Nehemiah 3

Nehemiah 3

   When I first read Nehemiah 3 I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure what I would blog about.  It seemed it was just a bunch of names and places that didn't really strike a cord to me.  However, after digging deeper and doing a little studying I found that there are some key points to note about this chapter, most of which are shining a light on Nehemiah's great leadership skills.

   141 years had gone by since the fall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah had to be a  great motivator to get the Jews to start rebuilding again after years of devastation and discouragement.  We only get a small glimpse into Nehemiah's motivating speech in Nehemiah 2:17-18, but I'm sure that many more words were spoken.  

   It is also a huge thing to note about this chapter how much coordination it would take to make all of this happen!  There are soooo many different people working on the wall, and all of which are working on different sections.  It baffles me the amount of coordination it would take to 1. train everyone on what to do and how to do it 2. choose who would work on what sections and 3. make the individual parts of the walls run together smoothly when they were connected.
   My favorite thing to note about this chapter is that Nehemiah took the time to notice who was working on rebuilding the wall, write their names down and acknowledge credit towards those individuals.  He even gave credit to Shallum's daughters in verse 12, which wasn't necessarily the custom to do so.  But even more importantly, Nehemiah tells us that they were normal everyday people: priests, perfumes makers, goldsmiths, guards, rulers, and merchants.  They were not skilled wall builders and all of the building they did was in addition to their everyday job.  These men and women served their Lord with hard labor and in turn the Lord blessed them with the skills and strength they needed in order to be successful.

If you have anything to add or any questions about Nehemiah 3 then please feel free to leave a comment.  I'll get back with any questions as soon as I ask someone wiser than me;) Have a wonderful day! Love, Devon

Curtain Rod Picture Hanger

 (Please excuse the bad picture quality; Its hard to take good pictures in a hallway, haha)

   This is one of my absolute favorite things I have done to decorate our house. I saw the idea on pinterest and just knew it was perfect for the blank wall in our hallway.  Even more special is that the curtain rod was used as part of our arbor at our wedding, so its not just any ol' curtain rod.  Plus, I made the canvas in the middle- so this whole project really is crafted by me:)  Can't say that about too many things!
   Here's how I did it:
   1. I chose how long I wanted the curtain rod to be and then decided how many pictures would fit onto it.  5 fit perfectly for my length.  I knew I wanted the middle canvas as part of the decoration because its my favorite picture of Wil and I, so I needed to get 4 other pictures and frames.
   2. Then I went to walmart and got 4 cheap matching frames.  (I think I paid $1 each for them.) I wanted all of my frames to be the same, but you could always use frames that you already have.
   3.  I had some ribbon left over from our wedding as well, so I used that to hang the pictures.  I had to lay it all out first and choose the length I wanted the pictures to hang.  Once I chose the lengths I hot-glued the ribbon to the back of the picture frames.

  4.  Then I made bows out of the ribbon.  This took some time for me because I had no idea how to make a big poofy bow.  I just worked on it and poofed it up until I was happy.  Sorry, I have no special techniques to tell you, just kind of go for it.  

   5.  Once the bows are just how you like them, hot glue them to the ribbon that is holding the frames.
   6.  Viola! You have yourself a gorgeous, one of a kind decoration!

   I love having this little piece of art in my house because everyone comments on it when they walk in. I guess you could say its a centerpiece here.  All I can say is, thanks pinterest for coming through for me yet again!

*I got the curtain rod picture hanger idea from The Lemond's Family Blog.  You can check out her blog post here.

Nehemiah 2

Nehemiah 2

   Just like Esther, we are shown that Nehemiah was right where God wanted him "for such a time as this."(Esther 4:14)  He was the cupbearer to the King of Judah.  He was a trusted protector, confidant and advisor to the king. This position most definitely came in handy when Nehemiah asks for the king's blessing and help on his quest in Jerusalem.  More than likely the king would not have granted this request if just any man had asked it.  It was Nehemiah's position, and The Lord's will of course,  that made the rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall successful. 

