Real change is an inside job

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Nehemiah 12-13; Psalm 52

TO CHEW ON: “Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off.” Nehemiah 12:43

Nehemiah completed the task he got leave from his job to do. Nehemiah 12 describes the dedication of the finished wall. It was a great celebration with  music, instruments, choirs and  sacrifices. Then Nehemiah went back to Babylon to work for Artaxerxes.

Sometime later, when Nehemiah returned to visit Jerusalem, he found, to his great dismay, that a lot of people had slipped back into their old ways.

• Some of Israel’s enemies and critics had infiltrated the temple and leadership (Nehemiah 13:7,8; 28).

• Since offerings were no longer being collected and stored for the Levites, they had to go back to farming to make a living (Nehemiah 13:10).

• People were working on the Sabbath day (Nehemiah 13:15).

• Gentile merchants were allowed into the city to set up markets on the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:16).

• The people were again intermarrying with their idol-worshiping neighbours and forgetting or not even learning the language of Israel (Israel 13:23,24).

And so Nehemiah had to clean up again (Nehemiah 13:30,31). His zeal for obedience and holiness is a testimony of how much he feared and respected God and cared for the well-being of the people.

This passage leaves us with some thoughts to apply to our lives.
1. The rebuilt wall that was meant to set Jerusalem apart from its pagan neighbours was ineffective because the people’s hearts, from the religious and political leaders down, had not changed. Real change is effective only when it starts from inside.

2. Nehemiah’s zeal in building the wall in the first place and then his coming back and putting things right shows a respect and fear of God that we seem to have lost in our after-the-cross church era. Though we don’t fear God’s judgment as Old Testament people of faith did, God hasn’t changed. I sometimes wonder whether our casual attitude toward sin might be putting us on a more dangerous path than we realize.


PRAYER: Dear Father, change me from the inside so that my heart is to do Your will, because I love You and regard You with a realistic respect and fear. Amen.
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 52

MORE:  Change Me on the Inside




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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

Weep at the Word

Reading the Law - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Nehemiah 7-9; Psalm 50

TO CHEW ON: "And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, 'This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.' For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law." Nehemiah 8:9

If you are familiar with Moses' law—that part of the Bible we find in sections of Exodus and Leviticus—you may well be surprised to see people weeping when it is read. Why would they weep on hearing a bunch of rules?

On thinking about it, I can come up with several reasons;

• It may have been the emotion they felt as they again connected with their religious and cultural roots. It seems that these people were unschooled in the law. We can assume that because of the way they needed a lot of explanation when it was read (Nehemiah 8:7). Even so, they probably had glimmerings of it, passed down through generations. But on this momentous day, as they respectfully stood for its reading, they were hearing the real thing for the first time in their lives. No wonder they got choked up.

• They were saddened by how far they had strayed from the law's requirements. But their teachers urged them—don't look at yourselves; focus on God. Make this day holy or separate to God. Let the joy of who God is and what He is doing now, energize you (Nehemiah 8:9-10).

• They were under conviction and their tears were evidence that God was at work in their lives. I love how this incident is the climax of their wall-repair project—an experience that had been both exhilarating and stressful. But they had completed it

Fresh from the victory of re-establishing the integrity of their city, they were primed for the victory of returning to God in spirit. Their sensitivity to God's will and eagerness to obey is on display as they jumped to obey the instructions to keep the Feast of Booths—something that had apparently not been done since the time of Joshua (Nehemiah 8:13-18).

What is our reaction to God's word? We have not only the Law, but the stories, the prophets, the New Testament, much of it plain and easy to understand.

• Do we respect it (to the extent of willingly standing for its reading when our pastors instruct us to, of course) as these people did?
• Do we hear it with the sense that it applies to us personally?
• Do we focus on how badly we've messed up, or on God and His goodness to us, His plan of salvation, and the hopeful outlook that trust in Him brings?
• Are we quick to change our ways when we see where we have been disobedient?

May our lives be evidence of us going from one obedience to the next (like these people did), as we let the hammer / fire / lamp / sword of God's word do its work.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your word which tells me about You and educates me in Your ways. May I take it as personally as these people who, on hearing, wept, repented, and obeyed. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 50


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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

An ancient complaint

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Nehemiah 4-6; Psalm 49

TO CHEW ON: "I also with my brethren and my servants am lending them money and grain. Please let us stop this usury!" Nehemiah 5:10

The complaints of the people to Nehemiah in today's reading remind me of the modern Occupy Movement of 2011. It was a protest against unfairness in society. Rooted in the financial collapse of 2008, people were protesting many things including the use of tax money to bail out big businesses and banks. While executives of the companies (who many perceived to be the cause of the problem) got huge bonuses and severance packages, the little guy lost his job and then his house because he could no longer pay his debts.

It appears that an economic crisis had also hit Jerusalem and its surroundings just prior to Nehemiah's arrival. A footnote in my Bible explains, "A famine along with the need to pay taxes had forced many families into insolvency. Nehemiah's presence emboldened the dispossessed to cry out for justice" - Study notes, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 618.

The confidence of the poor people in Nehemiah was well placed. Outraged by conditions, he took up their cause. He assembled the nobles and rulers and:

• Rebuked them (Nehemiah 5:7).
• Reasoned with them, showing how it didn't make sense that they had freed Jewish citizens held captives by other nations but were holding their own people to ransom with debt (Nehemiah 5:8).
• Told them to stop charging interest (Nehemiah 5:10). Actually what they were doing to their brothers was against Moses' law (Leviticus 25:35-38).
• Commanded them to restore absconded property along with some of the interest that had been paid to them (Nehemiah 5:11).

