Study Guide:
Coming back from visiting the king, Nehemiah encounters a mess. The people were back to doing an ungodly life. The enemy was literally in their place of worship. People seem to have forgotten the revival that they had experienced, the one Pastor Bryce had told us about last week.
But before you judge the Israelites, ask yourself, might the enemy have a room occupied in your life? Here is Task 1: Examine your life, where might there be something in your life that you should actually rededicate to God? Be specific? In what area of your life is God not really number one?
Pastor Bryce shared with us three things we can do in order to stay on track with God:
- Keep your hands from being idle, instead build His Kingdom.
- Stay away from legalism, instead believe in the free Gift of Grace.
- Keep the enemy out of your life, instead don’t let down your guard and fight.
Here is your second Task: to each one of these three statements, find an actionable thing to do. Here is what this means: (1) Where can you serve in God’s Kingdom to keep from being idle? (2) How can you remind yourself daily that the Grace of God set you free? (3) Look at the armor of God (Eph 6:10-18). Which part of the armor do you need to pick up again? Where did you let down your guard?
Work on these three things. Write down your answers and the way you will put them into practice.
BUT most of all, you need to recognize that you can not do it on your own. As soon as their leader, Nehemiah, was gone and they were not busy with building God’s kingdom anymore, the Israelites slacked and drifted away from God. Just doing it, because it needs to be done, doesn’t work. Many have tried and failed. Legalism fails! But where legalism fails, Jesus succeeds!
How can you make sure that you are do it Christ’s way? What is Christ way? Learn your ABCs 
Admit – that you have tried to do it on your own. You have failed. And you need God to intervene.
Believe – What Jesus did on the cross contains the power for you to succeed. In Him, you can rest assured that you are forgiven and that His Spirit will empower you to life a God-honoring life.
Commit – your life to His leadership. Connect with Jesus daily and align your life with His Will.
This might be the first time you learn and apply this new way of the ABCs, or it might be a renewal of your commitment to Christ. Whatever it is, remember one thing:
Pastor Daniel
BibleApp
Through the Bible in one Year
Join us in reading through the entire Bible in one year. Each day of this plan guides you through passages from both the Old and New Testaments, allowing you to see connections between the history of our faith, and the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan. Readings average four chapters in length, so it is posible to do. When you use the YouVersion Bible App, you can even have the app read the Bible text to you – very useful when you are in the car or otherwise occupied with your hand.
All you need to do is click the link to the Bible Plan, which should lead you straight to the Bible app. Your two options are now (1) to read the plan on your own, one day at the time. Or (2) you can make it more fun and rewarding, by sharing the plan with one or more friends, and then even “Talk about it”.