- And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. Nehemiah 9:3 – In today’s chapter we are seeing some beautiful events take place. We see the people of Israel acknowledge the ways they had sinned against God, and instead of covering them up or pretending they didn’t matter, they confessed their sin to the Lord. They even took time to confess the sins of their fathers who for generations had not keep the Law as God commanded. We see the Levites outlining the history of God’s people, showing how faithful the Lord was yet how wickedly Israel acted in so many of the stages of their past. Again, this is a beautiful set of events that happened among the people of God this day, yet what was the catalyst to make all this happen? It was the reading of God’s Word. We see from this chapter and the last that the people gathered and the Word was read over them. They listened, they processed, and they responded faithfully in worship and confession of sin. Allow this to be a lesson for you on the power of God’s Word. The simple reading of it can move the hardest of hearts towards faithfulness to God. God’s Word is powerful for the Author is alive and speaks through His Word. If then you are feeling like you are not exactly where you want to be spiritually in your life, assess how deeply taking God’s Word in is a part of your life. Our chapter is a perfect example of the changes that can come in one’s life when God’s Word is consumed. Open the door for God to speak into your life by opening up the Word He gave you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3406
- 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
Daily DEVO 