Nehemiah

I skipped ahead a bit in my one year chronological bible to get to one of my all time favorite books...Nehemiah! And I'm so glad I did with the recent events in Texas. Nehemiah is the story of good verses evil... tragedy which triumphs in the face of adversity. It's a story of one man who listened to the call of God upon his life. His compassion became a burden from the Lord, which caused Nehemiah to put feet to his faith and move into action! I wonder if the Lord hasn't put something in our path that would move us into action. An injustice, a burden, a tragedy.

The Lord moves upon His people to do, and not just to say they will do. In light of the recent events in Texas... maybe we are the ones that the Lord is calling to pray, to act, to help rebuild. This is how it all started with Nehemiah... after he heard the news he did 5 things... he sat down, he wept, he mourned, he fasted and he prayed! This is all he could do at the time... but it was the most powerful thing he could do from a far. We may not be able to go to Texas physically, but we can stop our busy lives, sit down, weep for the loss of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we can mourn and fast and pray!

May the Lord stop us today just for a moment and cause us to intercede on behalf of our brethren.

Waiting for Mr. Right

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:3-5

Each year most Americans spend 13 hours waiting on hold for customer service, 38 hours in traffic and 37 billion hours in line. Waiting is never easy. It always tests our patience and perseverance. We wait for people, food, answers to questions and we even wait for true love.

True love is different for the Believer than the non-believer. We are looking for certain qualities. The non-believer might want someone who appeals to their physical likes and is funny or has a secure job or brings home a good paycheck. Not that those things are bad in themselves, but the Believer should be looking for things that last. Things like good character and a strong family resemblance to Jesus. Looks and money and security are secondary to the strong family resemblance of Jesus.

When I met my husband I had just come out of a five-year relationship with a guy who had a resemblance of Jesus, but it wasn’t very strong. Then, I didn’t really know what I was looking for. But God had given me His Word and in that I got to know who Jesus was and what His character looked like. So, when I met my husband I saw exactly what I was looking for—a man who looked like Jesus. Of course he didn’t physically look like Jesus but he acted like what I read about Jesus. He knew the Word and shared it with me every day. He prayed with me and pointed me to Jesus, he sharpened me and treated me like a princess.

We as women were created to be the companion of man, to help him and to bring forth a family with him. God told Adam in the garden: “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper who is just right for him” (Gen. 2:18). It’s clear that we women were created for a special job. God created us to be “just right” for a man. Likewise, there is a man out there that is “just right” for you. However, the question is, “Are you willing to wait for the right one? The one God has especially picked and is preparing even now just for you.

Many women who are single and over 25 begin to grow weary in the wait. They begin to lose focus and instead of keeping their focus on the Lord they begin to focus on getting married and finding a man. They begin looking for a man instead of waiting for God to bring him. They test the waters, date around and if they aren’t careful they may even believe the lie that “nothing better will come around.”

I have heard countless single women tell me there are no godly guys out there! My first question is always, Where are you looking? My second question is, Why are you looking anyway? If you are single you should concentrate on being Mrs. Right, not finding Mr. Right! When our focus is on the Lord and on His work in our own lives we gain a heavenly perspective only those focused on the Lord will have. On the other hand, if our focus is on finding Mr. Right we will be so consumed by this on a daily basis that we will miss what God is trying to do in our own lives.

If we look closely at the scripture in Genesis 2:18 we see God telling Adam that He was making a helper for man. Now many of us sort of smirk at this scripture, not wanting to see it as it is. But the truth remains that we women were created to help our husbands. That is our sole purpose for being created, along with bearing children. Some women don’t like this and my answer is always the same, “I didn’t say it, God did, so you have to take it up with Him.” Personally, I have found great liberty in fulfilling my God given role as a woman, wife and mom. No one can do what I can do for my family. I have job security! We should be ecstatic about this instead of letting it infuriate us.

God has designed woman especially for man. We are not inferior; we just have different roles in the home, in church and in society. For me to argue with that is saying I am not content who God created me to be. I will admit that at one time in my life I did question my calling. I felt that it was too much work and certainly God wouldn’t have created me to do all this work! But, guess what? He did! He created us to be amazing multitaskers, to be able to feed a baby and vacuum at the same time. We have the capability to do laundry while talking on the phone and helping with homework. We can drive the carpool while drinking coffee and finishing our makeup! You get the idea. We are created for a very special task and yet we have to wait for it to come to pass in our lives.

