ased on the Love God Greatly Study, From Broken to Restored / w2d3
Scripture: Nehemiah 4:15-23 / SOAP: 1 Peter 5:8-11
Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, strong in your faith, because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are enduring the same kinds of suffering. 10 And, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.11 To him belongs the power forever. Amen.
1 Peter 5:8-11
I love the books of 1 and 2 Peter and I love the connection pointed out today between them and Nehemiah.
Distractions and interruptions can cause us to stop things we’ve started leaving us feeling defeated and important projects/jobs unfinished. This could have been the case in Nehemiah’s situation but it wasn’t. Why? Because, despite the opposition and the way it made them feel they continued the work – while remaining alert and prepared for whatever came against them. Peter points out that our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. However, he also shares one of my favorite strategies against the enemy:
Be sober and alert!
Be prepared –
Resist him! – Much like the people in Nehemiah’s day – who came together when the threat of their enemy was prevalent. They did not cower, nor stop the rebuilding project – instead they became more and more alert and they stayed prepared for an attack – at all times.
So, let’s let the example of the “builders” encourage us in unity of purpose and conviction. Let’s resist the enemy and stand strong in our faith.
May God open our eyes and keep us alert to the enemy and may we be prepared to resist Him – after which, the “God of all grace”
God’s people were having success in the rebuilding project and their enemies were angry and sought to come against them. The enemy’s plans and words caused fear and panic and stole their enthusiasm. Still, Nehemiah was not stopped – instead He continued to lead and encourage the people.
When I had made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!”
Nehemiah 4:14
To understand and appreciate today’s verse and larger passage, we must remind ourselves of what’s been happening and who/what God’s people are dealing with in the rebuilding of the wall. One of my favorite Bible commentaries summarizes it like this –
Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were three enemies of the Jews who made several attempts to stop Nehemiah from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Sanballat and Tobiah are first mentioned in Nehemiah 2:10 as upset about Nehemiah’s work: “When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.” In verse 19, they, along with Geshem the Arab, mock Nehemiah, saying, “What is this you are doing? . . . Are you rebelling against the king?” When the construction was taking place, their anger grew: “When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews” (Nehemiah 4:1; cf. verse 7).
gotquestions.org
When the Enemy is Angry
The enemy pursued their quest of stopping the rebuilding of the all, and what did Nehemiah do? He prayed. Remember our earlier reading from Nehemiah 4, where we read of Sanballat’s anger in hearing that they were rebuilding the wall – Nehemiah didn’t let that deter him instead the threat of the battle pushed him to pray
The Prayer
“Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Return their reproach on their own head. Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile! 5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from your sight, for they have bitterly offended the builders.” (4:4-5)
The Result
6 So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. The people were enthusiastic in their work.
And Then …
Enthusiastic work in rebuilding the wall led to more anger and again this led to more praying and actually standing ready to defend their position – but not without encouragement from Nehemiah:
Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!”
Nehemiah 4:14
Going Further / Making it personal
“Whatever we face, whatever battle we find ourselves in, we can take Nehemiah’s exhortation to heart: Don’t be afraid. Remember the great and awesome Lord, and fight on behalf of your families. We do not need to fear, because the great and awesome God we serve is always, always fighting on our behalf. We can fight the enemy, the powers of darkness, and the rulers of the world because of His power. May we be warriors who pray, both trusting God to fight on our behalf and willing to stand up and fight when He calls us to do so.
LGG Devotional Journal / From Broken to Restored / w2d2
based on the Love God Greatly Study, From Broken to Restored / w2d1
“These next few chapters of Nehemiah (chapters 4-6) recount the opposition the Jews faced as they began rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. The author of Nehemiah intentionally included these details, reminding his readers that opposition to God’s work is not a reason to stop.” borrowed from the LGG devotional journal, from Broken to Restored, w2d1
For foreigners attack me; ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. (Selah) 4 Look, God is my deliverer. The Lord is among those who support me. 5 May those who wait to ambush me be repaid for their evil. As a demonstration of your faithfulness, destroy them.
Psalm 54:3-5
The details of today’s passages are helpful because they let us know who was opposing the Jews in the rebuilding of the walls. You might find it interesting to know they weren’t only enemies of God but they were also from the family of God’s people – sons of Lot, one (Moab, the Moabite) through his oldest daughter and one (Ben Ammi, the Ammonite) through his youngest. (Genesis 13:1-18, 19:36-38; Numbers 22:3-6; Deuteronomy 2:19, 23:3-4).
