Day 3

Scripture to Read: Nehemiah 2:13-15

When God lays a burden on our hearts, we need to seek His direction and discernment. We know that during the four months that Nehemiah prayed about the burden God had given him to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem, God also gave Nehemiah a clear vision of how to do it. We read in Nehemiah 2:13-15 that Nehemiah went out at night to examine the wall and the gates. Nehemiah had to begin to establish the vision God had given him into an actual plan to accomplish the work. Nehemiah only took a few men with him to survey the damage of the wall and the gates. As God uses us, we will sometimes need others to help us in the project God has given us to do. The vision God gives us is the beginning, but then real plans must be laid out so that everyone knows what they need to do to get the job done. If we go into a ministry of any kind and do not have a well thought out plan, we can waste the resources God provides for us. We can end up losing people's trust and bring dishonor to our Lord because we chose not to develop the vision into a hardcore plan. Laying out a hardcore plan is true for our daily lives as well. We must plan our day from the time we get up until the time we go to bed. When we have a plan, our time is not wasted or manipulated by others and we honor our Lord through each day.

Challenge & Application

1. What did God teach you today about planning for ministry and for your daily life to be useful to Him? 2. Who can you help this week who struggles with laying out a daily plan so they honor God with their time and resources?

Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!

Devotionals from this week

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Day 1

God works in miraculous ways in our lives every day. Sometimes, as believers, we begin to think that we should not have to face struggles, tests, or trials if we are in God’s will. If we are walking through a trial, we think we must have done something wrong or that we are doing something wrong. But, as God has taught us throughout His Word, ...

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Day 2

Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem along with the military escort the king provided and all of the lumber and materials needed to rebuild the wall. There is no doubt people would be wondering why they were there in Jerusalem. We read in Nehemiah 2:11 that Nehemiah and everyone with him had been in Jerusalem for three days. We also read in Nehemiah...

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Day 3

When God lays a burden on our hearts, we need to seek His direction and discernment. We know that during the four months that Nehemiah prayed about the burden God had given him to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem, God also gave Nehemiah a clear vision of how to do it. We read in Nehemiah 2:13-15 that Nehemiah went out at night to examine the wal...

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Day 4

After surveying the wall of Jerusalem and the gates, we read that Nehemiah had kept his surveying expedition pretty secret. No one knew where Nehemiah had gone or what he had been doing. We know Nehemiah had been checking on the extent of the damage to the wall and the gates. The word used in Nehemiah 2:13 and Nehemiah 2:15 is the word “inspe...

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Day 5

We read in Nehemiah 2:17 that Nehemiah told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who would do the work the huge job that lay before them. Nehemiah was honest and told these people the bad news, that the situation they were in was grim, that Jerusalem was desolate, and that the gates had all been burned by fire. Now, ...

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Day 6

Wherever God is at work, we must remember that the spiritual forces of darkness will also be at work (Ephesians 6:12). We read in Nehemiah 2:19 that Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem began to mock and despise Nehemiah and the Israelites who were part of the rebuilding project. Remember back in Nehemiah 2:10 that Sanballat and Tobiah were very dis...

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Day 7

When faced with the spiritual battles of this life each day, we must be sure of our foundation in Christ and His Word. As we saw in yesterday’s devotion, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were mocking and looking down upon Nehemiah and the others who were rebuilding the wall and the gates around Jerusalem. Interestingly, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Ge...

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