Verse of the Day 12/30

Verse of the Day 12/30

Nehemiah 2:18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, "Let us rise up and build." So they strengthened their hands for the good work.  English Standard Version (ESV)

As we head towards the new year, many of us will be planning some type of project.  It may be building something, rebuilding something and will likely involve planning, cleaning and some restoration.  In order for the plans to succeed there will have to be a commitment of time, proper tools, and to set a start and completion date.

In our spiritual lives it is no different.  We may have plans to clean up our lives, be more organized and to venture into some new ministry.  The same requirements mentioned above hold true but they are centered in prayer and time in God's word, seeking His counsel and taking action on His promptings. We may have people like Sanballat and Tobiah in today's passage that are naysayers, quick to point out our shortcomings and the likelihood of failure.  We are not to listen to them but enlist the help of others "to strengthen our hands" and our hearts for the good work.

So may we go out and build, but first preparing our hands and our hearts to do so.  Perhaps start by reading the book of Nehemiah where we can see God as the "rebuilder of broken walls and lives".

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Nehemiah 2:17-20 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁷ Then I said to them, "You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies ^[a]waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach." ¹⁸ And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me.

So they said, "Let us rise up and build." Then they set^[b] their hands to this good work.

¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?"

²⁰ So I answered them, and said to them, "The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem."