Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

Promises are made daily by men, women, and children. More prevalent these days, promises are made and used as “bargaining chips” to get from others who have what we want and who want what we have—namely our money.  We are scammed daily by those who proclaim products that promise the results we seek to make our lives more pleasing, beautiful, and comfortable. 

Sometimes hasty promises are made during the administering of discipline by parents, teachers, and other authorities by immature adolescents caught in the act of misbehaving badly. They promise, “I’ll never do it again” as they beg for a lessening punishment for their behaviors.  Adults who choose to commit crimes and are caught stand before a judge with the same words when found guilty.  (Kinda like the Israelites to God!  But wait, we do that, too.)

Promises are made by adults with addictions in twelve step programs as they cope with efforts to heal from their addictions that affect all those who love them as well as themselves.  Keeping promises are not for the faint of heart!

Couples promise to love, cherish, submit to each other, leaving mom and dad to become one “until death do us part” until those promises are tested with real life after the ceremony.  Their promises made are quickly forgotten in the heat of an argument, a suspected betrayal or disagreements arise over how each other were raised to do things.  And the biggest test of all—how to manage their finances. Those who officiate weddings who want God’s best for couples; require premarital counseling that brings troublesome hotspots to the surface before the promises and vows of “I do and I will.”

The Jews separated from the peoples around them to recommit to the Lord and His Word.  They saw their sins, wept, and repented over them after reading God’ Law given to Moses centuries earlier.  With the guidance of Nehemiah, God’s redeemed people who came back to Him united with their brothers and sisters in promising to obey the law of God (10:29). They changed their minds and now know that separation from God while ignoring His Laws eventually lead to sin.  A new agreement with God, based on the Laws given to Moses that they hold true and right, has been written, signed, sealed, and delivered back to God.

Nehemiah 10

Those who sealed it were:

Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hakaliah. Zedekiah, ² Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,

³ Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah,⁴ Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluk,⁵ Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,

⁶ Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,⁷ Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, ⁸ Maaziah, Bilgai and Shemaiah. These were the priests.

⁹ The Levites: Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel,¹⁰ and their associates: Shebaniah,Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,¹¹ Mika, Rehob, Hashabiah, ¹² Zakkur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,¹³ Hodiah, Bani and Beninu.

¹⁴ The leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, ¹⁵ Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,¹⁶ Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,¹⁷ Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,¹⁸ Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,¹⁹ Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,²⁰ Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,²¹ Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,²² Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,²³ Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,²⁴ Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,²⁵ Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,²⁶ Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,²⁷ Malluk, Harim and Baanah.

²⁸ “The rest of the people—priests, Levites, gatekeepers, musicians, temple servants and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God, together with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand— ²⁹ all these now join their fellow Israelites the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord.

³⁰ “We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons.

³¹ “When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts.

³² “We assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God: ³³ for the bread set out on the table; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals; for the holy offerings; for sin offerings to make atonement for Israel; and for all the duties of the house of our God.

³⁴ “We—the priests, the Levites and the people—have cast lots to determine when each of our families is to bring to the house of our God at set times each year a contribution of wood to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law.

³⁵ “We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree.

³⁶ “As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there.

³⁷ “Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. ³⁸ A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. ³⁹ The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept.

“We will not neglect the house of our God.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Friends, we can write documents of promises and post the words in prominent places to help hold us accountable and still fail to keep promises professed. We need God’s power to help us for we soon learn that mankind’s promises soon become a part of humanity’s cycle of our sin nature.  “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” proclaims Paul.  Why make promises we cannot keep when our best efforts fail?  God answers with His Ultimate Promise.  God knows us so well.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

“In the beginning, God…” Genesis 1:1 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He was with God in the beginning.” John 1:1-2 HE was Jesus! 

GOD/JESUS/HOLY SPIRIT—The Three-in-One was, is, and always will be God!

God’s promise to send a Messiah “one who saves” Savior began in Genesis 3:15 as he foretold a descendant of the woman who would defeat the serpent (Satan). The Promise developed throughout the Old Testament prophecies.  In detailed words centuries before Jesus, the prophets foretold of the Messiah’s virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), from the “line of David”, who would suffer, and resurrect from death to life and eventually reign as “The Lord our righteousness,” as “King of kings, and Lord of lords”!  All details pointed to the Jesus Christ, Son of God, as the fulfillment of the Promise of God to save humanity from sin and death. 

