Let the Lord handle your critics

Many critics of Christianity state that the Old Testament is completely irrelevant to events occurring today.  Oh, ye of little faith.  How wrong they are.

And chapter 4, from the book of Nehemiah, is just another example of a multitude of others that prove it.

In the previous chapter, all of the families are assigned to certain sections of the wall surrounding Jerusalem to rebuild.  In chapter 4, their enemies are angry that they are doing so and mock them, criticizing them at every point.

Their critics call the Israelites names, mocking them for their feeble efforts.  But Nehemiah prayed to God and told His followers to keep their faith, for the Lord will handle their enemies.

Even when the levels of violence rose, a number of guards took up arms and guarded the wall, day and night.  Before too long, everyone had a weapon and were vigilant against their enemies.

I can't tell you how much this chapter meant to me when I look around at our society today, at the riots and violence leveled against one another.

Keep your faith strong.  Pray to the Lord to protect you and your family and our God-loving society.  The Lord Almighty always fights for us.  His Son died for us.  Even when we feel alone, God is always there.

Father to the fatherless

Psalm 68 is full of praises to the Lord, putting to words many of His deeds.

God rises up against our enemies.  He blows them away like smoke and melts them like wax.

In verse 5, it goes on to say God is the Father to the fatherless, defender of widows, for his dwelling is holy.  He frees His people--He led them out of Egypt--and even the highest mountains tremble before Him.

By verse 20, "Our God is a God who saves!  The Sovereign Lord rescues us from death."

The Lord's power is so mighty, so awesome, His voice is like the thunder in the sky.

Building the walls of Jerusalem

In the book of Nehemiah, chapter 3, all of the families in Jerusalem were assigned to repair and build certain sections of the walls.  Some repaired walls in front of their houses while others took on larger projects.

Some projects were simple and others involved much more detail.

The Lord has jobs for everyone.  Some may be grocery store clerks while others are the heads of companies.  Some are meant for the clergy and others are nurses, doctors, police officers, construction workers, and street sweepers.

All tasks assigned by the Lord are noble.  Keep in mind, today's tasks may lead to other opportunities down the road.  Many who repaired the walls and gates of Jerusalem weren't in the trade of those tasks at the time.  There were priests, musicians, farmers, goldsmiths.

Be open for the Lord to present opportunities to you.

Nehemiah has a plan

In the 2nd chapter from the book of Nehemiah, he was serving wine to the Persian king when the king noticed Nehemiah was sad.

You see, Nehemiah had learned what had happened to Jerusalem and was troubled by it.

He prayed to God, then told the king why he was so sad.  He then asked if he could go to Judah to help rebuild the city.

The king agreed.  He also send letters to the leaders of the nearby provinces, instructing them to let Nehemiah and his people to travel safely through their territories.  Some of the leaders were not pleased by this as they did not want Jerusalem to be rebuilt.

Upon arrival, he went out at night to inspect the walls and gates.  He also prayed to God to help them succeed.  Even when he was offered help by those who were not Israelites, he told them that only those who are descendants of Abraham can lay claim to the city.

The kindness in one's heart

We now come to the book of Nehemiah, which is tied in with the book of Ezra.  The events in each overlap the other.

In chapter 1, we are introduced to Nehemiah.  He visited with one of his brothers, whom had just returned from Judah and asked of the events there for the Jews who had been in captivity.  He was told things were not going well, that the walls of Jerusalem and its gates had been destroyed.

Nehemiah wept at this, and prayed to God for guidance.  This went on for days, as he fasted, mourned, and continued to pray.  He confessed that His people had sinned against the Lord, and even placed himself and his family in that camp.  No one was free of sin.

But as he prayed, he promised to obey His commands and would bring the city of Jerusalem back to its place of honor for God.  He prayed for the Persian king to be kind to him, for the Lord to place kindness in his heart, for Nehemiah was the king's cup bearer.

In these days, as well as all days, whenever you see injustice, pray to God to place kindness in their hearts.  Even though it may be difficult to do, doing so sets you free from the bonds of Satan and brings you closer to the Lord and His Son Jesus.

A psalm to praise the Lord

Psalm 67 may be short in the number of verses (there are 7), but it is filled with complete praise toward the Lord.

