Today was my first physical and occupational therapy sessions as an outpatient at Northern Colorado Rehab Hospital. It was good to see many of the staff members that I knew from my in patient days. The focus of my physical therapy was on some at home exercises to address some of my deficiencies in my legs. I worked with some weights to strengthen my shoulders with the occupational therapist. I also had the OT run me through the reaction time assessment that is used for driving assessment. I was able to meet the “driving ready” qualification. They will work with me on the process of handling my wheelchair and or walker as part of the driving process.

I enjoyed a visit from my friend David Warren from Morrison. In our conversation we discussed the difference of stable families on a child’s development and the broader impact on our society. David also share with me that he had knee replacement surgery five weeks ago! I would have never known it if he didn’t tell me. A key to his successful surgery was some pre-surgery physical therapy to strengthen his legs.

We are now getting ready for a big weekend with a trip to Gunnison for my nieces’ college graduation.

 BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…. “Lord God of heaven, great and awe-inspiring God, you faithfully keep your promise and show mercy to those who love you and obey your commandments…Lord, please pay attention to my prayer and to the prayers of all your other servants who want to worship your name. Please give me success today and make this man, King Artaxerxes, show me compassion.” “I was cupbearer to the king at this time.” Nehemiah 1:5,11 (GW)

 The exiles who had returned to Jerusalem under Ezra found the Temple built, but the walls of the city in ruin. In addition to the rubble and debris that discouraged them there were people who opposed their presence and plans. When Nehemiah heard this discouraging news, he immediately went to the Lord in prayer, before he even thought of addressing the King.

Some lessons from Nehemiah:

1- Pray before you act – This is something we see in Ezra and Nehemiah. They sought the Lord for favor and direction and timing as to how to respond to a need. Nehemiah prayed for favor and success. This is something we see consistently in Nehemiah’s life and leadership; even if they were short “moment of crisis” prayers.

2 – Recognizing God for Who He is – Nehemiah’s prayer begins with recognizing God for who He is and what He had promised to do for His people who obey Him. God’s people needed mercy more than anything at this moment. In recognition of this, Nehemiah confesses that God’s people have sinned including his family and himself.

While we see God’s people neglecting God’s commandments and ways during the reign of various kings; now that that they are in captivity we see a  new generation emerging that understand God’s commands, and character and realize that sin brings judgment, but obedience blessing.

3 – Leaders Emerge in Crisis – Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the King. This was an important position, one of trust. However, it he tasted wine that was poisoned he was the one who was supposed to die Instead of the King, so he must have been view as dispensable. In other words, Nehemiah did not possess the position that Daniel did for example. But when his heart was moved and he sought the Lord, and the door was opened we see in Nehemiah a leader coming to the surface and uniting people to accomplish an overwhelming task.

I recall when I was in the State Legislature and the Republicans became the majority party. The mantle of leadership was now upon our members. It was interesting to see how those with the greatest responsibility prepared themselves for the task ahead. It was interesting to see the leadership that emerged from various members that served as committee chairs and in other roles. I actually commented about this to one of my colleagues, and she pointed out that the potential was always there in people, they just were never afforded the opportunity.

How many times do we see individuals not develop in leadership roles because they are never given the opportunity? The servant, the prayer warrior, others we would tend to overlook may have leadership potential God is waiting to unleash.

Some of the greatest lessons from the Bible are not in what God does, or in what takes place, but in the lives of those God uses. There is alway someone God is ready to use…maybe its you.

Tomorrow I begin my first official outpatient therapy session at Northern Colorado Rehab Hospital. I am approved for 20 visits of physical and occupational therapy. I hope to see some steady improvement and develop the skills that I need to become more independent and to get stronger through my own workouts.

I did feel more energy today and so went out on another wheelchair “run”. I navigated just over a mile in less than 25 minutes. I felt like I am getting a better handle on managing the wheelchair with all the challenges of grades that make it difficult to keep going straight. For now I am trying to avoid the significant uphill routes.

