Renew

This is part 3 out of 3 in a devotional series based on the book of Nehemiah, written for New Horizon Church Camp 2018.

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. (Nehemiah 9:1-2)

Confession - When the Israelites found out how far they had departed from God’s standards, a spirit of repentance fell upon them and they confessed their sins before God. Our own renewal can only come about when we confess and repent of our sins. Only then can Christ’s blood cleanse us (1 John 1:7) and make us new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

“Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.” (Nehemiah 9:38)

Commitment - After that, the Israelites renewed their commitment to follow God and His ways through a written covenant. As for us, the new covenant - that we are redeemed disciples of Christ - is written in our hearts and our minds (Hebrews 10:16) so we must ensure that we not only carry it with us but also display it for all to see through our words and actions.

On that day men were appointed over the storerooms... And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. (Nehemiah 12:44a, 45)

Calling - Everyone in Jerusalem had a specific role. From storekeeper to gatekeeper, all of them knew that what they were doing was sacred and in service of God. Together with the priests and musicians, they were also sanctified for their jobs. We all have a calling from God too, regardless of whether we are serving in full-time ministry or not. Therefore, we must set ourselves apart in order to fulfil our individual calling wherever He has placed us.

Questions for reflection / discussion:

1. God’s Spirit works hand in hand with His Word to convict us of our sin and the need for forgiveness. Are there any areas of unconfessed sin in you that needs to be exposed to His light? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal them to you and know that God is ever-ready to forgive once we repent.
2. True repentance should bring about a u-turn such that we forsake sin and take on God’s holiness instead. As you commit to keep to God’s standards, is there someone whom you could be accountable to, someone who not only keeps you in check but also encourages and spurs you on in your faith?
3. Do you know what God’s calling is for you - in your home, in church, and at your workplace? How will you respond to this call?

Restore

This is part 2 out of 3 in a devotional series based on the book of Nehemiah, written for New Horizon Church Camp 2018.

Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people. (Nehemiah 5:19)

Works - When Nehemiah discovered that the governors had been taxing the people unjustly, he immediately put things right and restored justice. In addition, he served food to over a hundred people each day at his own expense. Similarly, God desires us to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8). There are many injustices in the world today and we have a mission to restore justice in the places that He sends us to.

Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. (Nehemiah 7:1-2)

Worship - The first thing Nehemiah did once the wall had been completed was to install the priests and musicians in order to restore the worship of God. We were created to worship and serve the Lord with our whole lives, hence we need to restore a heart of worship expressed through everything we say and do.

So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. (Nehemiah 8:2-3)

Word - The next major step taken was to restore the reading of the scriptures before all the people. The people started crying (Nehemiah 8:9) when they realised how they had neglected God’s Word. It is not enough just to hear about God from others, we have to read and study God’s Word diligently in order to know and experience Him ourselves.

Questions for reflection / discussion:

1. What are some of the injustices that you see around you? What could you do to make things right and restore justice?
2. Apart from singing songs of worship, how else could you worship God in your daily life?
3. Do you have a regular Bible reading plan? If not, how could you make the reading and study of the Bible a staple of your routine?

Rebuild

This is part 1 out of 3 in a devotional series based on the book of Nehemiah, written for New Horizon Church Camp 2018.

And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. (Nehemiah 2:18b)

Ready - When Nehemiah shared his burden for the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem with those around him, they responded readily and made the necessary preparations to start doing the work ahead of them. Similarly, when God convicts us of the need to rebuild - it could be our relationship with God, our marriage, family or the church - we need to be prompt to obey, and we should also get ourselves adequately trained and equipped.

Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate... And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. (Nehemiah 3:1a, 2)

Rally - Not only were the people willing and equipped, they also worked together - brothers alongside each other, fathers with their sons. The entire community got into the action and supported one another. In the same way, we also need to gather support for whatever rebuilding that we undertake in our lives, family or church. It could be intercessors who pray along with us, or co-workers who could provide help or advice and even take over whenever we are tired and need to rest.

From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail... 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 4:16a, 19-20)

Reinforce - Finally, there is bound to be opposition to any work that is done according to God’s purposes. We need to constantly keep alert through prayer and arm ourselves with the Word of God, just like the Israelite builders took precautions so they would be able to defend themselves in case of an attack from their enemies.

