Skip to main content

Nehemiah 13:10-14 Levites were being neglected - Day 23

Good morning friends,

It has been an interesting experience re-reading thoughts from a year ago.  Surely Nehemiah went back and re-read this history in the light of the intervening years.  Maybe he too asked, "What has changed in the heart of the exiles who had returned since these events happened/"  So I ask What has changed in my heart since I wrote this?  

Dear reader, God's word is sharper than a two edges sword.  It does expose the thoughts and inttents of the heart.  The form of asking what does this passage teach me about God must become personal as the Holy Spirit applies truth to our hearts.

Blessings,

Jeff

Neglecting the house of the Lord is the fruit of an assortment of bad roots. Based on corrective actions, Failure to distribute portions to the Levites was a leadership issue. People brought their tithes when they saw them properly used.   While people are commanded to tithe, leadership is commanded to use the tithe properly. When tithing is preached, do we also show stewardship of those gifts and offerings?   

So where are my good deeds for Your house and service?  It seems to me that sometimes I play at church. It is just a hobby.  Does zeal describe anything in my life?  If my Master was consumed by zeal for Your house, shouldn't I as His disciple be consumed as well.  I would settle for  "reliable".  I see politicians absolutely sold out to ideology, especially on the left. 

Confession  - rejecting You as the greatest asset of Your church. Seeking fiscal and social sustainability instead of life transformed by the gospel. Relationship with the Holy One of Israel is all I can really offer because it is all that You provide.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2 Chronicles 33:7-9 Thoughts on Davidic covenant - Day 362

Good morning faithful readers, The finish line is in sight!!!  One of the themes of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  There are many between God and man. Adam, Noah, David are examples.  Covenants are more than promises.  They are made between a superior and inferior with conditions for each side and blessing and penalties based on keeping the conditions.  These are covenants of works which fallen man was unable to keep.  Thanks be to God that the Father made a covenant of grace with Christ, the second Adam, which he fully kept. Blessings, Jeff The promise in v8 was made to David when he had planned to build the temple and God promised to build him a house forever. (2 Sam 7:10).  Seems like there are only two possibilities about Manasseh's disobedience.  Either he knew of this covenant that God had made with his 13th great grandfather and chose to disregard it, or he didn't know of it and was unaware of the penalty.  Let's con...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 30:16-20 Hearts set to seek the Lord - Day 359

Good morning fellow members of the household of God, After writing the devotional, I am thinking about the Passover as a household event.  In ancient Israel, the physical household of man was covered by the blood of the lamb.  Now, it is the spiritual household of God that is covered by the blood of the Lamb. Blessings, Jeff The account of the greatest celebration of Passover since time of Solomon (v 26).   Observations: One of the things that made this one great is participation of some of the tribes from the northern kingdom.  Israel was a united kingdom and Solomon and now toward the end of the northern kingdom, there is at least a semblance of being united. God allows some exemptions: Who offers the sacrifice:  The original Passover was a family by family sacrifice of a lamb.  However in  Deuteronomy 16:5-6 this changed to a centralized location once they entered the promised land.  (You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" bec...
Post a Comment
Read more