Rebuilding Of The Heart
(Barnabas Ng, DISCIPLE Facilitator, Discipleship & Nurture)
READ:
Nehemiah 9 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
After days of celebration of the Festival of Tabernacles and the studies of God’s word, the people assembled again to seek the Lord for a spirit of revival within their community. Intentional efforts were made as they decided to fast all day, wearing sackcloth as an outward symbol of humbling before the Lord. And as they have completed the rebuilding of the wall, the Jews also realised that it was a time for the rebuilding of their relationship with God. They did this through the following steps.
1. Seeking God through confession and repentance.
2. Seeking God through praise and thanksgiving.
a. vv5-6 – Praise God for His creation and His supremacy.
b. vv7-8 – Praise God for His covenant and His faithfulness.
c. vv9-11 – Praise God for deliverance.
d. vv13-14 – Praise God for His words and Sabbath.
e. vv15,19-23 – Praise God for His sustaining power and provision.
f. vv 26-28 – Praise God for His mercy and forgiveness despite persistent backsliding.
3. Seeking God’s mercy
APPLY
Have you ever built a Lego set without its instruction manual? Or maybe installed an IKEA cupboard freestyle? While there would be some that can complete such a task without the manual, most of us would need a point of reference, a guide for us to complete the above tasks.
Likewise, as an intentional disciple, we cannot “rebuild” our spiritual life without the guidance of God’s words. The Scriptures are the blueprint, the instruction manual, the window to understanding God’s heartbeat for His people and for us, individually. As we take those steps to read and dig deeper into His words, and allow the words to transform our lives, we are rebuilding our spiritual self, we are breathing God’s heartbeat into our lives.
Nehemiah 9 illustrated to us 3 simple steps as we approach Him each day during our quiet time.
- Seek God first through confession and repentance.
- Give praise and thanksgiving as we discover His words and how it can transform our lives.
- Seek God’s mercy as His words shine on areas in our lives that we need to surrender to Him. Just as we would not go out with the love of our lives in sloppy clothes and unkempt looks, let us approach Him each day with a clean and teachable heart.
DO
I am reminded that to allow God to transform me through the reading of His words, I need to come before Him with genuine confession and repentance.
PRAY
Lord, thank you for your faithfulness despite my unfaithfulness. May you continue to rebuild and transform me as I seek you each day. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
