Chapter 1
O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king. Nehemiah 1:11 – There was a Matthew West song awhile back called “Do Something” and this chapter is a prime example of that song. See the song talks about seeing the brokenness in the world and someone crying out to God to do something about it. God replies, “I did, I created you.” See Nehemiah here sees the brokenness of God’s people. Rather than asking God to do something about it, He asked God for success in his efforts because he clued into the truth that God put him there to do something about the brokenness in front of him. We too are seeing brokenness all around us today. Of course bring it to God, as for His help and guidance, but realize that God has placed you in this world to be a tool of His to carry His healing power into the brokenness. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1283
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4 – Word had come to Nehemiah that the city of Jerusalem and the people of God were in great trouble because the surrounding city walls and gates had been destroyed. The response we see from Nehemiah is a common response that we see in scripture when news is shared about the troubles another group of followers of God are having. Nehemiah wept and was saddened for days, even fasted and prayed that God would respond to their need. While this group at this time had no real impact on the daily life of Nehemiah, hearing about their condition broke Nehemiah’s heart and drove him to his knees in prayer. I want this to be my heart when I hear about the turmoil and struggle of other believers, even those that are far beyond my daily interaction. If I hear a church in my area struggling, I hope it drives me to prayer for them. If I hear about persecution of the gospel in another country, I don’t want to just dismiss that as “Not my problem, can’t do anything about it.” If someone shares about their distant relative that doesn’t know Jesus, I want to desire that person knowing Jesus as if they were my dear friend. What we see in Nehemiah is a heart for something bigger than him and his world. He had a heart for what God has a heart for. Let our prayer today be for God to move our hearts as they ought to be moved and to break our hearts for what breaks His. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2504
Chapter 2
Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah 2:4 – Take advantage of prayer, even if you only have a moment. Nehemiah here was in a conversation with the king about to ask him for a large request. He though didn’t have time or the ability to say, “Wait a moment and let me go pray for a week about this.” He would have lost his opportunity if he did that, so he did what he could. In the moment he had he silently prayed to God for help and gave Him praise. As Nehemiah did, let’s take advantage of prayer even when we only have a moment. If we believe God can change hearts and move in ways we can’t, let’s be sure to be leaning on Him through prayer as often as we can. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1284
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. Nehemiah 2:10 – Nehemiah was faithfully following the Lord in his efforts to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city walls. He courageously brought his request before the king, he left his comfortable job in the palace of the king, and is seeking to do the very thing God laid on his heart to accomplish. But… Now, usually I’m all about the “buts” in the Bible because they often are when we see God step in and do something amazing with a situation, yet here is one occasion I’m not a fan. We get two names, Sanballat and Tobiah, who were men who did not want to see Israel healthy. Some commentators believe it was because if Israel prospered it would take away from their lands prospering, but whatever the reason, we have two men here who didn’t want to see the faithful work of God being done. Keep this in mind as you follow the Lord. You can be hearing from God, taking courageous steps, and doing exactly what the Lord laid on your heart to do, and still there will be people that oppose it. If then there is a clear settling this path you’re on is from the Lord, also settle this opposition isn’t from Him. Yes, it may be coming from a powerful source in your life, or even from another believer in Jesus, but if what is being said is in opposition to what the Lord has spoken over you, reject whatever they are saying and move forward. Choose this day who you will serve and follow. If God, then follow His lead; if the “Sanballats and Tobiahs” in your story, then follow them. Keep this in mind, whose throne will you be standing before when this life is over? (hint, it’s not Sanballat’s or Tobiah’s) I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2505
Chapter 3
Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. Nehemiah 3:8 – God may call you to serve in ways that are out of your expertise. Here we have goldsmiths and perfumers repairing the wall. This chapter is filled with a recounting of people who served to rebuild the wall around the city and we see it wasn’t just master wall builders doing the job. Priests, merchants, and city leaders were doing their part. While it’s important to know what are gifts are, let’s not be like the nobles in verse 5 who wouldn’t stoop to serve their Lord. God may want to use your talents in ways you never expected them to be used. We must keep in mind that our talents are not given to us to glorify ourselves, but to glorify the God who gave them to us. Be open to however God wants to use you. It may end up being far different than your plans, but it will be far more fulfilling than your plans. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1285
