SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 08/01/2011/754AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2
“He had Faith to Challenge Others”
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: Nehemiah 2:11-16
Message of the verses: “11 So
I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, I
and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for
Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was
riding. 13 So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the
Dragon’s Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem
which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire. 14 Then I
passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no place for
my mount to pass. 15 So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the
wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. 16 The officials did
not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews,
the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.”
Dr.
Wiersbe entitles this second sub-point “Investigation”
and it covers the verses above.
“Proverbs 18:13 He who gives an answer
before he hears, It is folly and shame to him.” This verse in Proverbs helps to describe what
Nehemiah was doing riding around the city of Jerusalem at night. It describes the reason that he was doing
what he was doing.
I
had mentioned in an earlier SD that I had read a book by Church Swindoll that
he wrote as a commentary on the book of Nehemiah, and the main point of his
book was looking at Nehemiah as a leader, showing exactly what a good leader is
made of and not that I am studying this book as a part of my devotions I am
pleased to see that Dr. Wiersbe is bringing up this aspect of leadership in his
commentary on Nehemiah. There is no
better place to learn about leadership than in the pages of Scripture, for when
the Lord has something that He wants to do He will call a great leader to
accomplish the plans that He has.
Nehemiah
first of all was doing something that the Lord his God was putting into his mind
and that was to go out at night when his enemies were sleeping and survey the
situation that his brother had earlier reported to him, and see if his findings
would concur with what he saw. Nehemiah
took a few trusted men with him in order to aid him, and this is another
product of a good leader, that is to have trusted people around him. What Nehemiah saw was exactly what he had
been told about some six months earlier, and what he saw was not good, for the
walls and gates were in bad shape and this was good for their enemies, but not
good for the Jews living in Jerusalem.
I
wish to quote some things that I find interesting and helpful from Dr.
Wiersbe’s commentary on Nehemiah:
“Leaders are often awake when others are asleep, and working when others
are resting. Nehemiah didn’t want the
enemy to know what he was doing, so he investigated the ruins by night. A wise leader knows when to plan, when to
speak, and when to work.
“Leaders
must not live in a dream world. They
must face facts honestly and accept the bad news as well as the good news. Nehemiah saw more at night than the residents
saw in the daylight, for he saw the potential as well as the good news. Nehemiah saw more at night than the residents
saw in the daylight, for he saw the potential as well as the problems. That’s
what makes a leader!”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that the things that is most on my
heart after reading this passage was actually the passage in Proverbs. My toes have been stepped on from this
passage, and I guess that is a good thing.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Continue to learn more about prayer and to make my
prayers glorify the Lord.
2.
Trust that the Lord will continue to teach me
contentment.
3. Trust the Lord
to glorify Himself in the selling of our Mazda3.
8/1/2011
9:02:01 AM
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