Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

October 6
Saturday


CRUSHING
RESPONSIBILITIES

READ:
Nehemiah 4:1-4
____________________________

Do not be afraid of
them. Remember the
Lord, great and
awesome.
__ Nehemiah 4:14
____________________________

While the outcome of the Second World War was still uncertain, Franklin Roosevelt died and Harry Truman was sworn in as the next president of the United States. The following day, President Truman told reporters, "When they told me yesterday what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me." Certainly Truman faced crushing responsibilities.

Nehemiah was a great leader who also faced overwhelming burdens. Accompanied by Jewish exiles who had returned from Babylon, Nehemiah was given the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Amid terrible oposition, he refused to be intimidated by the jeers and threats of the enemy. Instead, the man of God organized a dual strategy of construction and military defense__bathing their efforts in prayer: "We made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night" (Neh. 4:9). Nehemiah addressed the ongoing threats the workers faced by getting their focus back on God: "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome" (v.14).

Are you facing crushing responsibilities today? Praying for God's help and putting together a practical plan can give you strength to complete the task. __ Dennis Fisher
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Lord, the newness of the day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~calls me to an untried way;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Let me gladly take the road,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~Give me strength to bear my load. __ Anon.~~~~~~~~
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God invites us to burden Him
with what burdens us.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ Nehemiah 4:1-14***********

1 But it so happened, when
Sanballat heard that we were
rebuilding the wall, that he
was furious and very
indignant, and...said,
"What are these feeble Jews
doing? Will they fortify
themselves? Will they offer
sacrifices? Will they
complete it in a day?..."

3 Now Tobiah the
Ammonite was beside him,
and he said, "Whatever they
build, if even a fox goes up
on it, he will break down
their stone wall."

4 Hear, O our God, for we
are despised: turn their
reproach on their own heads,
and give them as plunder to
a land of captivity! 5 Do not
cover their iniquity, and do
not let their sin be blotted
our from before You; for they
have provoked You to anger
before the builders.

6 So we built the wall, and
the entire wall was joined
together up to half its height,
for the poeple had a mind to
work.

7 Now it happened, when
Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs,
the Ammonites, and the
Ashododites heard that the
walls of Jerusalem were
being restored...they
became very angry, 8 and all
of them conspired together
to come and attack
Jerusalem and create
confusion. 9 Nevertheless we
made our prayer to our God,
and because of them we set
a watch against them day
and night...

14 And I [said], "Do not be
afraid of them. Remember
the Lord, great and
awesome, and fight for your
brethren, your sons, your
daughters, your wives, and
your houses."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the Persian king, Artaxerxes. This
was a position of great trust and one that would have allowed for
the kind of personal concern the king showed for his confidant and
advisor (see Neh. 2). __ WEC

[Mackenaw]

I love the book of Nehemiah. I participated, on-line, in a lengthy study (a weekly study which ran a couple of months) of this book of The Bible by Beth Moore. I was truly blessed by it.

Interestingly enough, while doing this study, The Holy Spirit revealed to me that I was really impacted by things that I heard with my physical ears and He wanted me to give my physical ears a change by letting them hear His Word.

Tied right into teachings that Christianity Oasis taught also. Be on alert to what you allow your ears to hear and your eyes to see.

What a blessing. Thank You Holy Spirit.

Love, hugs and God's blessings to you,
Sister Mack