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel. Nehemiah 3:1 – One of the commentaries I read said this concerning our passage, “Minsters should be foremost in every good work, animating others by their example as well as their doctrine” (Benson). I just love the example being set here by the high priest. Someone we may imagine would scoff at the idea of manual labor and serving, as being too clean for such a task, is instead the first to get up and start building. What’s so beautiful is then the passages that follow for they are filled with all those who stood up after him to also start the rebuild of the walls and gates. Never underestimate the example you can set. Maybe you’re the first to step up at work and display your Christian values there. Maybe you’re the first in your home to make Jesus a priority on your calendar. Maybe you’re the first on at your school to bring your bible and read it during breaks. While you may be the first, never underestimate the power of the example you’re setting. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2506
Chapter 4
And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” Nehemiah 4:19-20 – This passage resonated with me this morning because tomorrow will be our first time our church is regathering together in awhile. Like the workers on the wall, we’ve been separated, but hopefully still working on the mission in this quarantine season. Yet tomorrow we get to rally together, strengthen each other, fight with each other, and see how mighty our God is. Then we’ll separate again till the next rally, but we’ll have been strengthened by our time together. My encouragement to you is take advantage of the time together with your church family. Of course, be safe and wise as to when it’s smart for you to rejoin the body meeting physically together, but we see here power when God’s people regather together from where they had been separated. I can’t wait to see how God will show us His might tomorrow. I also can’t wait to be a part of your strengthening and you be a part of mine. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1286
So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand. Nehemiah 4:23 – As the Jews were rebuilding the temple, neighboring peoples were coming against them with harsh words and threats to cease their efforts. They’d threaten to disrupt their efforts and come when they least expect to kill the workers. As you’d expect fear was growing rapidly within the workers, so Nehemiah decided to station half of the workers as armed guards while the other half continue the labor of rebuilding the wall. Our passage notes the extremeness of the situation. Nehemiah slept in his clothes, with his weapon next to him, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. Dwell for a moment on the strain such a season must of have had on them. Constant uncertainty if you’d be in peace or war, never being able to fully rest because the opposition could arise at any time. We’re also not talking about soldiers on a battlefield, but followers of God trying to do the work of the Lord. Let’s then acknowledge the truth that following God isn’t always easy and we can often find ourselves exhausted doing God’s work. While the enemy will be threatening and coming at us hard, our thoughts must remember what Nehemiah said in verse 20, “Our God will fight for us.” Seasons may be filled with fear and exhaustion, but our God is more present in our story than either of those two things. Let your eyes remain fixed on the God who is present rather than the enemy. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2507
Chapter 5
…and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say. Nehemiah 5:8 – Let us not place back in slavery those who God has set free. Here we have God’s people rescuing their Jewish brothers from slavery in other nations. Yet once back home, due to a famine, they had to rely on their brothers for help. These very brothers took advantage of them and held them in slavery like what they were just rescued from. If we aren’t careful, we too can hold our brothers and sisters in Christ in slavery. While they’ve been freed by Jesus, the way we treat them and talk about them can hold them captive to worry, fear, and discouragement. We must not be a part of the enslavement of our brothers but we should be the biggest advocates of their freedom. Watch then your words and deeds. Do they encourage their freedom or push them back into the jail cell that Jesus freed them from? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1287
Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people. Nehemiah 5:17-18 – We learn from this passage that the leaders, unbeknownst to Nehemiah, were extracting interest from their Jewish brothers and causing them to fall into great poverty. The Jewish people didn’t have food for their families and their children were being sold into slavery again because of the sinful ways the leaders were treating them. Nehemiah doesn’t only put a stop to this, but also sets an example of how to handle things correctly as a leader. Instead of taking from the people, Nehemiah gave out of his own pocket to provide food and refreshment. As followers of Jesus we may see around us people, including leaders, handling themselves in unholy ways. We can either mirror such actions or choose to set a different example of how to live. One of showing love and compassion, rather than selfishness and pride. Yes, the holy way of living will be challenging and may take a lot from you, but it is the way a believer in Jesus is called to exist. Have faith that as you exist in such a way for the Lord that He will provide for your needs that arise. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2508
Chapter 6
In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” Nehemiah 6:5-7 – Our enemy can be very persistent in trying to get us to crumble in fear and stop the work we are doing. We though don’t have to stop just because we have an enemy attacking. Here this Sanballat was constantly trying to stop Nehemiah from finishing the wall. Letter after letter, threat and threat, all to keep him from finishing the mission God had for him. What we see in Nehemiah is that you can keep on moving forward with what God has called you to do even when the enemy is persistent in trying to stop you. Expect the enemy to come when you push forward faithfully. Realize that pushback is coming, have confidence that what you are doing is what God has called you to do, then trust God to take care of the enemy. Never stop the work of our mission of letting people know about Jesus just because of pushback. It’s the most important thing in the world for us to do. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1288
