Scripture ponderings – Page 15

Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 5, Day 5

Friday: Keeping Our Promise

Text: At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised. (Nehemiah 5:13b, NIV)

Teach: It is one thing to promise, but it means nothing without follow through. Nehemiah chastised the people for their behavior. It could have easily become a divisive matter. Instead this confrontation turned into a worship service. They agreed and broke into praise.

Take: Jesus reminded his followers of the former teaching that required the keeping of one’s vows. He was referring to Numbers 30:2, “When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.” Whether we keep our vows or not speaks to our integrity and our relationship with God.

Task: Jesus, and later his brother James, remind us that we need to let our yes be yes, and our no be no. Vows and promises are powerful things. Do not be hasty to make a vow or promise that you will not be able to keep. Consider some of the promises you have made and how God helps you keep them. Give thanks for his strengthening power that makes you able.

Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 5, Day 4

Thursday: Accepting Responsibility

Text: 11 Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”
12 “We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” (Nehemiah 5:11-12, NIV)

Teach: Nehemiah was a man of action. He required that the lenders stop charging interest and return a portion of what was taken. This was major. Nehemiah didn’t just shame them for their actions, he called them to make things right. It wouldn’t solve all their problems, but it was a huge step in the right direction.

Take: We live in a time when very few people accept responsibility for their actions. We blame everyone else. The reaction of the people to comply with Nehemiah’s instruction was commendable and an excellent example for us today.

Task: Accepting responsibility when we’re wrong can cost us—just as it did the lenders in Nehemiah’s day. Ask God to help you bring what you do in line with what you believe even when the cost is great.

Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 5, Day 3

Wednesday: Walking Without Fear or Reproach

Text: So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? (Nehemiah 5:9, NIV)

Teach: What were they doing? While it was not illegal or wrong to loan money, charging excessive usury or interest is. It is wrong to gain financially of someone’s need.

Take: Nehemiah was concerned not only with the negative effects of the unfair loan practices were having on the people, but also with the impact their actions was having on those outside watching.

Task: Jesus told his followers they were salt and light and how they lived would either draw people to God or drive them away. As you reflect on the text today, ask God to reveal whether your witness is a light that leads others to him.

Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 5, Day 2

Tuesday: What To Do With Anger

Text: When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. 7 I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them. (Nehemiah 5: 6-7, NIV)

Teach: It isn’t wrong to get angry. Jesus saw what was going on in the Temple and in the gospels we find him overturning the money changers tables and kicking everybody out. Paul warns the Ephesians that they are to be angry but not give into sin (Eph. 5:26). Anger at injustice that moves us to action demonstrates our love for God.

Take: Some translations say that Nehemiah “consulted himself.” As he pondered what was going on and how that made him feel and what he needed to do about it, Nehemiah put his head and heart together and sought God’s solutions to the situation.

Task: Have you been moved by injustice around you? Have you pondered what God would have you do? The building of the wall didn’t create the problems as much as it revealed them. What has God been revealing to you?

Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 5, Day 1

Monday: Selfish Attacks from Within
Text: Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews.2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.” (Nehemiah 5:1-2, NIV)

Teach: Chapter 4 ended so positively. But now the work has stopped because there is strife and disunity among the people. The building project had been funded by King Artaxerxes, but there were definite money problems for the people. They had been working so hard on the wall that they were unable to do their normal work to be able to provide for their families.

Take: Statistically, over half of marriages end in divorce and most of those are due to issues related to money. I read several articles about credit card debt and the numbers are staggering. In general, it seems we are out of control, driven to accumulate more, and our marriages and families are suffering because of it.

Task: In Luke 12 we find Jesus’ teaching about the Rich Fool who lost his life while trying to build bigger barns. He goes on to speak to his followers about how to find contentment, wrapping it up by telling them, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (see Luke 12:34)

In your quiet time, ask God to show you where your treasure is, what your treasure is, and how you are caring for it. Check your balance and your control.

