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The Journey

Daily Reading

Nehemiah 8-9

Daily Thought

When we open the Bible, we read the story of God and us. We see the ebb of our disobedience and rebellion and the flow of God’s grace and mercy. We learn about ourselves and our God. 

“And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel.” ~Nehemiah 8:1

Ezra read from the book all day, every day, for days, and when he stopped reading, “all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law” (Nehemiah 8:9).  

They worshipped their Creator, “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you” (Nehemiah 9:6). 

They worshipped their Redeemer, “You are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them” (Nehemiah 9:17). 

They worshipped their God, “the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love” (Nehemiah 9:32).

Jesus said, “Follow me,” because transformation is a journey made over time and trouble. If it is not good yet, God is not done yet, because “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6) is God’s promise of process, persistence, and perseverance with us.

When we open the Bible, we see the big picture of our God who is faithful and wonderful and mighty and merciful. God is the author of life and it is in God we find our purpose and power and confidence. When we open the Bible, we are confronted with our sin which cries out sorrow, but more importantly, we come upon our Savior which calls forth celebration. Nehemiah rightly reminds the Israelites, and us, “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Daily Prayer

My God, I celebrate Your goodness, Your love, Your grace and mercy, Your majesty. I sing loudly with joy, because You are good and You are my God. The joy I find in You gives me strength to overcome, because nothing compares. Certainly not the cheap pleasures of this world. May I wake each day, delight in Your Word, and walk in the joy set before me.

Keep my memory fresh, God, of the ways You have worked in my life. May I draw on Your faithfulness when times are tough, when my strength wavers, when it is dark. I know You are with me, help me remember You always will be.

Amen

Daily Question

Should a Christian be an optimist or a pessimist? Why?

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God and People

Daily Reading

Nehemiah 7

Daily Thought

So far, Nehemiah has been all about rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. The book begins with the report to Nehemiah, “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire” (Nehemiah 1:3). Nehemiah is cupbearer to the king and believes he can do something about it, and does. Six chapters later, “the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days” (Nehemiah 6:15). 

End of story? Hardly. 

The book of Nehemiah has 13 chapters; we are only half-way there. Building the wall got us to the heart of the story, the heart of Nehemiah, which is all about God and his people.

Chapter 7 begins, “Now when the wall had been built” (Nehemiah 7:1), and the rest of the story is about Jerusalem because Nehemiah is about God and people, not walls. Nehemiah wasn’t building a wall, but a city of 42,360 people who love the Lord their God. It is after the wall was built the story really begins, “and when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns” (Nehemiah 7:73). Israel had come home. Now to build a nation again.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, deep in my heart I know I belong to You. I can sense eternity, that there is more to this life, and that I am more than flesh and blood. You have told me that I am specially made and I believe it because I know my Maker and You are good. This world is not all there is, and someday all things will be renewed and there will be a new heavens and a new earth, and someday I’m going home. I look forward to that Day.

I live my life today with eternity in mind. I pray my life will be a reflection of that eternity, of You, that I might show You to others. I suffer the pains of this world knowing they are short compared to forever, and that they will end. I walk confident in the sure hope of Your sovereignty, that You are King of kings, that You are my King and my God and my Father forever.

Amen

Daily Question

What makes your heart happy?

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The Muddle of the Middle

Daily Reading

Nehemiah 4-6

Daily Thought

“So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. But…” (Nehemiah 4:6-7a). Half way done and signs of discouragement begin. “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall” (Nehemiah 4:10). There is enthusiasm at the beginning and anticipation when the end is in sight, but in the middle a weariness sets in. Enemies of the wall were plotting against its completion–“We come among them and kill them and stop the work” (Nehemiah 4:11). They were being called back home–“You must return to us” (Nehemiah 4:12). The temptation was to drop their tools and return to their families and get back to the routine of life. The wall could wait.

It is in the muddle of the middle when a leader must remind the people of their purpose, refresh their vision, and renew their strength. Nehemiah stood tall and called “to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes’” (Nehemiah 4:14). We are building a fortress for our families and a kingdom for our God. Get back to work. The leader kept his trumpeter close at hand, rallying the people with the cry, “Our God will fight for us” (Nehemiah 4:20). 

