Godly living – Page 21

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 8 Day 3

Wednesday:

Text: 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

Teach: Did you catch that? Ezra read and the people listened from daybreak to noon, and they did so attentively. These people were motivated and hungry to know God and what he wanted from them. Three hours for worship. That is still the practice in many places around the world. As I researched length of services, I found several articles suggesting that American services are too short and there is a push to lengthen them.

Take: We can spend two or three hours at a sporting event or even a movie and pay a high price to do so. But an hour for worship is thought by some to be asking too much. We spend how much time a day on our phones or in front of TV, but have no time for personal quiet time with God. (Obviously you’re an exception since you’re reading this.) I remember how I finally got myself into a devotional habit. I put my devotional on the back of the toilet. I knew I’d be there a couple times a day. It worked. Thankfully, I’ve been able to develop that time over the years and come out of the water closet.

Task: Do you tithe your time? Is God worth more than a daily nod his direction? Do you think God wants more from you? Can you, will you give him the time he deserves…and you need?

Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 8 Day 1

Monday:

Text: 1 All the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.

Teach: In chapter seven of Nehemiah, we saw the transition from everyone’s focus on the building of the wall to the building of people. The people credited God for the miracle of building the wall in fifty-two days. They wanted to know more about this God.

Take: I love to hear missionaries speak of the determination of the people where they minister. The miles they walk. The risks they take. The things they sacrifice. All because they want to gather with other believers and hear the Word.

Task: What sacrifices have you made to be with God’s people to hear the Word? What excuses do you use to keep from spending time in the Word? Tough questions today, I know. Trust me, I’ve been taking my own inventory, too.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 7 Day 7

Sunday:

Text: 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:7-8, NIV)

Teach: The major lesson of this chapter has been: people are important to God. Not just groups of people, but individuals. I think of the encounter Jesus had with the woman at the well. John makes the point in his account that Jesus had to go that way. Not because the map said so, but because he had an appointment to keep.

Take: We are not in this journey alone. God fixed that in the beginning. Eve was created because it was not good for man to be alone. We were created to be in relationship with and for each other. We may not always get along, but we really do need each other.

Task: Ponder this quote by James Robison: God created us in His image. We were made for relationship, fellowship, stewardship and productive fruitfulness. The first relationship which profoundly affects all other relationships begins with our commitment to faith in and fellowship with Father God. It is on this meaningful relationship all others are to be built. We are to love God first and foremost and love our neighbors with the same legitimate concern we have for our own well-being.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 7 Day 4

Thursday:

Text: Nehemiah 7:4-69 or Ezra 2:1-64

Teach: Oh, no. Another list. Why? What is so important about who was there? God loved them, each and every one. Wiersbe likens this list to the list of names in Hebrews 11. These are the people who made things happen.

Take: Not long ago one of my cousins posted some picks and historical/genealogical facts about our grandfather’s family. It was fascinating. I remembered when I was in grade school and I saw my grandmother’s family tree. It went back all the way to William Bradford who came over on the Mayflower. The entertainment industry has got the genealogy fever and now we can watch celebrities uncover their pasts. We seem to crave connection and the anchor it provides.

Task: Not everything we uncover in our pasts is something to brag about. Consider Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. But the truth is, God can even use those “unsavory” characters in his plan for us. And if that’s truth, imagine what he can do with us!

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 7 Day 5

Friday:

Text: 70 Some of the heads of the families contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics[b] of gold, 50 bowls and 530 garments for priests. 71 Some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 darics[c] of gold and 2,200 minas[d] of silver. 72 The total given by the rest of the people was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas[e] of silver and 67 garments for priests.

Teach: This chapter not only teaches us who was important to God, but so is their giving. What would happen if your giving was posted for all to see?

Take: When Jacob realized God’s protection and provision, he made an oath to return to God a tenth of all he had (see Genesis 28). In Malachi 3:10 we read: Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it (NIV). Have you ever tried to outgive God?

Task: Friday is typically considered “payday.” Take time to consider your pay and your blessings and have a conversation with God about what and how he would have you give to his work.

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 7 Day 3

Wednesday:

Text: 3 I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”

Teach: Nehemiah called for two kinds of guards, those who kept the gates and those who performed as kind of neighborhood watch. Everyone was to keep watch and warn of the enemy’s presence or attack.

Take: The days of Sheriff Andy and Mayberry are gone. Doors and windows stay locked and many homes have security systems to protect them. We live by the mantra: you can’t be too careful. But are we as cautious to protect our spiritual life? We’re told to guard our heart in Proverbs. Jesus makes several references to guarding our treasure, our relationship with God.

Task: What safeguards do you take to guard your heart?

Rebuilding With Nehemiah, Chapter 7 Day 2

Tuesday:

Text: 2 I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do.

Teach: People with integrity do the right thing even when no one is looking. When a building has integrity it is a solidly built structure that will withstand the storms and elements. Nehemiah chose leaders who weren’t afraid to stand strong in front of the people and before God.

Take: I pass a building in progress on my way to and from picking up my grandson from school. The last couple days the workers have been putting up the back wall. It’s an interesting process. I imagine this isn’t the first building they’ve put up. Time and experience have informed their decisions. I doubt they would listen to the ideas of everyone who passed by. They followed the blueprints and the boss’ instructions. That way they would have integrity as workers and as a company.

Task: How’s your IQ, your integrity quotient? Are living what you believe before a watching critical world? It’s not always easy, but it is what God expects.

Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 7, Day 1

Monday:

Text: After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the Levites were appointed.

Teach: Nehemiah is a very wise leader. He knew he couldn’t do the work alone, so he appointed assistants. It was a lesson Moses’ father in law taught him and even Jesus employed.

Take: There is so much work to be done for the kingdom. Some of it is upfront, while other work happens behind the scenes by people who rarely get or want credit. Where you work is not as important as if and when.

Task: Have you been gifted for a special service in the church or community? Take time to assess your gifts and your readiness to work. There is always something to be done, and something special just for you.

Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 6, Day 6

Saturday:

Text: 13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me. (Nehemiah 6:13, NIV)

Teach: Intimidation is the technique used by a person who perceives themselves to be more powerful than another, whereby they attempt to frighten the “weaker” person into doing what they want. Over and over we read of Nehemiah’s enemies seeking to employ this tactic. The problem is they thought Nehemiah was weaker. They failed to understand the strength of his character, and his God.

Take: Numerous times we find the reminder in the Old Testament journey of God’s people that the battle belongs to the Lord. Paul reassured the Romans that in spite of what they faced they were “more than conquerors.” (Romans 8:37) John encouraged his epistles that greater is he (God) who is in us, than he (Satan) who is in the world (see 1 John 4:4).

Task: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” That quote is attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt. We will face many folks who will seek discredit us and make us feel inferior. We don’t have to give them consent. They may think weak and easily intimidated, but we can stand strong in the One who is greater and be more than a conqueror!

Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 6, Day 5

Friday:

Text: 9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”
But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” (Nehemiah 6:9, NIV)

Teach: “If they’re wringing their hands in fear, they’ll be too weak (and distracted) to work.” That was the thinking of Nehemiah’s enemies. Nehemiah’s solution: prayer. Hopefully by now we’re learning that prayer is Nehemiah’s answer to every problem or situation. This time he asked God to strengthen his hands.

Take: Peter encourages the believers of his day to “cast all your anxiety (care) on him (God) because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7). This wasn’t a new thought for the Psalmist had penned the same message centuries before: “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22, NIV)

Task: Wringing your hands in fear is wasted energy. Instead, cast all your care on God, because he cares for you. He will give you the strength for whatever task you face.