Jump Start # 1400

Nehemiah 13:30 “And I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.”

  We have reached another milestone with these Jump Starts. Today is # 1400! That’s 1400 articles written over the past few years. I thought I’d take a moment and do some reflecting and then mention something about our verse today.

Jump Starts began in 2010. It was a little experiment that we tried with the congregation where I preach. The thought was to write something that would encourage and make some reflection as the day began, Jump Start your day. Initially, it was thought after about a month, we’d end this project and move on to other things. At the end of the first month, unknown to me, we already had a large readership outside of our congregation. Our members were copying and sending them to family members and co-workers, who in turn were doing the same thing. So, onward we went, writing more and more. We developed some themes that were printed into booklets. At first, we were going to print the booklets for sale. I couldn’t get the price low enough to satisfy me. I wanted these to be cheap and affordable. The eldership encouraged me to print these as I wanted and offer them for free. We have done that. There are now 14 books on various themes.

The readership of Jump Starts continues to climb. The subscribed list is over 1,100. Adding the congregations that use these and the large number of others who send them out to others, our readership is somewhere between 2,000-3,000. Since Jump Starts began there are a number of others who are now writing their own daily devotionals. They are very good and helpful.

Across this land I have met so many of our readers. Your encouragement is touching. I have a file folder that is stuffed with the emails that I have received through the years about our Jump Starts.

A few thank you’s are necessary as we reflect. First, to the Lord who has given me a gift to see insights into His amazing word and for connecting me with a wonderful church that sees the value of Jump Starts. Thank you to the elders where I preach for supporting this work. Thank you to the deacons who worked out all the bugs and found the right avenue to send out these daily emails. Thank you to a church that funds this and believes in this. And finally, thank you to our readers for taking a few moments every day to read these and tell others about these. We have never had a Jump Start campaign in which we tried to drum up more readers. It just happened. One person told another person and it simply grew. And here we are today, at milestone number 1400. I never thought there would be that many. It has amazed me.

Jump Starts was never intended to be an detailed and critical study of a passage. That’s not the purpose. It was designed to be practical, helpful and emphasizing our personal walk with the Lord. Through these writings, I have shared my life. You have read about my children and their weddings. You have read about the deaths of my friends. So many who hear me preach for the first time comment, you talk like you write and you write like you talk. Others say, “I can just see you saying that.” I’ve never seen myself as much of a writer. Doing this every morning, often the fingers and the mind are not together, the grammar is off and my English critics wonder what in the world I am doing. It has been my hopes that somewhere in these writings, someone has looked deeper into their heart and decided to walk closer to the Lord. I hope that these have helped.

On the Jump Start website, we have a couple of search engines that allows you to look up a specific passage or word that has been used. These search engines connect all the Jump Starts.

Where do we go from here? I know if my dear friend Jim Babcock were still with us today, he’d be asking me that very question. He would have called this morning to talk about the future of Jump Starts. Jim passed on recently. My I miss him dearly. I have one more series that I still want to write sometime. For now, we will just keep writing as long as you keep reading.

Now our verse. Nehemiah, the great book of leadership, courage, prayers and faith ends with a simple statement and prayer to the Lord, “Remember, O my God, for good.” That would be a great statement to live by. What a great way to end a book. What a great statement for all of us.

So often, we want the Lord to FORGET. Here, Nehemiah was saying, “Remember.” Others, would want the Lord to FORGIVE. Not here. Not Nehemiah. Here, it’s remember me for good. Remember the good that has been done. Remember the walk with the Lord. Remember the stand taken. Remember the deeds done. Remember.

There is something inherit within that word Remember. To remember, there must be something to remember. How can the Lord remember, if there was nothing done. Nehemiah had done so much good. He rallied the people of God to build the walls around Jerusalem in 52 days. He overcame opposition and compromise, having people build and defend at the same time. He led the nation in a great celebration to God. Good was done. This simple cupbearer a long way from home did all of that. There was much to be thankful for. There was many prayers answered. There was so much good that was done. Remember me, O my God, for good.

What are we doing these days? We can get so tied up with jobs and ballgames and things that really do not matter all that much that we forget to make a difference. Across this land, Nehemiah’s are doing good for the kingdom. Elderships are waking up and realizing that they haven’t been shepherds but CEO’s of a corporation and under their watch, brethren have drifted and died spiritually. Things are changing all over this country. Preachers are getting back to really preaching the word. Great material is being written that takes us deeper into God’s word. Folks all over this land are sharing the gospel with family and friends. Churches are outgrowing their buildings as more and more are attending.

It’s an exciting time. Great things are being done all over the world. The kingdom is growing. You’d think with all the cultural mess that we are living in that we’d be falling apart. We are not.  A few loud voices in the media would make us believe that Christianity is dead and no one is interested today. How wrong they are.