This was God’s Plan from the beginning.  God’s Word proves God’s Word:

• Genesis 3:15 (The First Promise): God tells the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel”.
• Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:3): All peoples on earth will be blessed through the “seed” (descendant) of Abraham.
• Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7): God promises an everlasting kingdom through a descendant of David.
• Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7, 53): Foretells a virgin birth (Immanuel, “God with us”), a ruler from David’s line, and a suffering servant who would bear our sorrows and be cut off, but rise to prosperity.
• Micah (Micah 5:2): Specifies the Messiah’s birthplace as Bethlehem.
• Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:5-6): Prophesies the “Righteous Branch” from David who will reign in justice and righteousness. 

Fulfillment in Jesus Christ:

• Incarnation: Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin.
• Title: Jesus means “Savior,” fulfilling the promise. “You shall call Him Jesus.”
• Mission: To save people from their sins through his sacrificial death (the bruised heel) and resurrection (crushing the serpent’s head). 

The Promise of God, fulfilled in Jesus, His Son, provided hope throughout the Old Testament, demonstrating God’s consistent plan for redemption and the ultimate coming of Jesus, the promised Messiah. Upon the resurrection of Jesus who defeated death fulfills the promised Hope of eternal life for “whoever” believes!  Therefore, all is not lost for those who confess, repent, taking responsibility for our sins, agree with God, and accept His healing process of sins’ affects on our lives. God kept and still keeps His promises to heal and forgive!  Believe and be saved!

The world daily promotes (with products to help you) to be a better you. But, instead of promising God to be a better you; trust and obey God with a committed heart, mind and soul to know God so we can be more like Him—who Jesus, His Son taught us to be!

God knows we are a work in progress but He treats us as His masterpiece!  “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10  God does not expect perfection from us for only God is good and perfect in every way. But what He “seeks and searches for over all the earth” (2 Chronicles 16:9) is a committed heart who desires to humbly walk with Him. God renews our minds when we ask for His help as we seek Truth and His corrective discipline.  God works continually on surrendered lives to mold and shape us to be more like Him.  Our work is surrender to God. God’s work is to continue to lovingly compel us to His good, perfect, and pleasing will. (Romans 12)  God is the Potter; We are the clay.  Isaiah 64:8 and Jeremiah 18. 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

We have a God, our God, who promised a Messiah to save us, once and for all, from our sins. His Promised was fulfilled in His Son, Jesus. We learn that it is the nature and character of God to keep every promise given to mankind!  God cannot fail—it’s not in His character!  God promised to forgive our sin, compassionately removing and lovingly forgetting our sins in the process—All because of Jesus, The Promise, sacrificed His life for ours.  Because of Jesus we are justified from our sins—freely justified from sin—”just as if” we never sinned! We are the “whoevers who believe” and stand on the Promises of God!

God always and forever keeps His promises; God never fails.  God is able and willing to fulfil His promises for our good and His glory!

Jesus, God’s Promised Plan of Redemption from sin, was signed “in the beginning,” sealed by His poured out blood on the cross, and delivered as Jesus rose victoriously from death and the grave! 

Question to ponder as we respond to God;

Are we living as redeemed people of the Promise or woefully clinging to the shame and guilt of our sins we play back in our minds? 

It depends on who we place all our Hope!  Jesus is our Hope, not wishful thinking, but promised Hope of eternal life! AND He’s coming back soon! 

Learn to promise less; surrender more.  We must seek God first because of His love in us. Because of His love, we commit to God, through Jesus, calling on His Holy Spirit to help us. God is love.  To know God is to know Love. (1 John 4:7-6) Believers today do not bind themselves with oaths as they seek to walk with the Lord and serve Him.  Since Jesus, all who believe in Him are reconciled to God.  God is not as interested in our promises but in our loving devotion to Him as children for a loving Father who wants His best for us.  Our Father wants our obedience to be based on love not on oaths and promises. God knows us better than we know ourselves!  In fact, The New Testament (Covenant) gives no examples of believers taking oaths of obedience to the Lord. Our obedience should be, instead a joyful response, grateful for all that He has done for us in Christ!  The Law convict us of our sins; Jesus removes repented sins!

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:1-2 

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, feed our souls, and restore the joy of your salvation consistently at work in us. To you be the glory, honor, and praise!