Rebuilding with Nehemiah, Chapter 4, Day 7

Sunday: Lines of Communication

Text: 18 All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm.
19 Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!” (Nehemiah 4:18-20, NLT)

Nehemiah knew the importance of prayer, of remembering, and of being ready. But all those things can be done by individuals.

Today’s word reminds us that we are in this together.

We understand Nehemiah’s concern that we, like the workers on the wall, are widely separated from each other. We live in a time when the opportunities for connection abound, but we have never been more alone.

Just as the people needed to listen for the blast of the trumpet, we need to listen and come together.

We were created for relationship, with God and others. From one end of the Bible to the other we read that we are to be devoted to one another, and care for one another. The writer of Hebrews even admonishes the believers to not give up meeting together as some were in the habit of doing (see Hebrews 10:25).

We need to take advantage of the opportunities to worship and play, fellowship and study together, so that we will also be ready to do battle for and with one another.

Book Review: Hymns of the Heart

As close to perfect as I’ve read in a long time.

There is really nothing I didn’t like about this book. I only wish there was more. The author addresses thirty five psalms in this volume. There is a good representation of familiar and less familiar selections included. The author gives the more familiar psalms a look that is refreshing, while taking the time to lift up less familiar hymn an intention and well-deserved nod.

In the epilogue the author notes mentions the varied emotions expressed in the psalms and how this was encouragement to the growth of his awe and wonder for God. His intention to draw the reader into similar patterns of growth can be considered “mission completed.”

The heart of this pastor is poured out on each page. I can imagine the material being preached and the people being blessed. Rev. Faughn has done his homework, but it neither comes across as “preachy” in a negative way or condescending manner. I found myself learning and going deeper.

Each chapter is written in an easy to follow style. I love the author’s use of alliteration. The way it is presented could clearly enhance a person’s individual study time or be well-suited to a class or small group study.
I highly recommend this book. I received a copy from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Nehemiah Devotions, Chapter 4 Day 1

Monday: Sticks and Stones
Text: Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” (Nehemiah 4:1-3)

You remember the old playground saying: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Who were we kidding?

Words hurt. Being mocked hurts. Being intimidated hurts. Ridicule can be discouraging, disheartening, and defeating.

That’s what the Jewish builders faced. Sanballat felt his power and control slipping away so he resorted name calling and ridicule. Thankfully, Nehemiah was ready and was able to rally the people and keep the work going.

Are you facing ridicule and mocking at work, school, or home?

Our enemy knows how to defeat us. He knows how to throw just the right words at us, and his attacks are aimed at our heart with the goal of destroying our faith.

We need to keep our eyes on our leader and Lord.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. (Hebrews 12:1b-2, NIV)

Nehemiah Devotions Chapter 3, Day 2

Tuesday Start with the place of worship

Text: Then Eliashib the high priest and the other priests started to rebuild at the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set up its doors, building the wall as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and the Tower of Hananel. (Nehemiah 3:1, NLT)

The work began with the place of worship and with the leaders of worship. God’s people stepped up and started the work.

This may seem odd to our twenty-first century minds when people are leaving the church in droves. Organized religion continues to be ridiculed and left behind as outdated and out of touch. Our rubble is showing.

But the rebuilding began with the priests, and the next words we read are that the people worked with them.

As we read on, we will see there’s a place where each of us can join the rebuilding project. Let’s begin here by asking God to show us what our part is in the rebuilding of worship.

Nehemiah Devotion Chapter 2, Day 5

I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem.
(Nehemiah 2:12)

Nehemiah got to town and one might imagine him jumping in and getting to work. But that’s not what happened. Nehemiah takes his time. He walks around the rubble. And he tells no one about the plan God laid on his heart.

He spent time with the people. He probably heard their discouraging stories. He saw the overwhelming nature of the task.

God needed Nehemiah to take all of that in. It’s one thing to draw up a plan from a distance, but quite another to see what needs to be done close up and personally.

There were times in Jesus’ ministry when even though he knew the heart of God and what needed to be done, he pulled away from the crowd to be alone with his Father.

The more time I spend with Nehemiah, the more I see a man who leaned hard on God.

How’s your “leaning” going?