Dream Big. Nehemiah 4:1-6; 6:15-16.

Set big goals. But accept the fact that you will hear discouraging voices. Expect it.

Put discouragement on your to-do list, so you can scratch a line through it when it happens. 

Because it WILL happen. People will say it can’t be done. They will tell you to quit, that you’re wasting your time, that you have the wrong dreams. They will accuse you of pride, of being unrealistic, of imagining a future for yourself that you do not deserve and will never attain. They will shake their head and call you naïve for entertaining childish dreams.

In fact, people are so good at serving up a meal of discouragement (which they feed themselves every day), that only the most outrageous commitment will get you to your goal.

When Nehemiah led the charge to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem, his enemies did everything they could to stop him.

“When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews … and said, ‘What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it?’ … Then Tobiah the Ammonite said, ‘Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall!’” Nehemiah 4:1-3.

But Nehemiah prayed and the crews kept working. 

“So we rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had the will to keep working” Nehemiah 4:6. 

What helped them persevere? Their WILL.  “The people had the will to keep working.” Never give up!

Then Nehemiah posted an armed guard, encouraging his workers to carry swords at all times in case of attack—and they continued to work.  Next the enemies began accusing the Israelites of planning a rebellion and used that false accusation to summon Nehemiah to meetings (where he knew they planned to ambush him). Nehemiah ignored each summons and kept on working.

“For they were all trying to intimidate us, saying, ‘They will become discouraged in the work, and it will never be finished.’  So Nehemiah prayed and kept on working. In the end, the walls were rebuilt in record time:

“The wall was completed in 52 days…. When all our enemies heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God” Nehemiah 6:15-16.

  1. Nehemiah began working to achieve an incredible goal.
  2. His enemies tried to discourage him.
  3. But the people had the WILL to keep working.
  4. His enemies redoubled their efforts to discourage Nehemiah.
  5. Nehemiah prayed and kept moving forward.
  6. Finally, Nehemiah achieved his God-given goal, and his enemies were intimidated and lost confidence because they knew God had done something amazing.

Dream big but expect discouragement. Pray, work hard, and NEVER GIVE UP.

ΑΩ

Pray Like Nehemiah. Nehemiah 1:4-11.

A wise king surrounds himself with capable people.

Pharaoh made Joseph second-in-command, Genesis 41:40-42. Nebuchadnezzar elevated the best of the Hebrews, young men “skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge,” bringing them into his service, Daniel 1:3-4. The same is true of Nehemiah. He was the king’s cupbearer, a position of great trust. There was more to it than simply keeping the wine glasses full. Nehemiah was a capable and high-ranking officer; the king trusted him with his life.

Nehemiah’s abilities became clear when he oversaw the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. The cupbearer possessed extraordinary gifts of leadership and organization.

He also knew how to pray.

Nehemiah fasted.

When he heard the terrible news about the destruction of the walls and gates of Jerusalem, Nehemiah “sat down and wept,” and he “mourned, fasting and praying” Nehemiah 1:4. 

Then he prayed, first praising God for His infinite greatness:

“Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commands…” Nehemiah 1:5.  Notice how many of God’s attributes Nehemiah named. That is what it means to praise God: you tell Him about His own greatness.

Next Nehemiah confessed sin—much of it sin for which he was not personally guilty.

But he knew the nation’s sin touched him. This is “corporate sin,” the idea that we all touch each other. No man is an island. The sins of your family, your town, your culture—those sins are YOUR sins and MY sins. 

“I confess the sins we have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted corruptly toward You and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances You gave your servant, Moses” Nehemiah 1:6-7.

Finally, Nehemiah prayed the Word.

“Please remember what You commanded your servant, Moses” v.8. Nehemiah then quotes God’s promises back to Him.

