Ezra 6:21 And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

They separated themselves from the filthiness of the heathen to seek the Lord. We have been born again. We should separate ourselves from self worship, seek glorying, self seeking, etc to die to ourselves and to live to and for God.

Separation is not from but from and to!

What have you seen as unpleasing to God in your life and separated from, be it thoughts, actions, emotions, etc? How have you given yourself more to the Lord to love and seek Him?

Spurgeon, C. H. (2005). Exploring the Mind and Heart of the Prince of Preachers: Five-Thousand Illustrations Selected from the Works of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (320). Oswego, IL: Fox River Press.

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Ezra 1:5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to build Him a house. Cyrus then asked the people who had felt God move in their lives and motivate them to go and build the house. Some were motivated to give. Others were motivated to go but it seems like all of God’s people took part in the work in one way or the other.

God is at work in our hearts. When you have desires to do something for God then you can know that God is at work in your life. Are you sensitive to Him and His leading? Do you listen to see what He might say to you?

I want to be stirred by Him and I always want to be waiting to hear what He has to say!

On this day in 1832,

Taylor was born into a Christian home. His father was a chemist and a local Methodist preacher.  His mother was a godly woman.  Both and father and his mother would often prayer over Hudson Taylor when he was only a small child, begging God to one day use their son.  However, as the young boy grew into a teen, he became skeptical and worldly. His thoughts were on living for this life only.  For several years, he followd this path.  Until one day…

When he was 17 years of age, he went into his father’s library one afternoon in June, 1849 in search of a book to read. This was in a barn or warehouse adjacent to the house. Finally, he picked up a gospel tract entitled, “It is Finished,” and decided to read the story on the front. He came upon the expression, “The Finished work of Christ.”  Remembering the words, “It is Finished,” he raised the question — “What was finished?” The answers seemed to fall in place and he received Christ as his Saviour.

The same afternoon and time, his mother was visiting some 75 miles away. Experiencing an intense yearning for the conversion of her son, she turned the key in the door and resolved not to leave the spot until her prayers were answered. Hours later she left with assurance. She returned 10 days later and was met at the door by her son who said he had good news for her. She said, “I know, my boy. I have been rejoicing for a fortnight in the glad tidings you have to tell me.”1

This young man would grow to become one of the most influential missionaries to ever work in China.  The work he started and helped others start would see thousands of Chinese come to Christ.

  Source:

Wholesome Words 1

On this day in 1891, George Louis Williams was ordained to the Gospel ministry.  Two months later, he and his wife, Alice, were sent out by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions as missionaries to China.

The Williams arrived in China and spent their first years learning the language and studying the culture.  George, aside from his duty with the churches, began to work among Opium addicts, helping them overcome their addictions and teaching them of Christ.  Alice began to work with the ladies, helping them learn to read the Bible and discipling them.

In 1899, after nearly nine years in China, Alice and her children briefly returned to America, because her mother was rapidly declining in her health and Alice wished to be with her for her final days.  George had to finish some final things at the mission before he could join his family back in America for a short furlough.  But the opportunity never came.  Just weeks before he was preparing to leave, the Boxer rebellion broke out across China.  Hundreds of foreigners were killed, including George and thirteen other missionaries who were working in the area.  The church buildings and mission house was all destroyed.

Alice did not allow the death of her husband to destroy her.  After the rebellion was over and everything calmed back down, Alice returned to CHina to continue the work her husband gave his life for.  She was one of the first missionaries to return to Taigu after the killings.

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II Chronicles 34:27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.

Josiah gets mercy from the Lord even in his sin because his heart is tender and he humbles himself before the Lord. He heard what God was going to do and he ripped his clothes, he cried out to the Lord and the Lord heard him.

It was the tender heart and the willingness to humble himself that touched the heart of God. I wonder how often I react in pride thinking I deserve better for myself? I wonder if I have the habit of defending myself rather than examining myself?

God help us to be tender to the leading of your Holy Spirit. Help us to be willing to recognize you as God in all of our lives. God help me stay small in my eyes and always see you as big!

II Chronicles 32:8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Hezekiah knew that God was with him and that God would win the battle. He was able to look at all the problems and realize that he was truly helpless yet know that God would be with them. Their fight was not a personal fight but a spiritual fight. It was a fight for the honor and glory of God.