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…. “I was ashamed to ask the king for an armed escort with cavalry to help us against an enemy attack on the way. We had already told the king, “Our God works things out for the good of everyone who dedicates his life to serving him, but his power and his anger oppose everyone who abandons him.” So we fasted and asked our God for a safe journey, and he answered our prayer.”  Ezra 8:22,23(GW)

Ezra the priest was leading the people of Israel in rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. This is an amazing account of how God worked in the hearts of Kings and rulers to initiate this process. There were some challenges along the way, opposition stopped the work for a time; but now Ezra the Temple is completed and a group of the exiles are traveling back to Jerusalem armed with the treasures from the temple taken to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem.

King Artaxerxes, had released the people of Jerusalem to return to the city. He undoubtedly had heard of the miracles the God of heaven performed for Daniel and his companions who served previous kings. The King had offered Ezra whatever he needed. Certainly traveling with the gold and utensils for the Temple made this group vulnerable to be raided by bandits and thieves. However, Ezra felt that this was the time to trust the Lord’s protection as they made the trip and refused to ask for help and was even “ashamed” to do so.

So, Ezra and the people fasted and prayed for a safe journey and God answered their prayers. God was guiding us, and he rescued us from our enemies and from ambushes along the way. (v.31) The people arrived safely and began their work of worship to the Lord and addressing the sin of intermarriage with idolatrous people among the returning exiles.

As Ezra began this effort and was receiving favor from the King he made this statement about this challenging process. “I was encouraged because the Lord my God was guiding me”. (Ezra 7:28) There is no confidence builder greater than know that the Lord is with you and providing the wisdom and favor that is needed. Ezra’s confidence was not in his ability, but in recognizing God’s favor on His people and believing God to work on their behalf.

Ezra’s statement to the King, “Our God works things out for the good of everyone who dedicates his life to serving him”, reminds me of Paul’s words in Romans 8:28 “all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.”

If there is one thing we observe in the history of God’s people is that dedication to serving the Lord resulted in protection, favor and blessing from the Lord. When God’s people became impatient and were drawn away by the other nations around and their devotion to God waned, they began to experience defeat and hardship.

We see that serving the Lord wholeheartedly brings a confidence that God is directing our steps and helping us to accomplish the good purposes He has for our lives. As we see in Ezra’s life that requires consistent obedience and seeking Him.

I found myself fairly fatigued today. Yesterday was a good work out day between some of the exercises I did, my walking and my wheelchair work. However, I am feeling stronger and more normal in my activities. I can definitely do things easier than just a month ago.

I got caught up on some personal bookkeeping today and am getting ready to sort out the medical bills that we have received and verify the amounts that we owe. Debbie’s sister Sue has commented that she is so glad that I am now able to take care of those issues. Sue and Sam were such a great help in taking care of some of financial issues during my hospitalization. I am just glad that I am able to make some sense out of it all. My sister helped me download a medical expense tracking software that has really helped me keep a handle on everything.

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY….“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.  Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.  The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”   1Timothy 1:12-14

These verses above are a summary of the testimony of the man Saul of Tarsus, a Jew zealous for the law of Moses and tormentor of followers of Jesus. He believed he was right in his persecution toward those who followed “the way.” But when Jesus appeared to him (Acts 9) he found out that it was actually Jesus he was persecuting.

Jesus knew that Saul’s zeal was misguided and could be used to help spread the good news about Jesus to the world to both Jews and Gentiles. Saul the persecutor became Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ. He was always humbled by his pre-conversion life and endured much persecution himself for the cause of Christ. Paul’s impact was unparalleled; but it came at a high price as he found himself in a constant battle to see the cause of Christ advance.

The testimony of life change for Paul becomes the center piece of the Book of Acts. His life is one of a dramatic conversion. In the description of his life in Christ he references “mercy” “grace” “faith” and “love.” These virtues are the hallmark of salvation and the Christian life.

The impact of our life may not be as great as the Apostle’s, but we can all with Paul, have a heart of gratitude for being shown mercy and understand that God’s grace and love has been poured out richly into our lives that we may place our faith in Christ alone. It is no wonder that Paul could write to the Romans and say, “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8) Those were more than encouraging words, that was a reality Paul experienced. And we can experience it too.