Do you ever pray that way? Do you come before the throne like a lawyer standing before a judge, quoting the law to the Great Lawgiver? Do you bring God’s own promises back to Him and ask Him to honor those promises? If that sounds wrong to you, or presumptuous, perhaps, then you do not understand prayer. God WANTS you to pray that way. MEMORIZE His word and pray it back to Him. That is the way Nehemiah prayed—this highly trusted, skilled leader. And God gave him all that for which he asked. 

Pray like Nehemiah:

(1) fast,

(2) praise,

(3) confess—individual AND corporate sin,

(4) pray God’s promises back to Him; claim His promises.

May God be glorified in our prayers and actions. 

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CAN YOU BEAR ARMS?Nehemiah 4:17-23.

Christians are not in agreement about America’s Second-Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Pacifists argue the Prince of Peace would not approve of weapons. When Peter cut off a man’s ear, Jesus said to put away the sword, that “he who lives by the sword, shall die by the sword” Matthew 26:52. But earlier that night, Jesus had told the disciples to sell cloaks and buy swords. Why? That seems contradictory, but Jesus was fulfilling prophecy. Luke 22:36-38.

Nevertheless, the Bible is filled with wars. Few texts can match its bloodshed.

Most say killing is okay in a war, that when a soldier kills, it is not murder. But what about cases of self-defense? Sometimes you could back down—you could give in to satisfy the aggressor, and no one would have to die. What should you do?

Sometimes, you should give the criminal what he demands. If a mugger is going to shoot you to get your purse, surrendering the purse is a morally better outcome (not to mention safer) than killing the mugger to protect your property. But if bad people are trying to break into your home and harm or kill you and your family, would it be wrong to kill them? Would it be a sin?

Not according to the book of Nehemiah. After living in Babylonian exile, the king let the Jews go home to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. But the pagan locals began to attack them, forcing them to stop working on the walls. Nehemiah ordered men to stand guard along the wall, all day and all night, with swords, ready to fight anyone who attacked.

“The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a WEAPON with the other. Each of the builders had his SWORD strapped around his waist while he was building….We kept working while half the men were holding SPEARS from daybreak until the stars came out…. Each man carried his WEAPON, even when washing.” Nehemiah 4:17-23.

God wants us to love people and seek peace. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God” Matthew 5:9.

But when we are attacked, God allows us to defend ourselves. God does not want evil to win.

Whether you agree or disagree, remember this: the book of Nehemiah must be considered by any Christian wrestling with the right to keep and bear arms.

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*What Nehemiah does not address is the manner in which gunpowder has removed skill and size from the equation. Often called the “great equalizer,” guns place the power of life and death in the hands of children and others who could never have possessed that power in the age of hand-to-hand combat required by swords, knives, and nearly all weapons before the age of gunpowder. Guns allow the disaffected and mentally ill to massacre crowds of the innocent. School shootings and similar horrors do not happen in the absence of guns. Nevertheless, Second-Amendment questions remain complex for reasons too numerous to explore here.

Be Wise! WHEN YOU CHOOSE YOUR SPOUSE, YOU CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE. Ezra 10:2.

While living in exile, many of Israel’s men married the women of Babylon. They had been told not to marry foreign (non-Jewish) women, but they did not obey. Ezra led the people in prayers of repentance—and Ezra took this sin personally. He was innocent—that is, Ezra did not marry outside the faith. But because so many of his Hebrew brothers did, Ezra considered himself guilty along with them:

“We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the surrounding peoples” Ezra 10:2. 

This is another example of “CORPORATE SIN.” Corporate Sin may be best typified by the words of Isaiah when he sees a vision of the Lord and realizes the stain of sin that he carries: “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips,” Isaiah 6:5.

We are touched by the lives around us. When God cleanses the heart of a believer, He sees him as holy. But we live in community. Our lives touch those around us. We influence our families, our colleagues, our teammates, members of our church and other organizations. We have an influence on others—and they have an influence on us. And the most critical influence of all may be your spouse.  The person you marry will have the power to lift you up—and your children with you—or to drag the family down. God takes that decision seriously. I once believed God had a single perfect match picked out for each person. My view is more open now: God’s grace is huge and He can bless any godly marriage.  But He strongly recommends against marrying a non-believer.