In Jesus Name, Amen

“The prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:15-16, ESV

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” James 5 19-20, ESV

We’ve all heard it and done it—confess, when our sins are brought to the light of day publicly. Sometimes, we confess when we have exhausted all other ways of blaming others.  We confess when we become weary of trying to hide our sins while spinning lies attempting look good. We produced cover statements in our pretense and deception while our arrogant pride builds and takes over our being.  Finally, when we come to the end of our resources and we sit clinging to the end of rope we created; we confess.

The phrase “confession is good for the soul” that we often hear from believers and nonbelievers alike originates from an old Scottish proverb, “Open confession is good for the soul,” suggests that admitting wrongdoing brings psychological relief (catharsis) and a spiritual cleansing easing guilt.  But this is light twist on what the Bible truly teaches about confession.

James brings confession into the light of day with much deeper meanings for anyone truly seeking God for life.  In fact, today we will learn that confession goes much deeper when we read our passage in Nehemiah and parallel his teaching with the teaching of James.  James, stepbrother to Jesus as most theologians think, was one who didn’t believe in Jesus as Son of God as well as Son of Man until after Jesus died and rose again!  James saw Jesus, scars and all, with His own eyes and believed.  James then became a passionate, tenacious follower of Jesus who was then his Savior and His Lord.

James confessed his sins knowing that Jesus was the once and for all sacrifice for our sins.  Jesus, Lamb of God, without blemishes of sin, was the perfect sacrifice and the only Way back to a relationship with God. Real confession of sins in the Name of Jesus includes true repentance—a turning from sin to God.  

James is adamant about going deeper in confession that includes an agreement with God to not go back to the sins that hold us in bondage.  James also gives us another word— “healing.”  Our sins affect our health and the health of others around us in all kinds of ways. We easily pray healing for those with physical afflictions.  James teaches us that we must pray for each other’s spiritual sicknesses.  “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”  Healing is an ongoing process from God with power to help us avoid going back into sins.  We must pray with and for each other asking for God’s healing and restorative power, the same power that brought Jesus back to life!  THAT power is available to us.

Confess, repent (turn around and face God), agree with God (to not look back but to humbly walk forward with God) and be healed.  What follows is the beauty of forgiveness as we live the abundant life of redemption.  Redeemed people are fully alive, resurrected from sins, brought to life with a new heart, renewed mind, and a filled soul—filled with the goodness of God!  What a blessed assurance to know Jesus who reconciled us to our loving compassionate and always faithful God!  God is faithful even when we are not.  We don’t deserve God; But He supplies our need of Him by His grace.

Confessing our sins to God, with humbled repentance, in the Holy Name of Jesus, with agreement to never go back to the sins that held us in bondage comes with the power of healing from God. Our sins are miraculously removed in the healing process “as far as the east is from the west” to be “remembered no more.”  There is no one like our God!

Therefore, as Nehemiah teaches us in his diary of faith, confession is much more than merely relieving our guilt and shame. It is turning from sin to look fully into the face of God who is faithful.  It is a time to remember who He is in relationship to us. We are His created, made in His image.  God loves us and He wants us to love Him back.

Nehemiah 9

The Israelites Confess Their Sins

On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. ² Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. ³ They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. ⁴ Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the Lord their God. ⁵ And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. ⁶ You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

⁷ “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. ⁸ You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.

⁹ “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea. ¹⁰ You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. ¹¹ You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. ¹² By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

¹³ “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. ¹⁴ You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. ¹⁵ In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

¹⁶ “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. ¹⁷ They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, ¹⁸ even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.

¹⁹ “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. ²⁰ You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. ²¹ For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

²² “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. ²³ You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. ²⁴ Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. ²⁵ They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.

²⁶ “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. ²⁷ So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

²⁸ “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

²⁹ “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. ³⁰ For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. ³¹ But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

³² “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. ³³ In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. ³⁴ Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. ³⁵ Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.

³⁶ “But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. ³⁷ Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.

The Agreement of the People

³⁸ “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We learn that the this will be continued!  In Chapter Ten, Nehemiah continues to outline the details of the covenant between God and His People along with noting the leaders who signed and sealed it to make it binding before God—The One and Only Most High and Almighty God of all creation!

