Nehemiah 1:1-3:14, 1 Corinthians 7:1-24, Psalms 31:19-24, Proverbs 21:4
Today is the 11th day of August welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is a joy it is a pleasure it is an honor and a marvel…a marvel that we live in a time where there’s technology like this, that we can be together right now and spend some time in God’s word together. So, it is a joy to be here with you today. And as we get into our days reading, we find that we concluded the book of Ezra yesterday, short book, which leads us to another book and this one is called Nehemiah.
Introduction to the Book of Nehemiah:
And we’re kinda dealing with the same time period and this is another of the books of history in the Scriptures and we’re actually not too far from completing the books of history in the Scriptures. We’ve got a little ways to go but we’ll get there. Anyway, Nehemiah picks up pretty much where Ezra left off. It’s…in Christian tradition, Ezra is at least one of the authors of Nehemiah because Ezra and Nehemiah were a single manuscript at one point, they were separate documents as they are broken up now. But Nehemiah was one of the Jewish exiles who had been carried off to Babylon and then Babylon changed hands. The Persians overcame them and he had followed the story of what God was doing and giving favor to the Jewish people among the Persians and then being allowed, the first people, being allowed to go back home to their homeland and begin to rebuild God’s temple and have cover and protection and provision to do that. So, he’s watching this story, and Nehemiah was able to kind of watch the story pretty close because he was a direct servant to the Persian king. And Nehemiah’s heart was drawn to this story, this story of return from exile, this story of the rebuilding of the temple and it pulled him into months of interceding and his intercession was wrapped around one kind of image in his heart that was kind of breaking his heart, it was the image of God’s temple in Jerusalem, which is the very symbol of the Jewish people, the place where God would meet with human beings, the place where God put His name. He sees it sitting there in his mind’s eye completely undefended and that begins to build in him a passion to see the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt so that they could protect the temple of the Lord. And that just percolated, it just wouldn’t leave him, and he kept praying over it until finally he needed to approach the king with his desire. And we’ll see that he does get favor and he is able to go but it’s just like the rest of the stories in the Bible, it didn’t all go well. Like, there was all kinds of opposition that he had to endure, all kinds of stuff that he had to persevere through, but he didn't…he didn’t deviate. Like his purpose didn’t change. He didn’t lose sight of what he felt called to do any didn’t lose sight that in order to accomplish something like that he would have to utterly depend upon the Lord. And the thing is, of so many of the books of the Bible and so many of the stories of the Bible this one, the story of Nehemiah has a lot for us in our own lives about persevering, about enduring, about not losing focus, about how leadership can be done. And we’ll see that the wall does get rebuilt and it’s rebuilt faster than anybody thought. And Nehemiah goes back to Persia to tell the king and to begin serving the King again and then later he gets to go back to Jerusalem and then what he finds is like heartbreaking again. They have a strong wall and the people are so weak. They are so rebellious. They are so walking away from their covenantal relationship with God. And, so Nehemiah is able to step into that and…and restore Israel to the Lord and cause repentance and revival move throughout the land. So, yeah, like I was saying this is one of the books of history but it’s like a living metaphor for how to live into a passion and a calling. And, so, with that we begin. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Nehemiah chapter 1 verse one through 3 verse 14.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we…we’ve already spent some time talking about this new book that we are in and it’s not a long book. We will complete it within a week, the book of Nehemiah. But we were saying this is really…watching Nehemiah navigate is really, really helpful to observe as we navigate, especially…like under the circumstances. This is Nehemiah with a passionate desire, even a calling to do something. And, so, just in today’s reading alone, we saw Nehemiah in Persia. We saw him hearing about what’s going on in Jerusalem. We see this thing get birthed in his horror and how he stays…like he keeps it to himself and he begins interceding before the Lord about this. And we saw him become passionate about this. And