DAY 3 OF 40 - Better Together Through Prayer And The Word

DAY 3 OF 40 - Better Together Through Prayer And The Word

Nehemiah 1:8-9

8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.'

DAY 3 – STANDING ON GOD’S PROMISES

Familiar words heard in a household of families with children: But Dad, you promised!! But Mom, you promised!! Maybe even, But Grandma/Grandpa, you promised!! This scene comes to my mind as I read the scripture for today…

SCRIPTURE: Nehemiah 1:8 “Remember, I beg you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples; 9 but if you return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.’

Nehemiah is reflecting back to passages such as Deuteronomy 30:1 It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where Yahweh your God has driven you, 2 and return to Yahweh your God, and obey his voice according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul; 3 that then Yahweh your God will release you from captivity, have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there Yahweh your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back. 5 Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will possess it. He will do you good, and increase your numbers more than your fathers.

10 if you will obey Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.…also Jeremiah 29:10 For Yahweh says, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. 12 You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says Yahweh, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh; and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive. and Ezekiel 36:24 For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32 Nor for your sake do I this, says the Lord Yahweh, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel. 33 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built. 34 The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by. 35 They shall say, This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. 36 Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, Yahweh, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and I will do it. 37 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Yahweh., where God promises to restore his people back to Jerusalem…to rebuild the ruins…forgive their sins…if they “return to me and obey my commands.” Nehemiah knows the “key” to the promise!

Back to the families with children, we many times find some ifs: If you clean your room, I will… If you do the dishes, I will… If you get your homework done, you can… Children and even adults many times remember the promise, but not the “if.”

Nehemiah was not that way. He remembered the “ifs” from God. “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to me and obey my commands, then…I will gather you from there and bring you to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.” The “key” was “to return to me and obey my commands.”

That is exactly one of the things Nehemiah was doing during those four months of prayer and fasting. He was bringing himself back to God. He was asking for forgiveness for acting “very wickedly and not obeying the commands, decrees and laws…”

LIFE APPLICATION: Where are you in your Christian walk? Are there sin(s) that need to be confessed? Are there restitutions that need to be made? What is God impressing on your heart to do? The “key” requires action!

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