Devotional thoughts for God’s Family – 1
Nehemiah 1:4–6 (ESV): As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you.
What a very tough place to be. In captivity, completely taken out of your homeland and your homeland decimated by an occupying nation.
Nehemiah cared for his homeland and he cared for the people who lived there. He heard about the disarray and it broke his heart.
It would have been easier for Nehemiah to blame the occupying nation for the hardship, but that is not what Nehemiah did. He looked at the sin of the people of Israel and confessed the sin. This is an important principle of scripture that we can learn. When we can recognize our piece in the problems we face, we will be better for it.
Blaming others is so easy and also, deadly. Actually, when we blame others we are putting concrete on our own feet. A person who blames others feels the right to be angry and justified in their retribution.
You see no one on earth has the power to take away your joy and peace. These are a gift from God given to you through the Holy Spirit and it is yours. Yet, you can give them away easily. Blaming others is one way that you do. When you blame you are saying to another through your blaming, “The reason I feel the way I do is because you did this or that!”
Nehemiah is safeguarding his own identity, the identity that God gave him, by taking responsibility for the situation he and the people of Israel are in.
Another noteworthy aspect of the introduction to this wonderful and insightful book is that Nehemiah looks to the Lord first. Certainly the Israelites were taken into captivity, certainly there was indescribable carnage and loss on many levels, but that did not stick out in his mind, the Lord did. He wanted to settle accounts with the Lord first. This is true godliness.
He confesses the sins of his family with the assumption that the problems he and Israel face are the results of the sins of the past. I wonder what our lives would be like if we did the same? God resourced and protected the work of rebuilding Israel in Nehemiah’s time. And I believe it was a direct result of correct posturing with God that Nehemiah did.
I am reminded of a verse in James. It says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16 ESV)
As we start our journey through this book, this is a perfect point to begin. A man who is burdened for others, who recognizes that the current living situations are a direct result of sin. He deals with the sin by confessing to God and we get a front row seat to see how God blesses this man. He will do the same for you.
Let’s begin with a prayer. Lord, would you teach us as we walk together through Nehemiah. We need wisdom to understand how we are to go forward. We look at what is in front of us and we easily declare that without you we don’t have a chance, no hope at all. In that, build our faith to see, hear and obey you. We need miracles and we firmly believe that the pathway to the miraculous is the road of obedience. Lord, speak to us. Thank you so much for your presence and power in our lives.
Devotional thoughts for God’s Family Week – 2
Why did Nehemiah lament. What was it that caused him to sit down and weep? What would cause Nehemiah to cry for days and then start fasting?
Nehemiah 1:2-3 And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
The great exile in his lifetime, an event so strange and life changing, had left the place he loved and the people he loved in shambles. Their way of life was completely turned upside down, and many people we carted off in bondage, against their will. Now there was only a remnant of what used to be. And those who once enjoyed the safety of the city were in grave danger. The people were left unguarded and easily attacked by the enemy. The defenses that once provided safety and security were beat to the ground.
Am I reading about the exiles of Jerusalem or the exiles of the church in our day? I am concerned about those who have lost connection with the family of God in our day. I am deeply concerned about the bondage that we are susceptible to when we lose heart and drive to pursue the things of God.
I am not a fan of the the online church alone, not that it is bad, I am simply not used to it and desire human to human contact. Some of the staff joke with me, that I am now a televangelist. I stand in front of a camera and preach to a lens. I think that is funny, but deep inside I long to be out of exile and back to our gatherings.
I am thinking constantly about those who have broken off contact, who are not participating with any church at all. There is no voice of God, no spiritual formation, not relationship at all. Somewhere along the way they have reasoned that they will rejoin when everything gets back to normal. I am so deeply concerned about this.
I hope you are too.
God made you in a way that you will not survive without food: spiritual, physical and relational. That is why he said for us to not let go of our gatherings. I too struggle with looking at people through a screen, but today that is all I have and that is what I will excel in, until we have another option.
My personal preference doesn’t win right now. I will engage in whatever format God offers me today. And I long for the time when I can wrap my arms around God’s family in person.
Hebrews 10:24–25 (ESV): And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Be concerned about the potential of your walls being broken down. Be alarmed at the idea of not caring about the family of God. Be saddened by the news of some who have let go of their faith because it isn’t convenient to them. And by all means, press in with your family, push forward and get connected in a deeper way today.
