“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT
Life is a journey. When on a journey we travel many roads. Some roads are exciting and adventurous. There are roads in life that lead us into confusion and uncertainty. Others take detours along the way setting us off course. These detours are those unfamiliar roads we must travel and usually when we least expect it. But we do not travel that road alone.
In life’s journey we will at one time, or another find ourselves on a road we never thought we would travel. It may be a life-threatening illness, recovery from an accident, a major upcoming surgery, the breakup of a marriage, losing a child, financial ruin, loss of employment, and at this point you can fill in the blank_____. Unfamiliar roads of this nature are filled with uncertainty, confusion, discouragement, and outright fear. We need someone to tamp down the fear and uncertainty with what is on the road ahead.
The nation Israel was on the verge of entering an unfamiliar road leading to the Promised Land. On this road were powerful nations that had to be eliminated. It was a road the people of Israel didn’t expect. They were afraid, and understandably so. The Lord God told Moses to say to them that God would be going ahead of them on that unfamiliar road, and they need not be afraid. The Lord would be with them and would not abandon them.
Whatever unfamiliar road you are on, remember the Lord God is ahead of you. The road is not unfamiliar to Him. God knows every detour occurring in your life and He is already there. This may be an unexpected detour to you, but not to God. He is already on the road ahead of you!
“But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.” Daniel 6:10 NLT
There are many verses in Scripture that refer to giving thanks. Jesus Himself set an example in giving thanks to His Father while on earth. The angels expressed thanks to God and to His Son. Thanks are to be given in private and public worship to God and for all things, and especially as a part of our daily prayers.
One of the greatest examples recorded in the Bible of giving thanks in private worship and daily prayer is found in Daniel chapter 6. The very familiar story of Daniel in the lions’ den comprises this 6th chapter of Daniel. Daniel was faced with certain death if he continued praying to God, praising Him and giving thanks. King Darius inadvertently signed an edit that sealed Daniel’s fate. Any person found praying to any divine object or human, except the king would be thrown into the lions’ den. It was Daniel’s daily routine to pray with his windows opened towards Jerusalem three times a day giving thanks to God.
Paul wrote, “pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks.” (1Thess.5:17-18a) Daniel is indeed an example of Paul’s words. He prayed continually and although it must have been hard to give thanks for his situation, the Bible said he gave thanks to God. Yes, it is sometimes hard for us to see pass our circumstances thanking God for them. But God does not allow anything to come into our lives He hadn’t ordained to happen. We need to thank Him, for He knows all things and what is best for us.
So let us not be saving up our thanks for Thanksgiving Day, but may we be like Daniel, praying and giving thanks to God daily and in everything.
“Many sacrifices were offered on that joyous day, for God had given the people cause for great joy. The women and children also participated in the celebration, and the joy of the people of Jerusalem could be heard far away.”
As we are nearing the close of our study in the book of Nehemiah on ‘godly leadership’ we are beginning to see a complete picture of those God places before us in leadership roles. We have seen their courage, wisdom, prayer life, planning and organizing, their justice, ability to stay focused and lead the people in spiritual matters. Part of the picture we noticed last week is with all these positive attributes, godly leaders are still human with sin a nature. But we also pointed out that true godly leaders confess their sins and help lead others into confession and repentance. This week we take another look at godly leaders leading.
Chapter 11 is another listing of those who were selected or volunteered to resettle in Jerusalem. We looked at this several weeks ago after the completion of the wall, but the resettlement was not yet complete. It was put on pause and now it has resumed. “The leaders of the people were living in Jerusalem, the holy city. A tenth of the people from the other towns of Judah and Benjamin were chosen by sacred lots to live there, too, while the rest stayed where they were. And the people commended everyone who volunteered to resettle in Jerusalem.” (Neh.11:1-2 nlt)
The city was populated with 10% of the Jews living in the surrounding cities and villages moving to Jerusalem. It is thought by one commentor that 10% represented a tithe of the people in not rejecting the house of God. This is very likely for chapter 10 ends by saying, “We promise together not to neglect the Temple of our God.” (Neh.10:39b nlt) The new residents were chosen by sacred lots that were cast. We call it throwing the dice and that is exactly what it is. But it’s not a lot by chance, but of the Lord. The Lord honored it, for it was His decision. Proverbs 16:33 says, “We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.” (nlt) Jerusalem now had a sizable population with those chosen and those who volunteered to resettle on their own in the holy city.
