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The Bible Breakdown
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The Bible Breakdown
Nehemiah 09: God Rescues Us Every Time
Have you ever paused to reflect on God's unwavering faithfulness in your life, even when you feel undeserving? Join us for a profound exploration of Nehemiah Chapter 9, where we uncover the timeless theme: "God Rescues Us Every Time". We begin by emphasizing the crucial practice of taking breaks to recenter our lives and appreciate God’s steadfast goodness, mirroring how the Israelites confessed their sins and praised God after their hard work. This episode serves as a powerful reminder to recognize and celebrate God's enduring faithfulness, encouraging our growing community to engage and find strength in His love.
Journey with us as we recount the rich history of the Israelites, showcasing God's continual guidance and mercy despite their repeated disobedience. We delve into how God led their ancestors, provided sustenance, and delivered His laws, only to witness them turn away repeatedly. Yet, God's grace never faltered. Through heartfelt prayers for redemption, forgiveness, and healing, we renew our commitment to giving our burdens to God. Drawing inspiration from Nehemiah 8:10, we remind ourselves that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Let this episode be your beacon of hope, inspiring you to embrace divine joy and resilience in your life.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, nehemiah, chapter 9, and today's title is God Rescues Us Every Time. God rescues us every time, and I think it's important every once in a while that we sit and we think about where we have come from and where we're going, not so that we can just kind of wallow in all of our failures, but to celebrate all the times that God has been so very faithful and honestly, more faithful than if, we will be honest, we sometimes deserve. It just gives us an opportunity to celebrate the goodness of God. We're getting into all that in just a moment, but if always, of course, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Speaking of the YouTube channel, as you have noticed, we have just blown past 1,000 subscribers and we are on the road to 2,000 subscribers, just constantly wanting to build this community of people that we are gathered around reading God's Word and understanding it more every single day. That's why we call it the Bible breakdown, by the way. We want to break down God's word into what we can understand and then apply it to our lives, and that's also why we want you to comment on the YouTube channel, so that we can grow together. For the podcast listeners, there's a new thing you see in the show notes section, and that is where you can ask questions, you can make comments, you can do all of that and it comes straight to all of us so that we can hopefully just grow together. So make sure you're doing that. And then, as always, we all gather together at the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you, if you are not reading those devotions every day, you are missing out on something absolutely awesome, and because we do that together, the more we dig, the more we find. And so, if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me to Nehemiah, chapter 9. As we've been talking about throughout this short but powerful book of the Bible, it's this awesome idea of how we start by taking responsibility, and then we go all in and we work hard and all the things we've been talking about, and then finally, after we've experienced all the stuff, there's these moments where we just kind of recenter ourselves One of the things that's so hard about doing life and I've said this over and over again and I'm going to say it again, and that is. Life's not a movie, and that is. We watch a movie and it's two hours of our time. We read a book and it's however long it takes for us to read a fiction novel, at the end of the day it all works out right.
Speaker 1:But many of us life's a long time, it's going to be a long time and throughout that long time there's going to be ups, there's going to be downs and there's going to be a whole lot of just do it again, just keep going, keep going, and it just gets difficult. And because of that, over the course of time, sometimes we kind of get off track. I know when my wife and I, when we have been on some of these long trips that we've taken before, sometimes we'll get on these roads and it'll just be 200 miles of just keep going straight, and that's brutal because after a while there's nothing new to see, everything's kind of the same. And they even talk about how you can almost get hypnotized because you just really start to things, just start to just kind of blur, because they're all there and if we're not careful we kind of can veer off to one side of the other, and that's why you have to be so very careful and you have to take breaks. Well, today is about one of those breaks. They've done the hard work, they've done the stuff and now they just want to course correct a little bit, take a moment and make sure we're on the right track. And it's this moment where the people are going to confess their sins to God, kind of reorient their life and then move forward. And I think that's a wonderful lesson for all of us. And so, if you're ready, we're going to dive into Nehemiah 9, watch how they do it and then think about how we can apply it to our lives as well. You ready?