Don’t sit back and wait for your church family to make it all happen, go after them and help them in the transitions we are all facing. Encourage your church leaders to keep going. Let them know that they are doing good things. Assist them if they have a need, even if it isn’t in your shell house, because much of the way the church is functioning today is outside of the leaders wheel house.
But, because Jesus is Lord, we all will do whatever is necessary to present to the world a consistent message of the gospel. You are a part of that message, your life and your testimony. Let’s keep on moving forward and not shrink back.
Hebrews 10:39 (ESV): But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Jesus, thank you for all that you are doing to us. We are being challenged to participate and communicate in ways we never thought possible. Help us to grow during this time. Show us how to be in your presence even when we are not in other’s presence. Help us see a clearer and purer church than we have ever known. And also, move us more into being active in our church today, not passive or uninvolved, active and vibrant in the rebuilding that you are doing. Thank you Jesus.
Devotional thoughts for God’s Family Week – 3
Nehemiah 2:8 And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
What a great verse! But remember, this came after a burden for a broken city and the faith to believe that he could make a difference.
Nehemiah was going to try what he could do with the resources available to him. He risked big time!
He could have been shot down, lost his honored role, called a traitor, many different things. But because of the history he had with the king and queen, his voice was heard. There is something about trust and integrity here that is important. Shining where you are until the day that God raises your platform for you to do more. I am reminded of the verse…
1 Peter 5:6 (ESV): Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
Sometime we think that this means we will have a cushy retirement, or be able to tell other people what to do, nope. This means that he will exalt you to another platform to work even harder, having a bigger impact, larger platform to build his kingdom. All of that is predicated on how you have been doing prior.
Can God trust you with more?
Maybe you have thought about serving God, and one day really making an impact in the kingdom of God. Well, did you know that you are smack in the middle of a test? I call it the Covid sifting. The test is the answer to this question – What am I doing to help build the kingdom of God today?
God is watching to see what you and I do with adversity, because with a larger platform comes increased adversity. Right now it isn’t easy leading in the spiritual realm, how are you doing, not only with your own life, but the lives of those who look to you for leadership? Are you still moving forward? Have you given up? Have you gone rogue or quit?
Pass the test friend! Get in there and use your life to build the kingdom. Show the Lord that you are trustworthy with more. Now is not the time to shrink back – it’s the time to push forward.
Nehemiah had proven himself time and time again with the king and queen, it was easy for them to give to him all that he wanted. They trusted that what he said, he would do. To be trust worthy for us is to be consistent and long suffering in the day-to-day calling of Jesus to be salt and light in our world.
God has more for you. He has greater impact for you. He has a plan to prosper you and not to harm you. He has plans to build people through you and you can then watch as he builds his church all around you.
Live a life today that shows the hand of God on you, don’t wait til things clear up, then the test is over and you will have to wait for the next test. Engage today – live it out today, get involved in building the kingdom of God today.
Lord, we bless your name and are grateful that you invite all of us to participate with you in the building of your kingdom. Lord, spur us on to good works. Help us to take steps of faith today that get us closer to where you want us to be. Fill us with the Holy Spirit. Fill us with power, super natural power, so we can do what you have said we should do. We love you and declare freely our need for you. In the mighty name of Jesus.
Devotional thoughts for God’s Family Week – 4
Nehemiah 3:12 (ESV): 12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.
I can’t quite figure it out, but there is something very special about this verse. I love two things about this verse. The first is obvious, that being, a dad and his daughters working together to build the kingdom of God. That has always been a supreme dream of mine. Of course there is no physical temple today, the human body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
My constant prayer is that my children would grow in their love and longing to build people. I now have sons that are married to my daughters and the potential is great for them as kingdom builders.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (ESV): Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
So, again, we are not building a physical temple. We are building people. We build the people and God builds the church.
The second thing that I love about this verse is family. From beginning to end in this chapter, God built the city of God with families. You did notice that right? Go ahead and read the entire list, you will see families doing the work of restoration and building. Where do we get the idea of church being a big corporation?
Get your kids involved as early as possible into serving and building the church. Help your children and grandchildren become acquainted with what God is doing in our world.
I find it so peculiar and sad when I hear folks who want to let their kids find out about “religion” on their own, so they do just that. Their children grow up without a knowledge of God and reject the one true God when they are older. And yet they will indoctrinate their kids into movies, music and gaming before they can ride a bike.
