Friday, May 24, 2013

Right Response


Scripture: Nehemiah 13:31
and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

Insights:  Today’s verse is the last one in the book of Nehemiah.  Our journey of building a spiritual wall of faith with bricks of character has come to a conclusion.  This week we have looked at four areas of compromise that Israel had made in regards to sin.  Today we are going to look at the ingredients behind Nehemiah’s right response to these sins.  First, he honestly observed the situations and recognized the sin present.  Most people are able to recognize the wrong, but they never move to the second response which is to courageously act against the wickedness.  Most people just sweep it under the carpet and hope it goes away, but Nehemiah courageously acted.  This courageous action was the second right response Nehemiah took.  The motivation behind and the third right response to his actions was Nehemiah’s deep devotion to the people.  He loved them and wanted the best for them.  This final verse shows us the last thing Nehemiah did in this process and that was pray and interestingly enough that was where our journey began many weeks back.  So, here is a recap of the bricks of character we have learned need to be a part of our wall of faith: prayer, preparation, solitude, perseverance, service, stewardship, humility, discernment, selflessness, teach ability, prioritization, faithfulness, joy and the trait for this week was repentance.  The reason it was repentance was because when Nehemiah honestly observed and courageously acted against the sin of those people he was deeply devoted to, they repented.  They turned from their wicked ways and turned back to God.  When we sin, we also must quickly repent and turn back to God in order for the love relationship between the two of us to remain strong and vibrant.  The way we talk with God and verbally confess our repentance is through prayer, which again is the predominant theme throughout the entire book of Nehemiah.  Beloved, this construction project has been truly convicting on my heart and I pray it has been with you as well.  May we live stronger lives in Christ Jesus as a result of these lessons we have studied together.  Live your life in such a manner that our Lord is brought glory and honor.

Questions:
  1. Are you honestly observing and courageously acting for the people you are devoted to?
  2. Is prayer a part of the equation for you helping others?
Prayer: Father, open my eyes so I am able to honestly discern situation and empower me with Your presence so I may courageously act on those situations.  May the outcome of such interaction lead to repentance. Amen.

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