Nehemiah 13: 1-14 Getting sin out of the closet
Sometimes you walk into a service and you can feel the hurt,the sadness,the somberness.
That's how it was tonight. Undercurrents of hurt could be felt ..so the service started with prayer...there were a lot of people at the altar on their knees..and sometimes worship music is even more meaningful in that situation.
We are on the last chapter of Nehemiah. Nehemiah goes back to his position for the King of Babylon. In absence of his leadership there is a gravitation toward ungodliness. This is true in our lives as well. When there is no godly leadership..we gravitate toward ungodliness. The leadership isn't necessarily others leading...it can be self leadership.
Tobiah decides to move into the temple closet which is sacrilegious to the Jews. Because he moves in he gets rid of things which were important for worship grain..which represents the broken body of Christ, incense which symbolizes prayer, tithes which represents the first fruits of God,new wine which symbolizes new life and oil which represents being made new in energy.
In our lives today we allow sin to live in our closets. We believe lies..we get into sinful patterns and one by one we move out those things which help us worship and the magnitude of Christ decreases.
Ask 2 questions
1 What do I do when I find myself in a pattern of sin?
2 What do I do when I find a brother/sister in Christ in sin?
1 Confront bluntly...lovingly but bluntly
In Nehemiah he uses his influence and reminds the people of their commitment not to "neglect the house of God"
2 Act immediately in obedience..Start 1 step. Even if you are in darkness..If you don't do it immediately..chances are you aren't going to.
3 Get the right people in the right places. You don't need people who are going to stroke your ego You need someone who is going to call you out when you need it
4 Never underestimate the need to pray
Sometimes God orchestrates heat,thorns,barriers, to get us to the throne to talk to Him. You need to cry out to God!
I liked the story he told about his bushes. He had these ugly bushes he needed to get rid of. He was going to hire someone but his neighbor came over and said he would do it right now for him ..so he hooked up chains to his pickup truck ..tied them on the bushes and jerked them out leaving 2 large holes about 2 ft deep. He was going to fill up the holes with dirt and be done but his neighbor said "No we're not done" and he went and got salt to kill the roots.
Sometimes we think we've gotten rid of the ugliness on the outside but we need to get to the root sometimes and apply the salt.
That's how it was tonight. Undercurrents of hurt could be felt ..so the service started with prayer...there were a lot of people at the altar on their knees..and sometimes worship music is even more meaningful in that situation.
We are on the last chapter of Nehemiah. Nehemiah goes back to his position for the King of Babylon. In absence of his leadership there is a gravitation toward ungodliness. This is true in our lives as well. When there is no godly leadership..we gravitate toward ungodliness. The leadership isn't necessarily others leading...it can be self leadership.
Tobiah decides to move into the temple closet which is sacrilegious to the Jews. Because he moves in he gets rid of things which were important for worship grain..which represents the broken body of Christ, incense which symbolizes prayer, tithes which represents the first fruits of God,new wine which symbolizes new life and oil which represents being made new in energy.
In our lives today we allow sin to live in our closets. We believe lies..we get into sinful patterns and one by one we move out those things which help us worship and the magnitude of Christ decreases.
Ask 2 questions
1 What do I do when I find myself in a pattern of sin?
2 What do I do when I find a brother/sister in Christ in sin?
1 Confront bluntly...lovingly but bluntly
In Nehemiah he uses his influence and reminds the people of their commitment not to "neglect the house of God"
2 Act immediately in obedience..Start 1 step. Even if you are in darkness..If you don't do it immediately..chances are you aren't going to.
3 Get the right people in the right places. You don't need people who are going to stroke your ego You need someone who is going to call you out when you need it
4 Never underestimate the need to pray
Sometimes God orchestrates heat,thorns,barriers, to get us to the throne to talk to Him. You need to cry out to God!
I liked the story he told about his bushes. He had these ugly bushes he needed to get rid of. He was going to hire someone but his neighbor came over and said he would do it right now for him ..so he hooked up chains to his pickup truck ..tied them on the bushes and jerked them out leaving 2 large holes about 2 ft deep. He was going to fill up the holes with dirt and be done but his neighbor said "No we're not done" and he went and got salt to kill the roots.
Sometimes we think we've gotten rid of the ugliness on the outside but we need to get to the root sometimes and apply the salt.
posted by Rochelle @ 7:33 PM
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