I would not be as close to him if i had not spent so much time with him. I would not desire more time with him if i did not know him so well. I absolutely love this man.

It makes me think though of my relationship with Jesus. The Creator, My Savior, My Deliverer, My Shelter, My Strength…My Everything—-> if i allow Him to be. How much time you spend with Jesus shows how much you value your relationship with Him.

Revelation 2:4 “But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love].” (AMP)

Why is it so much easier to forsake our first true love – Jesus- above anything else here on earth?

Jesus should be our very first love and out of our love for him flows the love we have for other people. So many times we place idols in our lives that take place of the love we have for Jesus…whether that be… people, tv, music, food, money, ourselves, and so on. Now, all these things are not bad things, its when you place them above the love that you have for your Savior…thats when they become idols. Sometimes the blessings the Lord gives us can become idols. But when you make the Lord the ultimate desire of your heart – you are free from the danger of idolatry.

So how can we change from having idols to loving God first and foremost?

Romans 12:1-2 “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (NLT)

When we are totally transformed from idol worshipers to God worshipers we are new creations- living the way that the Lord has desired us to live all a long- we become who He created us to be. He transforms our mind…the way we think which leads to the way we act. We acknowledge that He is bigger and more powerful and that He loves us more than any idol ever could come close to. God sent His one and only Son to take upon our sin and die for us and was raised up the 3rd day so that we could live free lives from sin- so we would not be in bondage to sin any longer. Christ sets us free from death and spending eternity away from Him. And He sets us free here on earth so we can live the lives that mirror his- being a holy sacrifice for Him- loving Him so much that we put everything else aside to be wit Him.

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” (NLT)

Keep your eyes on Jesus. That is how we can strip away the sins/idols that entangle us without feeling we have lost something. We have to let go to gain something more valuable than what we are holding onto. We cannot hold onto God and something else at the same time. It’s an all or nothing deal.. and sometimes its scary because you haven’t lived without that “thing” you can’t let go of– but that is why we are called to keep our eyes on Jesus…because when we do we won’t even remember the value of the other thing because he is much more precious and powerful and fulfilling than anything else can be. Trust Him and let go. He has always been faithful to fulfill His promises…why wouldn’t he with you?

Let’s be a people who “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

Lets not forget who our first love is. Our first love is Jesus. Lets not put anything in his place. Let go and Let God. Let’s have Him satisfy us. Lets desire Him above all. REALLY, above all. Lets be so inlove with our Savior that we always want to spend time with Him, Always want to be with Him, Always want to live in Him.

CHANGe. DESIRe. LOVe. ABOVe…ALL.

Alot has happened in a year. New job, new place, new relationship. So much good—A lot of good change has occurred in my life in a year. A lot has stayed the same. We all struggle with things in our lives and sometimes we wonder if they will ever leave us. I can say i have gained a lot of freedom in Christ and I am not controlled by the things of this world, but it doesn’t mean I still don’t struggle. Somethings will just be that thorn in our flesh like Paul talks about in the Bible. He even asks God to take away his thorn but God’s response is this: “But he said to me, ’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Wow. that puts a whole new dimension on the grace and power of God. Now we can hear those words and say to ourselves, okay awesome and then move on OR we can take those words to heart and believe that God is enough for us and that he can use our weaknesses to make us strong if we believe that his grace is sufficient and his power is within us.

Cling to the promises of God when you are dealing with your thorn of your flesh.

Here are just a few:

“Resist the devil and he WILL flee from you. Draw close to God and God WILL draw close to you” James 4:7-8

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he WILL NOT let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he WILL also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

“Cast your burden on the Lord and He WILL sustain you.” Psalm 55:22

And when you feel like the Lord isn’t near and perhaps forgotten about you cling to these promises:

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I WILL hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I WILL strengthen you, I WILL help you,I WILL uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you,
he who formed you, O Israel: ”Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I WILL be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…Fear not, for I am with you.” Isaiah 43:1-5)

“I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.” Song of Solomon 7:10

“The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.” Psalm 145:8-9

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39

No matter if you feel close to the Lord or far away from the Lord because of the thorn of your flesh, God is STILL right there. Nothing can separate you from His love, from His mercy, from His forgiveness, from His acceptance. Believe in these things.

believe the truth. . . live the truth. . . cling to the truth.

