So after re-reading chapter 1 of Nehemiah this morning a couple of things came to mind. What is it that needs rebuilding in my life? My character? My career? My home? My thoughts? My actions? The way in which I spend my time? I think we can all take some time to seriously think about where we have a hole in our "wall" and what is causing it. Pray and ask for God to reveal the source of the hole(s) in your life.
Once you know what needs rebuilding it is time to get to work. Once Nehemiah heard of the wall and its condition he didn't start immediately, " When I heard of these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven." verse 4. This verse is key to process. Nehemiah waited and prayed and fasted before he went to the King asking for permission to go and rebuild the wall. We must do the same thing in our lives, if we are serious we should spend days in prayer for strength and continued desire to truly rebuild to change our lives/situations/or whatever is our hole. If your problem is attitude then fast from negative words/or thoughts and when you experience them ask God to remove them and fill you with His attitude. If your problem is time then fast from what you are putting before God: music/Internet/movies/friends of bad influence/relationships - and spend that time with your Father instead. What can you fast from? How much will you grow if you spend time talking to God instead of doing the things that are bringing you down?
Once you have spent time in prayer and time fasting you can fill confident that you have the strength to fully rebuild your wall. God will see you mean business and that you are relying on Him to get it done.
I pray that you can get something from the above comments and God will show you the hole in your wall. I know mine is negative thoughts and comments about myself and others. I am pledging to fast from thinking or speaking negatively about others or myself this week.
Check out this video - my favorite song right now:
This week was very good! I actually used the first to chapters to tell the same story for a devotion I had to do for the church bball league that I am in. It really helped me realize just that much more that I really need to take a step back and see how much rubble I have to get rid of in my life before I can rebuild because my wall is definately down. The lesson is giving me a opportunity to reach out to my friends on the bball team with a great story so, THANK YOU! -Grant
ReplyDeleteThat is great! I'm glad you could use it...we all have so much rubble that we need to get rid of. See you soon, have a great week. =)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a good class guys! Hopefully I can come with Christa more often.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking how easily we forget how much God hates the sin in our lives. The problem is that our culture tends to make much of tolerance and being "good" while minimizing the fact that even the "smallest" sin is devastating to our Father.
If only we had the discipline that Nehemiah had when we see the hole in our walls. We quickly push it aside and make excuses when we should be agonizing over it.
Philippians 2:12b - Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling
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