Listening to the Word

Nehemiah 7-8; Acts 1   “Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’” Nehemiah 8:10 How do we define holiness? Sometimes we might even equate sadness with holiness and joy with sinfulness. That would be a scheme of the enemy to separate us from the presence of God. Nehemiah’s revival of worship and the Word included a day set apart for God, a holy day, a day of feasting and joy with God at the very center of it. Do we bring God into the center and celebrate his goodness, love, and presence in our lives? Or, do we celebrate each other and the goodness of our lives and love for each other? Holy celebrations are full of joy because they are full of the presence of God. These celebrations renew our strength in the Lord. …time to celebrate? “Lord Jesus, you are my joy and my strength, for your glory.”

Nehemiah 5-6; Psalms 146; Luke 24 “He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24:25-27 Our capacity to receive spiritual truths and revelation is influenced by the condition of our heart. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were both “foolish” and “slow of heart”.   What is the speed with which our heart engages in faith to God’s Word through the tests and trials we face? Have we learned to trust the whole counsel of God, including the books of Moses and the Prophets? Or, do we limit our worldview to our church tradition and a few favourite Scriptures? Jesus explained that the most awaited person in human history, God’s Messiah, needed to suffer and die. No one expected that. What are we expecting will happen at Christ...

Nehemiah 3-4; Luke 23   “Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, ‘The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!’” Nehemiah 4:19, 20 The silver trumpets the Lord commanded Moses to make were used for calling people together for an assembly, or calling them to battle, or calling them to break camp and move on. In the spiritual and physical warfare of Nehemiah’s wall project, Nehemiah utilized the trumpet again to rally the people together to resist an opposing threat. The use of the trumpet was most importantly an act of faith that the Lord would fight for his people. The trumpet signaled heaven. What is our ‘trumpet call’ today, in ministry and mission work? What are we using to call God’s people together for concerted prayer? It is in prayer that we unite together before God’s throne. It is in unity that the Lord anoi...

Nehemiah 1-2; Psalms 133; Luke 22 “…’O Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands…They are your servants and your people, who you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.” Nehemiah 1:5, 10 “In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’” Luke 22:20 Jesus emphasized the third cup of the Passover meal with his disciples, the cup of redemption. It was the same redemption that Nehemiah was appealing to as he interceded for his people and their desperate state. Even in exile, Nehemiah would have celebrated Passover with his fellow Jews in Babylon. In intercession, Nehemiah was appealing to God’s covenant-keeping nature, his promises, and his deliverance and redemption in the past. Not only did God answer Nehemiah’s prayer by enabling his people to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem, but God sent his Son to bring re...

Ezra 9-10; Psalms 131; Luke 21 “’Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.’…Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.” Luke 21:33, 37 Jesus taught words we are hearing and repeating 2000 years later. The words of Jesus will never pass away. Where did he receive these words? We know he is the Word, present in the beginning, full of life and light. Yet, Jesus was also a man - a man who became tired and needed sleep. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives each evening because he loved time alone with his Father. Jesus’ words and the work that flowed from them came from what he heard and saw in the presence of his Father. His words won’t pass away because they come from the Father. Are we listening to the Word so we, too, have something to share with others? “Lord Jesus, the Word: thank you for speaking life-gi...

Ezra 7- 8; Luke 20   “There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions…and he answered our prayer.” Ezra 8:21, 23 In an age of complicated travel with health restrictions and danger to well-being, Ezra’s example of humbling himself and his travelling companions before the Lord is a great example of where our confidence should come from. Ezra’s party was carrying tons of gold, silver, and sacred items which made them targets for robbery on their four-month long, overland journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. Instead of the king’s soldiers and horsemen protecting them, Ezra and his party humbled themselves before the Lord of heaven and earth. Where are we looking for protection and confidence as we, too, seek to follow the Lord in mission? We can allow fear to rule our choices and future, or we can choose to place our lives in the hands of God and live with ob...