Meditation from Nehemiah Chapter 9
If we analyse our spiritual life do we find ourselves in a loop - bondage of sin, deliverance of God, experiencing God's goodness, sin again, bondage, deliverance, God's mercy and sinning again.
This is how the Israelites found themselves. When we are in such a seemingly unending loop what do we forget?
1. Covenant - We forget the Covenant that the Lord made with us. (9:8). The most important covenant that God made with us is that He will be our God and we will be His people.
If He is God & LORD, are all areas of our life completely under His Lordship?
2. Promise - When we sin, we forget His promises. (9:8).
God is faithful in His promises and we become unfaithful in honouring His promises when we don't obey His commandments.
3. Deliverance - We forget His deliverance, the way He delivered us from the bondage of sin and shame. (9:9,10).
In Christ, we forget the cost He paid for our deliverance.
4. Supernatural Wonders - We would have experienced a divine healing or some wonder from God and we forget that when we sin (9:17).
5. Protection - We forget God's protection on our life. (9:12).
6. Provision - We forget how God provided for us and we lacked nothing. How miraculously He met our needs! (9:20,21).
7. Instructions - We forget all His instructions. God instructs us through His Spirit (9:20), His word (9:13) and through people (9:26).
When we sin, we forget all these instructions.
8. Love & Grace - Above all we forget His abounding love and merciful grace (9:17b).
In the words of Ezra, we forget the "great goodness" of God in which we delighted ourselves. (9:25).
Even though we experience the consequences of our sin, God has been so merciful and gracious to deliver us once again and to give us rest (9:27,28a).
How do we break the Loop?
1. Fasting & Prayer - It's very essential to take time out with God to receive deliverance and His strength (9:1).
2. Separation - We need to separate ourselves from the people, relationships, place, objects, everything that are reasons for our shallow spiritual life and fall (9:2).
3. Confession - We need to confess our sins to the Lord (9:2b, 3a).
God doesn't want to hear our beautiful and elegant words in prayer, but our open and unhidden life. So that we may receive His forgiveness.
4. Worship - Not just corporate worship but private worship (9:3).
We need to worship the Lord in our personal prayers.
Worship also means to submit our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).
5. Obedience - Instant obedience to His word and warning is what God expects (9:17,29).
We should never procrastinate in obedience and repentance.
6. Covenant - Finally and most importantly we need to make covenant with God and commit to live by it. The Israelites after listening to Ezra not just made a verbal covenant, but written covenant (9:38).
Practice:
# Can you take time now as you read, to take a paper or your phone (paper or journal is better) and write down your covenant with God - what you want to leave, how you want to be and live.
# Sign your name and write the date.
# Keep it in your Bible and see and pray over it everyday.
Forget not God's great goodness
Forget not the cost He paid on the cross
Forget not the covenant you made with God
Have a blessed day!