The rebuilding of the wall meant opposition early on, as is seen in most of our passages today. Nehemiah 4:1-5 tells about one of those situations and gives us insight on handling the opposition. Nehemiah leads/teaches by example – he PRAYS. He actually prays a very bold prayer. This is also true of the Psalmists’ words in 54:3-5, who is dealing with terrorists (foreign attackers), ruthless me, who did not respect God. The Psalmist reminds the people to remember that God is His deliverer and is among His supporters. Then, he too, prays a bold prayer of faith against his attackers.
It seems we would be wise to remember God in these ways as well, One that delivers and supports His people. When we are distressed by the evil of this world or the personal attacks/battles of life — the first thing we should do is – SEEK GOD! He is our faithful deliverer.
The LGG Team wrote it like this:
Like Nehemiah, when we face opposition, we need to remember God’s faithfulness. he will help us accomplish the work He has given us, and He will guard and defend His people until His will is done. It doesn’t matter who opposes us. God may not immediately remove the opposition we face, but He is always faithful to give us endurance as we continue in His good work.
Trust in the Lord and do what is right. Settle in the land and maintain your integrity. 4 Then you will take delight in the Lord, and he will answer your prayers. 5 Commit your future to the Lord. Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.
Psalm 37:3-5
I love the profound yet simplistic passages like this. David, the Psalmist, uses the if this, then that process, which is very much how my brain works. He gives us four directives:
Trust
Obey
Live, or as it means here – Abide ( which is defined by bibleref.com as – more than merely existing or surviving . It is wholehearted engagement! ) This wholehearted engagement most likely looks like what Moses taught in Deuteronomy 6:5 and what Jesus Himself said summed up all of the commandments in Luke 10:27, namely – “You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.”
The fourth and final directive is, “Commit your future to the LORD.”
These directives are summed-up in verse 5, repeating where he started in verse 3 – “Trust in the LORD.” It is worth noting that unless you trustthe LORD, the second, third, and fourth directives are unlikely to be done. When we trust – all the rest will follow, and we will find ourselves delighting in the LORD and seeing Him working in our lives.
The Psalmist says when we choose to live like this, not only will we take delight in the LORD, but that the LORD will answer our prayers and act on our behalf. What great motivation to trust and obey, to wholeheartedly engage as a faithful follower of Christ, and to commit our future to the LORD.
Prayer / Response to God’s Word
Father, You are worthy of our trust and obedience . We want to more than merely exist or survive – we desire to be wholeheartedly engaged with You and in Your work. Help us to faithfully abide in Your Son and find our delight in You.
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
I was saved at a young age and I have witnessed God strengthening my faith through the years. Actually, He continues to strengthen it day by day, trial by trial, miracle by miracle, and unending mercy, love, and grace. I can look back now and see how God pursued me when I wasn’t pursuing Him. In His goodness He convicted me when my life’s actions did not align with my profession of faith.
Today’s verse is a reminder to stay in God’s Word and live like Jesus every day – so that our faith will continually be strengthened and always accompanied by actions that speak louder than words.
What does active faith look like?
It looks like Jesus – which includes things like …
loving others like He loved us
forgiving others who wrong us
showing kindness to friends, neighbors, strangers, and even enemies
helping a ‘neighbor’ in need
loving even your enemy
loving God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength
sharing with others in need
Sharing the Gospel message
and so much more, not the least of which is
laying down your life for your friend and
dying to self – daily
Wake the neighbors, get the word out So come on crank up the music, climb a mountain and shout This is life we’ve been given, made to be lived out loud
Steven Curtis Chapman – Live Out Loud
May we let the evidence of God and His goodness flow from our lives and words everyday – all day!
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
In Paul’s day, it was Timothy that seemed to need the encouragement that God didn’t want him to live in fear of doing the work He was called to do. Instead, Paul reminded Timothy, that the Spirit God had given them, and all believers, was one that filled them with power, love, and self-discipline. In other words, Timothy had no reason to be timid for he had been empowered to live out His calling. The same is true for us today.
My first remembered experience with this verse was at VBS, not one that I attended but one I was co-leading. I was tired and stressed from some personal things going on in my life, I wasn’t feeling prepared, and definitely not strong enough to lead, love, and deal with all that goes into VBS as I had committed to do. Today’s verse “just happened to be” the theme verse for the week. God knew that just like Timothy, I needed to remember that while I might be nervous and feel too weak to lead, He had given me His Spirit – equipping me with not only the power to lead, but with love for the kids and all involved, as well as the discipline to stay committed and focused on Him, and boldly share the Gospel with the children. And, as a bonus, He daily renewed my strength and filled me with immeasurable joy when I was able to personally lead one of the children to the Lord.
Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. 7 My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. 8 O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.
Psalm 62:5-8 NLT [for your preferred translation click on the Scripture link above]
Observations
God is worth waiting on, for real hope comes only from Him. He alone is our protector, deliverer, and refuge. Because of Him – I am not “shaken” when troubles come.
God is the only one who gives me hope.
ak
Application
When I am in danger, whether from earthly forces or spiritual, He is my protector. I can trust in Him.
When I am threatened or afraid, I can hide myself in His refuge, I can rest secure in His shelter – knowing that I am safe and protected.
Prayer: Response to God’s Word
Father, thank You for being all that You are to us, Your Children. Thank You for being a safe refuge in times of trouble. Thank You for Your living and active Word and Presence that provide strength, protection, and refuge.
Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again, 11 as you also join in helping us by prayer, so that many people may give thanks to God on our behalf for the gracious gift given to us through the help of many.
2 Corinthians 1:9-11
Observations
So often in our suffering we are brought to the end of ourselves so that we remember to not trust in ourselves but rather in God – the One who is able to raise the dead.
Paul moves from talk of his suffering to a focus on God and how He delivered them from death and the confidence that God would continue to deliver them. –
Paul credits the Corinthians for their gift of prayer and the help it was to him and his team, urging them to give thanks to God on their behalf.
In reference to suffering – No one likes to suffer, but if Paul and his team had not suffered, people would not have prayed and seen or rejoiced in the answer. Sometimes our suffering is about more than us.
As noted by the underlined words in the above definition of prayer, by gotquestions.com, prayer should be an active part of every Christian’s life. It is thoughts and words, spoken or whispered, standing or sitting, or as Paul says – “kneeling”. It is born from a hope set in God and out of a desire to talk to Him, to seek His help or forgiveness in some matter – or to simply adore Him and praise Him for who He is and/or what He has done. It can be as simple as a sentence, a word, or a thought, or it can be detailed and involved and as long as it takes to pour your heart out to Him, as Hannah did (1 Samuel 1:8-15).
Prayer and the deliverance or answers it brings is a gift to both those who are praying and the ones they are praying for.
Praying offers us the opportunity to rejoice in what God does and allows us to be a part of His work. Let’s commit to being people who faithfully seek the Lord in prayer.
Another benefit of suffering is found here. When believers turn to God for help in suffering and see how He provides exactly what is needed, their faith is strengthened. They continue to rely on him and grow confident in God’s willingness and ability to save them.
Bibleref.com / 2 Corinthians 1:10
Prayer – Response to God’s Word
Father, this awesome privilege of prayer can so often be viewed and/or used selfishly to petition Youonly for our own needs, wants, fears, or complaints – but help us to remember that prayer is so much more than this. It is the privilege to fellowship with You or to give You praise or to pray for others in need, be it spiritual, physical, or material need. It is, above all, the privilege of drawing near to You and the window of opportunity to see You work, be it the sweetest, smallest answer, or the great and miraculous! There is great comfort in prayer, as well as peace, and joy, and rejoicing when we draw near to You and when we sense You drawing near to us, as is Your promise. And Father, as we are seeing in this study, it is through prayer that we find the strength and hope to endure. Help us, as Your children, to be faithful in drawing near to You in prayer – to embrace this opportunity and privilege to walk with You and talk with You through life. Let us live lives of prayer – keeping our eyes and our faith fixed on You – praying continually as Paul wrote – for in this alone will we have an enduring hope and a strengthened faith – Amen, in Jesus’ name!
My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.
James 1:2-4
Observations
My mom, who is in a rehab facility, wants to come home so much. Sadly, she has to stay so she can get daily therapy in order to become strong enough to stand and walk on her own when we aren’t with her. We’ve been having a lot of conversations about this lately, so while I was reading today’s passage, I was reminded that this same principle applies to our spiritual lives. You see, we can work out every day to build up our physical strength and endurance, but if we don’t use the muscles we’ve worked out we will never progress. The same is true spiritually. If we are not spending daily time in God’s Word and putting into practice what we read, we will become spiritually weak and unable to “endure” when troubles come our way. However, when the trials come and we continue to follow Jesus’ way – our roots grow deeper in Jesus’ strength and godly character, and we become more sure-footed with every trial. When our roots are planted deep in Him and our way of thinking is ‘trained’ or focused on Him – we will stand firm in our faith and live a life that truly reflects Him and deters the enemy.