Speaker 1:Nehemiah 9, verse 1, says this on October 31st which for us Americans in the 21st century, halloween, but it's not for them, all right On October 31st, the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap. So I guess they were dressing up a little bit, all right. They dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads Not a very good Halloween costume. Verse 2. Verse 3. Then, for three more hours, they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord, their God. That's a lot of confession, all right, but they did.
Speaker 1:Number four, verse four the Levites Yeshua, benai, kadmil Adbenaiah, bunai, shabirai Banai and Kenai, stood on the stairway of the Levites and cried out to the Lord, their God, with loud voices. Then the leaders of the Levites, yeshua Cadmel Benai, hashbonai Sherebarai, hodai Hashbonai Am Pethenehi, called out to the people Stand up and praise the Lord, your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting. Then they prayed May your glorious name be praised, may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the skies and the heavens and all the stars. You made the earth and the seas and everything in them. You preserve them all, and the angels of heaven worship you. You are the Lord, god, who chose Abram and brought him out from Ur of the Chaldeans and renamed him Abraham, or actually it would be Abraham. Abraham Got a hach a little bit there.
Speaker 1:Verse 8. When he had proved himself faithful, you made a covenant with him to give him and his descendants the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites and the Girgashites. And you have done what you promised, for you are always true to your word. Isn't that amazing? Verse 9, you saw the misery of your ancestors in Egypt and you heard the cries from beside the Red Sea. You displayed miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, his officials and all his people, for you knew how arrogantly they were treating our ancestors. You have a glorious reputation that has never been forgotten. You divided the sea for your people so they could walk through on dry land, and you hurled their enemies into the depths of the sea. They sank like stones beneath the mighty waters.
Speaker 1:You led our ancestors by a pillar of cloud during the day and by a pillar of fire at night, so they could find their way. You came down at Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and instructions that they were just, and decrees and commands that were good. You instructed them concerning your holy Sabbaths and you commanded them, through Moses, your servant, to obey all your commands, decrees and instructions. You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry and water from the rock when they were thirsty, and you commanded them to go and take possession of the land that you had sworn to give them. But our ancestors were proud and stubborn and they paid no attention to your commands. They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to the slavery in Egypt.
Speaker 1:But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them, even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said this is your God who brought you out of Egypt. And they committed terrible blasphemies, but in your great mercy, you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness. The pillar of clouds still led them forward by day and the pillar of fire showed them the way through the night. You sent your good spirit to instruct them and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst. For 40 years you sustained them in the wilderness and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. Come on somebody. If you're over 50 years old, your feet didn't even swell. In Jesus' name, all right.
Speaker 1:22. Then you helped our ancestors conquer kingdoms and nations and you placed your people in every corner of the land. They took over the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan. You made their descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and brought them into the land you had promised to their ancestors. They went in and took possession of the land. You subdued the whole nation before them. Even the Canaanites who inhabited the land were powerless. Your people could deal with these nations and their kings as they pleased. Your ancestors, our ancestors, captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things with cisterns already dug in, vineyards and olive trees and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves and all their and all your blessings.
Speaker 1:But and here's the but despite all this, they were disobedient and they rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies. You handed them over to their enemies and you made them suffer. But in their time of trouble they cried out to you and you heard them. From heaven and, in your great mercy, you sent them liberators who rescued them from we're going to come back to that in a moment.
Speaker 1:You warned them to return to your law, but they became proud and obstinate and disobeyed your commands. They did not follow your regulations, by which people will find life If they only obey. They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen. In your love, you are patient with them for many years, and you sent your spirit and you warned them through the prophets, but they still wouldn't listen. So once again, you allowed the people of the land to conquer them, but in your great mercy you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a glorious, what a gracious and merciful God you are. And now, oh God, our God, the great and mighty, awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all this hardship we have suffered seem insignificant to you.
Speaker 1:Great trouble has come upon us and upon our kings and leaders and priests and prophets and ancestors, all of your people, from the days when the kings of Assyria first triumphed over us until now. Every time, you punished us, as you were being just, and we have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what we deserved. Our kings, leaders, priests and ancestors did not obey your law or listen to what your warnings, or your warnings and your commands and your laws. Even while they had their own kingdom, they did not serve you, though you showered your goodness on them, you gave them a large, fertile land, but they refused to turn from their wickedness. So now, today, we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment. We are slaves here in this good land. The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They have power over us and our livestock and we serve them at their pleasure and we are in great misery.