Remember when Nehemiah first heard of the crumbling walls of Jerusalem along with the discouragement of God’s people?  He wept—then confessed.  He repented of the sins of the past and now. Immediately following Nehemiah’s first response, God gave Nehemiah a plan that would bring restoration of the physical walls of Jerusalem that would again protect them from enemies. Even as the enemy tried to stop them with slander and humiliation tactics; they carried on the work. We they continued the work; their faith was being built to protect their hearts from the enemies of our hearts.  Yes, upon confession, repentance, and agreement with God; God provided spiritual healing as He restored the relationship between God and the people He loved.

We don’t deserve what God so graciously and generously provides for us daily! We learn that God is faithful, even when we are not. We learn that there is nothing that our God won’t forgive.  His grace is unlimited and His mercies last a lifetime!  God loves to heal and forgive. It is not God’s desire that anyone perish but have eternal life so He gave us Jesus.  We must not take advantage of God’s goodness but fully rely on His wonder working power.

Confession, repentance, agreement and healing is serious business! In the time of Nehemiah, physically putting a seal on their agreement was a serious matter because it meant taking a solemn oath before the Lord. Mosaic law governing vows and oaths is found in Numbers 30; “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” Since an oath involved the name and possible judgment of God, it was not to be taken lightly. Jesus also warned against using empty oaths (Matthew 5).  So, confess, repent, agree, and allow God’s healing power to restore and build the relationship we all desire to have with God by believing in Jesus and what He did to save us from our sins. The peace, love, and joy that we seek is found in God alone—seriously!

Lord,

The wisdom you demonstrate through your faithful leader, Nehemiah is greatly appreciated, convicting and affirming. To know the greatness of your love and the beauty of your complete forgiveness is almost beyond our thinking. However, even though undeserving, I will continue to believe what you say while standing firm Your promises to love us forever.  Thank you for making a way for us confess, repent, agree, and be healed of our sins then and now. Thank you, Jesus.  To you be the glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen

I used to work as a credit counselor/collector for a department store as a young adult working my way through school.  It was tedious and stressful to help people understand why we would have to say no to certain purchases or help them later to figure out a way keep making payments when they would fall behind for several months.  Our place of business showed mercy in the process with counseling set in place to help people or I would not have been able to work there.  I learned many things about the importance of paying what you owe, not buying what you cannot pay back in the shortest amount of time, along with the importance of having a budget that included a margin for emergencies.

God used these experiences in others to help me see what happens when we are careless and foolish with what God has given us; no matter how large or small. This training, along with many Godly mentors, helped us in our early years of marriage. We learned early that a good and faithful steward seeks wisdom from God then listens and learns how to give from what God has given to them. Faithful stewards always have something to give from what God gives and they do it with a “cheerful heart.” Givers who recognize how much God has given to us love to give to others in need. Giving is in our DNA from our God who created us “in His own image”!

What a blessing to steward God’s way—the One who gave His Son to redeem us!  I’ve seen it with my own eyes! 

While in Haiti, on another mission to provide help to pastors and their congregations and provide supplies and encouragement to educators of our schools; we were honored, surprised and blessed on a very hot sunny day after the church service by a beaming pastor with a plan! Our mission team of young adults and I were invited to his house for lunch hosted by the pastor and his family.  We were guided to sit around a makeshift table to eat a meal that someone had spent the morning cooking over an open fire outside.  The family did not sit down; they served us. The table was small but the team crowded around it in their dark hut that provided shade while the younger children fanned us. We were truly treated like royalty.  This was awkward for us but we receive their generosity with gladness.  As I remember and describe this experience; humbled tears of praise to God for this family roll down my face. What amazing love demonstrated to our tired team!

This particular church was up in the mountains where vehicles cannot drive so we had to rise early in the morning and hike an hour or two to get there. This hike was done by often by family and others trying to survive day by day. So, complaining seemed irreverent. I didn’t have to say a word to the team.  Lesson learned through demonstration of God’s grace!

With grateful hearts and beaming smiles, this family gave of the very best they had to bless and refresh us.  I will never forget their generosity and smiles that came from their truly cheerful hearts.  Someone had even hiked down the mountain to secure ice for our drinks! (I don’t even know how that was accomplished for that would not have been an easy task in the heat!) It was hard then, to hold back the tears of gratitude! But, I must tell you, that it was not the good meal, fellowship with our brothers and sisters, or the ice in my drink that impressed my heart the most; but of the lesson given to our team of humbled, grateful generosity.

