September 12: Nehemiah 8:13-17
Key Verse: Nehemiah 8:16
So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim.
Devotion:
This year has seen many things change for the whole world and one of the biggest I have missed is the large gatherings of Christians in the summer where so many come together in one place to camp in temporary shelters (tents or chalets) so people can re-focus on God.
This year during the time when we would normally gather near Peterborough in the UK for New Wine, we all had to stay at home and in very small groups... not quite the same as thousands of people getting together... But, nonetheless, we did spend that time trying to refocus on God in an entirely new way. Unfortunately, I was quite busy with work during that week, but having the whole week recorded and available to watch online at a later date helped me catch up a few weeks later...
What am I getting at? Sometimes we get too carried away with the organisation of things to stop and spend our time refocusing on God. Nehemiah got all the organisation out of the way, got the celebrations out the way, and then tried to spend some time alone with God.
Sometimes we do find the connection with God when we are in big groups, but sometimes we do have to separate ourselves from the every-day to reconnect in a meaningful way. Whatever way we find is best for us is going to be best for God since we are reconnecting with Him.
As the weekend starts, maybe this is a good time for you to stop the everyday for a while and spend time with your God away from the distractions of life...
Points to Ponder:
What are you willing to do to reconnect with your God?
Will you stop your everyday activities for a season to settle down with God?
September 11: Nehemiah 8:10
Key Verse: Nehemiah 8:10
Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’
Devotion:
After all of this had happened and they had listened to God’s Word to remind themselves of where they had come from, how God had looked after them and re-focused their hearts and minds on the Saviour, Nehemiah wanted people to be able to have a celebration. He did not make a grand celebration as soon as the wall was complete, nor after they had hung the gates. He waited until people remembered why they had done this all – for the glory of God.
Now they were in the right state to celebrate, not the fact they had managed to get everything done by themselves, not how they had managed to do it in the face of adversity, but because they had been able to do this because God enabled them to do so!
When we have things going our way and we are enjoying life, we still need to remember just whom it is who has enabled this all in the first place. We need to remember what God has asked us to do. We need to remember why God has asked us to do this all...
Nehemiah’s words here are simple – go and enjoy good food and drinks... but remember those who do not have any and give some to them so they can celebrate too. As Christians, God has call us to care for our neighbours just as much as we care for ourselves – yes, I have changed the words, but isn’t that what love is all about – caring for those people.
When we realise we have done something wrong against God, it is not always easy to pick ourselves up and move forward loving our neighbours, but God will give you the strength and wisdom to do this if you are doing it for Him. God wants us to enjoy life, but not leave others without anything...
Points to Ponder:
How often do you enjoy life?
When you spend time with God, will you set time aside for others as well?
September 10: Nehemiah 8:2-3
Key Verse: Nehemiah 8:3
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.
Devotion:
Nehemiah was urged to find out who was there in Jerusalem after the walls and gates had been completed. The city was on lock-down during night hours and gates were only to be opened after the sun had warmed up the day. Unlike the UK, this would probably have been quite early in the morning due to the hotter days there.
Some of the people who claimed to be descendants of the priests were excluded because their names had not been recorded in the family trees. This may sound harsh, but this was in accordance with the laws for the Jews at that time. Why was this done? Because Nehemiah was about to ask for the law to be read out and he did not want small things like this to get in the way of people listening to the law.
When we read God’s word, we should prepare ourselves to do just that. There is nothing worse than having something on your mind which will distract you even before you get to grips with what God would want you to hear. We should try to put aside the distractions of the world before we commune with God otherwise we will be fighting our minds trying to listen to two or more things at the same time.
God wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. This means putting aside things which will take us away from that relationship. The reward for making our relationships personal is a much better and deeper relationship with God. Set time aside to calm yourself and your life down a bit before you next read God’s Word – you will find you get much more out of it!
Points to Ponder:
How do you treat your personal relationships?
Will you aim to have a deeper relationship with God?
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?