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Heb. 5:1-2 - For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. NASU
Therefore, not just any man was qualified to be a HP and not just any man is qualified to be a coach. A High Priest was appointed by God "on behalf of men in things pertaining to God." In other words the HP was to help men or priest learn about God. He was to teach them how to serve and honor God. Likewise, coaches are appointed by their leagues, schools and universities to teach boys, girls, men and women about the sport they coach as well as how to be a good person, honor the sport in which they compete and honor the God who gave them their abilities.
I believe the really great coaches have learned this lesson. They understand the trials and temptations of their athletes because they also have been athletes. They know when to be tough and demanding of their athletes and when to "deal gently" with them. My son-in-law, Cary Kolat, tells of the time he lost in the finals of his freshman year at the Division One NCAA Wrestling Championship tournament. He was given a plaque for taking second place. Once he was off the platform he threw the plaque in a trash can and sat down in the hallway. Coach Dave Shultz was walking by and picked the plaque out of the trash and gave it back to Cary with some kind words. Dave knew how "to deal gently" with Cary at the correct time. Dave would become a coach, mentor and a great friend to Cary. It is all about timing my friends. A great coach will pick and choose his moments. He knows when to be direct, or tough and when to challenge an athlete to be their best. He also knows when to "deal gently" with his athletes.
Heb 4:14-15 - Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. NASU Jesus is able to sympathize with us because He was a human like us. He went through trials, temptations and tribulations like we have. The only difference is He never sinned while going through them. Jesus is our HP. If you have sinned confess your sins to Him and ask for forgiveness. If you know someone who has walked away from their relationship with Jesus tell them to talk with Him. He is able to sympathize with us. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Neh. 2:5 -I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
Nehemiah was a man with vision. The vision he had was to travel to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of the city. A person’s vision is generally very clear at the start of their journey. However, while on your quest there will be many obstacles arise to cloud your vision. Nehemiah’s vision was very clear. It was to rebuild the walls in Jerusalem and re-hang the gates.
Nehemiah was burdened when he heard the horrible condition of the city of Jerusalem. This burden caused him to take action. When you are burdened the vision will come on how to successfully accomplish this feat. In Nehemiah’s case the vision came in phases. 1st - His plan is on how to get to Jerusalem (Neh. 2:5-9). 2nd - He surveys the city and contrives a plan to rebuild the walls (Neh. 2:11-16). 3rd - How will he involve people with his plan (Neh. 2:17-18)?
When you are working to achieve your goal or see your vision come to fruition, you need to know obstacles will appear. Neh. 2:19 - But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” Nehemiah was trying to achieve the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and once again bring honor and glory to the city chosen by God. Yet, there were people who didn’t like what he was trying to fulfill. When you cast a vision beware. There will be people who will become obstacles on your path. Why do these obstacles come when you are trying to succeed in a worthwhile cause? I tell myself they are coming to test my resolve. They want to see how much it will take to get me to quit. When I say it that way it immediately fires me up and I say, “Well, bring it on, lets see who will give up first.” Here are a few of the obstacles that you will most likely encounter once you have started your journey. 1. How much money could someone offer you to get you to forget about your goal? 2. How much criticism from family, friends or enemies before you give up on your vision? Obstacles will come once you take that first steps to accomplishing your vision. Let the obstacles be fuel for your fire and not put your fire out. Nehemiah overcame the obstacles and rebuilt the wall and hung the gates in 52 days. The walls had been in ruins for years because no one had the vision. Once Nehemiah got the vision nothing stopped him. I challenge you to be a Nehemiah today. Get a vision and overcome all obstacles on your way to achieving it. Think About This: A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Num. 1-4 - Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD;…The people therefore cried out to Moses, The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat?..."
Num. 11:10-15 - Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly, and Moses was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? 12 "Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, … 13 "Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, 'Give us meat that we may eat!' 14 " I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. 15 " So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once,… Num. 12:1-8 - Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married … 2 and they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?" And the LORD heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) 4 Suddenly the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, "You three come out to the tent of meeting." So the three of them came out. 5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, 6 He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. 7 "Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; 8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?" NASU
The LORD has used Moses to free the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, all of the extremely hard work the Pharaoh had them doing and now they are complaining about their living conditions. THEY ARE FREE! No one is beating them with whips and what are they doing? They are complaining. You start a business and treat your employees well. The news gets out that you are a great company to work for and people now want to work for you. You give some of these people a job. When compared to their old job the working conditions with you are fabulous. Where they were before was pure hell. In six months to a year these same people have now started to complain about you exactly like the Israelites were complaining about Moses who freed them from being SLAVES. You freed them from what they use to call hell and now they are complaining about you.
