Welcome to Kendra Graham’s online Bible study. This is a place where we can come together and share in our journey towards Scriptural truths and spiritual maturity. We pray this will be a safe, respectful, resourceful place to come and discuss God’s Word…to discover What it says…What it means…and What it means to you!
Kendra Graham NOTES from Nehemiah 4:7-9
WHAT DOES IT SAY? THE FACTS ONLY PLEASE.
In this step you need to list the outstanding facts of the passage. DON’T get caught up in the details, just list the facts. Do not paraphrase. Use the actual words of the passage. This is God’s Word, a lot of times this step seems tedious to some, but I urge you, as we read, and say and write God’s Word, it begins to sink deep into our hearts. If you just pick one fact out of the verse, write it down and meditate on it.
Verse 7: When Sanballet, Tobiah, Arabs, Ammonites, Ashdodites, heard the repair went on, breaches closed, they were VERY ANGRY.
Verse 8: ALL OF THEM conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem to cause disturbance.
Verse 9a: We prayed to our God.
Verse 9b: We set a guard against them day and night.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? THE LESSONS.
Look for a lesson to learn from each fact. What are the people doing that they should be doing? What are the people doing that they shouldn’t be doing?
Is there a command to follow? A promise to claim? A warning to heed? An example to follow?
Verse 7-8: The world gets ANGRY and unites when God’s people come together. When we put down our own pride, selfishness, desire to see things done our way in our time and let God work, the world notices and tries everything within its power to destroy the people of God. When the power and grip of the oppressors becomes less and less in the lives of God’s people, the world and it’s oppressors will fight tooth and nail to get it back. There is such freedom in dependance upon God. This is a difficult thing to sink into our hearts, even the hearts of God’s own people. John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
Verse 9a: We are NOT defenseless in the midst of persecution. We have the God of the universe, Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End that we can go to who cares and loves us more than anything! “Cast your cares upon Him for HE CARES FOR YOU!” I Peter 5:7. We have a direct line to the throne room of God Almighty. It is not what we can do that matters, but where we go to LEAVE our matters. There were no complaints, no committees, no “self-defense for dummies” course. They went to God first not last.
Verse 9b: It is easy to compromise, hard to stand. God’s people didn’t shirk or shrink back from the threat. The people were not warriors or Army Rangers by any means, they were just people unwilling to allow the culture of the time to dictate who they would be and what they could do. They were the people of God and they would stand, together…. day and night. I love how they were not ignorant of the problem, they were not living in denial (if I ignore it, it will go away), they peacefully with self-defense ready, stood guard. Prepared for the worst, hoping for the best.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ME NOW? APPLY IT…. TODAY.
Take the lessons you learned and put them into the form of a personal question that you would ask your spouse, or a friend or your son or daughter.
As you write the questions, listen for God to communicate to you through His Word.
*Do not rush. Do not write things down just to have something on paper, this step takes more time that you may think. This is where Scripture meditation becomes real, this is where you begin to hear that still small voice speak to you, and place His finger in your life and begin to direct your paths…. this day, and the next, and the next. Do you trust Him enough to put into place that which He is moving you to?
Verse 7-8: Am I surprised when the world, the media, culture of the day, popular thought, want to destroy all things having to do with Jesus? How have my beliefs been challenged by those around me?
Verse 9a: Am I quick to go to prayer or is prayer my last resort? Do I spend more time complaining and worrying about a situation or praying about a situation?
Verse 9b: Do I have the courage to be bold for Christ and stand unashamed for what God has called me to do? Do I have a pattern of fear, shrinking back when confronted or a pattern of standing firm even when my knees are shaking?
LIVE IT OUT!
It is always easier to just fade into the woodwork, to go along with popular thought and just stand down instead of standing up, to be silent instead of speaking. Today, LORD, give me the boldness I need to stand.
“Silence in the face of evil is evil itself. Not to speak, is to speak. Not to act is to act.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Homework: Nehemiah 4:10
Get stuck? www.annegrahamlotz.com and Anne will walk through the Three Questions with you and help you along!