He himself was a good example, in that he lent the poor people money and grain (Nehemiah 5:10) and refused to live the customary high lifestyle of a governor himself (Nehemiah 5:15).

There is a place for us to be champions of justice in our society too. Though I don't suggest aligning oneself with any particular modern cause, there are things we can do. As a start, we can treat others fairly, lend or give money when we see a need, and live modestly and within our means, like Nehemiah did.

PRAYER: Dear God, please grow in me an attitude of justice for the poor and the generosity and willingness to help when I can with what I have. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 49

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The prayer that changed a nation's story

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Nehemiah 1-3; Psalm 48

TO CHEW ON: "And so it was, when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned for many days' I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven." - Nehemiah 1:4


The word economy of the Bible quickly gets us to the crux of the matter in this story that takes place at the end of the Old Testament time. The described state of his fellow Hebrews in Jerusalem distresses Nehemiah (who is a servant of Persian King Artaxerxes) immensely. So he does what we should all do when we're distressed—goes to the One who can help.

Nehemiah 1:5-11 is Nehemiah's heartfelt prayer. Let's look closely at it to see what we can learn about prayer from it.

1. Nehemiah begins by addressing God: "Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God..." His beginning puts him in his place and vaults God to His. By saying these faith-building words (Nehemiah 1:5) Nehemiah also reminds himself of God's power and ability to answer.

2. Nehemiah includes himself with the people (Nehemiah 1:6-7).  Though he is many miles away and probably hasn't participated personally in the sins he confesses, he stands in solidarity with his countrymen. His identification with them also shows his understanding of how God works in and through nations.

3. He prays God's words back to Him. Nehemiah 1:8-9 are a paraphrase a Moses' words in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, recalling words of warning and blessing to Israel from centuries earlier (see Leviticus 26:33 and Deuteronomy 4:25-27, 29-30; 28:63-67; 30:4).

4. He names his request. He reminds God of the investment He has already made in Israel (Nehemiah 1:10) and pleads for mercy, for himself (from his boss, the King of Persia; 'would God move the heart of a king to give him favor?') and in that, also for all of Israel (Nehemiah 1:11).

The rest of the book of Nehemiah tells the story of how King Artaxerxes releases Nehemiah from his duties, finances and equips his trip to Jerusalem, and then how Nehemiah leads the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall and eventually a spiritual revival.

What large and small things are troubling us today? Let's pray about them. Let's pray remembering how big and capable God is in contrast to our own neediness, frailty, and unworthiness. Let's pray God's words—His promises—back to Him, naming our requests with all the passion and emotion they bring up in his.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for prayer. Help me to realize that a burden about a situation or person is also an invitation to pray about it. Help me to pray from my heart,  with faith in You and Your power. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 48

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Weep at the Word

Ezra reading the law (Artist unknown)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Nehemiah 8:1-12

TO CHEW ON: "And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, 'This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.' For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law." Nehemiah 8:9

If you are familiar with Moses' law—that part of the Bible we find in sections of Exodus and Leviticus—you may well be surprised to see people weeping when it is read. Why would they weep on hearing a bunch of rules?

On thinking about it, I can come up with several reasons;

• It may have been the emotion they felt as they again connected with their religious and cultural roots. It seems that these people were unschooled in the law. We can assume that because of the way they needed a lot of explanation when it was read (Nehemiah 8:7). Even so, they probably had glimmerings of it, passed down through generations. But on this momentous day, as they respectfully stood for its reading, they were hearing the real thing for the first time in their lives. No wonder they got choked up.

• They were saddened by how far they had strayed from the law's requirements. But their teachers urged them—don't look at yourselves; focus on God. Make this day holy or separate to God. Let the joy of who God is and what He is doing now, energize you (Nehemiah 8:9-10).

• They were under conviction and their tears were evidence that God was at work in their lives. I love how this incident is the climax of their wall-repair project—an experience that had been both exhilarating and stressful. But they had completed it

Fresh from the victory of re-establishing the integrity of their city, they were primed for the victory of returning to God in spirit. Their sensitivity to God's will and eagerness to obey is on display as they jumped to obey the instructions to keep the Feast of Booths—something that had apparently not been done since the time of Joshua (Nehemiah 8:13-18).

What is our reaction to God's word? We have not only the Law, but the stories, the prophets, the New Testament, much of it plain and easy to understand.

• Do we respect it (to the extent of willingly standing for its reading when our pastors instruct us to, of course) as these people did?
• Do we hear it with the sense that it applies to us personally?
• Do we focus on how badly we've messed up, or on God and His goodness to us, His plan of salvation, and the hopeful outlook that trust in Him brings?
• Are we quick to change our ways when we see where we have been disobedient?

May our lives be evidence of us going from one obedience to the next (like these people did), as we let the hammer / fire / lamp / sword of God's word do its work.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your word which tells me about You and educates me in Your ways. May I take it as personally as these people who, on hearing, wept, repented, and obeyed. Amen.

MORE: "Hear with the greatest devotion"

"The second duty of piety wherein we must provoke ourselves, is, in HEARING of the Word. We may bring our bodies to the preaching of the Word with ease—but not our hearts, without offering violence to ourselves. When we come to the Word preached, we come to a business of the highest importance, therefore should stir up ourselves and hear with the greatest devotion. Luke 19:48. "All the people were very attentive to hear him." In the Greek it is "they hung upon his lip."—When the Word is dispensed, we are to lift up the everlasting doors of our hearts, that the King of glory may enter in!"-Thomas Watson (a quote from The Old Guys) emphasis added.