One final step was still to be taken, the dedication of the rebuilt walls that surrounded God’s city and the Temple of God. History doesn’t give us an exact date as to when the dedication took place. It is estimated that it could have been seventeen years or more after the completion of the walls. Dedication of buildings and projects are common in our day. Sometimes they occur in a timely manner, and then there are times when the wheels move slowly for whatever reason, and it is much later. Perhaps the wheels were a little slow in Jerusalem, but it was worth the wait.
Nehemiah along with Ezra and other leaders prepared and organized the dedication and the celebration that was to follow. They first called the Levites from around the land to come and participate. “They were to take part in the joyous occasion with their songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps, and lyres.” (Neh.12:27b nlt) Music was an extremely important element of the dedication. We have witnessed in our day talented musicians and singers who are included in dedication ceremonies. The priests and Levites then went through a ritual of purification to remind them of God’s holiness and moral purity. “The priests and Levites first purified themselves; then they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.” (Neh.12:30 nlt)
Nehemiah then led the leaders to the top of the wall and organized two great choirs. Two processions would take place going in opposite directions on top of the wall, one led by Ezra and the other by Nehemiah. The order of each procession was Levitical singers first, then princes, followed by priests with trumpets, and last the Levites with stringed instruments. Ezra’s company going counterclockwise and Nehemiah’s company proceeding clockwise until they met and entered the Temple to offer sacrifices to the Lord. Just a follow-up note on the size of the wall and how wide it had to have been for that kind of procession to take place. And they completed that wall in 52 days. Amazing work through amazing leadership.
Imagine the site from the ground as the people watched and celebrated with the two processions encircling the wall leading to the worship service at the Temple. “Many sacrifices were offered on that joyous day, for God had given the people cause for great joy. The women and children also participated in the celebration, and the joy of the people of Jerusalem could be heard far away.” (Neh.12:43 nlt) The people continued to bring their offerings to support the priests, Levites, and the work of the Temple.
The godly leadership of Nehemiah, Ezra, the priests, and Levites is noticeably successful. The people responded with joy, and praise to God. They contributed to the work of the Lord. The people along with the leaders celebrated and worshiped God together.
It takes godly leadership to lead in a way that encourages others to come along side one another and do the Lord’s work. Godly leaders can’t do it all. The old saying, 20% of the people (leaders in this case) are doing 80% of the work is not an effective way to do ministry. It needs to be 100%. It takes all of us today to accomplish God’s redemptive plan. May we pray for leaders to lead by inspiring and encouraging those under their care to work towards the building of the kingdom of God. That will be a celebration!
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 ESV
It is true nothing stays the same. Some changes that come along are good, others not so good, and it is one’s perspective if it’s good or not. What is good for some may not be good for others. The sporting world has seen its share of changes throughout the years. Of course, the older you are, the more changes you’ll observe during your life, and I have seen a few. Most changes in professional sports are made for safety, making the game more enjoyable and exciting, and keeping up with fan interests, although they have never asked me! Nevertheless, change is inevitable, and I will deal with it.
Collegian sports have changed over the years for the same reasons as professional sports as far as the game itself, but a concerning change has taken place in the last few years with student athletes. There has been a debate for years whether college athletes should be paid. Never mind the dollar amount of the scholarship programs providing free education each semester for these athletes. The cry is that universities are making millions of dollars through their highly successful sports program, and that cannot be denied. Student athletes were feeling used and being taken advantage of in the marketing of their talent without any compensation. An agreement was reached on the creation of N.I.L… The student athletes will now be paid for their name, image, and likeness used by the schools they represent.