Benediction for today…. Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth…AMEN

We had lunch today with Debbie’s sister Sue and her husband Sam at their home in Wellington. This was our first visit to their home in close to a year. Since my illness came shortly after our move to Fort Collins, the impact of all that hit not only our life and theirs as well as they came alongside of us did what they could, when they could to help carry the load on several fronts.

I did get out for a ride in my racing wheelchair. It took me about 44 minutes to travel 1.25 miles. However, I will learn from this route not to do it again at least for a while. There was a long uphill stretch on the second half that was pretty taxing and really slowed me down.

In addition to that I got some good “walker time” in. I used my walker to get from the car to the front door at Sue and Sam’s house and used it to get to the car and back to the garage at our house. This is along with the shorter distances inside the house. I did make one trip up our garage handicap ramp and back down just using the handrails. That was fairly taxing but I made it. So overall that could have been around 100 feet of walking for today. I’m glad I took that morning nap.

 Bible Verse for Today… “In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne. The bottom of his robe filled the temple.  Angels were standing above him…They called to each other and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies!  The whole earth is filled with his glory.”  Isaiah 6:1,3

Yesterday, we saw how that King Uzziah was successful as long as he served the Lord with his whole heart. But when he became successful, his pride led to his downfall. Uzziah’s pride was revealed when he went in to the Temple and offered incense which was only lawful for the priest to do. When confronted by the Priest, he showed no submission to God’s ways and was struck with leprosy and lived isolated from the community and his throne  until he died.

In Uzziah’s life we can observe the following:

1 – The role of a godly influence – “He dedicated his life to serving God in the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God”. 2 Chronicles 26:5

As a young King, the spiritual authority and accountability of a faithful priest helped Uzziah stay focused in his life. Scripture is silent but it appears that when Uzziah became power Zechariah was no longer on the scene. The important lesson is to become spiritually stable and consistent when our mentors, role models and those keeping us focused and accountable are not longer part of our life. This is the true test of devotion to God.

2 – Forgetting where success comes from – “As long as he dedicated his life to serving the Lord, the Lord gave him success.” (2 Chron. 26:6) There is the proverbial warning about “believing your own press releases.” I remember reading some press releases from my time in politics and they made me sound pretty good. It is always tempting to be impressed with yourself, and forget where your strength comes from. For some reason, Uzziah lost the connection between devotion to the Lord and success in life.

I recall that the Lord cautioned the Israelites that when they entered the promised land and achieved victory over armies larger, stronger and better than theirs to not forget the Lord and think that it was through their might the battles were won. They did forget and so did Uzziah.

3 – Serving the Lord, or using the Lord – The sin of Uzziah’s father was that he offered incense to the god of the people he defeat in battle. This was an act of idolatrous nations who viewed gods as powerful forces to be manipulated and used to get what I want. Uzziah in offering incense in the Lord’s temple felt, as King, he had the right; but in doing so was demonstrating that he was the one who wanted to the Lord to do what he wanted and it was not longer, he who was acting as God’s servant, doing God’s work. God had set those boundaries and separation of duties intentionally to remind His people that He was the Lord, and it was He that they served, not the other way around.

4 – A sad epithet – God’s judgment came upon Uzziah in the worst way possible outside of immediate death. Leprosy meant isolation and a slow painful death. The power he had was handed over to his son. When he died, he was not remembered for his obedience to God, or his success in battle or his military might, all that was said of him was, “he had leprosy.”

5 – A new call out of a tragic end – The death of Uzziah was a tragic end to a long rule and what could have been a successful, God-honoring reign. The Prophet Isaiah refers to his death in Isaiah 6:1 (our verse above). When human leaders disappoint, when a tragic death occurs, or a sad ending brings discouragement a fresh vision of the Lord is needed. A vision of who God is and what He desire for our life and those around us.

In this vision Isaiah is made aware of the sinfulness of those around him and his own sin. No pride is reflected in the prophet during this encounter. However, out of this vision we see Isaiah receiving the reason for the revelation from God. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom will I send? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me!”  (Isaiah 6:8)

True success is found in doing God’s will, being totally devoted to Him and keeping Him in the forefront of our lives.