Nehemiah 1

A little history:

I have been meeting with a group of prayer warriors for the past 7 years. I have been immensely blessed to be surrounded by women who boldly bring requests and praises before the Lord. These women have impacted the Kingdom more than we will ever know this side of heaven. Their faithfulness to the Lord and the body of Christ has inspired me and spurred me on. We have studied many books together but recently i felt like i was supposed to share these thoughts on Nehemiah with them and get their input. They graciously listened, studied, and prayed and have shared wisdom and insight with me as well. So, this blog began mainly because of their encouragement to share my heart with others, (My sweet husband first suggested i start a blog but i strongly disagreed! Then, after my friends suggested the same thing i thought i should at least consider:))

I long to walk in more and more freedom and wholeness in Christ! I continue to ask the Lord to give me the opportunity to help others do the same! So, if the Lord suggests i do something as crazy as this blog, i am willing!!

If you get a chance read Isaiah 58: 6-12 and Isaiah 61: 1-7. I love the freedom that is ours in the Lord!

A few disclaimers about this blog:

I am not a big fan of blogs. I honestly have read very few! (Sorry if you are reading this and you blog. I do love you:)).

I do not claim to be a writer or a theologian!

I just love the Lord and try really hard to obey His voice. I feel like the Holy Spirit has been prompting me to share my thoughts on Nehemiah for several months now so i am trying to be obedient:) It is actually quite a struggle for me to find the time, energy, and focus to get my thoughts written out!

My goal is to share my heart in a simple and concise manner with the hopes of unifying and strengthening the body of believers at Grace, in our community, and beyond. I would also love for you to share the things the Lord shows you about Nehemiah so we can learn from one another.

I pray you are encouraged and strengthened as you journey through Nehemiah. I pray the Holy Spirit brings you great revelation and insight. I pray for the rebuilding of your soul (mind and emotions) which leads to loving yourself and others well and pouring out into your community!

I know there are several different ways to look at Nehemiah but I have been looking at how the Holy Spirit rebuilds and restores the walls of our soul . I love how Jon Courson puts it, "When we were saved, our spirit is rebuilt/reborn but our soul (mind and emotions) can still lie in ruins. Our mind doesn’t think like it should and our emotions are unstable so we are vulnerable to attack unless the Holy Spirit rebuilds the walls of our soul" ( see Jon Courson commentary)

I am only going to share a few thoughts on the beginning of Chapter 1 today.

Read Nehemiah 1 ( go to www.biblegateway.com)

As i was reading through Nehemiah 1: 3-4, I began to ask the Lord to give me his heart for those in distress, those who are broken down (in body and soul). Nehemiah wept and fasted and prayed for days when he heard that his people were suffering. Do we do anything more than briefly feel sorry for others in distress and then move on?

Who is broken and hurting in your life today? Your mom, your spouse, your roommate, your neighbor, a stranger in the grocery store? Maybe its you! Ask the Lord to start restoring your brokenness. How can you pray for others and serve them today? Ask the Lord for very specific details on how to pray and serve today! Now listen!! He wants to use you today!

Lord Jesus give us your heart for the hurting. Remove our selfishness. Give us compassion. Give us energy and strength and boldness to step out in faith and serve someone else today.