335 Tuesday, December 1, 2009

335 Nehemiah 4 – 6; 3 John 1

More trouble because the work of God is going forward. More times than not when you are going forward with the work of God, there will be opposition. Nehemiah countered with prayer and he set guards. They used to say in the revolutionary war, "Trust God, but keep your powder dry." It usually is prayer and action. Sometimes it is prayer while acting, but it is always served up with prayer. The work is being attacked from the outside and next attack comes from within. The Jewish people were very hungry and they are selling off their children to pay the bills. Nehemiah calls the nobles together and rebukes them for gouging the people. He then calls a big meeting and stirs everyone up.
They were charging obscene interest rates and then taking the property etc.. The nobles promised to stop and to give it all back. Prayer and action are a powerful force. What is God asking you to pray about and do?

John gets to the real practical side of Christian love--hospitality. He exhorts them to keep Christian travelers overnight, even if you do not know them. Then John the Gospel writer of love calls out a brother by the name of Diotrephes. Who would not listen to John's counsel? On top of that, he is spreading vicious rumors about John. This guy is looking for trouble. Is there a person that you need to call out? Is there someone who needs an accountability check? It is rare that anyone ever does anything like this. If you do it be careful--pray and then act.