On that day, when evening had come, he [Jesus] said to them [the disciples], ”Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ”Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰He said to them, ”Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ”Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 4:35-41

I was re-reading this passage the other day and I have read this story multiple times. However, this time I pulled different things out of the passage that I had never thought about before.

One was it was Jesus’ idea to go across the lake. Now, this lake (Sea of Galilee) was known for high winds and intense violent storms. Jesus knew what he was getting him and the disciples into. He wanted to see how they would put their faith in him. So paralleling that to your life- the storms that happen, the things that seem so bad in your life- Jesus is taking you through them for a reason. He never takes us somewhere where he doesn’t want us to go. He has the storms perfectly planned out and is always available during the storm. It is if we will put our faith in him. Jesus just being in the boat with us should be enough, no matter how high the waves get or how much we feel like we are sinking. . . Jesus is there. He promises he will never leave or forsake us. But we freak out when storms come even if we have been in one before and seen his faithfulness. We want him to calm the storm. And sometimes he will. And the other times we just have to have more faith and trust.

The second thing that I saw was the reaction of the disciples after the storm. They were filled with great fear because they had just seen such a powerful miracle performed. This Jesus could make nature obey him. The disciples underestimate the power Jesus had. They had seen him perform so many miracles to other people, but never seen the power applied directly to them. Now, what is our reaction after a storm in our lives is calmed? Do we just say, oh thanks Jesus and go on with our normal lives, almost forgetting the power of the Lord?  This really struck a nerve with me. After we see the power of the Lord in our lives we should be completely fearful of Him- and his power. He has the power to do anything in our lives and anything at all. Now this is a reverent fear that shows a complete awe towards our God. It compels us to obey him, to love him, to do anything for him. Let’s not forget how big the Lord is. He can do the impossible in your life. So when the Lord works in your life, do not just forget what has happened, let that miracle compel you to have more faith in him.

Don’t tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big your God is.

It has been a challenging month and a lot has gone on in my own personal life- yet I have clung to the truth of the Lord and He has sustained me through it.

“Cast your burden on the LORD,and he will sustain you.” Psalm 55:22

I have come back to that verse time and time again. In Nehemiah 9 you see what the Lord has done and his characteristics and one of them is Sustainer. I looked up the word sustain and it means: to strengthen or support physically or mentally.

Sometimes we get weary in life yet we are supposed to keep on going even when we want to stop. Physically, emotionally and mentally the Lord has strengthened and supported me. There is no way I would have made it through the past month with out Him. My firm solid foundation is in Him- I know who He is so well it is like breathing- it just comes naturally for me to remember who He is and what He has done in my life- and that motivates me to keep going in the day.

I have come back to this verse as well:

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7

The one we all tend to cling to is verse 7 (cast all your anxieties on the Lord because He cares for you). Well verse 6 is so key- it is humbling yourselves under God so He may do His good work in you- and when He does it will be a refining process and you will need someone to place your cares on and He is willing to be that so you may be sustained through the process. It takes a humble spirit to cast your burdens onto the Lord…to recognize we need Him. He has definitely been humbling me so that He may use me in incredible ways that I cannot imagine in His timing. I am so thankful He is always here in the mean time for me to rest in His arms and for Him to not only carry my burdens but also to carry me.

May you be encouraged that you have a God who loves you unconditionally and cares for you more than you can imagine. He wants to take your burden and carry you through life. He will never leave or forsake you. His desire is for you.

{embrace the journey}

Later on in the month, the people gathered again for a time of confession and worship. Chapter 9 of Nehemiah is a long prayer that they prayed. It starts from the beginning of time up to where they are now – showing who God is.

God has so many different attributes. Take a look at verses 6-36. Take some time right now to read those verses and circle all the words “You” and “your” in reference to God.

Okay, look how many circles you have! God is mentioned over 50 times in those verses. The main focal point of the prayer was remembering who God is and what he has done. It looks at the promises of the Lord and how if He didn’t abandon the people then He will not now. List some of the attributes of God that you find.