In our passage today, Nehemiah, a man called of God to rebuild the walls and to spiritually restore God’s people in the process, speaks against profiting from the poor and powerless due to unforeseen circumstances.  He is certainly God-led in making course corrections in their walk with God!  We learn much if we listen and allow God’s Holy Spirit to correct us!

Nehemiah 5

Nehemiah Helps the Poor

Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews. ² Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.”

³ Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.”

⁴ Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. ⁵ Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”

⁶ When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. ⁷ I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them ⁸ and said: “As far as possible, we have bought back our fellow Jews who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.

⁹ So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? ¹⁰ I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! ¹¹ Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”

¹² “We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.”

Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised. ¹³ I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “In this way may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. So may such a person be shaken out and emptied!”

At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

¹⁴ Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. ¹⁵ But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. ¹⁶ Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.

¹⁷ Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. ¹⁸ Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.

¹⁹ Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

It comes to mind that Jesus also taught to “lend, expecting nothing in return”.  Here is the whole lesson from our Lord;

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Luke 6:32-35

This verse is emphasizing radical generosity and love, even for enemies, contrasting normal lending where repayment is expected. Although giving freely does not compute in the world of business practices for success; this selfless act is a call to help the needy without profiting from their hardship.  As we discover here; this aligns with Old Testament principles against using the poor for personal gain in our story today. 

Another aspect of prayerfully and carefully handling what God has given us for our good and His glory is knowing that in the budgeting to give process our faith grows deeper!  However, if we are not careful, trying challenges with unforeseen calamities might shatter our faith and trust. Our response is a choice.

The difference lies in who we seek first and trust in all the things.  “In this world we will have troubles,” Jesus reminds followers, “but relax for I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33) Jesus is talking about the trials and troubles of this fallen world that can be used by God to build our faith in the overcoming process!  Whether poor and in need or wealthy; we all have troubles that only Jesus can help us overcome from the inside out!  Jesus, the cornerstone of our faith, is all we need in all circumstances here on earth.

Speaking to the church in Phillipi, Paul says, “I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.” Philippians 4:10-14

We have learned that when some of the people began exploiting the poor, Nehemiah cried foul. He considered the poor to be valuable members of society, and he protected them.  Nehemiah “stood in the gap” as an advocate for those exploited.

We learn that God concerns himself with poor and helpless people. People who have no power in society are not less important or less valuable but have great worth in God’s eyes.  Do we feel the same?

And one last thought—

When a woman was compelled to honor Jesus by breaking the seal of an alabaster jar filled with her life savings of expensive perfume, a custom of the time, like life insurance for burial; the disciples were indignant! What a waste!

“Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”—Jesus, Matthew 26:10-13

It wasn’t about being poor or rich.  It was not an excuse to ignore the poor, either.

It wasn’t about the gift but the giver who gave generously from a surrendered heart of pure faith. 

God sees the hearts of the surrendered; those whose hearts are fully committed to Him—the Giver of Life! 

^“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles (unbelievers) seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” –Jesus, Matthew 6:31-33

“The poor among us” also means we are given numerous opportunities to serve God by giving through sharing what God has given to us with a cheerful heart expecting nothing in return. Often it is the poor among us who teach us the art of pure faith in their generous actions of God’s love.

What is our response to God’s call to stand in the gap for those in need?  I pray our giving avoids coming from an arrogant heart and pride filled mind that thinks because we have more and give more readily that we are more valuable in God’s eyes! This is not “cheerful heart” giving!  Mother Therea was quoted often to say, “You have not truly given until you give until it hurts,” which was meant to emphasize that true love and generosity often requires personal sacrifice and selflessness, going beyond mere humanity giving, for the purpose to truly meet the needs of others with unconditional love, as exemplified by Jesus’ sacrifice. (Philippians 2)  It’s not always stuff to give but being available to listen to understand as we give.

“Cheerful heart” generosity is giving sacrificially, willing to experience some discomfort or even loss, to serve someone without expecting anything in return, making it an act of pure love—like my Haitian friends that day all those years ago.

It is in our willing discomfort that we see and hear God more clearly and concisely.  And what a blessing it is to know, hear, and see God at work in our lives in all His glory!

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your mercy, and restore the joy of your salvation at work with us to be all you created us to be.  Help us to be people who seek justice, love mercy, as we walk humbly with you. Give us courage in uncomfortable circumstances. To YOU be all glory, honor, and praise!

In Jesus Name, Amen