God’s work may be thwarted in the middle by discouragement, by danger, by drudgery, and by despair. The leader, undaunted, must rise above. Nehemiah stood tall, the people responded, and “the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days” (Nehemiah 6:15). 

Daily Prayer

Almighty God, You are my strength and the desire of my life. You are my rock, the foundation of my life, and the fortress that protects me. You have called me to follow You and I am eager to do so. Keep me focused and renew my strength when I tire of the task. May I not grow weary of doing good, of living well, of pursuing justice, of loving others. May I stand tall and firm, keeping my eyes on You, that others may find encouragement and join in the work of Your Kingdom. 

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 

Amen

Daily Question

What do you do to keep going when you face discouragement?

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A Servant of the Most High God

Daily Reading

Nehemiah 1-3

Daily Thought

It had been ninety years since the exiles of Israel had returned to Jerusalem at the order of Cyrus, king of Persia; seventy years since the temple was rebuilt. Still Jerusalem lay in neglected ruins from the time when Nebuchadnezzar had taken them into captivity a century and a half ago. Of the destruction of Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah had written, “Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, or who will grieve for you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?” (Jeremiah 15:5). A century and a half later, the answer came.

“Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.” ~Nehemiah 1:1-2 

Nehemiah listened, he wept, and he prayed. Then Nehemiah thought, “Now I was cupbearer to the king” (Nehemiah 1:11).

At a party, making polite conversation, I asked a man, “What do you do?” “I am a servant of the most high God who sells cars to support my ministry,” he responded. His job is at Toyota, but he works for the Creator of the universe. He believed, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23). 

Nehemiah was a servant of the most high God. Nehemiah was exactly where God wanted him to be. He had access to the king when Jerusalem needed access to the king. He was God’s servant in God’s place at God’s time for God’s work among God’s people. That’s what “Now I was cupbearer to the king” means. It means, “Put me to work, God. I am inside the palace and I am available.”

Daily Prayer

My God, You have made such a wonderful world. I pause in the morning to remind myself that each day is a gift from You. May my life give You pleasure. May I always remember that I am an ambassador for the King of kings, and I serve at Your pleasure. May I at all times be exactly where You want me to be, following Your ways, available for Your work in this world.

All that I do, I do with all my heart, because I serve You and all that You have created.

Amen

Daily Question

How does what you do in life set you up to be used by God?

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Prepare for Battle

Daily Reading

Ezra 8-10

Daily Thought

Ezra’s challenge was to lead a small group of people and priests, singers and servants, women and children, carrying a treasury of gold and silver from Babylon to the temple under construction in Jerusalem. The journey would take them across a desert wilderness ripe with bandits. An armed guard of the king of Babylon was his on request, and it would not be wrong to call upon it. Nehemiah would a few years later (Nehemiah 2:9), but Ezra had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him” (Ezra 8:22). How could he make such a claim, then turn to a pagan king for protection.

Instead, Ezra prepared for battle by getting on his knees. As he set out, he first paused three days and “proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods” (Ezra 8:21). And God listened. Instead of the king’s protection, they marched under the banner of God, “and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way” (Ezra 8:31).

Israel had known leaders large in faith and big in sin. Samson’s physical strength and moral weakness; David’s love of God and Bathsheba; and Solomon, whose godly wisdom failed to restrain his passion for the pleasures of wine, women, and wealth. It was due time for a man of faith so simple and true–he was almost wonderfully dull. Ezra comes off as a bookish scribe, “for Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord” (Ezra 7:10), but he boasted of his mighty God, then walked his talk.

Daily Prayer

Mighty God, worthy of praise, may I shout Your Name as loud as the heavens proclaim You. May I sing of Your goodness and live righteously in this land. May my life announce Your grace to a world awaiting judgment. May I display in what I do my confidence that You are God Almighty, maker of the heavens and the earth. May I get on my knees and fight for righteousness.

You are God and there is no other. I trust my life fully and solely in Your hands, and there is no better place, because You are faithful and true, the first and the last, able to keep me from falling and present me faultless before the presence of Your glory, because at the cross, You paid the price for my sin and clothed me in Your righteousness. How great is my God.

