You can make a big difference!

  

Please click this link for the video version of today's blog :

https://youtu.be/Avj9Pp69S_g?si=NuFmN6SDH8ZCcajW

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

      2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

     Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile. 

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.          **Sing a song to praise the Lord

      

     Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method) 

      https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

3.  John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)

**Please click this link to read how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/

           "Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

             Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

             Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

Today's Time with Abba:  Psalm 86:1-7; Nehemiah 1:1-3:14; 1 Corinthians 7:1-24; Proverbs 21:4

Please click this link for today's Time with Abba one year Bible: http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/

Key passages:

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.            Nehemiah 1:4

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”             Nehemiah 2:17-20

          

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passages we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to Him.    

The topic I received today from Jesus is: You can make a big difference!

Chapter 1 shows how Nehemiah made a big difference because he was a man of prayer and he fasted. 

Let's have a short review of the background before Nehemiah's time:

The book of Ezra records how God fulfilled the promise he made through the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 29: 10-14) to restore the Jewish people after 70 years of exile by bringing them back to their own land (Ezra 1:1). 

Judah's collapse as a nation and their deportation to Babylon (resulting from the nation's unfaithfulness to God) had occurred in three distinct stages: 

In stage one (605 BC), Judah's young upper class and governing officials, including Daniel, were taken into exile. 

In stage two (597 BC) there were 11,000 more exiles taken, including Ezekiel. 

In stage three (586 BC), the rest of Judah, except for Jeremiah and the poorest of the people, were taken away. 

In a similar way, the return of exiles to their homeland took place in three stages: 

In stage one (538 BC), 50,000 exiles returned, led by Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Ezra 2). 

In stage two (457 BC), over 1,700 men plus women and children, totaling 5,000 - 10,000 Jews were led back by Ezra (8: 1-14, 18-21).

In stage three (444 BC), Nehemiah led another group back (Ne 2: 1-10).

The book of Nehemiah concludes the history described in the Old Testament, when the Jewish exiles were permitted to return to their homeland from captivity in Babylon and Persia. The remaining books of the Old Testament cover the prophets who ministered during the time leading up to and including these events. The prophetic books describe in detail the conditions in Israel and Judah that led to their eventual destruction, captivity and exile. 

In the Hebrew, Ezra and Nehemiah formed a single book, recording the history of the three groups of exiles returning to the land of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. The book of Ezra covers events surrounding the first two returns (538 BC; 457 BC), and Nehemiah recorded events during the third return (444 BC). 

While the focus in Ezra is on rebuilding the temple, in Nehemiah it is on rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Both books emphasize the importance of spiritual renewal and of devotion to God and his Word. They show God's people getting a chance to start over and do things right after many years of enduring the consequences of spiritual rebellion and God's judgment.

Enough for the background, but have you got that? 

You can make a difference if you are willing to be a man of prayer and fast. 

Do you want to make a difference?

Then in Nehemiah 2:17-20, I noticed a key word for all the Israelites from God through Nehemiah,"Those who against us will have no share, who wants a share?" 

So the whole chapter three recorded how almost every Israelites wanted a share and joined in to rebuild the city wall. We know that from Nehemiah 6: 15 they did this impossible job in just 52 days!

It all started with only one person: Nehemiah. 

It all started through one action: fasting and prayers. 

It all started with one relationship:an intimate personal relationship of Nehemiah with God. 

It all started with one call: "Do you want a share?"

It all started with everybody responding to that call: "Yes, sure, we want to have a share!" 

Then, God gave them success as He promised to finish an impossible job in 52 days!

Do you want a share? 

Do you know what God is calling you to do to rebuild the wall of your own home church that the enemy do not have a chance to get in again? 

What is your respond to God's call?

Dear Lord Jesus,

I want a share! Help me to know where and when to start and how to work. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.

Reflect on these questions:    

1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch and what have you heard from Jesus now?

     2.  What is your next step to be more closer to Jesus, to be holy - that is to do what Jesus wants you to do and not to do what Jesus wants you not to do?

    

    Family Corner:

     Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message. 

    Please click this link for today's Time with Abba one year Bible four passages: http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/

     Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to Him.    

   For the Chinese version of this daily blog and video, please click this link (中文版請按此連結):

    https://timewithabbaprayinglisteningchinese.blogspot.com

     

     To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link:http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/

     If you would like to follow my "Subject shifting Devotion Method" from the "Time with Abba, Praising Singing", you are welcome to follow the direction below and then go back to the top of this blog to read today's key passage and my listening and sharing:

        Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

      2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

     Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Sing a song to praise the Lord

      

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method) 

https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

3.  John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)

(Please click this link to see how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/

           "Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

             Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

             Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

 My first blog "Devotion on Fire"  was written in English only  (July 17, 2009年7月17日至November 22, 2012年11月22日). Each day one chapter of Bible, from New Testament and then Old Testament. Completed in four months and three years:

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/blessings-from-rev-dr-john-stott.html

My second blog "Discipler 123"  was written in both Chinese and English (March 6,2011to December 31, 2016 ):

https://discipler123.blogspot.com/2011/02/day-1-choose-light-away-from-darkness.html

and "Time with Abba" blog and video (January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2024): 

https://discipler123.blogspot.com/2017/01/1-2017.html

 

 

Connecting Workshop 2025(Session 2)

Bishop Silas Ng on Three Streams

 https://youtu.be/xiSOSFF9Iw0?si=puDWFD9Cx01ADm-o