September 9: Nehemiah 6:11-16
Key Verse: Nehemiah 6:16
When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realised that this work had been done with the help of our God.
Devotion:
The more we focus on God and His will in our lives, the less we focus on the world around us and the evil one who is waiting to trip us up all the time. The net result from this is we see how God continues to look after us – but when we focus on the world we see how the world diverts us away from God. If we focus on the negative, that is what we see, but when we focus on the positive, we do see more positive things!
Nehemiah was wary of the Prophet Noadiah because her words did not quite marry up with the words He had got from God; there was a difference in the way in which God was asking them to work. The prophet was saying God would be with them if they shut themselves off in the temple – which sounded ok on the surface but was not what God said in the beginning. God had told Nehemiah He would be with the people no matter where they were!
We do need to remember this because God has promised us all He will be with us no matter where we are and what we have done in our lives. We do not have to meet up in church buildings for God to be with us. We do not have to make sure we meet up on the Sabbath so God can meet us then. We can call on God wherever and whenever we are!
God listens to our prayers all the time and is answering prayers all the time. We should not limit God to a day or a place where we can see the result whilst being surrounded by lots of other Christians of like mind! The more we go through the Old Testament, the more we should realise God was with people all over the world and continued to look after people no matter what. But when people walked off in the wrong direction, they lost sight of where God was and how He could help them; they were too consumed with worrying about what the world was doing!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get worried about not being in church?
Will you call out to God from where you are right now?
September 8: Nehemiah 6:5-9
Key Verse: Nehemiah 6:8
I sent him this reply: ‘Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.’
Devotion:
The more you can recognise the opposition you will get when doing God’s work, the more you will be able to identify empty threats. I know I have faced many a threat in my lifetime and some of them are extremely upsetting at the time, but so many of them are in fact empty threats made by people who are becoming desperate in one way or another.
Our laws in the Western world are designed to protect us from threats, but many choose to use the words and bend them to their advantage and make you more worried about the threat they are imposing on you. It is these types of threats which are more likely to derail us in our work for God because they seem official at the time.
The more we focus on God, the more we may be able to stand up against these people because He will, through the Holy Spirit, allow us to discern the true from false threats we face. The key point is taking any threat directly to God first and not panicking about it... easier said than done I know! But believe me when I say it does work.
Far too often we are surprised when our prayers are answered by God especially when we find ourselves in awkward positions from which there seems no way out. We need to have more faith and realise the more we do put our faith in God the more we realise our faith is upheld by a faithful God. The more we realise this, the greater our faith becomes... but also be aware, the less you rely on God the more likely your faith is going to wane – but it really is all in our heads!
Points to Ponder:
Do you take everything to God?
How much do you really rely on God?
September 7: Nehemiah 6:1-4
Key Verse: Nehemiah 6:4
Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.
Devotion:
The more you work for God, the more you can expect to have opposition along the way. The closer you get to your goals in God’s work, the harder the evil one pushes against your work to make you stumble. The evil one knows he has lost the war, but that is not going to stop him from trying to win every little battle along the way – just in case!
I continue to thank God each time I come up against opposition because I know I am on the right path... Don’t get me wrong, getting opposition from God’s people is not what I am referring to here, but the people who don’t want to lose their own power.
I hope I will always be wise enough to defer decisions and power to God alone and not to try and work things out for my own glory. This is not a fight we fight to gain glory for ourselves, but a battle we have to which gives all the glory to God our Father. Like Nehemiah I wish more people in positions of power would bow to the wisdom of God instead of building up their own positions.
Sanballat and Geshem continued to try and get Nehemiah to back off, to stop the constant working for God’s glory just so they could gain a bit more glory and a few more followers. We need to constantly work towards the goals which will give glory to our King, Jesus Christ, and always work against the opposition which is going to rise up time and time again.
The opposition may well be invitations to parties or celebrations which, on the surface, look like they are nothing more than good fun. If they do not come from God and are not in support of your work for God, then you should avoid them! Always keep your eyes on God and His work!
Points to Ponder:
Do you keep working with God?
Where are your eyes focused?
September 6: Nehemiah 5:14-16
Key Verse: Nehemiah 5:14
Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year – twelve years – neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.
Devotion:
One thing I learned at an early age was any work we volunteer to do for God must not have a time limit or span imposed by us. God wants people to step forward and help where we can without worrying about how long we must do the work or when it's going to stop. God will continue to guide you in any position He has given you and will allow you to know when it is time to move on or even stop...
Nehemiah did not complain about how long things took, nor how long it would take them to finish the wall. Even though it took a remarkably fleeting time to fix the wall, the work was only just beginning... This brief paragraph talks about twelve years of work, not as a dull time but a time when they did not take advantage of the weak or poor, even when the law was on their side!
Sometimes the so-called laws of man are bent beyond belief and they become hardships instead of laws which should be protecting those who need protection. The leaders and rich people did not need the taxes of the poor to remain in power or to live on, not really. They had enough but were just being greedy to uphold a broken law. Nehemiah got them to promise to put things right and to give the poor the relief they needed to survive.
Points to Ponder:
What do you do for the poor in your community?
Have you donated to a foodbank lately?