SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/17/2011 7:44:29 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: “Compromise: We will Help You”
Bible Reading & Meditation
Reference: Nehemiah 6:1-4
Message
of the verses: “1 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab
and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach
remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates, 2
then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, "Come, let us meet
together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono." But they were planning to harm
me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I
cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to
you?" 4 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered
them in the same way.”
In Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s commentary
on Nehemiah entitled “Be Determined,”
he writes about spiritual leaders in the beginning of the sixth chapter. He entitles this chapter “We Have Heard The Enemy, And He Is A Liar.” As mentioned in earlier SD’s Warren Wiersbe
gives a prelude of what the chapter will cover at the end of his introduction,
and in this sixth chapter’s introduction he writes, “Satan used four strategies
in attacking Nehemiah, strategies that he still uses against spiritual leaders
today.” In today’s SD we will look at
the first strategy of Satan.
In Paul’s second letter to the
Corinthians he describes what is actually going on in this sixth chapter of
Nehemiah, for at first the enemies of Nehemiah began to try and defeat them by
force and now they are trying to creep into their domain in order to defeat
them from within. “13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful
workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even
Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his
servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will
be according to their deeds 2Cor. 11:13-15).”
Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem could
not stop the walls from being built, so they decided to try and trick Nehemiah
into meeting with them in order to do harm to him. The village that they wanted to meet him in
was half way between Jerusalem and Samaria, so in a sense they were saying to
him “meet us half way.” Nehemiah did not
fall for this maneuver as he answered four of their letters in the same manner
and that is he was doing a great work and did not have time to come down to
meet them.
Nehemiah had three convictions in
answering them in the way that he did.
1. He realized that they were lying to him and wanted to kill him
(V-2). 2. Nehemiah was convinced of the
greatness of the work that he was doing for the glory of the Lord (V3). Nehemiah’s
third conviction was actually given in chapter two and verse twenty, “20 So I answered them and said to them,
"The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will
arise and build, but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem.’” “20
I shot back, "The God-of-Heaven will make sure we succeed. We’re his
servants and we’re going to work, rebuilding. You can keep your nose out of it.
You get no say in this—Jerusalem’s none of your business! (Message)’”
Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his
commentary on this section the following, “Nehemiah had both discernment and
determination: He refused to be
influenced by their repeated offers (6:4; see 4:12). If their offer was wrong the first time, it
would be wrong the fourth time or the fiftieth time; and there was no reason
for him to reconsider. Decisions based
only on opinions might be
reconsidered, but decisions based on convictions
must stand unless those convictions are changed. Otherwise, decision becomes indecision; and
the leader who ought to be a guidepost becomes a weather vane.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: If there
is something that I can learn from this section it would be to have better
shrewdness or discernment in making decisions for my life and the life of my
family.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1.
Continue to learn contentment.
2.
Luke 16:1-8
8/17/2011
8:39:18 AM
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