• Between the lines

    Daily Readings: Esther 2 and Psalm 27 The LORD is not mentioned once in the Book of Esther, and yet this book is in the Bible and the events it recorded inspired an entire Jewish Festival, Purim. As we read Esther we observe that God is obviously at work, even though God is not at

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  • Respect

    Daily Readings: Esther 1 and Psalm 26 The historical events of the Book of Esther occurred during the time of Ezra and about 40 years before Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem. Xerxes was Emperor of Persia and ruled over a vast Empire covering modern-day Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel; and parts of modern-day Egypt,

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  • Salvation Power

    Daily Readings: Nehemiah 13 and Psalm 25 Back in Nehemiah 9 we read that when the people of Jerusalem heard the Word of the Lord they were so deeply moved by the Holy Spirit that they first broke down in a massive public act of confession and repentance, and then renewed their Covenant with God

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  • Joyful Worship

    Daily Readings: Nehemiah 12 and Psalm 24 This was a serious celebration. Two great choirs walked atop the City walls, encircled the City of Jerusalem with their songs of praise and thanksgiving, and then met in the Temple to offer great sacrifices of praise to God in music and song, “rejoicing because God had given

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  • Leading from the front

    Daily Readings: Nehemiah 11 and Psalm 23 Jerusalem’s temple had been rebuilt and now its walls were complete. Under Ezra and Nehemiah’s ministry, Gods people had rededicated themselves to the Covenant. To a certain extent their physical and spiritual missions had been completed. One of the remaining challenges, however, was how few people were living

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  • All-of-life worship

    Daily Readings: Nehemiah 10 and Psalm 22 Faithfulness to God and our worship of God are all-of-life matters. That’s why, as the Israelites renewed their Covenant with God (see Nehemiah 9:38) and sealed it formally, they made it very clear that they were taking upon themselves certain very specific obligations in a number of areas

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  • Confession Revival

    Daily Readings: Nehemiah 9 and Psalm 21 For three whole weeks after being drawn to the Temple for a mass gathering of worship and listening to God’s Word, the Israelites seem to have been reflecting on their own lives and their national history in light of the Word. Suddenly all of God’s dealings with them

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  • Worship Revival

    Daily Readings: Nehemiah 8 and Psalm 20 The temple had been prepared for worship. The City wall had been repaired and the gates had been set in place. From the 25th day of the month of Elul (Neh. 6:15), the sixth month, nothing physical prevented the people from gathering en masse to worship. All they

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  • Step aside

    Daily Readings: Nehemiah 7 and Psalm 19 Despite all the false accusations against him over the course of the building project, Nehemiah had not come to Jerusalem for political reasons. He had come out of an honest, heartfelt hunger to see the walls of the Sacred City restored. His heart was to see God’s people

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  • Isolation overcome

    Daily Readings: Nehemiah 6 and Psalm 18 As the wall-rebuilding project steadily progressed, Nehemiah faced relentless attacks from those opposing the project. A variety of diabolical weapons were employed by the opposition ringleaders, Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem. Over and over they employed false friendship (v.1-4), slanderous accusations (v.5-7), intimidation (v.7-9), manipulative counsel/false prophecy (v.10, 12-14)

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