remembered that she made a promise to God.  Hannah was an honest woman and when she made a promise she meant it.  Again, Hannah had a good attitude and wanted to give Samuel back to God, she wasn’t mad at herself and change her mind.  Hannah kept her promise.

When Samuel was old enough she went back to the place where she had prayed and said to Eli the priest, “Do you remember me?  I am the woman that cried and prayed for this child and He answered my prayer.  Now I give him to the Lord and I will leave him with you to learn and work with you.”

So Samuel lived with Eli and every year Hannah would pack her suitcase and visit him and bring him new clothes.  It might have been hard for Hannah to see Samuel only once a year but she wanted to keep her promise.  God blessed Hannah again and gave her and her husband even more sons and daughters.

Samuel did very well while staying with Eli.  Then one night something unusual happened.  Eli and Samuel had both gone to bed and were having a nice sleep.  When Samuel all of a sudden woke up, someone was calling him, “Samuel.”

Well, Samuel thought it was Eli so he ran to his bed and answered, “Here I am; you called me?”  But Eli said, “I did not call you; go back and lie down.”

So Samuel went back to his bed.  He didn’t know this, but God was calling him.  Just as Samuel got settled God said, “Samuel!”  And Samuel jumped up and went back to Eli and said, “Here I am, you called?”

Again Eli answered, “No I didn’t call you; go back to bed.”

The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli again and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

Eli couldn’t figure out what was going on.  He had been thinking who could be calling Samuel, they were the only ones there.  Suddenly Eli realized there was only one other explanation so Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if you hear the voice again, say, ‘Yes, Lord, I’m listening.'”

Sure enough, Samuel went to lie down and the Lord called again, “Samuel!  Samuel!”  So Samuel quickly replied, “Speak Lord, I am listening.”

From then on Samuel knew when God wanted to talk to him and he always listened.  God blessed Samuel and he grew up to be a great prophet or spokesperson of the Lord.

So Hannah did the right thing when she kept her promise to God.  Her son Samuel helped many people know God better.

Grandmother’s Breakfast

Published on by DanLeave a comment

She pulls a juicy sun from a mesh bag on the counter,
rolls it between her palms, carves it into equal hemispheres.
Planting one, its ruby carpels glowing like a rose window
in January’s glim dawn, she carries it to our table
where her bowl of Golden Grahams already waits.

She settles heavily into the spindle-back chair, adjusts
her skirt and stockings, picks up a paring knife and
slides its slender blade around the circumference
to separate fruit from rind, then cuts either side of
tracery membranes to release the supple panes.

As she scoops acidic wedges, savoring cold pulp,
she prays for her baby brother who retired to Florida
two decades ago. They haven’t seen each other since.
She phones him each week on Sunday afternoon,
and he sends her these cartons of fresh-picked citrus.

The empty peel is a limp asterisk she folds halfwise,
squeezing the last drops of juice spoonful by spoonful.
Only then does she enjoy the sugared squares bobbing
in milk-sweet to follow sour-while she reads her Bible
and sips scalding amens of coffee, benedictions on the day.

 

Amy Nemecek lives in northern Michigan with her husband, son, and two cats. Her work has appeared in The Windhover, Mothers Always Write, Topology, The 3288 Review, Snapdragon, and Indiana Voice Journal. When Amy isn’t working with words she enjoys long walks along country roads.