Verses 2-4: Servants were supposed to be happy when they were in the king's presence, so as not to upset them or make them angry.  Kings were also not supposed to be bothered with the concerns of their subjects.  So knowing these things, it is understandable that Nehemiah was so nervous and took four months to present his requests to the king, even though he was in good standing with him.  Its crazy how similar this part of the story is to the story of Esther.  Both of them fasting and praying before approaching the king, and then their wisely chosen words when presenting their requests to the king.  A Nehemiah commentary I came across said this:

     "Nehemiah chose his words carefully. It seems that he did not actually name Jerusalem. In the past, the king had been worried about Jerusalem (Ezra 4:19). At that time, the king did not want the *Jews to rebuild the city. So Nehemiah simply spoke about the city where his *ancestors’ graves were. He mentioned the graves for another reason too. Often, people believe that they should take great care of graves, because of their religion. Nehemiah hoped that the king would feel sympathy for him." (http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/nehemiah-lbw.htm)

Verses 4b-5: Before Nehemiah answered the king, he "prayed to the God of Heaven." He didn't rely on the past four months of praying and fasting during this moment. He prayed again.  Showing his faith and reliance on The Lord.

Verses 5-9: I would have peed my pants if I had to ask the king for all of those requests!  I'm not sure why the little note about the Queen sitting next to the king is in there, but at the very least it would make me even more nervous.  I have high respect for Nehemiah and the courage this would take!

     -I love that the whole situation seems so impossible.  Where any normal response would be, "You're going to ask WHAT of the king?!", "yea right, good luck with that Nehemiah", "hahahahaha", "Ill be sure and attend your funeral", etc.  And then God steps in.  And it is without a doubt The Lords hand that makes it all possible.  

        >"And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my request."

        > and because the Lord loves to shower His children with blessings, He softens the king's heart to not only grant all of Nehemiah's requests, but go above and beyond them and send army officers and cavalry with him.  WOW.

Verses 11-16: It seems these verses are telling of what a big task Nehemiah had ahead of him.  Talking of all the devastation and how everything was destroyed.  These verses also give us a little insight on the danger the Jews were in.  They had a lot of enemies, and Nehemiah chose to tell noone and to do his detective work at night.

Verses 17-18: Nehemiah gave the credit to the Lord, telling of how "the gracious hand of my God was upon me and what the king had said." In doing so, the people believed him and agreed to start this humungous task of rebuilding the wall.

Verse 20: I love this verse.  I love seeing Nehemiah's faith displayed over and over again.  Believing in the Lord and standing up to his ridiculers with courage.  2 Timothy 1:7 comes to mind when I read this verse.  "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love and of self-discipline."

If you have anything to add or any questions about Nehemiah 2 then please feel free to leave a comment.  I'll get back with any questions as soon as I ask someone wiser than me;) Have a wonderful day! Love, Devon

Nehemiah 1

   It may seem a little strange to begin the Bible Study blog with Nehemiah, but hey- that's where I'm reading in the Bible right now, so thats where we start. haha

NEHEMIAH 1

   To start off with Nehemiah, it takes place in the same city as Esther, the Citadel of Susa.  Which means that Nehemiah was probably a small child during the events of Esther OR at the very least heard about the events that happened from the very people that experienced it.

Verse 4: It strikes me how concerned Nehemiah is for Judah and its people.  He had (more than likely) never been there because it was a 4 months walk from Babylonia to Judah- Susa was even farther.  Also, he was well established and high ranking in the Persian society so there were no physical discomforts or emotional trails that would naturally lead him to care or long for the city of Jerusalem.
   Most of us may have been concerned enough to ask about the people in Judah- how they are doing, what their struggles were, how we could pray for them, etc- but not only was Nehemiah concerned about them- he mourned, wept, fasted and prayed for FOUR months!  He prayed and fasted for four months before he approached the king in chapter 2.
     > the month of Kislev was mid-November to mid-December, the month of Nisan began mid-March

Verse 5: I'm always humbled by prayers in the Bible.  They are usually so forthcoming and blunt, telling or asking God to remember what He said or remember what He promised.  I'm not like that when I pray- I forget that I can approach His throne confidently as His child.  I forget that He wants me to remember His truths and promises even in my prayers to Him.