We never want to be hasty in our decision of who we marry. Next to receiving Jesus as your Savior, marrying the right man is the most important decision of your life. You don’t want to jump the gun and marry outside of God’s perfect will for your life. You want to wait and let the Lord make you the woman you need to be before you meet Mr. Right. You want to be mature in the Lord and ready for His high calling of being a wife.

I tell young women all the time, “God will not bring you your husband until the two of you together are a stronger team than you are apart!” If you have a strong devotional life and your husband doesn’t then you are not going to be a very strong team. Ladies, you must look for a man that is further along in his walk than you are. He must lead you spiritually from the start because it’s not going to change after you get married no matter how much you try and convince yourself. You must keep your standards high because you are looking for a man who looks like JESUS and He was perfect! Will your husband be perfect? Of course not! But he will be a perfect complement to you and the two of you together will be a powerful team for Jesus.

So, ladies, please don’t grow weary in the wait. Get busy about your Father’s business, serve the Lord with your whole heart and He will bring your man when you are good and ready! Remember Psalm 37:3-5. IF you are trusting in the Lord, dwelling in the land, feeding in the Word, delighting in Him, praying to Him and trusting in Him, then He promises that HE WILL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART and HE WILL BRING IT TO PASS. Don’t give up, girls, hang in there, get your standards high; focus on becoming the right person instead of finding one and you’ll be blessed with Mr. Right.

-Michelle Randall

A Resolute Resolution

heading into 2017 counting the cost

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” 1 Corinthians 2:2

Whenever we come into a new year it’s always good to take inventory on what the Lord has done in and through our lives the past year; the answered prayer, changed lives, ministry opportunities, and even mistakes. We recount all the great things the Lord has done in our lives and we look expectantly for all the things He has yet to do. As 2016 comes to a close I ponder Jonathan Edwards resolutions: Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will. Are you resolute to live for God no matter what the cost?

The day in which we are living calls for men and women to be resolute in their stand for God no matter what the cost. To be resolute means to be determined, adamant, single-minded, firm, unwavering, steadfast, tenacious and unshakable. Paul said in Acts 20:24: “But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Many things in life try and “move” us; they try and shake us to the core. But we must be resolute in our stand for righteousness, something I am learning slowly but surely the longer I walk with the Lord. When we experience times of shaking where do we turn, and who do we run to? It’s important that we turn to the Lord.

David and Jason Benham stood for what was right (marriage between a man and a women and the life of the unborn child) and were removed from HGTV’s reality show “Flip Forward”. There is always a cost to walking closely with the Lord, the higher the calling the greater the cost. They said in their book, Whatever the Cost, “When you pick up your sword to fight in the exposed places of your city, it will cost you something. The question is, will you obey whatever the cost?” How you see the battle determines how you will fight it. If you see the battle as a physical one, you will pick up the wrong weapon, just as Peter did when he cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant (John 18:10). But if you see with spiritual eyes as we should, then you will choose the correct weapons: truth and love. We as believers are to be love for God is love. We cannot walk in the Spirit while being hateful and bitter at the same time. This requires that we first know the God of love intimately and then that we act like the God we know and love. This is not an easy task, even for people that have served the Lord for 25 years.

When we are hurt or wronged we are just like anyone else. We want to defend ourselves. But the Lord tells us that He is our defense. He is our buckler, our rock and our fortress. He is where our strength comes from. In our distress, He leads us to the rock that is higher than us. He leads us to the solid rock, the only one that is immovable; the Rock Jesus. This is where we fall when times are tough, and this is where we go when we need to be lifted up. It’s here that we find strength and rest, forgiveness and the love that can only come from the Spirit. When we want to give up, He is there for us. When we want to give in, He strengthens us. When we want to run away, He finds us. Taking a Stand for what’s right doesn’t always feel right. Being bold for Christ will cost. The bolder you are the higher the cost. My prayer for you this year is that you will be resolute in your faith, firmly established in Christ and not easily moved. Take time today to consider the cost that Jesus paid for you and commit to in turn be resolute for Him! Happy New year and let’s make 2017 a year to remember!