Walking with Christ is hard enough for two devout Christians. Don’t be the Christian who marries outside the faith, or who marries someone whose faith is so weak, he or she cannot articulate when He met the Lord. Such nominal Christians are often simply lost people with a more-or-less receptive attitude toward the church.  When you become parents together, “more-or-less” will not be good enough. You need a solid, reliable, Spirit-filled believer walking beside you.

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what part have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14.

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FOREIGN WIVES. Ezra 9-10; 2 Corinthians 6:14.

How does God feel about dating or marriage outside your own race? Can white people and black people get married? Does it make any difference?

God told the Hebrews NEVER to inter-marry with the “Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, … Egyptians, and Amorites.” Ezra 9:1. When Solomon took foreign wives, it was a disaster. The Bible lists the nations the women came from and says “his wives turned his heart away.” 1 Kings 11:2-3. Turned his heart away from what? From God.

“For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away; and his heart was NOT wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. For Solomon worshipped the goddess Ashtoreth, and Milcom, the detestable idol. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” 1 Kings 11:5-6.

The problem was that Solomon’s wives had not been raised to worship Yahweh. And unlike converts, such as Ruth who became a devout Jew, these pagan women clung to their idols. Years later, many Jews married pagans while living in Babylon and Ezra kicked them out of Israel—or if they wanted to stay, they had to reject their non-Jewish wives and children. Ezra 9-10. Harsh! But the point was NOT race. God’s rule was “do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” 2 Corinthians 6:14. Why not? Because if you marry an unbeliever, they will drag you away from God, and they will poison the faith of your children.

Building a Christian family is not easy—the world and the media work against Christians all the time.

Your children will listen to you for an hour a day—if you’re lucky. But they will listen to multiple hours of TV, movies, peers, and social media. If one parent (a non-Christian or even a weak Christian) is a worshiper of self, money, power, lust, alcohol, or drugs—the children will be deeply influenced. Marry whatever race you like, but you MUST marry a serious, committed Christian believer if your marriage and family are to survive.

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Choose a Spouse You Can Agree With. Ezra 9:3, 5-6

Why did God command His people “not to marry foreign women”? Because He knew such a marriage would weaken their convictions and lead to compromise. The New Testament says “do not be unequally yoked.” The image is similar to putting a horse and a donkey under the same harness—such arrangements do not work well, and make for difficult marriages because the two disagree on such important matters.

But more importantly, being married to a nonbeliever will often cause you and your kids to remain more distant from Christ.

When Ezra, “an expert in the law of God,” learns how many Israelites have taken foreign (unbelieving) wives, he is overcome with grief:

“I tore my tunic and robe, and pulled out some of the hair from my head and beard, and sat down devastated…. I sat devastated until the evening offering. At the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and robe torn. Then I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to Yahweh my God” Ezra 9:3,5-6.

Ezra then prayed for days, fasted, and what did the people do? They rounded up the foreign wives and sent them home. They were divorced and deported! Imagine the grief and heartbreak. Obeying God is not always easy.

The New Testament offers a different response—stay married and try to influence/convert the lost spouse—but note how seriously God takes the problem. He really, really means it when He says, “do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever.” It usually will bring you down before it brings them up.

Or as my Aunt Addie used to say, “never date someone you could not marry.” If they do not share your faith, don’t let yourself fall in love. Too many problems—it will probably never work out, and when you are parenting, you will need and crave all the Christian and godly influence you can get for your kids. Be careful with whom you choose to build a life.

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“WHEN I RUN, I FEEL GOD’S PLEASURE.” Ezra 7:6.