The Lord our God is gracious and blesses us, for He is known all across the earth, across all nations.

Everyone praises the Lord.  God judges all people with fairness.  He produces the earth's harvest for His people, blessing us with his incredible love.

A starting guide to Christian podcasts

Type "top Christian podcasts" into your favorite search engine and you'll get a myriad of lists.  So much so that you might find yourself wondering where to even start.

Or, worse than that, deciding to scrap it altogether.

Keep in mind, this is in no way meant to be a complete list nor is it meant to cover what may be going on in your life, what God is pushing you to listen to.  This is meant to just be a starting guide.

First, let's start with a powerhouse and a household name in the Christian world: Billy Graham.  Here is a link to the Billy Graham radio site.  This includes two of my favorites:

GPS: God, People, Stories

Fearless with Cissie Graham Lynch (Cissie is the granddaughter of Billy Graham and daughter of Franklin Graham, and is truly one of the freshest new voices in the Christian community today)

Joyce Meyer - Enjoying Everyday Life

RZIM - Just Thinking (Ravi Zacharias Ministries - they have a number of podcasts, but this one is a great place to get started)

RZIM - The Defense Rests by Abdu Murray

And last, but certainly not least, is Unashamed with Phil Robertson (yes, the Duck Dynasty family)

Making a clean break from sin

In the book of Ezra, chapter 9. it was known that the Israelites, upon their return to Jerusalem, had married other people in nearby lands.  Also, their children had done the same thing by marrying others who were practitioners of detestable religions.

Instead of bringing their new wives and husbands into the Lord, they were drawn away from it by their exotic nature.

Ezra was distraught by this, tearing his clothes and mourning all that they had worked so hard for, in order to please the Lord.  He prayed to the Lord, knowing they should be punished for their wickedness.

Then, in chapter 10, Ezra confessed the sin of their people to the Lord and He offered a solution.  Since they had been unfaithful to the Lord, they were to create a covenant with God by divorcing their pagan spouses and sending away the children from those wicked marriages.  They were to make a clean break, drawing a line in the sand, and denouncing the exotic ways of the other people.

Ezra knew this task wasn't going to be easy, so he divided each family to come before the Temple to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and separate themselves from their pagan spouses.  Those who did not do so would forfeit all of their property.  Only one did so, but all of the others followed their way back to the Lord.

God's Awesomeness

God's glorious power is awesome.  His enemies tremble because of it.

This is the culmination of Psalm 66.  In the first few verses, we shout praises to the Lord.  We tell the entire world how incredible He is.  Everything in the world praises His name.

God's miracles are awesome.  In verse 6, it mentions the parting of the Red Sea when the Israelites escaped from Egypt.

In verse 7, we find the following: "He watches every movement of the nations; let no rebel rise in defiance."  This seems so true given the events going on right now, but I would argue that this is true at every single point in our history: past, present, and future.

Verse 9 gives me a warm feeling inside.  "Our lives are in His hands, and He keeps our feet from stumbling."

Are we perfect?  No way!  Since we know the Psalms are written by King David, by verse 14 he mentions that God helped him even when he was in deep trouble.  And King David offered the best to the Lord.

God listens to our prayers.  We must praise the Lord in all of His glory!

Stand against all forms of hatred (but beware of hypocrites)

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the media, along with those in power at all levels of our government and the private sector, are polarizing everyone against a specific form of hatred.  Hatred in the form of a person's skin color.

We are all created in God's image.  Therefore, all human life is sacred, regardless of our gender, race, hair color, economic status, etc.

But beware that the devil is at work throughout it all in the form of sin.  Satan loves nothing more than to see us fight against one another.

The hypocrites are ripe throughout the evils that are ripping through our communities, large and small.  They may wave a banner that a certain type of skin color matters, while at the same time hate the current President of the United States with every fiber of their soul.  They may donate money to causes that they say is noble, like those imprisoned for destroying our streets and businesses, while at the same time they feel that organizations who slaughter the innocent lives of our unborn are equally noble.  Hypocrites!

Beware of all forms of hatred.  Be conscience of its many forms within your own mind and body;

Remember that Jesus taught us that love is the greatest of all.  Love one another.  Even if you disagree with them, pray for them that God will speak into their heart, that they come to His glory.