KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus
Through Every Chapter
Date: Monday,
May 23, 2016
Chapters: Nehemiah 11-13
Message: Choosing Jesus

Hello
My Friend,

Choosing Jesus is not something that we
automatically do, oh, He nudges us along the path we choose, but it
is not something that comes naturally to us. That is why choosing
Jesus is a big deal to God, it means we finally realize that we
cannot do all this on our own. Even though we choose Jesus it can be
easy to get sidetracked when the pressures of life come knocking at
our door, sadly, it is during difficulties when most lose sight of
God. When we get to that point we must step back and seek our own
personal spiritual revival. It's amazing what praising can do in the
midst of the most difficult circumstances. “Let
your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be
careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:5-7.

When
Nehemiah left Babylon he was determined to bring the presence of God
back to it he was succeeding pretty well. Ezra and his crew were
successful at restoring the temple, Nehemiah and his crew were
successful at repairing the walls that would keep the world out. For
the first time in nearly a hundred years the Law of God had been
read, the passover was observed, and thousands of people willingly
promised to serve God. However, very few actually lived within the
walls of Jerusalem, most of them lived in the suburbs where they
could make a living more easily. Because of this, there was not
enough people living in Jerusalem to maintain and protect it. An
account is given of those who willingly offered to stay in
Jerusalem.

“And the rulers of the
people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to
bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts
to dwell in other cities. And the people blessed all the men, that
willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem. Now these are the
chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem: but in the cities of
Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their cities, to wit,
Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinims, and the
children of Solomon's servants. The overseer also of the Levites at
Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of
Mattaniah, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, the singers were
over the business of the house of God. For it was the king's
commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the
singers, due for every day. And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabeel, of
the children of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's hand in all
matters concerning the people.” - Nehemiah
11:1-3,22-24.

“was at the king's
hand in all matters concerning the people.” You know, God
may be up there on His throne, but every matter in His hand, there is
not one thing that goes on that He does not know about. When we
choose Jesus, we are His business, that means we choose to stay
within His walls. God will not stop us from going out into the world,
but the walls that He puts around us are not meant to keep us out of
the world, they are meant to keep the world from coming into us. No
matter where we go, a job, school, church, a restaurant, we represent
Him, that means people ought to see Him in us. God does not force
Himself upon us, we must willingly come to Him, and willingly
choosing Him includes being willing to remain within His walls to
keep from being enticed by them. “I have
given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep
them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of
the world.” - John 17:14-16.

Nehemiah went to
the people and encouraged them to return to God, it was a revival,
the Levites and those of Judah and Benjamin returned to God with
great joy and began to rebuild the city. “Also
that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had
made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children
rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. And
at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures,
for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather
into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for
the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for
the Levites that waited. And both the singers and the porters kept
the ward of their God, and the ward of the purification, according to
the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son. For in the days of
David and Asaph of old there were chief of the singers, and songs of
praise and thanksgiving unto God. And all Israel in the days of
Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the
singers and the porters, every day his portion: and they sanctified
holy things unto the Levites; and the Levites sanctified them unto
the children of Aaron.” - Nehemiah 12:43-47.

“so
that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.” Life
gets difficult, and to be honest, choosing to live a life that has
Jesus in it can bring even more difficulties because we are no longer
part of the world. Choosing Jesus may not be popular, but we can have
a pretty good life here, despite the difficulties. God does not place
us in the world to be of the world, but that His Son might be seen
through us and bring others to Him. And let me tell you, if the world
does not see Him in you, perhaps it is time to rethink your
priorities. Christians today have lost their zeal for Jesus, they are
more concerned about what the world thinks of them instead of
proclaiming Christ. It is time to stop hiding Jesus, get excited
about Him, let our joy of Him be heard beyond our comfort zone. “If
the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If
ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye
are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto
you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my
saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do
unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.”
- John 15:18-21.

After being in Jerusalem for about twelve
years Nehemiah said it was time to return home to Babylon, after all
the temple was in order and everyone was serving God faithfully. He
went home and sadly it did not take long before they began neglecting
their duties, including the spiritual leaders and temple workers.
When Nehemiah arrived he was stricken with grief, how could such a
small town get so out of touch with God so fast. Nehemiah quickly
gathered everyone together, began upbraiding them and reminding them
why they were to separate themselves from among them in the first
place.

“And I commanded the
Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should
come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O
my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness
of thy mercy. In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of
Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: And their children spake half in the
speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but
according to the language of each people. And I contended with them,
and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their
hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your
daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons,
or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these
things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was
beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel:
nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin. Shall we
then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress
against our God in marrying strange wives?” - Nehemiah
13:22-27.

“Did not Solomon king of
Israel sin by these things?” Do you think that everything
that the people of God did was something that He approved of? No. We
are all the same, sinners saved by His grace. God used men and women
that were no different than us, none of them were prefect, which is
why He chose to put these people in His book. Every person, Adam,
Moses, David, Mary, John the Baptist, Paul, name any key figure in
His Word, none of them were without sin (except Jesus), but by the
grace of God, He used them all to be examples and testimonies of how
loving, merciful, and gracious He is to those who willingly choose
Him. We are not perfect, we do have to try to be because we have the
perfect one in us, but we are examples and testimonies of a life that
was led by Jesus. Or we can be examples and testimonies of a life
that pretended to know or rejected Him, but we have no one to blame,
but ourselves for the consequences of the choices we make outside of
Jesus.

“I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace
given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
- Romans 12:1-3.

Jesus Christ
Revealed: Today, Jesus is revealed through Nehemiah who
upbraided the people who were selling and working on the Sabbath.
Jesus overturned the tables and upbraided the people who were selling
in the temple “And Jesus went into the temple
of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that
sold doves, And said unto them, It is
written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have
made it a den of thieves.” - Matthew 21:12,13.

Today's
Prayer: God, I have spent time trying to live the way I
wanted to live, and while I did have some success, it didn't last,
and it always proved to be a sinking ship. I do not want to walk
through the wide gate anymore, it only brings pain and suffering, I
want to walk travel the narrow path, the one led by Your Son, who
took my place on the cross for the sins I deserved. Lord, lead me and
guide me, give me Your power to stay on the narrow path, give me the
strength to separate myself from the world and let me not be tempted
by it's visage of evil. Keep me in Your Word and walking with You
daily so I do not fall off the narrow path. In Jesus' name. Amen.


God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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