We love this line from the film “Chariots of Fire.” In this film based on a true story, the Scotsman Eric Liddell, China-born son of missionary parents, tells his sister in 1924 that he is going back to China to preach—but not yet.

“I believe that God made me for a purpose—for China. But he also made me fast! And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

He pauses. His sister believes games—even Olympic games—are child’s play, not worthy of a serious man of God. She cannot imagine a God who enjoys races. Eric continues:

“To give it up would be to hold God in contempt. It’s not just ‘fun.’ To win is to honor Him.”

What are we to make of this? The lines from the movie are NOT scripture, obviously.

Can we argue from scripture that God is as interested in your hobbies as He is your work—does He enjoy your AVOCATION as much as your VOCATION?

Does God call people to hobbies? To activities they love—and that God loves for them—but that have nothing to do with pay? I believe the answer is yes.

There was a time when life was not about cash but barter. You do what you do—and which activity would pay off might not be clear until later. God is interested in cleaning, yard work, home repairs, car repairs, child care, fishing, golf, baseball, knitting, quilting, jogging, decorating, and more. Use your time wisely, but don’t put ALL your energy into your vocation and leave yourself too drained for anything else.

You are not going to wear only one hat. God calls most of us to wear a LOT of hats.

“And when I run I feel God’s pleasure.”

Have you ever felt God’s pleasure? Have you ever felt God calling you to activities that have nothing to do with your official “work”? I sure have.

WHEN DO YOU FEEL GOD’S PLEASURE?

“The hand of Yahweh his God was on him” Ezra 7:6.

I believe God’s hand is often on us as we pursue tasks both serious and un-serious. If “laughter doeth good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22), then surely God is interested in our hobbies, our entertainment, our laughter. God invented laughter, after all. Rather than prepare an exhaustive study of verses I believe prove this point*, I will conclude with this: some of the happiest people I know are those with the most well-developed, thriving hobbies.

Lead us, God. Show us how to bring you delight.

ΑΩ

*Proverbs 31 indicates the dozens of tasks performed by the “Proverbs 31 Woman,” some of which might be called paying jobs, other hobbies. Each is more productive perhaps than running, reading, or watching movies, but nevertheless, I’m convinced God is interested in all of life–your vocation and your avocations, your up-time and your down-time.

EXPERTS. Ezra 7:6-21.

One of the most interesting things I did as a lawyer was to select and prepare expert witnesses.

It is fascinating to meet people who are leaders in their fields. I hired an expert in tropical medicine (malaria), in metallurgy (for a suit over oilfield pipe) in orthodontia (for a suit about teeth being pulled), and others. It was always amazing to study their resumes—the books and articles written, classes taught, years of experience in the field…. The one thing they all had in common was YEARS. You do not become an expert overnight. It takes a lifetime of dedication and hard work.

The Bible does not use the word “expert” often.

The Holman translation calls Esau an expert hunter, David’s men experts with sword and shield, and men Jesus encountered are called “experts in the law.” But the one called an expert most often is Ezra. 

“He was skilled in the law of Moses… the hand of God was upon him… Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach it in Israel….[He was] an EXPERT in the Lord’s commands…. an EXPERT in the law of the God of heaven… an EXPERT in the word…” Ezra 7:6-21.

Ezra is the only person in the Bible called an “expert” more than once.

Why? What made him different? Look at verse 10:

“Ezra determined in his heart to study God’s word, obey it, and teach it.” EXPERTISE BEGINS WITH COMMITMENT. 

Does that make sense? Ezra may have had skills, gifts, and talents, but his real strength was that HE MADE UP HIS MIND. He DETERMINED IN HIS HEART. It all comes down to commitment. A quest, a goal, a life of joy, victory, and dreams fulfilled—it all begins with COMMITMENT. 

Expertise Begins With COMMITMENT.

Dear God, help us to love your word as Ezra did, to make up our minds to study it, obey it, and teach it. Give us the gift of a deep, lifelong commitment. May we study so much, we become experts in your word. Help us read it and love it more every day. We love you.

