Walls are coming down
Nehemiah 1:1-12 Prayer of Nehemiah
The greatest evil in our day is the secular humanism that says we do not need God to do what we want to do. I think an even greater tragedy is how many Christians live their lives on the basis that they can function quite adequately without Him. It is easy to think we can depend upon our own abilities and ignore God. God does not help those who help themselves. He helps those who cannot help themselves. The religion of secularism is the fastest growing religion in America, and it has taken on a sugar coated "Christianity."
The book of Nehemiah opens with a description of the tragic events in Jerusalem. The people were in trouble. A hundred years have passed and the walls of Jerusalem have not been rebuilt and there are no secure gates to the city.
The walls had been broken down by the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C. The people of Judea were in exile in Babylon for 70 years. Two groups had returned from captivity to Jerusalem. There is no historical evidence that the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt before Nehemiah arrived.
The opening verses of Nehemiah sound like the refrain of Psalm 137:1-4. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our harps. For there our captors demanded of us songs, and our tormentors mirth, saying, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?" (Psalm 137:1-4, NASB 1995)
Do you sing a song like that today? Are your eyes focused on a great need and a great challenge and feel utterly insufficient for the cause? Perhaps your own personal wall and outer gates need to be repaired before you can accept the challenge of a new ministry.
Walls are coming down
Nehemiah 1:1-12 Prayer of Nehemiah
The greatest evil in our day is the secular humanism that says we do not need God to do what we want to do. I think an even greater tragedy is how many Christians live their lives on the basis that they can function quite adequately without Him. It is easy to think we can depend upon our own abilities and ignore God. God does not help those who help themselves. He helps those who cannot help themselves. The religion of secularism is the fastest growing religion in America, and it has taken on a sugar coated "Christianity."
The book of Nehemiah opens with a description of the tragic events in Jerusalem. The people were in trouble. A hundred years have passed and the walls of Jerusalem have not been rebuilt and there are no secure gates to the city.
The walls had been broken down by the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C. The people of Judea were in exile in Babylon for 70 years. Two groups had returned from captivity to Jerusalem. There is no historical evidence that the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt before Nehemiah arrived.
The opening verses of Nehemiah sound like the refrain of Psalm 137:1-4. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our harps. For there our captors demanded of us songs, and our tormentors mirth, saying, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?" (Psalm 137:1-4, NASB 1995)
Do you sing a song like that today? Are your eyes focused on a great need and a great challenge and feel utterly insufficient for the cause? Perhaps your own personal wall and outer gates need to be repaired before you can accept the challenge of a new ministry.