May the mumbling commence!
Attitudes begin to change around us when our own
attitudes are adjusted to the will of the Lord.
The returning exiles forbid the peoples who had lived in Judah from
being a part of the rebuilding of the Temple – even without finding out if they
were or could become faithful to the Lord.
That attitude stunted the growth of the Temple and the growth of a
healthy relationship between God and the people of Judah.
Just look what happens when the people of Judah change
their attitude! Read from Ezra chapter
six:
On April 21 the returned exiles celebrated Passover. The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were
ceremonially clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned
exiles, for the other priests, and for themselves. The Passover meal was eaten by the people of
Israel who had returned from exile and by
the others in the land who had turned from their immoral customs to worship the
Lord, the God of Israel. They ate the Passover meal and celebrated the Festival of
Unleavened Bread for seven days. There was great
joy throughout the land because the Lord
had changed the attitude of the king of Assyria toward them, so that he helped
them to rebuild the Temple of God, the God of Israel. (Verses
19-22)
Welcome to great joy!
Talk about being on cloud nine!
The passage says something about the attitude of the king of Assyria
changing… but the attitude of Israel to the people around them was the foundation
of that change.
You know: be the change you want to see in the world. Deep change starts with me. Deep change starts with us. Read from First Corinthians chapter twelve:
And now, dear brothers and sisters, I will write about
the special abilities the Holy Spirit gives to each of us, for I must correct
your misunderstandings about them. You
know that when
you were still pagans you were led astray and swept along in worshiping
speechless idols. So I want you to
know how to discern what is truly from God: No one speaking by the Spirit of God can curse Jesus, and no one is able to say, "Jesus is
Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. (Verses 1-3)
Deep change starts with the acceptance of Jesus as
Lord. Serve Jesus. Bless Jesus.
And change is sure to come – first in your life then in the lives of
those Jesus touches through you. This
change brings strangers all together in one family, one body. Read later from First Corinthians chapter twelve:
The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up
only one body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews,
some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ's body by one
Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit. (Verses 12-13)
Our identity no longer comes from the stuff of this
world. Our identity is one in Christ
Jesus. We are resident aliens, though we
still have the distinctions that the world has put upon us. These “differences” are made as nothing in
Christ.
May this deep change be the change that we seek!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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