Welcome to 2020! A new year and a new start. A chance to begin again, start over, refocus, or all of the above. As we move into 2020, I am focusing on radical obedience that brings amazing change in just 52 days. We’ll be spending the first 52 days of 2020 going through Nehemiah. Day 1 – Nehemiah 1:1-4 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived…

As we finish up Nehemiah, we are reminded of the importance of our relationships. In Nehemiah 13:23-31, we see how the people had gone back to mixing their marriages with non-believers. As we are creating relationships with people around us, we must remember that for those crucial relationships like a spouse, we need someone who is going to help us and encourage us in the same faith. While not impossible, it is certainly much harder when we are joined together with someone who does not believe in Jesus. Even if we are in a relationship with another believer, do we seek strength and encouragement from that relationship? Are we willing…

So far in this chapter, Nehemiah has addressed several areas where the children of Israel have neglected the commands of God and become lax in their obedience. Here in Nehemiah 13:15-22, the people have forgotten the Sabbath. Do we take time to rest and relax in God? We cannot continue the frantic pace that many of our lives have become. God knows how much we need to rest in Him. The people had neglected it and Nehemiah not only told them about it, he enforced it. We cannot alwsys just tell ourselves what is right, we must also set up things that hold us accountable to following through on our…

Giving. Many people have heard pastors talk about money. In fact, it is often criticized as being spoken about too often. Yet here in Nejemiah 13:10-14, we see the practical side of tithing. True, it is important to tithe as it is a way to demonstrate o edience and trust in God. But, the other purpose of the tithe is to allow the servants God has chosen to be provided for so that they can focus on serving. Here, the tithe was not happening, so the servants left their service so they could go and make a living. Nehemiah trstored them to service and saw them provided for. Are we…

What have we given a room to? In Nehemiah 13:3-9, he had gone back to his job with the king, but while he was gone, some of the men had taken one of the evil men and giving him a room in the temple. Nehemiah came back to visit and check on things, and found this out. He immediately demanded that they remove that person and cleanse the room. What things are we providing room for in our heart? We can be quick to give space for things that are not pleasing to God, but that we don’t want to get rid of. We must examine our hearts and ensure…

Obedience. The people of Nehemiah’s time had learned so much about obedience already, but we see in chapter 13, verses 1-3 another example. Here, they didn’t know what they were supposed to do. They had been allowing something that was not right to go on. But, the moment they were confronted with it, they immediately turned and repented and made it right. Do we do the same? When we are confronted with something being wrong, do we accept that and move directly to obedience? Or, do we make excuses and justifications instead? Nothing less than obedience is what God desires.

Worship and giving go together. In Nehemiah chapter 11, starting in verse 27 through the end of the chapter, we see the people preparing for the worship service to dedicate the work that they had done to restore the walls of Jerusalem. We see all the people that are involved and the big steps and production that they went to to be able to proclaim their worship of God and thanks for all he allowed them to accomplish. What’s so interesting to me, is that immediately after the worship, it talks about giving. It explains what the people were giving back to God as a response to the worship. Time…

Another list of names. In Nehemiah 12:1-26 we see a listing of all the priests and those who were serving the Lord. Interestingly, there is specification that they were in charge of thanks and praise to God. If we were in charge of thanks and praise, what would we say? Would we see all the things around us that are worthy of praise? God has commanded us to praise Him. We can consider ourselves in charge of praise for our own lives. Are we fulfilling that command?

Outside Jerusalem. Yesterday, we saw how important it was to get people to live inside Jerusalem. Today, in Nehemiah 11:20-36, we see that God is also concerned where everyone else lives. God does not just concern Himself with the tithe, like we learned yesterday, God is concerned with all. We cannot just tell God, “Ok, I gave You Your tithe, now I’m going to do whatever I want with the rest.” God desires to see us be obedient to Him with all that we have. Will we trust Him today with everything?