ΑΩ

When Ministers are Embroiled in Scandal. Malachi 2:1-9.

I am an organization man.

A team player. I have a tendency to trust institutions like schools, churches, and the government. Many people are wired the same way. When I was ordained a deacon, I was encouraged to support the church and its staff when others raised difficult questions. Having worked in church staff positions, I understood the way a few unhappy people could quickly sow seeds of discord.  I was concerned about protecting the reputation of the church. After all, if the church looks bad, people will not come to church. More importantly, if the church looks bad, some might never come to Christ.

I no longer believe Jesus sees it that way.

God called out His faithless priests in Malachi 2—and clearly was not afraid to see them covered in the shame of scandal:

“This decree is for you priests. If you don’t listen, I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings…. I am going to rebuke your descendants and I will spread animal dung over your faces, the waste from your sacrifices, and you will be taken away with it…. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts. You, on the other hand, have turned from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have violated the covenant of Levi.  So I have made you despised and humiliated before all the people” Malachi 2:1-9.

Have we not seen enough ministers caught up in scandals? Clearly God is not helping them hide the truth. Churches may run from scandals. Institutions always attempt to circle the wagons when they feel attacked. Like the Watergate break-in, too often the cover-up is worse than the original crime. Godly people must address the facts; let God protect the reputation of a ministry.

Jesus can handle whatever damage a scandal may bring to His name. I believe He is more interested in truth and in justice for victims. God is holy. He will purge the evil from within His church.

Consider Malachi 2:3  “I will spread on your faces the manure of these animals you offer me, then throw you out like dung” (TLB). God is not afraid to see faithless leaders disgraced.

Preachers who steal from the church or who commit sexual sins should not be protected. Allowing them to use their ministry (God’s ministry) as a shield only puts the ministry in the line of fire.  I have always been an organization man. But the organization should not “circle the wagons” to protect a guilty man.

God, give us wisdom. These are difficult issues requiring much wisdom and prayer. Remind us that You are on Your throne, You are not surprised, and You can handle the scandal, no matter how ugly it becomes. May You be glorified in everything. 

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*Pictured is one of my all-time favorite Christian speakers, Ravi Zacharias. He wrote brilliant books, he traveled the world speaking to the brightest students at the most elite colleges. He was a gifted apologist, and a remarkable storyteller. Frankly, there is no one else quite like him. He died in 2020 and six months later the tide of mounting sexual abuse allegations against him became too great for those now running his ministry to hide. In short, having suffered chronic back pain for decades, Ravi turned hundreds of massage=relationships into something more, sometimes giving women money directly from his ministry funds. Some complain he forced himself on them.

Respect the Parents That God Chose for You. Malachi 4:6.

Malachi is a book best known for its words on tithing. But I like the words on families:

“I will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and I will turn the hearts of children to their fathers.” Malachi 4:6.

A father is an irreplaceable resource. No one else can fill that role. Yet some children and families have no fathers. And others with fathers do not take advantage of the blessings available to them. Teenagers, particularly, can be so driven by a desire for independence or self-sufficiency that their actions and attitudes create a wall between them and one of the most important people God has put in their lives. And it works the other way too—fathers can let pride and unforgiveness create walls between them and their kids. The Bible warns us—do not ignore a root of bitterness. If it grows, families suffer and children go astray.

One of the best things that happened to me was when God ‘turned the heart of this child toward his father.’ When I finally accepted that God knew what He was doing and that He chose my parents for me, and that He would use them to speak words of wisdom to me, I began to make better decisions. God ‘turned my heart’ and I began to experience blessings because I was operating in an attitude of respect for God’s divine authority. I began to respect my father’s role, and God blessed me as a result.

Pray that God would “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the children to their fathers.” Pray it for your parents. Pray for your children. Ask God to bring unity and peace to the families you know and love.

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