Amen

Daily Question

In what way is the Christian life like a battle? How do you prepare for the battle?

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Purity Doesn’t Mix

Daily Reading

Ezra 4-7

Daily Thought

When the northern kingdom of Israel was taken captive by Assyria in 722 BC, the scattered remains of Israelites left behind intermarried with many other nations, producing a mingled people and a mangled religion. They claimed to worship the same God as Judah, “for we worship your God as you do” (Ezra 4:2); they failed to mention the many others, “they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away” (2Kings 17:33). They became another nation, a mixed breed called the Samaritans, “the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River” (Ezra 4:10). They also became adversaries of the southern kingdom of Israel, Judah.

Judah was returning to rebuild the temple, but building the temple of God was a daunting task for the smallish number. Samaria offered, “Let us build with you” (Ezra 4:2). It seemed a neighborly gesture, however when adversaries offer help, it is reasonable to suspect their motive. Judah could use the help, but then their temple would become “our temple,” and Judah would become part of the blend. Purity doesn’t mix. The nation of Israel was to be holy, set apart to the one true God, and so Judah issued an unneighborly response, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel” (Ezra 4:3).

The bond of unity with other nations may have an appearance of strength, allies joining together, but Israel’s strength is their God. Those who follow God serve the world, not through partnership with the world, but through purity in the world.

Daily Prayer

Holy God, every good thing comes from You. You are righteous and just, full of grace and mercy. You give the world hope through faith, and show us what love truly looks like. Your love is not indifferent to my sin, but recognizes the sin and responds with care. Even while I sinned against You, You hung on the cross for me.

Protect me from temptation to sin, or even tolerance toward it, and keep me holy, set apart for You. When I fall and fail, I love Your grace, because I require it, but I long more for Your righteousness and goodness, that these would mark my life. I look forward to Your kingdom come, when righteousness and goodness will reign. May my life be more and more a display of these qualities of my King of kings, my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Amen

Daily Question

Which has been stronger, the world’s influence on the Church or the Church’s influence on the world?

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The Comfort of Captivity

Daily Reading

Ezra 1-3

Daily Thought

Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon in 538 BC and offered Israel, whom Babylon held captive, its freedom, “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people… let him go” (Ezra 1:2-3).

The order was certain, Cyrus would free the people and aid the rebuilding of their home and their temple. The acceptance was optional, “whoever among you.” Jerusalem was a 700-mile journey, and the comforts of Babylon would not accompany them. Israel had grown comfortable in captivity and only 42,360 accepted the offer (Ezra 2:64), a fraction of the Jewish population. Josephus, the Jewish-Roman historian of the first century, said it simply, “Many remained in Babylon, not wishing to leave their possessions behind them.” The proverbial captive monkey whose hand is caught in the jar because he refuses to let go of the banana.

We become accustomed to the ways of this world, so much so, that many prefer the chains of sin to the freedom offered in Christ. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1); yet many choose the comfort of captivity.

Daily Prayer

My God, You left the pleasure of heaven itself, You emptied Yourself, You became like me to save me. Thank You for letting go for my sake. Why in the world do I hang on to this world so tightly? I must let go for my sake, as well.

Keep changing my heart, oh God, to delight in You, to love Your ways. Help me hate sin and seek Your goodness and righteousness. May Your Word fill my heart, transform my mind, change my life, and set me free.

Amen

Daily Question

Which is more difficult, doing whatever you want to do or following Christ?

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After the Closing Credits

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 35-36

Daily Thought

Judah repeats evil upon evil and is lost, but through the end, “the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place” (2Chronicles 36:15). The Hebrew says literally, “God rose up early and sent messengers.” God began his day thinking of his lost people.

I remember certain teachers, when explaining their criteria for grading, would challenge, “You have to really want an ‘F’ to receive an ‘F’ in my class.” These teachers did everything they could to pass us, unless we truly tried to fail. 

“But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy” (2Chronicles 36:16). God sought to save the lost, but there are those who would not be found, and God “brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, and they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels” (2Chronicles 36:17, 19). 

Thus the Chronicles end. Almost.

Sometimes a movie, at the very end, after the closing credits, adds one more scene, a glimpse of what’s next. There is more to come. All is not lost. 

