The Simple Life

I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. So I confronted the officials and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. Nehemiah  13:10-11  (ESV) We need to care for those who take care of us. Some individuals should be free of concern when it comes to daily provision so that they can concentrate on leading us to the throne and thinking of God.   We pay mechanics, carpenters, doctors, and lawyers hefty fees to fix or prevent problems, and we expect those who do the most important work, helping us sort out our spiritual struggles or mentoring us to keep us from straying, to do so at no expense to us.   The neediest among us indeed are, well, the neediest. This group has often lacked sufficient means or has mishandled their resources, so they cannot care for those who minister to them. That is w...

While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. Nehemiah 13:6-8 (ESV)   Who gets upset in the face of evil? Nehemiah did, and so do real leaders. Evil has no upside. It needs exposure. It is evident to all, yet many remain silent about it and pretend it does not exist. Evil destroys all it touches; one cannot love another and tolerate the very thing that destroys the one they love.   We cannot choose what is right and wrong; we must discover what is right and evaluate all other ideas against what is already established.   https://www.podbean.com/relate365

On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent. Nehemiah 13:1-3 (ESV)   Immediate obedience to God's Word is the only correct response. Those who wait and think about what this obedience would mean will miss out on God's blessings. Those who mix human understanding and perspective with God's omniscience will be confused, for there are many times when faith alone must guide our actions.   The world often relies upon its collective wisdom to guide its actions when it should be relying on God's Word. Trying to devise "collective" wisdom is much tougher than being obedient to what is already revealed...

"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, 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. We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. Nehemiah 10:28-30 (ESV) When you walk in God's ways, you separate yourself from those who do not. You cannot "accept" what they do, for what they do is destructive. To normalize evil is to be evil. The Bible consistently teaches that we need to love God and each other and that this quality will distinguish us from the Godless cultures in which we live. https://www.podbe...

"But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them." Nehemiah  9:16-17  (ESV)   A stiff neck or a refusal to listen to God never ends well. It's ludicrous to think that someone who knows that there is a God would refuse to listen to Him. The only way someone would refuse to listen to God would be to have forgotten or ignored Him over time to the point where, in his mind, He exists in academic ways, but not in reality.   Each of us should take time daily to remember. We need to place reminders in our lives and take the time to look at and think of those reminders, or we will be in danger of missing the grace,...

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:9-10 (ESV)   Is this what conviction looks like? When was the last time we saw someone weep over reading the Word of God? I imagine one could fake weeping to look spiritual, but I do not think that was happening in this case. Honest and genuine repentance took place, and genuine repentance involves our whole being, no matter what that may look like. (For each, that would be different.)   Maybe we need more pastors to read the Word of God without comment. Then again, to Americans, this may be...

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 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 8:1-3 (ESV)   The people wanted to understand God's commandments. They seemed to realize that the broken wall and years of oppression had slain their spirits, and they wanted a Spiritual Revival to match the physical revival.   This was no small task or short meeting. This was not about asking people about their opinions on God and His expectations. This was about learning what was right and aligning t...