Studying {Nehemiah 7-13}

Nehemiah 7-13

All the exiles from Judah are named. Ezra reads the law to the people. They weep, because they realize their sins. Nehemiah tells them to be happy and to feast, because it's a sacred day. The people tell God of their sin and repent of. The people sign an agreement to obey God's law. They cast lots to decide who will live in Jerusalem. It lists the names of everyone chosen. The wall is dedicated. All the people of foreign descendants are excluded from God's assembly. Tobiah's son-in-law, a priest, gives Tobiah a storeroom. Nehemiah, who has gone back to serve the king, returns and takes all Tobiah's possessions. Then he purifies the room and puts back what belong in it. He also rebukes the priests and Levites for neglecting the house of God, rebukes the people for selling and buying on the Sabbath, and rebukes some of the men for taking foreign wives. He also throws out Sanballat's son-in-law. He asks God to remember his deeds.

What I learned:
-God cares about each and every one of his people, as shown by the list of captives freed. The list also shows God's mercy in setting sinners free.
- The Israelites wept, grieved, and were repentant when told of their sins. This is the attitude we should have when faced with our sins.
-Nehemiah was an extremely faithful servant of God. We need to do our duties the way Nehemiah did his: faithfully and diligently.
-When Nehemiah was serving the king again, the people began to disobey and do wicked deeds. Without a leader, they went astray. The same with us. When we do not follow our Leader, Jesus Christ, we constantly steer crookedly and step off the path, but only when we keep our eyes on Jesus do we stay on the straight and narrow path.

Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Studying {Nehemiah 4-6}

Here is another installment of... the book of Nehemiah. Here is the link to this passage: Nehemiah 4-6.

Summary:
The Jews' enemies insult them. Nehemiah asks that God remember their insults. They continue rebuilding. News of their enemies plotting an attack reaches the Jews. This is discouraging, as well, as their fellow Jews telling them to stop building. They begin to carry weapons with them as they build. Nehemiah encourages them. The poor people begin to complain about their taxes and interest . Nehemiah rebukes the richer people for taking interest from and selling the poor as slaves. They listen and do what he tells them. Nehemiah explains that he became governor, and that the former leaders took advantage of the people. He does not. There are letters from their enemies distracting from the wall building. A man tries to get Nehemiah to hide from the enemies and ruin his reputation. The wall is completed, and there are people in Judah telling Nehemiah of Tobiah's (the enemy) good deeds and reporting back to Tobiah what his replies were.

What I learned:
-When the enemies were plotting against the Jews, and the other Jews were discouraging them, it reminded me of a situation where perhaps God calls you to do something that sounds crazy, and your family and friends start to discourage you. If this happened, you would need to keep working diligently. This happened in Bruce Olson's life (Bruchko).

-The situation of the poor sounds like our own economic situation in the US. The only way to get out of it is to follow God's way.

-When Nehemiah refused to hide, he proved that he trusted God in even dangerous situations. May God grant us this sort of trust!

Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Studying {Nehemiah 1-3}

How about a Bible study? I went through the book of Nehemiah and summarized it to get it in my head, and then wrote what I learned. Enjoy! (And here is a link to the Bible passage: Nehemiah 1-3)

Summary:
Nehemiah is sad about the returning captives and the broken down wall. He fasts and prays. The king asks what is wrong. When Nehemiah tells him, he lets Nehemiah go to help rebuild the wall, also giving him supplies and men. Nehemiah inspects the gate, which is in bad shape, and then when the enemies hear about it, they protest and Nehemiah rebukes them. The book then describes all the repairs done and by whom they were done.

What I learned:
-Nehemiah was a captive living in Susa. Even in captivity, God put his people in positions of honor, like the king's cup bearer.
-God pays attention to details and hard work, even small jobs well done. This reminds me of something Jim Elliot said in Shadow of the Almighty,
"A well-made piece of furniture and a healed blind man represented the same thing to the Father-- a job well done, mission accomplished. So with us here. Nothing great, but what is that to Him with whom there is no great and small?"

Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Morsels From His Word

{via}

Hee, hee. Don't you just love that word? Morsels.
Anyway, these are some verses that I've found in my personal Bible reading that I thought I would share. Enjoy!

Malachi 2:7
You have wearied the LORD with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask.
By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” 
 
This verse reminds me of present day. You know, the people who say, "Well, I'm not such a bad person. He loves me anyway. No matter what I do, He'll forgive me. " or "How could a just God allow such bad things to happen?"

Jeremiah 31:34
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
   or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
   from the least of them to the greatest,”
            declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
   and will remember their sins no more.” 

