Nehemiah’s enemies wanted to distract him from the great work that God has given him to do. His response, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3 ESV)
Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy. He’s a liar and deceiver. He’s also a distractor. Speaking as one who is so prone to wander, who is so easily distracted, I need the Lord’s help to keep running straight to the finish line.
Oh, Father, give me wisdom about when to turn aside and when to keep moving. Give me discernment to know when those little inconveniences are exactly what I’m supposed to do that day, and when they are just tools of the enemy to throw me off course. I need You every hour.
When the Israelites returned to Israel after years of living in exile in Babylon, their first desire was to rebuild the Temple and begin making offerings to God. Unfortunately, it takes time to rebuild a temple, so they simply set up an altar where the temple once had been and began celebrating the feasts and offerings there.
When I read this, I thought about the saying, “Delayed obedience is disobedience,” and wondered to myself what things I’m waiting on, what ducks I’m trying to get in a row, before I start doing what God has called me to do.
God wants us to obey Him today. Now. Right now. Here. Where you are. Wherever you are.
How many times have I thought —
When I know more about the Bible …
When I have a bigger house …
When I have more money …
When I’m not so busy …
God called some to go back to Jerusalem, and those who weren’t called to return were called to give generously to those who were. Both of these jobs were important – to go and to give – and God equipped both groups to obey Him.
If God has called you to do something, He will equip you to do it.
Maybe you’re wondering, “What is God calling me to do?”
I don’t know the specific plans that God has for you, those good works that He has prepared in advance for you (Ephesians 2:10), but I do know God has called you to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
Start there.
And sometimes what you’re supposed to be doing now to obey God is to be working on those things He’s called you to do.
Do you need to know the Bible better for the task He’s called you to do? Alright, then, what are you doing to work towards that goal.
Do you need a bigger house or more money for a task He’s given to you? How are you working toward that? Paying down debt … Saving money … Getting a higher paying job … Working a little on the side?
Do you need more margin to have the time for an opportunity that He has for you? How are you working toward that? Skipping a weekend’s show binge or an all-night doomscroll might be a good place to start.
The Israelites began making offerings, but they also began working on the temple. Let’s start in the here and now, today, while also working toward the future and the generations to come.
Heavenly Father, I lift up every man and woman who is reading this message at this moment in time and space. Please draw them to know You, to seek You, to love You, to trust and obey You. You are worthy to be trusted. You are worthy to be obeyed. Please lead these men and women on the paths of righteousness for Your Name’s Sake. Show them that straight and narrow path with the light of Your Word and the perfect wisdom of Your Holy Spirit. Provide for their every need; give them the wisdom, time, and finances necessary to accomplish the tasks that You have prepared in advance for them to do. For Your glory and for our good I pray. Amen.
Esther 9-10 reminded me of Psalm 75, especially verses 2 and 3, “At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity. When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah.” (ESV)
Right now I (and thousands of others in my town) am grieving the loss of Rebecca Case, a committed follower of Jesus, beloved wife of Matt, homeschooling mom of nine, in a tragic accident caused by a driver under the influence of alcohol whose license had been suspended. It feels so unjust. How could this happen? Why, Lord?
The truth is, I just don’t know.
But this I do know, and “this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” (Lamentations 3:21-24)
Please remember the Case family at this time and donate as you’re lead.
We see the truth of Galatians 5-6 played out so clearly in the lives of Haman, Mordecai, and Esther.
What about us? What kind of seeds are we sowing?
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:19-22 ESV
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Galatians 6:7-10 ESV
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And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
Zechariah 12:10 ESV
Read the Bible with us! This week we read Zechariah.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah 9:9 ESV
My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.
Zechariah 10:3 ESV
Two Themes in Zechariah 9-10: Christ’s Humility and Righteous Vengeance. FormerAtheist58
Who Would’ve Dreamed – SovereignGraceMusic
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Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.
Zechariah 7:9-10 ESV
May we love what God loves and hate what God hates.
Read the Bible with us! This week we’re in Zechariah.
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
Zechariah 4:6b ESV
As much as I harp on being strong and working hard – all that hard work is for nothing if it’s not from the Lord. Praying that I will abide in the vine, the High Priest-King, and that He will bear great, abundant, eternal fruit in me.
And having a phone in my back pocket has made it even harder.
Prayers appreciated – for me, for this generation of homemakers, and the next.
If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.
2 Thessalonians 3:10b-11 ESV
Older women … are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled … working at home … that the word of God may not be reviled.
Titus 2:3-5 ESV
Struggling with Idleness, especially as a Homemaker – FormerAtheist58
Bringing in the Sheaves – Classic Hymns
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