-Michelle Randall

About Michelle Randall

Michelle Randall is a gifted Bible teacher and has led women's Bible studies for the past 18 years. Her love for The Word of God has inspired her to minister, disciple and guide all women to share her passion for Jesus. Michelle's husband, John Randall, is the Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel San Juan Capistrano, where Michelle leads the weekly women's Bible Study and heads up the women's ministry, Calvary Women. John and Michelle have been married for 23 years and have four children. Michelle was very involved in sports as a youngster. 

Although these sports kept Michelle busy, she still had a void in her life that could only be filled by Jesus Christ. While attending college, Michelle went to a Bible study at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa where at 19 she surrendered her life to Jesus! She went on to teach at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa where she met her husband John, who was also on staff and were married later that year. Since then, John and Michelle have moved 11 times, planted 2 Calvary Chapels in 2 different states and had 4 children. Michelle is privileged to be serving the women at Calvary San Juan.

Willing To Stand Out

“There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.  He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.  And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.” 2 Kings 18:5-7

Many kings are spoken of in the Bible…some did what was right in the sight of the Lord and others are said to have done evil in the sight of the Lord. Of those good kings there is one that stands above the rest. It is said that there was none better before him or after him. What was it that made this king so exceptional? What was it that elevated him so high above the rest? 2 Kings 18:1-7 recounts the story for us… “ In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.  He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.  He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.  He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.  He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.  And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.

As we read this account of King Hezekiah we see that he did many things right…he smashed the stones that set up the idol worship and cut down the poles surrounding the alters of idolatry. He also broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made to save the people in the wilderness. This snake was something that God provided to save all who looked at it…much like when we look to Jesus Christ we are saved. But, the people eventually began to worship this bronze snake, so Hezekiah broke it into piece. We see Hezekiah smashing, cutting, and breaking things that stood in the way of the people worshiping the true and living God. Likewise, we too can let things get in the way of our serving Jesus. We can allow idols to creep in and draw our attention away from the Lord and onto them. An idol can be a person, a possession or even a ministry. Anything that seeks to take the place of Jesus in our life is an idol. Where do you turn when something goes wrong? Who are you serving? What are your priorities? All of these questions reveal who it is that we serve. Do we turn first to Jesus before we turn to others? Does He have our heart, and our life? Is Jesus the ONE that we follow? We all want someone with skin on to look to, to emulate, to follow…but we must always remember not to put people in a position that they were never created to be in. Jesus wants to be number one in our heart and in our lives, which can often be seen in our daily priorities. Do we give Jesus the first of our day? Do we receive from Him directly and do we spend time getting to know Him? Do we commune with Him, pray to Him and listen to Him? Do we serve Him at our church? All of these questions reveal our priorities. No one or nothing should ever take priority over Jesus in our lives. For this to take place we must constantly be checking and rechecking our priorities. Asking ourselves if anything is in the way, if anything is hindering our walk or distracting our mind. We in a sense, are constantly doing what King Hezekiah did…we are smashing stones that we built up to put our idol on. We are cutting down the poles or things that surrounded the idol and we are breaking into pieces the idol itself. All of these are necessary, but what set King Hezekiah apart from the rest of the good Kings is that he not only smashed, cut and broke the idols…he took it a step further and removed them all together from the land.

Is there anything that you have built up in your mind or in your life…an idol…that has taken up a lot of your thoughts and your time…something that has hindered your relationship with the Lord? Maybe even caused you to sin? Smash it…cut it down…break it into pieces…and REMOVE it from your life. There were many good kings, but only one great king…who was willing to do what no one else would….he was willing to remove the hindrances…and the Lord blessed him for it. The key to Hezekiah’s strength, passion and priorities is found in verse 5; “Hezekiah trusted in the Lord God of Israel.” Do you trust the Lord today? If so, let Him reorder your priorities…let Him remove the high places as you trust in Him…Let him smash the stones that separate you from Him…and let Him break into pieces the idols that you have set up and are looking to. He is the only One that can remove what stands in your way. Let Him have His way and you too will be successful in everything you do!  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13.

Michelle Randall