What has made it more complicated is the extension of the transfer portal with thousands of students seeking a better deal or more playing time. According to NPR, “NCAA statistics show that between August 2021 and July 2022, more than 20,900 Division I student athletes entered the transfer portal. And the numbers are building. The 20,900 student athletes in 2021-2022 was up from 18,000 the previous year.” (1)
College sports and education opportunities for student athletes are changing in a big way. They are beginning to see the fruit of these changes with diminished opportunities to be molded into successful men and women as many high-profile coaches are finding it difficult to continue their style of coaching. A good number have left over the last few years as they have seen this coming. The latest surprise was Tony Bennett, head basketball coach at the University of Virginia, who stepped down right before the start of the season. A report from AP News quotes Bennett’s reasoning for stepping down, “I looked at myself and I realized, I’m no longer the best coach to lead this program, if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to be all in. You’ve got to have everything. And if you do it half-hearted, it’s not fair to the university and those young men. That’s what made me step down. The game and college athletics is not in a healthy spot,” Bennett said. “And there needs to be change. I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way. That’s who I am and that’s how it was.” (2)
So, what is the Chrisitan Perspective on N.I.L.? Christian student athletes have a tremendous opportunity not only to represent their school with N.I.L. but also Jesus Christ. There are serious issues now with the NCAA, and Christian students should not shy away, but represent Christ in a way that brings honor and glory to God. Bear His likeness noting that it is not about me or the money, but this is where God has placed you.
All Christians have the same opportunity, in fact it is our new likeness. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2Cor.5:17 esv) We are to be image bearers of our Lord and Savior. Our name, image, and likeness are not us, but Jesus Christ. It is worth more the any N.I.L. package, and we did enter the transfer portal. We were transferred from death unto life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (Jn.5:24 esv)
‘“Repent and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! Put all your rebellion behind you and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die,’ says the Sovereign LORD. ‘Turn back and live!’” Ezekiel 18:30b-32 NLT
Sin has a way of ruining our lives. You can bet, if you’re involved in some illegal activity long enough, you’ll get caught and pay the price. Illicit sexual behavior will result in broken homes, broken relationships and broken individuals. Habitual lying disgraces your reputation where you can’t be trusted even when you are telling the truth in an urgent manner. Yes, sin is known to ruin us, for the author of sin is Satan, the father of lies and all things contrary to God.
The prophet Ezekiel prophesized to the remaining people left in Judah to repent of their sins as they were about to be destroyed by the Babylonians. There was still a chance for them to escape the same fate their predecessors faced if they repented their sins and turned to the Lord. The Lord speaking through Ezekiel says, “Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel?” (Ez.18:31 nlt) A holy God must judge sin, and the people of Israel were guilty on all counts, and judgement was coming. But God also said, ‘“I don’t want you to die, says,’ the Sovereign LORD. ‘Turn back and live!’” (Ez.18:32 nlt)
The Lord God gives us the same message today, ‘I don’t want you to die, turn back and live!’ God is a merciful, just and holy God, and because He is just and holy, He must judge sin. “For the wages of sin is death.” (Ro.6:23a nlt) All of us die physically due to our sin nature. Our spiritual death is just payment for our sins and rejecting Christ as savior. But God is also a merciful God who does not want us to die spiritually and be separated from Him, but to turn to His Son Jesus and live eternally. “But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro.6:23b nlt)
Sin does have a way of ruining lives, and if not dealt with can bring about deadly destruction and even an early death. But even more tragic is the deadly destruction of your soul if you haven’t repented and accepted Christ as your savior There will be an eternal separation of spiritual death from God the Father and eternity in heaven. Don’t go another day without making it right with the Lord, He wants you to live.
“The Lord shall be thine everlasting light.” Isaiah 60:20 KJV
Promise Box
I have a ‘promise box’ sitting on my desk. It was a Christmas gift from a neighbor a few years back, a little plastic box in the shape of a loaf of bread with ¾ x 2 ¾ inch cards with a daily Bible verse printed on both sides. It’s called a ‘promise box’ because it contains God’s promises right from Scripture. The daily bread we need to sustain us in our spiritual walk each day is found in every verse pulled from that bread box. The card I pulled out today contained the following verses, “The Lord shall be thine everlasting light.” (Is.60:20 kjv) and “The Lord thy God…keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him.” (Dt.7:9 kjv)
Some days the verses I get are just what I needed for that day, either for something I am going through or inspiration for the next devotional I write. And then there are days when they don’t seem to fill a pressing need. I came to realize that in those days I am looking more at the card than at God. Every verse contains His Words and promises to me whether I think it’s what I need or not. Every verse of Scripture God sends our way is truthful, helpful, encouraging, and contains a promise we need if we take the time to read it carefully.
Isaiah 60:20 is an encouragement for living in a dark world with uncertainty. God is our everlasting light. A light that will always be there, and we need not fear that we will walk in darkness, we won’t, that’s a promise. Deuteronomy 7:9 is a promise that God will be faithful to keep His covenant and show lovingkindness to those who love Him. We can be assured that God’s continual love and mercy will always be upon us. What a comfort that should be for all of us every day.