Verses 6-7: At first glance, it seems strange that Nehemiah confesses the sins of other people.  But then I think about how Moses interceding for His people and even Jesus's prayer- "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."(Luke 23:34) And then I'm humbled.  I don't think I have ever prayed for The Lord to have mercy and forgive someone else's sin.  Sure, I've prayed for people.  I've prayed for our country and the rampant sin, other countries and the rampant sin, my family and friends- but always asking for the sin to be taken away, for Him to bless us and get us back on the right path, that He would change our hearts and we would follow him diligently.  But I can't recall ever asking for forgiveness of the people.  I'm thankful He showed this to me.  I pray my heart changes and I become more concerned over the corporate sins against our Lord.
   Nehemiah also starts off his prayer by worshipping God.  Much like the way Jesus told us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13.  This is important to note, because I know 90% of the time my prayers do not start off like this.

Verses 8-9: The words of the Lord Nehemiah is referencing can be found in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 30.
     >Leviticus 26:18- "If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over."
     >Leviticus 26:33- "I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins."
     >Deuteronomy 30:2-4- "And when you and your children return to The Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you.  Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the Heavens, from there The Lord your God will gather you and bring you back."
 
If you have anything to add or any questions about Nehemiah 1 then please feel free to leave a comment.  I'll get back with any questions as soon as I ask someone wiser than me;) Have a wonderful day! Love, Devon

Bible Study Blog

   It has been on my heart to do something a little different with my blog this year.  I guess you could call it an experiment, but optimistically it will be a good one.  I am going to try out doing a Bible Study Blog.  My idea is this:
   I will be going through the Bible like normal during my quiet times and then will blog about what I am learning, what I am struggling with, what words captured me and what words I just really don't understand.  The blog will be somewhat a journal entry from that passage.  My prayer is that in my doing this, someone (maybe even many someones) will read scripture along with me and find encouragement, truth and strengthened faith from doing so.  It will be a "Bible Study"blog in that anyone can follow along with me, share their input and knowledge and ask questions just like that of an in-home Bible study.  My promise is to be real and honest with my readers and to be open to what the Lord will teach me.
   Now hear me out- I do not in any way consider myself a teacher. I also do not consider myself an expert in the Bible.  I am simply a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ who longs to study His words and learn His truths.  I will probably make misinterpretations, say the wrong things or change my perspective after writing some things and I want to apologize in advance for any of those offenses.  However,  I believe that when the Lord teaches us something we should share it for His glory.  When the Lord does something in our lives, whether it be a miracle or a kindness or a mercy we are to spread those blessings for the glory of our Father.  I am too quick to hoard His blessings.  I am too quick to take take take from Bible studies and friends and mentors without giving back.  A lot of this sin comes from fear, but most of it comes from selfishness.  He teaches me something new in His word that lights me up and encourages me and strengthens my faith and what do I do with it?  At best I may thank Him many times in my prayers, maybe tell my husband/close family members and maybe even write it down in a journal.  But that excitement and fire soon passes, maybe to be forgotten or at the very most to be remembered fondly but then what?  The Lord has done loving beautiful things for me and I have kept them to myself.  I have kept HIM all to myself.  When that is not at all what He has called me to do.  He has called His children to be fishers of men.  To make disciples of all nations.  To study His words and use them for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training.  Frankly, I have not been doing that.  Also, in all honesty I'm not sure if me doing this blog is going to do that either.  I hope it does.  I hope this blog is used for His glory and the spreading of His truths and encouragement of the study of His scripture.  But it is very likely that the only people that will read this blog are a few of my close family and friends whom I'm sure are far beyond my years of studying the scriptures.  BUT, I have to try.  I have to do something.  At the very least, I will be motivated to stay in the Word and held somewhat accountable if I don't. (And thats not a bad "very least" if I do say so.)
   So, here goes it.  Here's to taking a chance and seeing what the Lord does with it.  I pray you will dig into scripture with me and be encouraged.  I pray the joy of our Savior will grasp you as you get to know Him more.  I pray your faith is strengthened and your lives are changed as you learn of the Lord's unending love for you.  So, "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:19-25)