Day: Day 19
Date: January 26, 2024
All of Chapter 10 of Nehemiah is about a revival led by Ezra. It started in Chapter 8 and continued through Chapter 10. You can read it on your own today.
This is what the result of the revival was:
- They faithfully followed God’s commandments (Nehemiah 10:29-30).
- They kept themselves spiritually pure and unpolluted by the ungodly culture around them (Nehemiah 10:32-39).
- They supported God’s work with their time, money, and possessions (Nehemiah 10:32-39).
Think of what the difference could be if we made the same commitment to enter into that kind of covenant agreement with God.
Let’s consider what this could mean for us as a people and as a Church. What an impact we will make on our community and beyond!
The New Testament commandments from God to follow are very clear.
Mark 12:30-31 NIV
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
31 The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.
This can be your determination because of this sacred time we set aside for the LORD.
It is a new year and a great time to institute new habits.
So then, how do we exercise (Sorry to use that word, haha!) loving God with ALL of our hearts?
We must remain in close communion with God no matter what our situation is.
You know we have learned much about this through this fast already, but let’s keep the main thing, the main thing!
We won’t live righteously if we aren’t spending time
to seek the Righteous One, Jesus to be immersed in His love.
READ THE WORD
What I mean by this is prioritizing His Word.
John 6:63 NKJV
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
So, making God’s Word a priority brings life because your spirit is awakened by the Holy Spirit.
You can do this by making it a part of your plan to read through the Bible this year.
These are some easy ways you can do this.
- Read 15 minutes per day.
- Read 4 chapters a day except on Sunday, which gives you an extra 14 days off in case there is a reason you cannot read, or you forgot a day, etc.
- You can take a particular Bible that you like and divide the pages by 340 and it is kind of the same concept. In most Bibles that is 4 pages a day.
Anyone can do that, correct?
PRAY
Of course, we can make our needs known to God. We should, but A.W. Tozer, a Christian pastor, author, and mentor, warned us about just using prayer for ourselves.
Jesus, being our example, prayed for Himself and others.
A. W. Tozer warned, “Prayer among evangelical Christians is always in danger of degenerating into a glorified ‘gold rush’” (Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings, compiled by Gerald Smith, Moody Publishers, 2008, entry for Feb. 26). But God is not a magical genie who answers our every wish, nor is He a weak God who can be controlled by our prayers.
Prayer is an act of worship, as we have studied.
It is a powerful agent. When we connect by praying in the spirit, we are empowered to break down the enemy’s strongholds and further the Kingdom of God on this earth.
Prayer also deeply enriches our relationship with God, because it is in prayer that we can become more aware of His presence and His commitment to us. That automatically causes us to want to further our commitment to Him.
To be with HIM and spend time with Him keeps us moving forward in the right direction. Just remember:
- He comes where He is invited.
- LOVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND MIND.
How do we do that? We don’t just visit Him, we intertwine our lives with Him, on purpose.
This is the year I believe God is calling us higher to commune with Him so that we can be secured by His love for us.
Paul says to pray without ceasing. That does not mean that we don’t do anything else but spend time with God, but that we are constantly in communication with Him throughout the day.
Jesus said He didn’t do or say anything without His Father. He is our example.
That way, we will not miss divine opportunities to meet the needs of others. We will display God’s goodness to others that will leave a mark on their heart that they will never forget.
LOVE HIM WITH ALL OUR STRENGTH
We are to love Him with all of our ability.
I would say it this way: Love Him with the discipline that is necessary to partner with Him.
My Mom used to say, “Bear down, Dawn!” It means to exert full strength and concentrated attention.
When I had to concentrate fully on something to go forward, then it was time to “bear down.”
When I needed to overcome a fear, it was time to “bear down.”
When I wanted to accomplish a victory, I would “bear down.”
Well, this is what we need to do to obey God in our daily lives.
The second part is:
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
We need to love ourselves. We actually see how we love ourselves when we take the time to:
- Feed ourselves
- Seek new experiences with God
- Have relationships to enjoy
- Love to be loved
- Communicate things that are important to us
- Have a desire to know our purpose
This is how we can also love our neighbor as ourselves.
We are the Body of Christ, and we need to let others see our good works.
Matthew 5:16 KJV
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.
So in the same way we show love to ourselves, let us show love to others.
- Help someone else with nourishment. Share a meal—natural food, and also spiritual food.
- Acts of Kindness.
- Make sure you are reaching out to spend quality time. (It is said to be one of the five major ways people experience love).
- Listen to what others have to say, and actually pay attention to what they are “really” trying to convey. We may have the answer to meet their needs.
- Help them to help others. Seed time and harvest is a real thing. If they are in need and you teach them to give, God will multiply it for them and you.
- Go TOGETHER. Have a team mentality.
One of the ways we do this at Liberty is to commit to our Vision together:
PARTNERING WITH JESUS
TO CONTINUE HIS MISSION
TO DISCIPLE, EMPOWER, AND TRANSFORM
INDIVIDUALS, CITIES AND NATIONS.
PRAYER
Dear Lord,
We are becoming more aware of You and Your commitment to us. Thank You for sharing Your heart, Your life, and Your love with us.
We want to be that committed to You.
Please help us, Lord, as we humbly come before You with our desire to love and serve You better this year and experience all that You have reserved for us.
We are expecting to move in signs, wonders, and miracles for the impact upon our lives.
Let us be soul winners this year and know that we are pleasing in Your sight.
Draw near to us as we draw near to You.
We want to love You entirely, as You give us the ability to do so, as we are consumed in the presence of Your love for us.
Amen.
WORSHIP/VIDEOS
Love You More – Harvest
Move Your Heart – Maverick City Music & UPPERROOM
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