I encourage you to come up with a ‘promise box’ of some sort if you don’t already have one. Place it somewhere you frequent daily to see it and take in God’s promise to you for that day. You may be surprised it may be exactly what you need for that day.
I’m sure you have the cry, ‘we need a revival in our land,’ or ‘we need a revival in the church.’ I would agree with both of those cries and have heard them many times. Have you ever heard the cry within yourself, ‘I need a revival?’ I can’t say I have heard that too often to my shame. Probably my sense is I don’t need revival, and maybe you don’t either. But if revival doesn’t start with us individually, where will it start.
Revival needs a spark to set ablaze those around them hungry for a spiritual awakening. As I write this, the northeast corner of the United States has numerous wildfires that have started from a spark of some kind due to the dry conditions from lack of rain. They only need a little spark to ignite the dry brush and send the flames along its path. Spiritual revival works much the same way, a little spark from you or me can ignite those around us who are dry spiritually. A spark in a dry forest is dangerous and deadly, but a spark to an individual dry soul, dry souls within the church, and dry souls in the land where you live is refreshing and lifesaving.
The response to the saying, ‘May there be peace.’ is ‘let it begin with me.’ May our response to ‘We need a revival in our land and in our church,’ be ‘let it begin with me.’ The different Psalmists used the words ‘revive’ or ‘quicken’ in this sense fourteen times in the book of Psalms. They were aware of their need to be revived from time to time to live in obedience to God. We are all in need of revival, so may we cry out to the Holy Spirit to put a spark within us and ignite an individual revival in our souls to spread across His church and across the land.
Jesus tells us in Scripture that His return is certain, He is coming back. He is coming back for His bride, the church. The only drawback is, He doesn’t tell us when that will occur. So, Jesus gives us a warning to “take heed, watch and pray; lest, coming suddenly, he find (us) sleeping.” (Mk.13:33a, 36 nkjv)
Whenever there is an upcoming event in our lives, we get excited, perhaps counting the months, weeks, and days. We have a date we can focus on for any preparation needed to be done beforehand. The excitement builds with anticipation of that coming day. For all intents and purposes, the event usually occurs, but there is always a chance that it doesn’t come off or something goes wrong. Anticipation that had been building suddenly falls flat with our disappointment.
The greatest future event you and I will ever have will be the return of Jesus Christ. It will be an event that will not fall flat. We should be anxiously anticipating His return as we follow Jesus’ words to watch and pray. Jesus gives us an illustration of this in the gospel of Mark, “It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.” (13:34 nkjv) The Lord has given us work to do in His absence which we are to be engaged in. He also commands us to keep watch for His return for we do not know when it will be.
Keeping watch for Jesus’ return is a hard thing to do with our busy lives. Even in our quiet moments we could lose sight of this glorious upcoming event. That is why Jesus tells us to ‘watch and pray.’ Temptations and the activities of the world will dull our senses in the things of God. Jesus had to reprimand His disciples in the garden, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mk.14:38 nkjv)
We must keep our hearts and minds on Christ and His return. Distractions and temptations are part of this world we live in, that is why we must watch and pray with anticipation for Jesus’ return.
When you think about God, what comes to mind? How about His awesome power in creating the earth and the entire universe. Maybe you are drawn to His awareness of every occurrence in the world at the same time, or perhaps it is the comfort you receive knowing that God hears your prayers went millions of people are also in prayer with Him. Words cannot do justice in describing God. Our best attempts in characterizing God will fail. He is so awesome, powerful, holy, loving, all-knowing, the list goes on……….and on………and on. There are also not enough words, so I guess we will leave at that.
Have you ever thought of God’s emotions? Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (nlt) We know that we are emotional beings, some more than others. If we are made in God’s image, it stands to reason that God is an emotional God. If we can display emotion, God certainly can.
Have you ever been hurt by someone? Had your heart broken? Have you caused the hurt of someone and broken their heart? If your answer is yes to either circumstance, you know both how it feels when you were hurt and the effects your actions had on the one you hurt. Now comes the hard part. Have you ever hurt God? Our emotional God can also be hurt by our actions.