The Chronicles do this. After Judah failed and the kingdom fell, “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” (2Chronicles 36:22), a foreign king, to speak the closing words of the Chronicles, words of hope to the Hebrew nation, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up…’” (2Chronicles 36:23). Cyrus and Chronicles stop mid-sentence. Israel and Judah tried hard to fail, but God would not let them. This same proclamation of Cyrus is repeated to open the next book, Ezra 1:1-3, and the story continues.

“Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.” ~Ezra 1:3

Daily Prayer

My God, my Lord, and my Savior, I am so glad that You came uninvited into my life. Thank you for crashing my party and rescuing me from myself, because I would have sought my own pleasure to my destruction. Instead, You saved me for Your pleasure, which is life itself, a life everlasting and overflowing.

May I ever find my joy in You. May I begin my day thinking of You, delighting in Your Word, following Your lead, living life to the full. You are good, a righteous King, a loving Lord, Almighty God. I worship You.

Amen

Daily Question

What do you do when it feels like God has abandoned you?

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The Name on the Front

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 32-34

Daily Thought

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, had grown accustomed to winning. He was confident, if not cocky. Trash talk came easy. “Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand?” (2Chronicles 32:13). 

“Do you think your God can do any better?” he taunted Judah. 

“Yes,” said Hezekiah. 

Hezekiah knew the army of Sennacherib was strong, stronger than Judah, nevertheless he rallied his people against the Assyrians, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles” (2Chronicles 32:7-8). 

They have muscle; we have God.

Herb Brooks coached the U.S. Hockey team to gold at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. In route to gold, they defeated the best hockey team in the world, the Soviet Union. Before the game, Brooks rallied his team, “Think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone. When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates. And the name on the front (USA) is a lot more important than the name on the back.”

The Lord said, “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever” (2Chronicles 33:4). The name on the front. 

“And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land.” ~2Chronicles 32:20-21

Do you believe in miracles? Yes!

Daily Prayer

Lord in heaven, may I wear Your Name with confidence, knowing that there is none like You. You are God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I trust You with my life, because all that I am is Yours. You gave me life in the first place.

I know that, for those who love You and follow You, all things will work together for good. No matter what I face, I remember You went to the cross, and out of that saved the world. So I will bear my cross, whatever it is, because I’m excited to discover what You will do with me. I believe in You.

Amen

Daily Question

What battle do you need God to fight this week?

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any god will do

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 28-31

Daily Thought

Ahaz was the next king who “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord” (2Chronicles 28:1). He crafted idols to the Baals and sacrificed his own sons in the Valley of the son of Hinnom. He borrowed indiscriminately the gods of the nations around him. Any god will do, “and he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree” (2Chronicles 28:4). He even adopted the gods of Damascus after losing a battle to Syria, reasoning, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me” (2Chronicles 28:23).

Any god will do, it seemed, except the one God, the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of David and Solomon, of his own father Jotham, the Lord, the God of Israel. Ahaz broke up the furniture in the Temple of the only and true God, using the wood to make altars to his new gods, “and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord” (2Chronicles 28:24).

Where any god will do, there is one God who won’t. Isaiah was prophet when Ahaz was king, and proclaimed the words of the one true God, “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” (Isaiah 42:8). God does not play nicely with others. He does not share. “I the Lord your God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5). These are not words of petty jealousy, but the deep passion of love, familiar to us in our own wedding vow, “forsaking all others, I keep only unto you.” No flirting with others.

This was the first of the commandments, “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3); the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5); and the cry of Israel, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). This is how truth works. It is pure, it is holy, it is one. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). God stands alone.

Daily Prayer

My God, Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, King of kings and Lord of lords, there is none like You. You and You alone are God, and You are my God, my first love. May my love be full and pure. All of life, a life abundantly full of love and good and justice and grace, is from You. I seek other ways at my own peril, and yet I do. The results are never good. Thank You for allowing me to run home to You again and again, and for greeting me with open arms again and again.

Each day will begin remembering it is Your day, a day You have created and sustained. I commit my life to You, to Your praise and pleasure. What a way to live!

Amen

Daily Question

What are the things that compete most strongly with God for your heart?