Two words you might not think would typically go together
(26 verses of the Jewish phonebook) of those involved in the dedication of all the work everyone had done to rebuild the walls and restore the work of God in the earth.
Nehemiah 12:27-43 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres…31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks…43 And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. ESV
The ruins were restored, the people were awakened and their lives were redeemed. Now we find them consecrating the work of the Lord in the earth and celebrating with joy that was known across the land!
To be consecrated means to be set apart first and foremost for service and worship to God.
The Temple was holy.
Leviticus 20:7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ESV
The temple is holy.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. ESV
God’s plan all along has been for us to be consecrated, clean and glad in his presence where there is fulness of joy. Have you ever thought about consecrating your phone to the Lord?
Our world is not clean and our world is not glad. God can make you clean, and God can make you glad but repentance is required for this to happen in your life.
Part of what we’re looking at in the restoration of the walls is the parallel to what God is doing in restoring the church of our day!
The Church of our generation has embraced faulty theology about Jesus that allows him to be Savior without having to be Lord.
When we celebrate grace but refuse to repent and obey God’s Word, we deceive ourselves. James 1:22
Jesus came saying, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” The Gospel of Jesus calls us to repentance and repentance brings refreshing!
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. NIV
It is through repentance we are refreshed and cleansed before the Lord. Repentance brings refreshing!
I’ve never had a single conversation in all the years of working with lots of people where someone said sin has been so refreshing to my life. I’ve had lots of conversations with people who say it feels so good to be free once I repented of my sins and turned away from destructive behaviors of sin.
Over the years, I’ve had conversations with victims of abuse. Most people who suffer sexual abuse describe the first thing they would do after the trauma of that situation was to take a - shower why? Because they feel unclean. The deeper desire to cleanse the soul shows up in the expression of cleansing the body, but it doesn’t reach deep enough. Only Jesus can do that.
Some of you are the life of the party and you love to make people laugh. You may be self-medicating something deeper that you want to avoid addressing. If anybody brings the deeper issue up, your reply is, I’m fine, let’s talk about something else. You can master bobbing and weaving but until you deal with what’s in the heart, you’ll never
find rest for your weariness and healing for your brokenness.
If you have never given your sin to Jesus, he want you to do so today we live in this broken society where people are angry. They’re fearful. They are bitter. They are self-promoting, self-medicating and self-destructing because they can’t get their soul clean. But Jesus can and he would love to do that for you today.
Is there something you need to repent from in your life?
Everywhere we go….
We Bring GP2RL Action Point: Take some time before the Lord this week asking Him what one area He wants to take complete charge of within your heart.
Jesus Christ is God. He is the center of history, and he is the savior of humanity.
Jesus is God, who became a human being to live the life none of us could live. The life that is pure, and without sin. Jesus died the death. We should all die because the wages of sin is death. He went to the cross to take our place and amazingly, he invites us to take his place being seated in Christ, at the right hand of the father. He became unclean to make us clean. He died so we could live. He was separated from the father, so we could be reconciled to the father. He endured the cross of shame so we could live without any shame. He died in our place and we live in his place. He came saying, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Repentance unlocks God’s Kingdom in your life.
Water cleanses on the outside the flowing river of life cleanses me on the inside.
NEHEMIAH: Consecration Celebration
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Click here for a downloadable PDF file of this guide.
UNDERSTANDING THE SEASON: Nehemiah is all about rebuilding the ruins of the work of God in our world. God’s people had grown distracted and disconnected from God’s plan for them to be the expression of His Kingdom in the Earth.
Jerusalem had been in ruins since the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C. Nehemiah lead the third of three returns to Israel after 70 years of exile in Babylon. Even in a state of ruin God was still at work looking for someone who would have a heart to respond to what God was about to do.
This is the condition of the Western church today. Much can be gained by a close examination of Nehemiah’s response in his day. God woke up a fresh movement that brought life but it was met with great challenges. No matter how challenging it was God was always seeing his work through.
God’s work is a work within us as we learn to respond to Him. It is God’s plan is for us to spend time drawing close to his heart and hearing his voice together as a family. This is why we start each meeting with this question first:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
FOR GROUP LEADERS: The focus of the day is how we are called to live a life that is consecrated to God. This is a lifestyle of service and worship to God. God changes our desires from within but then we must walk that out before God and in community. Consider starting your conversation by asking each person to describe a time in their faith journey when they became aware that Jesus was active in their life?
Nehemiah 12:27-43 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres…31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks…43 And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. ESV
God’s people had been awakened and God’s work had been restored and they were celebrating with gladness. This celebration was about consecration and dedication which simply means set apart first and foremost to God.
The Temple of God is consecrated and holy:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. ESV
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. NIV
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
2. DISCOVER: Have each person give a simple 60 second summary of what these verses are saying, encourage people to try not to add insights or application yet. Just simply summarize.
3. DEVELOP: What do you sense God may be speaking to you personally as we focus on these verses?
4. DEPLOY: We are to be doers and not hearers only. What will you do this week in response to what you sense God is revealing in this time together?
God’s plan all along has been for us to be consecrated, cleansed and joyful in his presence where there is fulness of joy.
Everywhere we go, we bring...
GP2RL: Take some time before the Lord this week asking Him what one area He wants to take complete charge of within your heart.