I am afraid that we want to honor and glorify God too often by what we do in the flesh. We little consider Him and the Holy Spirit and what He can and will do. We do not think about the fact that we are in a war for His glory. We want Him glorified in our worship, in our lives, in our obedience, in our preaching, in our church services. It is all about Him.

I want to rely more on Him. I want to realize that I can’t but He can. I want to know that He is fighting in the battles I am in so I must let Him pick my fights!

II Chronicles 27:6 So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.

Jotham becomes mighty, established, strengthened. His position and reign become secure. Those are all things that we would seek for in our lives! The secret to all this happening for Jotham is that he prepared, established his ways before the Lord. He lived, made plans, and worked thinking in terms of God being involved in his life.

How often do you take the time to say I will seek God as I make plans for my life and business? How often do you ask the Lord what He wants you to do in your plans? How often do you prepare your life in prayer, seeking God’s wisdom and counsel, and being sure that what you are doing is better for the causes of the Lord?

We all want to be mighty or established, set but we are not willing to seek God and prepare our ways before Him.

II Chronicles 25:2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

Amaziah did right but he had a divided heart. He did what he was supposed but he didn’t just love God with all of his heart. He would do what he was supposed to do but not with all of his heart.

How many of us have learned to go through the motions of doing right but not with our heart. We have lost our first love. We go to church but the lights have gone out. No wonder lost people don’t see anything different about us. Why should they listen to us when all we do is moral stuff for no real reason.

Do you do right but not from the heart? Have you lost your first love? Is it time to give your whole heart back to Him?

On this day in 1905

After the death of his first wife, Mary, the heart-broken Paton returned to Scotland for a time of recuperation and to promote his work among the churches there.  While in Scotland, he met the daughter of the Reverend John Whitecross, Maggie.  The two began a friendship and it soon turned to love.  They were married and returned together to the New Hebrides, where they settled on the island of Aniwa.

Maggie proved to be a perfect match for her husband and threw herself into the work.  Despite the trials and hardships that came from the missionary life on a tropical island, she continued to look to Christ.  In a letter, she wrote, “If you came to be missionaries, you would find it uphill work indeed, to be sacrificing your whole life merely for the sake of those who could not understand your motives, and who know not what it cost you to give up home and friends. But Jesus regards every sigh, and whatever is done for Him will meet with a sweet reward even in this life; for He who has promised can never disappoint.”

For Maggie, creating a strong Christian home for her family was just as important as any missionary work her husband did!  And while she worked hard at the mission, her ultimate focus, and the place of her greatest efforts, was her home.  “The life of the Christian home is the best treatise on Christianity-a daily object lesson, which all can understand, can read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest; in fact, it is the only Bible which many of the natives shall ever read! It wakens a terrible feeling of responsibility to see how they sometimes look up to us”.

Source:

Banner of Truth

On this day in 1819, Pomare, king of Tahiti, was baptized by Henry Nott.  After nearly twenty years of laboring on the island, he was the first person to baptized on Tahiti.

In a report of the baptism sent to their society, the missionaries wrote:

“Pomare was observed to lift up his eyes to heaven and move his lips in prayer. The sight was very moving, especially to our older brethren who had been watching over him for so many years. Thus, after more than two decades of tears and toil, occurred the first baptism in Tahiti.”

The baptism of the king was only the first.  Within the following decade, hundreds of the islanders came to Christ and were baptized.  Pomare became actively involved in the work and supplied land and resources for building new chapels.  Old temples, once used for human sacrifices, were cleaned and converted to churches.  After years of laboring and praying, the work of Henry Nott was being rewarded.

Source:

Wholesome Words

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II Chronicles 22:3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counseller to do wickedly.

Ahab was a wicked man because he was counseled to be that way by his mother. What a horrible indictment. His mother encouraged him to do wrong. She gave him ideas about what to do that wouldn’t please God. I think it would be horrible to be remembered by your children this way but even worse to be remembered by God and His church in this way.

The question that comes to all of us now is, what are we doing that counsels and trains our children? If they follow your advice will they serve God or self? If they listen to you will they grow in grace and show God’s great power in their lives?

I think every parent should take a minute and consider how they are using their influence. I think that we all influence others as well and should consider that.

We mentor people. How are we mentoring people. How are we encouraging them. What will they be like due to our influence?