OT:6035 `anav (aw-nawv'); or [by intermixture with OT:6041] `anayv (aw-nawv'); from OT:6031; depressed (figuratively), in mind (gentle) or circumstances (needy, especially saintly): (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.) Listen, it only makes sense. Everyone is complaining to or about Moses'. The Israelites, Miriam and Aaron are all complaining about him. He is totally exhausted. He can't take it any longer. What does he do? He goes to the LORD and lays out his case. 11 So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? 12 "Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers'? 13 "Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, 'Give us meat that we may eat!' 14 " I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. 15 " So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once,… I ask you one question does that sound like a "humble person" or a "depressed person"? Depressed people want to die not humble people.
Have you ever wanted God to just give you a sign that you are on the right track? If yes, then you are a leader. Do you know what God did for Moses? He gave Him the sign he needed. You know what the sign was? It was affirmation. When you read Chapter 12 you will notice that God calls for a meeting. He wants Miriam, Aaron and Moses front and center. Notice what God says, "You three come out to the tent of meeting." Miriam and Aaron had been complaining about Moses'. They were saying, we are just as important as Moses is. Hasn't God spoken through us as well? Oh boy, they have crossed the line now. The bottom line is this God calls them out and lets them know that Moses is His Servant and He wants to know why they were not afraid to speak against His Servant.
Moses is given the affirmation from God that will be the fuel that he needs to carry on to the next project God has for him. What do I know about leadership it is a very lonely job and most times it leads one to a state of depression and just when you think you can't go another day God comes to the rescue. When you think you're lonely you really aren't because God is closer than you know. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Nehemiah 6:1-4 - Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it,.... 2 then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together ...." But they were planning to harm me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?" 4 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way. NASU
What is a leader to do when confronted with this type of situation? Leaders will follow in the footsteps of Nehemiah by refusing to associate with the wrong people. If you are going to be a leader you need to realize there are certain people with whom you will not associate. "Bad company corrupts good morals," the apostle Paul said. Nehemiah had three powerful enemies who were trying to get him to stop building the wall and meet with them. They wanted to kill him. Your enemies may not want to kill you but they would like to kill your influence. Stop for a moment and think back over the last five to ten years of all the business, sports or political people who have lost their influence. The cause of their loss of influence may have been they succumb to drugs, fraud, greed or sexual promiscuity. The wise leader will avoid people who would introduce them to these types of temptations and so should you.
Nehemiah said, "NO. I can't come down. I am doing a great work." He didn't say this just once he had to say it over and over again. When your enemy attacks you better be prepared to fight more than one battle. You better be focused on your goal and your God. There are going to be times in your life where you are either going to take a stand and say, "NO" or give in and live with the regret. The choice is yours.
It has been said, "Trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair." Once again the choice is yours. There is no doubt in my mind that the reason Nehemiah said, "NO" was he never lost focus of rebuilding the wall and his God. He was not interested in losing his reputation and the trust that he had built. These meant more to him than any thing in his life at that time. By rebuilding the wall he was going to once again bring honor and glory to the city of Jerusalem, his people and his God. Jerusalem, the city of David, was the city that God chose for the Israelites and he wanted it to be held in high esteem once again. What is it that you need to reevaluate at this time? What has been tempting you? What is it that you need to say, "No" too? Are there some people with whom you should not be associating? Think About This: It is easier to judge people by what they fall for than by what they stand for. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Nehemiah - 2:5 - I said to the king, "If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it." The type of vision I am speaking about cannot be checked by visiting an Ophthalmologist’s office. This is the vision that relates to one’s goals being accomplished. A person’s vision is generally very clear at the start of their journey. However, while on your quest there will be many obstacles arise to cloud your vision. Nehemiah’s vision was very clear. It was to rebuild the walls in Jerusalem and re-hang the gates. How does a person develop a vision?
1st - His plan is to get to Jerusalem (Neh. 2:5-9). 2nd - He surveys the city and contrives a plan to rebuild the walls (Neh. 2:11-16). 3rd - He recruits other people in his plan (Neh. 2:17-18). LIFE LESSON: When you are working to achieve your goal or see your vision come to fruition, you need to know obstacles will appear. Neh. 2:19 - But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” Nehemiah was trying to achieve the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem to once again bring honor and glory to the city chosen by God. Yet, there were people who didn’t like what he was trying to fulfill. When you cast a vision beware. There will be people who will become obstacles on your path. Why do obstacles come when you are trying to succeed in a worthwhile cause? I tell myself they come to test my resolve. They want to see how much it will take to get me to quit. There must not be an ounce of quit in us. This is where we can grow closer to God by asking for Him to help strengthen our mental fortitude.
1. How much money could someone offer you to get you to abandon your goal? 2. How much criticism from family, friends or enemies before you would give up on your vision? Obstacles will come once you take that first step to accomplishing your vision. Let the obstacles be fuel for your fire; don't let them extinguish your desire to complete the task. Nehemiah overcame the obstacles and rebuilt the wall and hung the gates in 52 days. The walls had been in ruins for years and years, because no one had the vision. Once Nehemiah got the vision nothing stopped him. He accomplished what no one else had tried. I challenge you to be a Nehemiah today. Get a vision and overcome all obstacles on your way to achieving it. Think About This: A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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