Now, what good are you doing? Will the Lord remember you for the good that you have done? Can’t preach, that’s ok. We don’t need everyone to preach. Can’t lead like Nehemiah. That’s ok. He needed builders of walls and readers of Scriptures and folks that would stand all day when the word was preached. Do what you can. Make the work of the kingdom your real job. Put that first. Everyday, look for someone to encourage, teach, help, share, and strengthen spiritually. Even today, in your home and in your community, there is that soul that can be touched by a card, a call, a visit. Take the food. Buy and give the book. Lend a hand and help someone move. Give up a Saturday for someone else. Engage in the Kingdom work. Everyday do good. When the Lord calls us home, there will be a long, long trail of good has made a difference for others.

Remember me, O my God, for good.

Roger

Jump Start # 597

Nehemiah 13:30 “Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task.”

We continue our look this week at the reform led by Nehemiah to get the people back to God. This job is hard and one that is needed in every generation. Satan is always trying to pull the people of God away from what is right. The call back to God must continually sound forth from God’s people

In the process of restoring the hearts back to God, Nehemiah had to do some literal house cleaning. He threw out the items belonging to Tobiah that were in God’s house. Tobiah was the enemy. Later in this chapter, Nehemiah drives out Joiada. He was the son of the high priest and the son-in-law of Sanballat, another enemy of Israel. He sided with the enemy, so he had to go.

Our verse today, reminds us of the extent that Nehemiah wanted the people back to God. He purified them from everything foreign. Often, after flood waters have been in a basement, home owners will cleanse and purify all that they can to keep mold from starting. Medical instruments are cleansed after use. Forks and spoons are washed after we eat with them. Nehemiah was interested in purifying their souls. As long as foreign influences hung around, Israel would never be completely free from contamination. What Nehemiah did is a good thought for us today. There are many foreign influences in our lives. I’m not talking about international things, but false things. Foreign to the true faith of Jesus Christ. Foreign to the ways of the Bible. These influences can cause a person to walk toward them, embrace them and accept them. Foreign means that they do not belong to Israel.

Nehemiah then appointed duties for the priests and Levites. I find that statement a bit odd. The Law of God had given priests plenty to do. They weren’t doing them. So Nehemiah assigned them. He led them into getting busy and back to the work of God.

There is a thought there for us. God has assigned duties today for His people. Deacons have deacon stuff to do. Shepherds have shepherding duties. Preachers have preaching duties. The work is there. There is enough to keep everyone busy. The work of God is not for the lazy. Hire a lazy preacher and you’ll have problems. A man who wants to do the work of God needs to gabout that and work hard. He needs to do his best because he is doing it for God.

It is interesting how many times the N.T. tells us to “do” things. At the end of the story of the good Samaritan, Jesus said, “Go and DO thou likewise.” Paul told the Galatians, “Let us DO good as we have opportunity.” Titus was told to teach folks to be eager for good deeds. Doing things. Doing things for others. Having duties. Christianity isn’t a thinking religion, it’s a living and doing religion. Too many are long on talk and short on doing. They love to ponder, consider, debate and argue about theories, ideas and what-nots, but when it comes to doing, they’re simply not there.

In Matthew 25, when Jesus was showing the judgment picture, he said those that gave drink, food, clothed and visited would be welcomed into the kingdom. Those that didn’t, wouldn’t. We can get the idea that the judgment will be like a test in school. Get the right answers and you’ll get to go to Heaven. So preachers are quick to say study. They should. That’s how our faith is built. But study, not just to rattle off facts, but study to become. Study to change your character. Study to learn Jesus and then walk that way. Study, and then DO. It’s the doing part that is important.

Folks would rather see you doing things than hear you talk. Long before they ask you questions about what you believe, they will want to see that you care. We show we care by doing. By being there. By helping out. By sharing things.

Nehemiah assigned the priests duties. That would get them back to doing what they should have been doing all along and that would help them stay out of trouble. I was preaching in a meeting a while back. We were at the church building every night. I saw the same little boy each night. Near the end of the week I asked him if he was behaving. He said that he’s going to church so much, that he didn’t have time to be bad. I like that. We all can learn from that.

When it comes to your faith, what’s it doing for you? Is your faith making a difference? When you walk down those difficult paths, such as the ones that lead to the funeral home, is your faith helping you get through those times? Are you still seeing Jesus? And, we must ask, is your faith leading you to do things? Are you doing anything for anyone else? It’s kind of hard to look at the compassionate and generous Jesus and not have some of that rub off on us.

Do you need someone to assign you a few tasks? That can be done. In fact, that’s already done. They are sprinkled throughout the N.T.—places like Romans 12, Hebrews 13 will get you started. Doing things for others will make you tired. Sometimes it costs. Sometimes you don’t even get a thank you back. That’s ok. Look at Jesus. You DO things because God wants you to.

I expect if you took about five minutes and really thought about this, you’d come up with a bunch of things that you could DO. Why not make a list and get at it. Doing good has a way of making a person feel good.

Roger