A few attributes that stand out to me are listed at the end of verse 17:

“But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.”

Even when his people had disobeyed, rejected, did not remember him, and started worshiping idols the Lord was patient, still had open arms for them to return and rescued them many times. This absolutely blows my mind, and is so encouraging. God is so forgiving of us when we just don’t seem to get it right. His forgiveness, mercy and love is not to be taken advantage of though…it does not give us the liberty to sin.

Paul says in Romans 6:1 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!”

We are to accept this wonderful undeserving grace from the Lord and love him more and more that it makes us not want to hurt Him by separating ourselves from Him with sin.

God’s love never fails and He will never forsake us. In Joshua 1:5 God reminds Joshua that, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you”

God wants us to remember how He has been faithful throughout the ages. He wants us to know Him. He wants us to remember who He is. He IS.

How has God shown himself to you?

Who is He in your life?

How have you experienced His attributes?

Take time to reflect on who God is.

“All the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate…And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.” (v.2, 3b)

Ezra the scribe read the Book of the Law from early morning until noon for everyone to hear. The people listened intently and the peoples response was praise to God!

“and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.” (v. 6)

The leadership instructed the people and clearly explained the meaning of what was being said, helping people understand each passage. Now when the people really started to understand how big God is and how small they are and all the sin that separates them with God they began to weep.

“For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.” (v.9)

However Nehemiah told the people to rejoice and not to be sad, for “the joy of the Lord is their strength” (v. 10). And so the people began to celebrate!

“Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.” (v.12)

They entered into a festival where Ezra read the Word for seven days.

You see through this chapter that the people really hungered for the Word of God. They intently listened for hours, days even and took the time to understand what God was telling them. They experienced God in so many ways through praise, tears and rejoicing! God’s people were being restored.

How hungry are you for the Word of God? How much time do you spend reading His Word?

What is your response to Scripture when you begin to truly understand it?

Do you process what the Lord is telling you through His Word?

May we rejoice in knowing God and love His Word more and more.

But what really stood out to me in this passage was the second verse:

“I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many”

Nehemiah showed a lot of humility here. He had been in charge of the whole building project but he noticed the potential and abilities of others and gave the responsibility away. He gave the ministry away- allowing someone else to experience the blessing. He knew he could not do all of this alone so he took the time to get to know others’ characters to discern who would best govern Jerusalem. Even when he lists all the names- he took time to know each family and who was there. Nehemiah cared for his people.

Do you take time to know people’s character?

How can you show humility and give the ministry away today?

Nehemiah and the people were just about done with the wall when out of desperation Sanballot and Tobiah started spreading rumors about Nehemiah, intimidating him, trying to trick him into sinning and would almost do anything to try to distract him from his mission. However, Nehemiah stayed focused on the rebuilding of the wall not letting these tactics stand in his way of completing the Lord’s will. His attitude is displayed in verse 9 “They [Sanballot and Tobiah] were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination.”

Wow. What an attitude Nehemiah had. How do you respond to constant attacks from the enemy? Are you tempted to just quit even if you are so close to the end?

The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down for 141 years because everyone who tried to rebuild them grew intimidated by the enemies and quit. Nehemiah stayed focused on the goal constantly praying to the Lord – in which his people followed- and they finished rebuilding the wall in 52 days. “When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God” (verse16).

Stay focused on what the Lord has called you to do. Be encouraged by the example of Nehemiah. Stay determined to finish and accomplish the great works of the Lord – for He alone will be glorified.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

To this point, Nehemiah has faced some problems and it just doesn’t seem to end. Now you see in chapter five that he is faced with several new issues: the people are going against each other (even the wives. verse 1), people couldn’t feed their families, taxes had been increased, and the wealthy Jewish country men were taking advantage of the returned people. Those Jews would lend large sums of money out and when the people would miss a payment, they would take over the fields and so the families were forced to sell their children into slavery. Nehemiah was very angry with these Jews that were going against their own people to enrich themselves.

What is very interesting is how Nehemiah dealt with this issue. Verses 6 and 7 record, “I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials”

Nehemiah did not respond in his emotion. He did not respond right a way. He took time to think, in some other translations-took counsel, consulted with himself. Nehemiah’s faith was carried out in a practical way.