we can only deduce that he began to plan, like in hopes of this, knowing that one day he…he’s the cupbearer of the King. He’s gonna have to be go before the king who could be frustrated with a request like this and just be done with him, right? Like his life could be over and yet his got this passion. And, so, he’s methodically praying into it, getting direction from God about it, making plans and holding it in his heart and so that when he does go before the king, he is given favor and he’s got a plan. And, so, he makes a long journey to Jerusalem and he’s got letters, like he’s got authority, he’s got resources, like he’s got the command of the King behind him, but he…like he doesn’t ride into town with a banner, right, and climb down off of his horse and pull up his britches and act all proud and arrogant. He is completely quiet about the plans. Like, he hasn’t shared what he’s going to do with anybody. And he does this for three days. Like, he does these reconnaissance missions on the walls of Jerusalem and nobody knows what he’s doing. Like, he’s getting everything in order before there are a bunch of voices in the mix. And he’s counting the cost to see what this is going to take so that when he presents the vision he is…he’s prepared, like he knows what it’s gonna take and he’s able to spur people into action and so they dive in. And we’ve got a lot more to go, but just that right there is so helpful. There is just so much to learn right there. And we’ll see how this story continues as we continue forward in the coming days.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You. We thank You for Your word. We thank You for this and every book or letter in the Scriptures. We thank You for what You have given us in all the different genres of literature that we get to experience in a year as we go through the Scriptures and we thank You for this book of Nehemiah. And as we watch this story, we invite Your Holy Spirit to help us to overlay our own stories and find guidance and clarity that we’ve been seeking and we invite Your Holy Spirit to speak that clarity into our stories. And we ask expectantly in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Good afternoon DAB family God bless you all I love you all so much. A woman from Tennessee His Life called for her sister Jeannie. I am so sorry that, you know, she is suffering the effects of having multiple car accidents. I am praying in the name of Jesus for her body to heal in the name of Jesus. Pelham, Pelham, Pelham, from Alabama, you know, yes you are addicted to Christ, I am believing that in the name of Jesus. It doesn’t matter that you’re alone and that you’re afraid and that you feel beaten up and lost but I am believing in God’s will for you. I am believing in the name of Jesus that He is going to just help you feel everything you need to feel. Mother, her son 22 years old, left home. I am believing in the name of Jesus that he will be returned and that your relationship with him will be restored in the name of Jesus. Michael from Texas. You know, quad driver, yay! I love it. So, I am believing in the name of Jesus for your mom, you know, and for there to be peace. I’m sorry that she’s in hospice and I’m believing for comfort for your sister and the rest of your family. June from Maryland home due to COVID, sweetheart, sister thank you first of all for being that nurse and being with us in the name of Jesus. I am believing in the name of Jesus for your totally healing. Brent, well… Jesus Freak, I pray to God that were all Jesus freak. You know, you lost your job, 59 years old. I am so sorry that you are going through this. I too am 59 and I am not employed but I am believing in the name of Jesus that the Lord is gonna open doors. God bless you all. Love you. Esther from Orlando Florida.
Hi this is Radiant Rachel let’s pray. Dear Lord, we lift up all those who have loved ones or who themselves are suffering from the COVID-19 virus. I pray that You will surround them with healing and comfort Lord. I pray that their symptoms will be lessened and manageable and that they will come through this, that You will provide full healing complete healing. I pray that You will give them peace and their families peace as well. And I pray for anyone who is struggling with the virus and expecting. I pray for the little children who are, You know, still with their mommies and I just lift them up to You Lord and we know that You will protect them. I also want to pray for the people who come in contact with COVID-19 positive people. Lord I just thank You for keeping them safe and I thank You for minimizing this virus and keeping it from spreading any further. I thank You that there is light at the end Lord and I just pray that You will be with us as we go through this. In Your name I pray. Amen.
