SHCOC Daily Bible Reading » Nehemiah

Day 205: Nehemiah 13:1-31 — Blessing or curse?

Bob Mathews — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:00:37 +0000

[the Moabites] had hired Balaam to call a curse down on [the Israelites]. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) Nehemiah 13:2

There are so many lessons in the book of Nehemiah, and the closing chapter is loaded with them. You’re no doubt familiar with the story of Balaam; if you need to jog your memory, it’s in Numbers 22-24. The king of Moab, feeling threatened by the Israelites, hired Balaam to call down a curse on his “enemy”. Instead, Balaam followed God’s instructions and blessed His people instead (Numbers 23:11-12).

In this simple verse, Nehemiah reminds us that sometimes what is intended by others to work against us, God, who is all-powerful, can work for us. Isn’t that what the Apostle Paul reminds us of? This is a verse we all know by heart and quote often:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

The way many of us learned that verse was that “all things work together for good” (KJV), as if magically “all things” just happen to “work together for good”, rather than the active “God works for the good”. I believe that’s exactly what Nehemiah is reminding us of — that God is active in the lives of His people. Whatever circumstances you’re dealt by your job, your friends, your health, whatever — God can turn bad into good, cursing into blessing.

What’s your “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)? Is God’s grace sufficient? When you look at “life’s lemons”, do you see curses thrown at you by circumstances, or do you see opportunity for God to work blessings through you?

Holy Father, forgive us for the times when in our selfish stubbornness, we fail to surrender our lives to You to allow You to work through us. May today be Your day; may our lives be instruments of Your blessing to others we meet. We offer our lives to You, so that You can turn curse into blessing, in the name of our precious Savior Jesus.

Day 202: Nehemiah 8:1-18 — Please Stand

Scott Dutton — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:30:00 +0000

How many times has your mind wandered during a public reading? We sometimes read scripture aloud during an assembly. But it is just something we do or does the passage read really touch our heart? Does the passage read express a completed thought or are they just verses with no context that fill the allotted time?

I can remember early one Sunday morning still trying to decide what to preach on. Yes, I know that is cutting it really close to the wire, but that was where I was at the time. I wound up reading Romans chapter eight. Without warning, tears were running down my face. I had my sermon for that morning. I still find it hard to read Romans eight without the tears flowing.

As I age I’m finding new meaning in more passages of scripture than ever before. Read about Christ on the cross and tears flow. Read about how people mourned over the loss of a loved one and the tears flow. Public reading of scripture — in Nehemiah 8:9 as the law was read to the people of Israel they stood and wept. They didn’t stand so they could weep; they stood out of respect for the “Law of God” that was being read. They wept because as they listened, they understood how far they had wandered from the truth.

The next time someone asks you to stand for the reading of God’s word, get prepared to listen and be moved. Moved to greater faithfulness, greater understanding, and greater realization of God’s love. It’s o.k.if the tears flow; that just means the heart has been moved.

Day 200: Nehemiah 4:1-7:4; Acts 12:20-13:13 — How to stop a steam roller

Powell Pendergraft — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:25:54 +0000

Let me see… How do you stop a steam roller? Ah yes! Threaten it! “You just think you’re the biggest steam roller around? We’ll see about that!” The steam roller keeps on going. If that doesn’t work, just stand right in front of it, that should do it, right?

How do you stop the plans and purposes of the Creator of heaven and earth? You don’t. One of my favorite passages in the English translation of the Old Testament is right here in Nehemiah 6. Sanballat and Tobiah invite Nehemiah to a conference in the plans of Ono. While the Hebrew may mean “Vigorous” the serendipity of the sound of the Hebrew in English ears gives us a sneak peek at their real intentions and Nehemiah’s answer to come: oh no, I won’t go. I will not stop the work of the Lord to quibble with you about rumors and power struggles. The walls rebuilt, the plans moved ahead to rebuild and resettle Jerusalem.

How do you stop the spread of the story of Jesus? Magicians and wizards and demons and jails and threats and death — nothing stands in the way of the gospel and the promises sealed by the resurrection of Jesus!

Sometimes we fear that the culture around us will snuff out the gospel, extinguish morals and decency. One very powerful comment in Nehemiah, Neh. 4:6, 9 instructs and encourages us: the people had a mind to work; we prayed… and set a guard. Rather than fear the powers of this realm, set your mind to do the will of God, pray to Him and set a double guard, Phil. 4:7, the guard of God for His people and the guard of your heart, mind, and abilities to live faithfully in the present age. Titus 2:12.

Prayer: Holy, Righteous Father: I have promised to be faithful. In the power of your Holy Spirit, I commit my life to Your will today. All within me says, “Yes!” to You. May I broaden and build the path for You to work in my life and the lives of others. In Jesus name, thank You!