Monday, May 11, 2009

Nehemiah - study one

Do you ever have clothes that you just love on your children? I love this shirt on Aiden...the colors and the cuteness just look so adorable!
Boy, am I having trouble with the dryness on his face!!! I have tried everything...I may have to get more aggressive and put my mixture of Shea butter and coconut oil on 3-4 times a day. It is hard because he HATES me putting lotion on his face. It's like trying to hold down a bull!

I love the story in Nehemiah. It is wonderful, so read it if you haven't lately. Here is a man doing his daily job (cup bearer to the king) and God has placed a mission on his heart. The walls and gates of Jerusalem are broken down and destroyed, and he responds by weeping, mourning and praying before the God of Heaven. He did not consult anyone, except the LORD. God gave Nehemiah a plan in his heart and 4 months later he is asking the king's permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild it. He is even bold enough (now remember he is a servant to the king) to ask for safe travel and timber to build with. Chapter 2:12 tells us that the LORD has put a plan into his heart for what he was to do for Jerusalem. When the time was right, he encouraged the remnant of Jerusalem with the vision the LORD had given him.

Now Jerusalem had enemies that did not want it to be rebuilt and Nehemiah 4:7 says "they were very angry." Nehemiah 4:8 continues "And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night."

Do you know what Nehemiah says to the frightened people? "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the LORD, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes." (Neh. 4:14).

Next, the enemies plotted to get Nehemiah away from the work, possibly to kill him or at the very least to try some other trickery that would defeat Jerusalem.

I LOVE these words from Nehemiah, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down." (Neh. 6:3)

Nancy Campbell wrote something on this some time ago and I loved how she spoke about this in relation to our work as mothers. I don't remember the article, so these are my thoughts (sorry).

We, as mothers, are doing a GREAT WORK. We have all probably had different "enemies" that try to pull us away from our work. The enemy of our souls and our children's souls certainly wants to create confusion, fear and distraction in our hearts. I will be studying this more, and for now, may we say to our enemies (confusion, fear, depression, negative reports and comments, what are your "enemies"?), sorry, I wondered...let's say to those "enemies" - "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down!!!"
I tried to write this at 8:30 this morning...it is now 7:00 p.m. and I just got home from being in town all day...dr.'s appointment, etc....so this is to be continued! Hope you had a great weekend with your little darlin's!

7 comments:

  1. THANK YOU for the beautiful encouragement. I loved it, and so needed it today. Just feeling a little discouraged about Haven.

    Thank you for being such a huge blessing.

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  2. Going right now to look it up! so needed the encouragement today! Thank you as always! It continually amazes me how HIS WORDS are still so practical and meaningful TODAY for OUR circumstances!!!

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  3. GREAT post!! I also love Nehemiah and I think it is such a great picture of how we are to press on, no matter what's going on around us. There's just too much to do. We can rest once we are finally Home.

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  4. I'm rebuilding a wall today, one that has been tattered a bit in my life. Thank you for this encouragement and for allowing God to use your heart, your passion, and your life to bless the nations.

    Hugs from this missionary mommy,
    Sarah Dawn

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  5. What a great family! So glad you commented on my blog so I could come find yours!!

    Wishing you and your family every good thing,

    Mary, mom to 10 colorful people

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  6. lovely... I have a tip that could possibly help with skin dryness. Flax seed oil in his diet. That way you are lubricating from the inside out. It really helps.

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  7. Great words of encouragement Shonni! Thanks! I needed it this week especially! Does Aiden drink enough water too? I know my skin (even in Houston) gets really dry when I haven't taken the time to drink lots of water...

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