For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. Nehemiah 6:13 – My chapter heading says “Conspiracy against Nehemiah.” It ought though to say “conspiracies” because multiple times his enemies sought to take him out. They first sent multiple letters to have a “meetup,” but Nehemiah knew it was a trap to do him harm. Then they sought to spread a rumor about him to the king. They even hired someone from among the people that was close to Nehemiah to lead him into sin so they could tarnish his name. All this because Nehemiah was being faithful to the mission given to him to rebuild the wall. It can seem so illogical why others may say what they say or do what they do towards our faithful efforts. Why would hate and such evil be coming our way when all we are doing is trying to be faithful in following what God has told us to do? We must remember the root of their pushback comes from our enemy. Satan despises the work of our Lord and any effort to follow Jesus he is going to seek to disrupt. Know then a life of faithfully following Jesus is also a life of enduring Satan’s attacks. We then are to take up the armor of God and not forsake the gathering of ourselves together, as scripture guides us to do, so we can remain standing and moving forward. While hearing that Satan’s attacks are coming your way when you follow Jesus may begin to instill fear within you, fear not, for those that are with us and far more than those who are with our enemy, and our God will crush the enemy underneath His feet. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2509
Chapter 7
The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt. Nehemiah 7:4 – It’s too easy isn’t it with chapters like this one to just skim over the names and numbers. I though keep having to remind myself that each name and each number represents someone who saw firsthand God move within there story. In fact as we read later, over 50,000 people were spoken about here and saw God move in their story. Yet, even with that large of number, our verse today says the numbers were few. Let’s remember that while God had moved there, He wasn’t done. He still had plans for more to enjoy the blessing and for them to continue to build and grow there. When we look at the blessings in our story know God isn’t done moving either. We can recount blessing after blessing, but God is still moving and calling us to continue to build and grow. Know God’s not done yet in your story. He has more plans and more mighty ways He is going to move within your story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1289
The whole assembly together was 42,360, 67 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female. 68 Their horses were 736, their mules 245,69 their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720. Nehemiah 7:66-69 – Here we get the full number of those who were gathered together back in their homeland. No longer were they in exile, no longer was their city without a protective wall, and we learn in the following verses that supplies were being given in order to continue to rebuild the city even further. Yes, they started in exile and in a place they didn’t desire to be. Yes, along the journey there was opposition, fear, and struggle. Yet look at where God had taken them beyond all that. Together and in their homeland. Allow this this passage to encourage you if you’re still in a season of “exile.” If you’re in a place where you don’t long to be and you’re navigating things like opposition, fear, and uncertainty, see what God can do beyond that. As we faithfully follow His lead, we can look forward to the promise of His provision in and purpose behind what we are walking through today. This season of difficulty and uncertainty isn’t the end, especially not for a follower of Jesus. Find time in His word today, pray, and demonstrate love to the person in front of you as Jesus would. Remain faithful in the heavy days, and allow God to show you His ability to bring sense to everything. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2510
Chapter 8
And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. Nehemiah 8:17 – Apparently this practice had not been verbally shared with the people in the past so it was just forgotten with the times. Yet here, after reading God’s Word, they learned about it and moved forward with practicing it. What we learn is that just because you haven’t served God in a long time doesn’t mean you can’t start serving Him today. Here in our passage generations of God’s people hadn’t served Him in this way, yet that didn’t keep them from gathering the wood and making the tents. Maybe you haven’t served God in awhile, or maybe there are some ways of serving Him that you have let slide for longer than you meant to. Start today for there is nothing holding you back. God’s not holding it over your head that you haven’t, He’s inviting you and encouraging you to start anew! How then can you serve God in a new way today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1290
Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. Nehemiah 8:7-8 – This passage is currently taped to the back of my phone as my current memory verses, and yes even with all the difficult names, which has been a challenge. Why? We see in our passage Ezra got up and read aloud God’s law to everyone that could hear and understand what he was saying. What’s so special is what these levities did as well, they gave sense. Maybe the congregation there could understand the language of Ezra, but fully understanding what they heard coming from God’s law wasn’t fully happening. These men took time to make sense of it all for the people, breaking it down and explaining it however needed, so they fully understood what was being taught to them. My aim now is to be just like that for my brothers and sisters in Christ, and it should be an aim of yours as well. To help make sense of scripture so they understand what they are hearing and reading. That when they hear a pastor say something they don’t understand, or they read a passage that just doesn’t make sense to them, we step into their story to help make sense of such things. Does this mean we have to have all the answers first? Not at all, but we should have a heart to help them understand. We just need to be willing to step into the confusion and be willing to walk with them to understanding, however that path leads. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2511
