Nehemiah 1:1-11

God calls us care about one another and be concerned with others more than we are concerned about ourselves.  It is easy for us to get caught up in our own lives and simply focus on our own circumstances and responsibilities.  God has called us to love Him and to demonstrate our live for Him by loving others.  Our sinful nature is egotistical and only wants to focus on and be concerned about ourselves.  Nehemiah set a good example of caring for others and we would do well to follow in His steps.

NEHEMIAH INQUIRES ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN JUDAH: The first indication that we have about Nehemiah’s heart for the people in Judah is that he demonstrates his preoccupation for them by simply asking for information about them.  We live in an information age where we have information available to us about the entire world.  Our problem is that we are so self-absorbed with our own problems that we have very little time or energy to dedicate to finding out about the needs of others.  Too often, we simply do not care about those who live far away from us.  God loves the nations of the world and has called us to love the as well.  We must learn to lay our own personal interests aside and be intentional about gathering information about the spiritual well-being of the nations of the world.


NEHEMIAH INTERCEDES FOR THE PEOPLE IN JUDAH: As soon as Nehemiah was informed about the people in Judah he wept before the Lord and immediately began to lift them up before the Lord in prayer.  He confessed his sin before the Lord and the sins of the people.  He also praised the Lord for His faithfulness and he prayed for the promises of God to be accomplished in the lives of the people.  His prayers demonstrated and knowledge of and commitment to the Word of God.  As we become informed about the nations of the world, there is one thing that all of us can do and that is pray for them.  There is no way that we can all go to all nations, but we can pray that God will raise up laborers to go into all nations.  He has commanded us to pray in this way.  Too often we neglect prayer in our lives and when we do pray our prayers are focused on our own circumstances and difficulties.  God calls us to care enough about the other nations of the world to set aside time to pray that they might come to Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Isaiah 54:1-17

Hope is a wonderful blessing from God, without which we would be vulnerable to all kinds of destructive tendencies in our lives.  Today’s society is marked by depression, anger, fear, anxiety and self-righteousness, in large part, because of the sense of hopelessness that prevails in our culture.  Isaiah writes to a people who are about to be taken into captivity because of their sin.  God knows that they will feel rejected, threatened and hopeless so He reveals His future plans for the nation in order to give them hope in the midst of the coming trial.  Hope is the expectation of good based upon the promises of God.  Many times when our lives are marked by the sins mentioned above it is because we have forgotten or failed to focus upon the promises of God’s Word. THE PROMISE OF GOD: From the very first day that God revealed His plan for the nation of Israel, He promised numerous descendants.  God chose Abraham, not because he was more righteous than any of the other people of his
Read more

1 Timothy 2:11-15

Let a woman learn quietly   with all submissiveness.    I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.    For Adam was formed first,   then Eve;   and Adam was not deceived, but   the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.    Yet she will be saved through   childbearing—if they continue in   faith and love and holiness, with self-control. There is certainly controversy and confusion about this passage in many churches today.  The idea of a distinction between men and women and their roles in the family and church certainly goes against the flow of many cultures around the world.  Some would argue that the literal and plain teaching of this passage is no longer applicable to today’s culture.  However, it is always dangerous to discard biblical teaching or try to interpret Scripture based on the cultures in which we live.  Certainly, the Spirit who inspired this text was aware of the many changes that would occur in future cul
Read more

1 Timothy 1:1-2

Paul,   an apostle of Christ Jesus   by command of   God our Savior and of Christ Jesus   our hope, To Timothy,   my true child in the faith:   Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. The true sign of maturity is multiplication.  Believers, churches, and ministries that do not reproduce are not demonstrating true maturity.  One of the key characteristics we can identify in Paul’s ministry is that he was constantly reproducing godly believers who were faithfully following the Lord.  Evangelism, discipleship, and leadership training are the hallmarks of mature ministers and ministries.   THE APOSTLE: Paul was called by God to be an Apostle.  Though Paul converted after the resurrection and assentation of Jesus, he met Jesus in the road to Damascus and was instructed by Jesus in the desert.  Paul considered himself to be the least of the Apostles because he persecuted the church and did not walk with Jesus on earth like the other Apostles.  However, God had
Read more