Anger itself is not bad, it is how you deal with it. Nehemiah had a natural response that anyone would have to this situation, but his anger would not solve the problem. He really thought about this and really pondered how he would approach this problem. He stepped away from the situation and waited until he cooled down, then collected his thoughts to make an action plan.

How well are you with handling problems? When you are angry do you respond quickly out of emotion or do you take time to cool off before you respond?

After he thought, then he spoke. He addressed the nobles and officials first, then he called a public meeting. His words were very purposeful and thought out.The people had nothing to say, for they knew they were wrong. Nehemiah kept addressing what they should do in response to these actions and the people obeyed. In the end they “praised the Lord and the people did as they had promised” (v.13).

Now, if Nehemiah would have spoken when he was heated, I do not think the people would have responded out of obedience. They saw how Nehemiah was angry about what was going on-but yet calm and collected. They respected his reaction and followed his direction.

Look at how you respond to different situations in your life. When things anger you, wait-pray-gather your thoughts and emotions then speak out.

Ponder before you express.

“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” James 1:20

So far in Nehemiah, everything is going great! This is when we need to be the most careful. Because in an instant opposition comes. In Nehemiah 4 we see there are 4 devices the enemies use to oppose the work of the Lord (ridicule, threats, discouragement and fear). However, the way Nehemiah responds to the opposition is the lesson we all need to learn.

Ridicule is the first tactic Sanballot and Tobiah use to get into the head of Nehemiah and  the workers. Sanballot did not want to see Jerusalem be built back up because it endangered his governor’s power and would rob him of influence and wealth. The first few verses are filled with degrading rhetorical questions just to undermine Nehemiah. They targeted the people as ‘feeble workers’, the work itself, materials and the product. We say that sticks and stones will break our bones but words will never hurt us– that is completely false! Words get into our head and cause us to believe lies about what is really happening in the purpose to make us crumble. It did not make Nehemiah crumble though. He responded with prayer and focused the people to keep moving forward for in verse 6 it says, “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart” Nehemiah led the people in prayer and motivation and they responded with working on the wall with enthusiasm. wow.

Since that didn’t seem to work, four people groups from the surrounding areas who hated each other came together to fight against the rebuilding of the wall. The only thing these people had in common was they all hated the same thing. Crazy. The enemies were so focused and determined in destroying the Lord’s work that they threatened to attack the city. But Nehemiah responds by praying and guarding the city day and night. He took spiritual and physical action.

By this time the people were starting to get discouraged. The people were starting to grow weary and they started complaining. Their faith was starting to fade. To this Nehemiah responded with action. He “stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.” (v.13).

Nehemiah was very observant and knew his people. So after he looked over the situation- he saw that the people were afraid- fear was overtaking them. He prepared them to be able to fight, so working with one hand and holding a weapon with the other. Nehemiah also responded by encouraging the people to look at the purpose and promises of God. “Our God will fight for us” (v.20). He directed their focus vertical instead of horizontal. He effectively communicated with them and united them together.

How do you respond to opposition in your life?

There is a lot you can take out of how Nehemiah responded to opposition. When things are going well, be ready for opposition. Satan does not like the work of Lord progressing. The Enemy becomes active when we become active [for the Lord].

We have to be able to recognize the tactics of Satan. They are always the same- ridicule (lies), threats, discouragement and fear (holds you back). They are all things that go straight for your head. When you look at anyone and the opposition they have faced, it is always in one or all or some of these areas. Look at the life of Jesus. Mark Driscoll (a pastor in Seattle) said “There is no progression without pain.” It will be tough to go through opposition- but if you recognize it soon enough you can combat Satan with your Armor of God (Ephesians 6).

Also, we can really learn to respond as Nehemiah did. Prayer with Action. He stayed focus but he dealt with the spiritual and physical side of the situation. Obstacles can either make us work smarter and live wiser or make us give up our purpose and way of living. Live for God and opposition will fail.

Opposition means you are accomplishing what God has called you to do- being fruitful.

Be encouraged, remember God’s purpose and promises and He is fighting for you because if you are His child- you belong to Him.