Chapter 9
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 – What struck me today within this chapter is how often they gave credit to God for what happened. Saying things like you saw, you made, you came, you cast, you divided, or you sustained. They are telling God they recognize it was Him all along that brought them to the place they are today. This is our truth today as well, yet maybe we too need to take a moment to recognize it was God all along that got us here. He sustained us, He picked us up, He got us through, he provided, and He forgave. Without Him in our story and doing the things He’s done, we wouldn’t be where we are at. If that’s a truth you can get behind, take some time today to tell God you recognize it was Him all along that got you to where you are, just like the people in our passage were doing. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1291
But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. 29 And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. Nehemiah 9:28-29 – Almost the entirety of this chapter is the Levites proclaiming their heart to the Lord all whilst saying it over the people. In verses 28-29, they speak of the time of the judges, where there was this continual cycle of returning to sin after God rescued them from it. Like someone who was just saved by a lifeguard hopping right back into the ocean, so was Israel with sin after God saved them from it. We too must handle ourselves properly after God rescues us. Do we get back on solid ground again after a season of floundering with sin and just go right back to our old lifestyle that got us stuck to begin with? Or do we change? We ought to change the way we exist and step so we are not on our old paths that lead to sin. If then you are truly grateful for the rescue from sin and eternal life that has been given to you by Jesus, demonstrate that gratefulness by how you live apart from sin. A life of holiness after Jesus is worth the sacrifice of our sinfulness. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2512
Chapter 10
And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. Nehemiah 10:31 – The people of God were in this chapter committing to God to live for Him. That meant though living differently than they had been and differently than how those who don’t follow God live. We see that here with our verse. No longer were they going to buy grain on the Sabbath. They used to, and everyone else still would be doing it, but they were choosing not to. This is the life we choose when following Jesus. To set aside things we used to do that aren’t pleasing to God, even when others around us continue to do them. What this does is it shows you love God enough to let go of the things that don’t please Him and it also causes you to stand out amongst the crowd. For you today, especially if this type of message is one you’ve heard before, ask yourself what could cause you to still do those things even when you know it doesn’t please God and it will cause you to blend in rather than stand out? – Daily DEVO 1292
The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, 29 join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes. Nehemiah 10:28-29 – The nobles, the men who in verses 1-27 had their names on the seals, were the first to set the example of choosing to separate themselves from sinful ways of living and choosing to live under God’s law once again. Now the rest of the people, all who had separated themselves so far to follow the law of God, were also being told to enter a promise with the Lord to never turn away from Him again and to follow Him the rest of their days. Once again in this passage we see an instance of individuals seeing the need for the whole congregation to make a healthy move, and instead of waiting for someone else to take the first step, they themselves step up first. If then in your family or workplace or church family you see the need for a healthy move to take place, be willing to be first in that move. Take the first step, be the first to apologize, be the first to stop a way of behaving, be the first to say something. Often others will follow and support a move towards health, but what it needed is someone to simply be bold and take that first step. Today, as scary as that may seem for you, be willing to be first. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2513
Chapter 11
And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 11:2 – This chapter retells for us all who chose to stay and live in the rebuilt city of Jerusalem. Our verse speaks highly of the leaders who willingly offered to live there. Why did they speak so highly of them like this? What they were choosing to do, to stay and continue building and growing the holy city, wasn’t going to be easy. They would be changing everything about their lives and as they had already encountered, there was to be great opposition to their work. They chose to stay and chose to keep building. Know just like the people in our passage, God sees the sacrifices that you are making in order to pursue Him faithfully. He sees the challenges you face and the offerings you willingly give. Keep up the good work knowing that it’s not unseen by God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1293
Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns. 2 And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 11:1-2 – Our chapter gives us the names of the individuals that stayed in Jerusalem. From our passages, we’re seeing a tone that it wasn’t the preferred thing to remain in Jerusalem. They had to cast lots on who would stay, and whoever willing offered to stay the rest of the people blessed and were grateful for. Yet why would there have been this reluctance to staying in the holy city of Jerusalem? Because it meant a lot of work still. Yes, some big pieces like the temple and the city wall was up, but the city was far from thriving. On top of that, the surrounding peoples of Jerusalem were enraged at the city being rebuilt and were constantly threatening the city and it’s people. Staying meant work. Often though the most worth it things in this life requires a staying to make things work. A marriage will need both people staying to make it work. A family needs people staying and working together to make it work. A church to see it reach what God is calling it to be will need people staying and working rather than leaving. The question then that ought to be asked of ourselves is am I willing to be one that remains and works or am I one that sees the future effort needed from me and checks out? Am I willing to stay in whatever isn’t finished yet in my life, even if it means work from me? Is it worth it to you? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2514
Chapter 12
And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. Nehemiah 12:43 – The joy of God’s people was heard far away. God today has already given us ample reasons to rejoice in Him with everything we have. The life we woke up with today, the blessings surrounding us, and especially the eternal life we’ve been given through Jesus. It’s deeply important that we choose to rejoice today over the amazing works that God has done in our story. Yes because God deserves the praise and yes because it’s even an encouragement to us when we do. Yet another big reason is that others will hear it, even from far away. They will hear our rejoicing, wonder where it’s coming from and what it’s all about, and they’ll come searching for answers. We then get the opportunity to share with them all the amazing things God has done in our story and share with them God wants to do them same in their story. So rejoice today, even if it’s not easy to be grateful today we have more than enough to be grateful for. Let your praise honor God, fill you, and spark the curiosity of those far away. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1294
And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron. Nehemiah 12:47 – This giving of daily portions like we see here, and the people of Israel serving and giving like we see in the other verses of this chapter, was the rhythm of obedience God commanded. It may not seem flashy, but it was holy unto the Lord. Yet as simple as giving daily portions of food for the singer and gatekeepers may be, what an effort it was to get to that point. Being exiled for decades, returning home to a destroyed city, and rebuilding in the midst of enemy attacks. Sometimes the most simple acts of obedience to the Lord on the outside require a long journey of difficult faithfulness first. Here in Ezra and Nehemiah we get a small understanding of the difficult journey that came prior to their rhythm of obedience we see in chapter 12, but in the lives of those around us we may not get that inside look. We may just see someone choosing to show up on Sunday for church, or give a few dollars, or even just show up for dinner with their family. Simple, yet pleasing things to the Lord, yet also possibly coming after a very difficult journey in their life. Let us then always be supportive of our brothers and sisters when they make the choice to be obedient to the Lord. Let’s celebrate with each other when we choose a faithful life over a life of disobedience to the Lord. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2515
Chapter 13
Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. Nehemiah 13:20-21 – In our chapter Nehemiah returns and sees many things happening that aren’t honoring to God that had started to take place while he was gone. One was trading and selling of goods on the Sabbath. Nehemiah kicked out the merchants and told them to not even camp outside the city wall during the Sabbath so as to not be a temptation to the people. We see here that temptations just don’t stop coming. What we can do is be active in each other’s life in trying to keep things away that would cause another brother or sister to stumble. That takes us learning about each other’s struggles and being willing to watch out for each other. Let’s not tackle our temptations on our own or let our brothers and sisters try to do the same either. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1295
And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Nehemiah 13:25 – I selected this verse out of the passage because it shocked me the most when I read it this morning, but throughout this whole chapter Nehemiah is seeing different sins and correcting them. Here he sees people marrying foreign women and having children with them, like God commanded not to do. He proceeds to curse, beat, and pull out their hair to help them see their wrong. Now my gut reaction to this is probably like yours, he went too far here. He didn’t need to take it to this extreme to confront their sinful actions, right? While we don’t get anywhere God blessing such actions, we also don’t see God condemning them either. What we do see in other scriptures is God displeased when His followers do the full opposite of Nehemiah and just let sin remain in their brother’s life without addressing it. Maybe we don’t need to be pulling out each other’s hair, but we also can’t just let a brother or sister in Christ continue walking in sin without at least saying something to them. What I know is God would rather us be bald because we’ve pulled each other’s hair out yet walking faithfully together after Him than having luscious locks yet silent about each other’s sin. My point is we ought to see the dangers of remaining silent when we see sin in a fellow follower’s life. Grace and truth must carry our conversation to our brother about his sin, but we must also be willing to first have a conversation with him about his sin. Silence over sin is more hurtful to your brother than confronting him about it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2516
Daily DEVO 