The Lord speaking through Ezekiel, concerning Judah, said, “Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for their idols. Then at last they will hate themselves for all their detestable sins.” The Lord God was sending them into exile for 70 years for their sins against Him, sins that hurt Him deeply by turning to idols.
How many idols do we have in our own lives that are hurting God? We may have never thought about this quite this way before, but our sins against God does hurt Him. Our unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes towards our idols take us away from Him, and yes, He’s hurt. May we have faithful hearts, and our eyes be gazed on Him.
“The people responded, ‘In view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and Levites and priests.’ The document was ratified and sealed with the following names: The governor: Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, and also Zedekiah.” Nehemiah 9:38-10:1 NLT
The walls and gates around Jerusalem were completed, the enemies of the Jews have backed off, the city has been repopulated, worship was restored, and the festivals commanded by the Lord were taking place, but there was some unfinished business to take care of. The people were deeply convicted of their sin as we learned last week in chapter 8, but there was no formal acknowledgement and confession. Nehemiah chapter 9 opens with, “On October 31 the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads.” (Neh.9:1 nlt) Christians at times resemble the Jews here in Nehemiah. We are convicted of sin but continue to go along without dealing with it or we just go through the motions hoping that feeling will go away. It needs to be dealt with, and the people of Israel understood this and the leaders to action in leading them.
The Levites led the reading of God’s Word for three hours followed by three hours of confessing their sins and worshiping God. Confession of sin is an act of worship to a holy God, praising Him, as we confess, for His forgiveness and restoring us as if we have never sinned. Coming before Him with the right attitude, humbling ourselves is a manner of worship. The Jews had fasted beforehand and covered themselves with dust dressing in burlap. They had shown their distress over their sin. We don’t need to go that far today, but that same attitude can and should be expressed through prayer and fasting.
The Jews separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their sins, which was a very hard thing to do. Some of these foreigners were heathen women which God had commanded not to intermingle with. They were now married to them and possibly had children. Sin has a way of complicating our lives in a way we never thought possible. There is an old saying, ‘Sin will take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to be kept, and cost you more than you wanted to spend.’ Once entangled in sin, the only way out is complete confession and repentance to the Lord.
The Levites led a prayer to God on behalf of the people. (Neh.9:5-37) The prayer begins by acknowledging God’s greatness and majesty, a good place for us to start when we pray. They continued with reciting Israel’s history from the Abrahamic covenant to their time in Egypt and the wandering in the wilderness, through the conquest and settlement of the Promised Land, through the judges, the prophets, and up to the present situation. God’s on-going goodness to Israel is noted along with each time throughout history their fathers disobeyed and sinned against God and now the present generation has done the same.
The people were yearning for that same goodness God had shown to their father’s generation by responding, “In view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing.” (Neh.9:38a nlt) They were making an appeal for a new covenant agreeing to follow God’s Laws. The leaders, priests, and Levites signed the document, “On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and Levites and priests The document was ratified and sealed with the following names: The governor: Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, and also Zedekiah.” (Neh.9:38b 10:1 nlt) The godly leaders took the first step and put their names on the document of confession and promised repentance. It is sad, but some of them were also guilty of the same sins, but they led in a godly manner of confession and repentance before the people.
Godly leaders today can fall into sin as we are often reminded. Their true character will come to light even more so in how they respond to their downfall. Is there full confession and repentance or are there excuses and cover-ups that eventually cause them to disappear from the scene? Our pastors and spiritual leaders need our constant daily prayers. Satan does not rest but is continually scheming to bring them down.
The leaders in Jerusalem set an honest godly example for the people who “joined their leaders and bound themselves with an oath. They swore a curse on themselves if they failed to obey the Law of God as issued by his servant Moses. They solemnly promised to carefully follow all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the LORD our Lord.” (Neh.10:29 nlt) They agreed not to intermarry with non-Jewish people. They agreed to keep the Sabbath free from commercial activity, support the Sabbatical year, and to support the needs of the Temple.
The book of Nehemiah is filled with examples of godly leadership, all in which are applicable for our day, but as mentioned above some of them did fall. They led the people into sin by either ignoring the sins they had seen being committed or the people followed their lead. Either way, we need to remember we are all sinners. That is not a reason to excuse the sin or dismiss the sinner, but to pray for confession and repentance. May godly leaders continue to lead the way.
Word for the Soul 