Questions for reflection / discussion:

1. Ask God to show you the areas of your life that need to be rebuilt and note them down. Are you ready to say ‘yes’ to Him? If not, what are the things that hinder you? Commit these to God and trust Him to remove them one by one.
2. What training or equipping will you need for the areas of rebuilding that He has revealed to you? Who are the people whom you can ask to support you in prayer or as partners in the work of rebuilding?
3. What are the ‘enemies’ that may try to distract you or deter you from the work of rebuilding? How can you resist these ‘enemies’?

Holy God (Elohim Kedoshim)

This is the second out of two devotionals written for our church camp (8-12 Jun 2017).

Joshua 24:15b, 19, 21, 23
“... as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.” But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.” “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

Joshua and his family was committed to serving God but he questioned the people’s ability to do so. It required them to dispose of all other gods in their possession and give themselves wholly to the holy God. ‘Yielding your hearts to the Lord’ is not just the outward act of throwing away physical idols and gods, it is more importantly the cleansing and complete submission of our hearts to God. He has to be our top priority, our main focus in life. Anything else that takes His place in importance inadvertently becomes an idol, and it would need to be cast off too.

Leviticus 11:42, 44a

You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, ... it is unclean. I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.

In addition, worshipping the holy God meant that the Israelites had to keep themselves holy by avoiding any food that would make them unclean. However, it is not only the external things we consume that defile us, so can the thoughts and desires from within us.

Mark 7:21-23

For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come - sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.

So if wholehearted worship is what we want to model to our children, let us do some spiritual spring cleaning and throw out anything that has taken God’s place in our hearts or that makes us unclean. Only by keeping ourselves and our children pure would we then be able to pass on a legacy of true religion to the future generations.

James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Reflections:

1. What are the things you need to dispose of, both for yourself and your family?
• ‘gods’ that have become more important than serving God (eg fulfilling your own or your children’s needs and wants, keeping up with societal expectations)
• anything unclean you or your family members are consuming (eg clothes, films, social media)
• any thoughts and desires which may defile you before God

2. What steps do you need to take to ensure that you and your family worship God only and keep yourselves holy and pure?

Prayer:

O holy God, forgive me and my family for worshipping ‘idols’ and placing them above You, for the unclean things that we consume, and for our defiling thoughts and desires! Cleanse us and give us the ability to keep ourselves holy and pure. Remove the wrong thinking and temptations which lead us away from worshipping You and You alone. Please come and take Your rightful place as King and Lord over our hearts and our lives, for our generation and the generations to come!

The Lord, the God of your fathers (Jehovah Elohei Abothekem)

This is the first out of two devotionals written for our church camp (8-12 Jun 2017).

Joshua 18:2-3
But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance. Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: “How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you?

God often referred to Himself as ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’. He is the God of generations because He is faithful through the generations. He keeps the promises He made to one generation for generations to come! So when Joshua called Him ‘the Lord God of your fathers’, he was pointing to how God had been faithful to all the previous generations before them. Hence the Israelites could continue to trust in Him that He would surely fulfill every promise He had made to them regarding the possession of the Promised Land.

Yet the Israelites hesitated. They had ‘neglected to go and possess the land’ that God had already promised to give to them. Perhaps they were afraid of the resistance they might face from the people who were already residing in the towns and villages. That was why Joshua had to remind them of the faithfulness of the God of their fathers, the same God who had led them on the Jericho walk and made the walls fall down!

This also goes to show that not only is God faithful, He requires us to be faithful to Him too! If the Israelites had not followed His instructions and marched around Jericho faithfully for seven days, they would not have experienced the victory that God had prepared for them. Hence, Joshua was challenging them once more to go and take the land by faith so they would see the hand of God yet again. Otherwise, they would never be able to possess the land they had been promised.

Joshua 21:43‭-‬45

So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

True enough, the moment they acted in faith, God came through and every promise He had made since Abraham was fulfilled! And future generations would look back and remember how the God of their fathers had been given the Promised Land.

Reflections:

1. Can you identify the spiritual fathers/mothers in your family or community? How has God been faithful to the generations of believers before you?

2. How have your spiritual fathers/mothers been faithful to God’s calling on their lives and what impact has that made on your own spiritual journey?

3. In what areas of your life is God calling you to respond to Him in faithfulness? How do you think your obedience to God will affect the faith of your children and future generations to come?

Prayer:

O Lord, the God of my spiritual fathers and mothers, thank you for Your faithfulness through the generations and thank You for the faithfulness of the past generations of believers! Please grant me the faith to trust in and obey Your every prompting. May my faithfulness inspire the faith of my children and generations to come!