Doesn't this fill you with hope? When we all know the Lord, there will be no need for teaching about Him anymore. :)

Thoughts? What have you been reading lately?


Grace be with you,

Abby :D
 

To cover, or not to cover, that is the question.

First off, I want to remind everyone to pray for all the people being affected by Hurricane Irene. According to weather.com, there will be major damage from this hurricane. But, we have to leave it all in God's hands. All we can do is pray!


Head coverings. What a subject! I have been thinking more about wearing one as I get older and closer to God.

I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.  For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God. 
 1 Corinthians 11: 2-16


Judging from those verses, every Christian woman should be wearing a head covering. But why don't we? Maybe most think it's weird, unnecessary, or that long hair is enough. In the Bible Commentary I read, it said that because woman was made for man, man is the head of woman. Man was made for God, so God is the head of man. If man wears a head covering or long hair, he is dishonoring his head (God). A woman would wear a head covering to show her submission to man, her head. So if she does not wear a covering, she would dishonor her head (man). Thoughts on that?

I'm really not sure of my outlook on head coverings. I'm not totally opposed to it. Maybe I should wear one just for prayer and during the church service. What are your thoughts on this subject?


Grace be with you,
Abby :D

ps. For more insight, I asked the same question on Preparing To Be A Help Meet's website, here. Click to see.
pps. the above picture is from Google images. If it is yours, and you don't want it on here, just comment. Thanks!

Back...

Hi everyone! I'm back, obviously. It seemed like a long week. Here are some verses I found during the week.

...Worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
 Hebrews 12:28

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6

And I know there was another one about a spirit of thankfulness, but I can't find it now. :) How did y'all did on the challenge, if you did it?

Well, this break has been nice! I hope to be back with more interesting posts later.

Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Changing the Rules.

After talking it over with my mother, I have decided that books are not media. Therefore, the rules should read:


- We'll read the Bible in place of all media (movies, TV, and computer).
- This challenge will take place from August 7-14, starting on this Sunday.
- You can join any day of the challenge. For instance, if you only want to do it for five days, you can.
-Any necessary media is OK. As are books. So if you need to e-mail or do any schoolwork on the TV or computer, that's OK.
-At the end of the challenge, make a post talking about the experience. Did you like it? Would you like to do it again? What were your favorite verses?

Thank you everyone!

Bible Challenge

I thought I'd have a Bible challenge. We should all read more of God's Word. Here are the rules.


~Rules~

- We'll read the Bible in place of all media (books, movies, TV, and computer).
- This challenge will take place from August 7-14, starting on this Sunday.
- You can join any day of the challenge. For instance, if you only want to do it for five days, you can.
-Any necessary media is OK. Like school books or work e-mails. But try to stay off.
-At the end of the challenge, make a post talking about the experience. Did you like it? Would you like to do it again? What were your favorite verses?

What do you think? If you're going to participate, please write a post and include the button to spread the word. If you have any questions, ask below.

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it's time to...

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.
 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Did you skim the verse? Well, if you did, go back and read it. I love these verses. Just like it says, there's a time for everything. Although, I could add a few to his list. How about: A time to bake, and a time to eat; a time to work, and a time to play; a time to do school, and a time to dawdle, a time to pray. (there isn't a time when we shouldn't be praying. :)

What time are you on right now? I'm on 'a time to eat'. Mexican casserole... yummy!

By the way, there's a neat giveaway going on at Mina's blog. Go check it out!


Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Verses on My Mind...

And fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him that is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1


 What are some verses that have been on your mind?

Grace be with you,

Abby :D

The Lord's will: James 4:13-17 + a child is born!

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. 

James 4:13-17

I am so guilty of doing this. It is sometimes hard to say, "If it is the Lord's will," but we should.

By the way, my mother had her baby! Esther Joy. :) Here are the details:

 On Monday, my mother had to go into the hospital because her amniotic fluid was low. She was almost two weeks overdue and wanted to have a natural birth. The very next day, (my dad's birthday!) the baby was born by emergency c-section. Apparently Esther had been deprived from oxygen for about twenty minutes before birth, so then she had to go through a cooling treatment for three days, which lowered her body temperature so she could use less oxygen. My mother lost a lot of blood, and had to be given 3 units of blood to make up for it. It was a very hard birth for her. There was great concern for her and the baby, so during this time it was very hard to say, "if it is the Lord's will."
Today, Esther went through the warming process, which took about six hours. They hope to get her eating soon. My mother is a lot better today, and she is able to go down and visit the baby. She will probably come home tomorrow. :) Could you also pray that they continue to get better? Thanks. Sorry if that was a bit confusing, it is rather hard to get the facts straight.

Grace be with you,

Abby :D