So it goes with the god of this world, he has even deceived the elect. He has taught parents to treat their children like adults, and when they become adults, they act like children. The funny thing is that the parent does the opposite. The parent treats the child like an adult when they are a child, and when they become an adult they treat their adult child like a child, controlling and manipulating them. There is a high price of disappointment and regret for any parent who does not treat their child like a child and their adult child like an adult.
Parents, train your kids to be side-by-side with you. Working with you, give them the DNA that God gave you, not the DNA of this world. You do that and they will want to pick up a hammer and build what you are building – they may be in a different location, but they will be building what you are building…that begs the question…a serious question…
What are you building?
Is it joinable? Do you want your pups joining you in what you are building? Now, if your life has been spent building you, don’t count on them joining you. If on the other hand you are building God’s kingdom…make room for them, they will want to join, in time. God is good about that.
Tomorrow we will dig into this a little more. You might want to prepare a bit by asking God to make your heart soft and malleable.
Lord, prepare us to be different and attractive to this world. Help us look different. Help us to paint a picture of parents and children side-by-side building the kingdom. God we see a deep longing in the orphan’s eyes of wanting to be loved. So much rebellion today Lord, we know that you are the answer. Show us the way and start with us. In the name of our mighty Jesus.
Devotional thoughts for God’s Family Week – 5
Nehemiah 3:12 (ESV): 12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.
Proverbs 22:6 (ESV): Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Let’s do a little test, when you call on your child to join you, what happens? Its not a cultural thing as you might like to indict the world we live in when your child goes another way. God has made good parenting possible through every age. So the culture is not to blame, even if we thought it was ok to blame, it isn’t. Nor is there anything wrong with your child or you for that matter.
When your child was small that little one followed you everywhere. When did that stop? When your child became independent? No, not at all. The beauty of our relationship with God is that in our independence, we choose him. That’s what blesses his heart so much. And that is what truly blesses your heart too; when your child chooses you, just as God teaches and trains us we too must teach and train our kids to choose us.
Go ahead, try teaching that in a lesson – that’s like trying to teach a Jack Russell terrier to “stay” in a room full of bacon. (Or a Ruskinite for that matter)
If you are feeling the weight of guilt and shame right now, stop it. Just stop it! That is part of the problem, for sure. If you want to have a different future, then something in the present must give way. Are you going to try to shape the heart and mind of a child you trained to be the way they are, or how about you learn and change?
Here is a nugget of gold that will grease the gears of learning.
1 Thessalonians 2:7–8 (ESV): But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
Structure and truth coupled with relationship. Rules and heart together. Otherwise, whoever you are leading will search for a different leader, even though they are still physically present with you.
So maybe you feel like you have blown it? Don’t walk in guilt and shame, don’t do it!
Guilt and shame are concrete around your feet, break free in the name of Jesus, he has given you freedom. There is a new way available to you that is so far reaching it will even change those that you love.
Are you waiting to figure out how to be a perfect parent before you change? Remember, the closest that you will ever be to perfection is doing the right thing about the wrong things that you do. And you can quote me on that!
Look, this is super serious stuff. So many people in the church have succumbed to this world’s and this culture’s handing off of parental responsibility to their own children. They have traded away parenting and gone to TV watching or social media instead.
There is nothing wrong with a room because the light is not on. Turn the light on and go into the room. It is simply darkness that tries to invade into the places that should be lit. So light up the room, go on in and begin to ask God how to change your parenting. It is not too late. God is very interested in this and ready to empower your to be joined by your children.
It may take awhile, and if God is in it (he is) the blessings will be good. Maybe some day you will be able to look back and admire a section of wall in the kingdom of God that you and your pup built together. Hammer next to hammer pounding away, how great is that?
Malachi 4:6 (ESV): And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.
Lord, you ordained so many to rebuild the wall, each taking their place. Family after family lined up working together, I wish I could have seen that in action. Lord, you have given us something very similar in the church – how many families do you see God? How many more will come and as a family join your cause? Bring them Lord, bring them in and set them up, resource them all the tools they need and let them bring glory to you as the master architect of the city of grace. Thank you for all who believe these words. Lord thank you too for Jesus who made it possible for us to change into kingdom builders.
Blessings
Pastor D