Trials not only reveal the genuineness of our faith, they strengthen our faith.
Application
We can learn much from James’ opening remarks here, in verse two. We are encouraged to consider our trials or troubles nothing but joy. This type of consideration will require us to retrain our thinking, our outlook, and perspective. Paul made similar statements through out his writings and included the “how-to” instructions. One of my favorites is Philippians 4:6-8, where we read:
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:6-8
With a diet, when the end of the day comes you either feel good/stronger if you stayed on track, or weak and frustrated, if you didn’t. It seems, as I read James 1:12, that in essence James is saying something similar; like, ‘when the “end of the day comes” we will rejoice if we have done well – reaping the benefits of His promises; and borrowing from Matthew 25:21, perhaps the blessing of hearing God say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!”
Prayer, in response to God’s Word
Father, thank You for Your Word and Your Spirit who not only teaches us from it but reminds us of all that Christ said. Thank You for the strength that this builds in us and the power it has to enable us to stand firm in the troubles that come our way. Thank You for the reminder that our trials are meant to make us stronger. Help us to endure each trial with patience and the intention of glorifying You by keeping our eyes on the goal of being perfect and complete, not lacking in anything. – In Jesus’ Name, amen
From the Word to Worship, through song
Through it all – I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus – I’ve learned to trust in God! Through it all – I’ve learned to depend upon Hs Word …
Today’s Reading: luke 8:43-48 / SOAP: Luke 8:43 and 48
Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years but could not be healed by anyone. – Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
Luke 8:43, 48
I encourage you to read this recap as though you’ve never heard the story before.
Hope Surged
She had suffered from the hemorrhage for twelve years now. She sought help and had suffered at the hands of the doctors, she had spent all the money she had trying to find relief but no one could heal her. To make it worse, this particular disease, being one of blood, would have prohibited her from worshipping or sacrificing at the Temple, and most likely lonely – as no one would want to come near her- for to do so made them unclean. Imagine, twelve years of constant bleeding, twelve years of jeers and stares and little to no contact with others, twelve years of searching for help, but to no avail. Weakened by the disease and emotionally tired of it all, her hope fading away as she had nothing left to give for help. At the end of herself, there seemed to be one last strand of hope. She had heard about a man named Jesus, a teacher and a prophet, but what captured her attention was that He was known to be a healer. Hope surged within her, believing if she could just touch His robe, she would be healed. In desperation she made her way through the crowd and reached out from behind him – managing to just touch the edge of His coat – but with that one touch the bleeding stopped and her body was healed.
The Power of Our Faith
Imagine now her excitement and relief mixed with what must have been a certain concern and anxiousness to escape the crowd without being noticed. Remember, those who recognized her would not have been happy that she had been in their midst lest they had been ‘contaminated’ by her touch and certainly she would not have wanted her touch to have rendered the healer contaminated. Yet, somehow Jesus knew that someone had touched Him and he wanted to know who. Now imagine her fear of being found out but then her delight as she fell before Him and shared the details of what had transpired and heard Him say, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. God in peace.”
Afterthoughts:
Simply and Profoundly Faith
It seems at first glance that just touching the hem of His garment was enough to bring the full power of his healing to her body! Perhaps, indirectly it was ; however, we must not miss Jesus’ reply to her as she explained the reason and result of her touch. He did not commend her for reaching out, nor did He boast of some power in His garment, but rather, He made it clear that it was simply and profoundly her faith that made her well .
The Only One
Jesus wasn’t the only one she looked to for help – but He was the only one who had the power to truly heal her – and He charged her nothing.
A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. 26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. 28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” 31 His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
Mark 5:25-34
Response to God’s Word
Father, may my faith always be so strong that I draw near and reach out when I am suffering or hurting or afraid or in need – believing that even just a touch of You will be enough to bring healing and peace.
Going Deeper
Before Jesus gets far, however, He feels power going out of Him. He discovers that a woman who suffers from chronic bleeding has had the courage to touch His robe in faith, hoping she will be healed. When she realizes Jesus knows what she did, she is understandably frightened. A woman—a woman with an issue of blood who was therefore considered unclean—touching a rabbi was unheard of. She rightly expects Jesus to be angry despite the deliverance she senses she has received. To her surprise, He calls her “daughter,” praises her faith, and blesses her. For the first noted time, Jesus heals with no overt intent; the woman and her faith call on His power and she is healed.
Me From the Inside Out 