Good morning this is Miriam it’s August 8th and I am calling in response to Megan Kimman. I just heard your message and the strangest thing is I was just sitting here right before I heard your message on Daily Audio Bible I was thinking about the days when I was a young lady and was living in a similar situation to you and feeling the same feelings that you expressed about not wanting to live in sin with my boyfriend and feeling trapped. And sis, I just want to tell you I really feel for you and empathize with you. The timing of this just makes me think that God is telling me to reach out to you and let you know that you’re not alone and that you have a huge family here at Daily Audio Bible. And also, it sounds like your boyfriend might be manipulative…well…you said he manipulates you. It sounds like he’s possibly a narcissist and has possibly cut you off from your friends and family and church otherwise you would have a…a support system to fall back on in this situation. So, I encourage you to reach out to your own family, reach out to old friends, reach out to your church. And if you would like to reach out to me you can reach me at my email. It’s mimiquag@yahoo.com. I encourage you to not give up, not buckle and be strong. Trust in God. He will honor your attempts to follow Him and do what’s right and He will take care of you. God is your safety net. God is your husband.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Terry from farm country in New York calling for Megan. I heard her on August 8th she was the first one of the prayer line and she’s asking for prayer for decisions that she needs to make regarding the relationship she’s in. She said she’s living in sin and she’s very worried about, I’m sure the relationship, as well as not having a car, not being able to get to her job and just various other things that would come from separating for a little while and getting counseling. I am praying for you and your, I believe, fiancé or who you are living with, that you make this correction now and it will benefit you later. I know a teacher that I listen to and respect highly spoke of making these course corrections, listening to the Holy Spirit, and equated it to corrections made in an airplane or driving an automobile. You make those little corrections constantly in order to stay on the right path and you’re being prompted by the Holy Spirit and you need to follow through on it. I’m just praying for that because you will benefit later by following God’s leading even if it’s short-term pain. And I’m reminded of Matthew 6 where Jesus is speaking about not worrying for the things of this world and what you wear, and…and what you eat and other things. He says, “seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you” and I truly believe that. I’ve seen it in my own life, I’ve seen it in the lives of friends and others that I know and just praying that you will just have peace in making this decision and God will bless you for it. Love you sister.
Hey Daily Audio Bible family it’s Rebecca Joy from Illinois and what I’m about to say, may God speak through me because I don’t want my own voice to be heard through this, but yeah, I’m just praying that it’ll be purely Him that’s talking through me rather than myself. I’m calling for two people today, Sierra and Pelham over the topic of addiction. I first off wanted to say thank you to Sierra for just being honest. I have also struggled with sexual addiction in my past and present still…it’s still following me. It was here when I was a teen and in my early 20s right now and its still kind of bothering me. And for Pelham, man I feel…I feel for you. I appreciate so much that your nickname is Addicted to Christ because that’s just speaking truth over yourself and I encourage you to keep on doing that. But I wanted to pray for both of you guys because I know…I know what it feels like to be addicted to something and it’s not fun, it’s just…it’s…it’s your addicted to a feeling because it’s some kind of escapism that you’re trying…you’re trying to feel better about something or you’re trying to forget something and you’re trying to find peace and comfort through whatever’s distracting you and whatever your mind is hooked on and I know this is not healthy but I understand and so many other people do. And anyone who is struggling with addiction there is a place where you can be with God where you can escape from those feelings, maybe not feeling them, but you can escape from the tie that they have on you. It’s possible, I know it is because I’ve seen it in my own life. And I hope that everyone knows that and you don’t give up. I don’t have all the answers, but I just wanted to say keep trying. It’s possible. Thanks.
This is Grandpa Bob from Michigan and I’m crying out and reaching out to Sierra from Arizona. Honey I…I heard your cry and I will be praying for you. And know that these kinds of addictions are often rooted into that earlier abuse that you’ve experienced. I am so sorry that you had to experience that but it does lead to addictions like you’re experiencing. And honey, you cannot beat this on your own strength. You have to ask the Lord to help you get through this. I believe in kill and fill. Every day I pray, “Lord kill the sinful desires of my flesh and fill me with your Holy Spirit.” So, kill the flesh and fill with the Spirit. Only the Lord can give you the strength to overcome all these temptations. And I’m also a biblical counselor and believe it or not maybe one step you might consider is to ask the Lord for the strength to forgive your abusers. It doesn’t mean the you have to go to them and seek their…talk with them. I mean, just in your heart forgive them for the abuse and that might be the first step toward your healing. But honey, you cannot do this on your own. But you’re a beautiful child of God. The Lord is obviously knocking on your door and prompting you with the Holy Spirit that you ask for prayer and that took courage. So, proud of you. I will continue to pray. Love you child. You can do this. In God we pray. Amen.