Workers and Warriors

Greetings!
It was a great night!  We started out with a song - He Leadeth Me (Here)

We dove into the homework and discussion which focused on the beginning of rebuilding the gates and the wall of Jerusalem.  

I loved how Kelly made some important connections this week!  First, as it was the Jewish people's job to rebuild the wall, it is our job to restore each other's hearts in love and faith through Jesus Christ who takes away our sin and shame.  "You yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5  Jesus is our cornerstone. (Eph 2:19-22)

Then, as the Jews worked, they filled the gaps in the wall just as we fill each other's gaps 'in faith'.  We are not called to serve alone.  We can work right along each other just as the Jewish workers did.  Sometimes, this is the best way to get to really know someone when we serve with them.  Our natural life experiences and gifts will naturally cause us to care more deeply about some things than others.   What better way to serve and relate to others than remembering the lessons we've learned in life to help others.  2 Corin 1:4 says, "He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us."

Sure enough, as they set to work, here came the obstacles!!  As President Roosevelt stated to the nation, " The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."  Amen!  There is nothing the devil likes more than for us to fear.  It's paralyzing and contagious!  It spreads just like it did through the Jewish people when they were threatened.  Frightened people discourage others and help bring defeat. (Deut. 20:8)  When we are facing fear in our lives, we have to remind ourselves of the greatness of God!  Nehemiah was so great at this. :) 

When the enemy learned that the Jewish people were armed and ready to 'watch', they backed off!  God frustrated their plot!!  "The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;  He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.  The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations."  Ps 33:10-11  Yep.  He is our Sovereign God, however it is not enough to build the wall; we must also be on guard lest the Enemy take it from us.

Kelly asked us to keep considering the connections of the Jews guarding their city as we think about guarding our hearts. (p 45)  She had us read Eph 6:10-18, The Armor of God.  As the workers kept an eye out for the enemy, they kept an ear out for the trumpet too. (vs 18)  What an example for us to follow as we wait on the return of our Lord!!  " For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.  Therefore, my dear sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."  (1 Thess 4:16, 1 Corin 15:58, )
Take up your spiritual armor, Watch and Pray!!

The link to the video-session 3  click here

We talked alot about guarding our hearts tonight.  I remembered back to the second video when Kelly said that when we are a part of a culture, we start to look like that culture!  Is this bad or good?
What do you do when fear creeps in?
What is the best team you have been a part of.  Was it of varying ages/cultures? Did your faith grow?        


**Helpful Information taken from Warren Wiersbe's book - Be Determined- Nehemiah                  

What Has God Put In Your Heart?

Hello Sisters of Scripture!

Some might ask, "Why do you do a summer study?  There's no time...summer is too busy."  I say, we do a summer study to continue to be 'found' by God.  Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. James 4:8

We enjoyed our 2nd session on Wednesday!!  We started with a praise and worship song, click here, then reviewed the week of homework, watched our video lesson 2, answered questions from the video and closed with a prayer together.  The link and a few words about the video are below. :)

In Day1 Kelly took us through a brief history of Jeruselum before Nehemiah felt the need to return to rebuild.  It's easy to have a heart that breaks for matters that personally affect us, but how many of our hearts can break for others?

As Kelly took the time to really look at Nehemiah's prayer, (Neh 1:5-11) in Day 2 and 3 of the homework, we talked a lot about prayer.  Nehemiah praised our God of Heaven, Yahweh, our Great and Awesome God and one that never fails in love.  It's this great unfailing love and goodness that propels us to love him back and then to want to confess our sins as he not only confesses his sins, but the sins of the children of Israel.  Nehemiah then intercedes in prayer for his Jewish brothers and sisters.  We are reminded that praying for others is an honor and divinely attaches us to one another!!  Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  Col 4:2

Nehemiah then prays 4 months before he approaches the King about what is in his heart to do!!  As we sometimes fear what God is trying to put in our hearts to do, so did Nehemiah.  It's not always easy following God's plan to grow us!!  We just have to ask for wisdom and guidance and have the perserverance and patience to wait.....  He will always answer us.

When Nehemiah does ask the King for his blessing, I love that he chose a time when the Queen was present too. :)  He could have been killed for approaching the throne of Persia!  Surely God was softening the King's heart.  Nehemiah approached the King with great faith and boldness, just as we are to approach our Father.  We can be confident that we will always be welcomed to His throne. :))
1 John 3:20-21

Kelly invites us to follow God outside ourselves.  Consider the needs that surround us and listen closely to what breaks our hearts.  A broken heart is often the very thing God uses to restore the broken.  My question to you~Who is the broken?  Is it the served or the server??

You can find the video here. You won't want to miss this one! I'm reminded of James 2:18 ~"Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."  We saw Kelly's sister in the video serving those in the Amazon.  She says her life has never been the same after she discovered how "selfish her life was."  Some of us wish for a checklist of how we can live for God and less for ourselves.  I don't have that, but maybe just a small prayer.  "God, what can I do to serve you today?"

Blessings

Yay!  Session one of our Nehemiah study is a wrap!!  The room was buzzing with excitement for our summer study.  We are excited to see how God will work in our lives through the story of Nehemiah.

We started out last night getting to know each other with a fun ice-breaker.  Next we talked about our hopes for this study.  What are your hopes???  Many of us hope to gain a more compassionate heart filled with joy and hope just like Nehemiah's.  Others hope to see more clearly what God has planned for their lives.  Well, I hope that you'll persevere throughout the summer in this study as we grow together and who knows where God will take us?!

Nehemiah is Kelly Minter's study from the 'Living Room Series'.  Normally these studies have recipes in the books to try out as this one does.  We will be bringing our favorite dishes to the very last session on August 1st, so get to cooking!! 

During each day of our homework, we'll have a discussion and a personal question to answer.  We'll be going over the discussion questions on Wednesday nights, as well as questions from the video.

Kelly's session 1 video that we watched was great!!  I love how she'll be interviewing someone each week.  To download this video and watch it click here  You won't be sorry.

Discussion questions from the video:
1.  What does your heart break for?  Where could it be more tender?
2.  How did it affect you to learn that Nehemiah heard about the Jews' suffering while living in a Persian Resort?
3.  What about Gloria's interview struck you the most?  How did she inspire, challenge, encourage you?

Feel welcome to leave comments, hopes or just thoughts.