Speaker 1:The people responded in view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and the Levites and priests. Well, first of all, that's a long prayer, but what they were doing is they were saying God, you are so good to us. But what they were doing is they were saying God, you are so good to us and we've gotten off track. We just over the long period of time and kind of like that long road, and we got off track so many times. And they talked about how, god, you worked so many miracles in our life, but every single time we found a way to jack it up, we found a way to mess things up and go in our own way, and every single time you brought us back again, only for us to go again. And they just are very honest about what's going on, and really, what they're saying is God, will you do it again, will you be faithful again? But at the same time, and they say, if we would only obey you, you wouldn't have to do this, but we didn't. So will you help us again? And to which we know God does every time. And so what does that mean for us today?
Speaker 1:I think it's so important that we learn the lesson of what they're doing, and that is that every once in a while, we have to take a survey of where we are, look back over our lives and don't just look at the trouble, don't just look at the triumph, but look at them both together and to realize how many times have we gotten into a mess and it really was our own making. Now, obviously, there are times that we had nothing to do with. They're just bad things happen to good people. We live in a fallen world. There's also times when we kind of brought it on ourself, if we want to be really honest.
Speaker 1:But you know what I love about this? They owned up to it, they didn't make excuses, they didn't say somebody else did it. I mean, how easy would it have been for them to say some of these kings led us away. It wasn't our fault when some of this happened. It wasn't our fault. They could have done that. But the bottom line is they're free moral agents. So are we, and that is we have the right to choose if we want to follow God or not follow God. And they say you know what. We're not going to sit here and put blame on anybody. We ultimately did it.
Speaker 1:Did we have temptations? Yes, did we have bad influences? Sure, but we did it. And you know what, god, all that matters right now is that you rescued us every time, and we need you to do it again. What a wonderful prayer that would be for all of us. So here's your challenge today At some point today, maybe it's on your way to work.
Speaker 1:If you, today, at some point today, maybe it's on your way to work. If maybe you're on your way to work now, maybe it's on your way home, or whatever. But take a moment and just think about how many times the Lord has been faithful to you, how he has helped you through so many things, and then, if you're in a season right now where things need to be better, think about it and just be really honest. Okay, sure, there were temptations and yes, yes, there were bad influences and people did bad things for bad reasons, and God's going to deal with them. But what about you? You're not a victim, you're an overcomer. Don't give anybody else that kind of power over you. But instead you say you know what God, no matter whose influence, brought me to this moment.
Speaker 1:I have made bad decisions, I have done bad things, even if it was something that happened to you and you had no power over, did you bring it to God or did you allow it to fester into unforgiveness? Maybe that's your next step and say God, as soon as that happened to me, I should have brought it to you, but I didn't. And so what I'm going to do is is I'm going to say God, I bring it to you. Will you deliver me? Will you set me free? I'm not going to put it off on anybody else. I take responsibility and I'm going to give it to you and watch what happens. I have a feeling, if you'll do that, you will see that God has got enough power to deliver you, deal with them and set you back on a path of creating a legacy of God's faithfulness in your life.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that you see us and you know us. God, you know what has happened in our life. You know what's happened in the past, Lord. You know about those times that we had nothing to do with that. Bad things happened to us, but you know what, god. We're not going to be a victim of those things anymore, but we're going to stand up, we're going to take responsibility for the fact that it happened and that we are no longer going to be defined by those bad things, but instead we're going to give them to you, lord.
Speaker 1:For some of the things that we brought on ourself, lord, we're not going to sit there and allow them to fester any longer. We're going to be honest and we're going to bring them to you because, god, you are able to heal whatever we will bring. And so we bring it to you and we take those first steps today and trust you for every step after that. In Jesus name, we pray Amen, amen. Well, god's word says in Nehemiah 8, verse 10, don't be dejected or sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Nehemiah, chapter 10.
