TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
Nehemiah 3:15-5:13
1 Corinthians 7:25-40
Psalm 32:1-11
Proverbs 21:5-7
Nehemiah 3:1 — The roll call of the faithful who were involved in rebuilding the walls! Pastor Wolfmueller has collected some maps to help explain what is going on:
Nehemiah 4:1 — No good deed goes unpunished! Nehemiah has learned the lesson from the past and intersperses the building project with prayer; we see this in Nehemiah 4:4-5 and Nehemiah 4:9.
Nehemiah 4:16 — A most unusual church building campaign! We often see the story of Nehemiah used in church building campaigns, but we can be thankful for the freedom of religion in America so that we don’t have to be physically armed. But just because our enemies don’t threaten us physically, we are daily tempted with a more subtle and dangerous enemy that has lulled us to sleep: APATHY!
Nehemiah 5:7-8 — Nehemiah is decrying crony capitalism – the “war profiteering” of his day. But note how he argued with them (Nehemiah 5:10) – he had the opportunity to demand their submission, but he didn’t. He led by example!
1 Corinthians 7:27 — Paul’s advice seems to contradict Ezra’s in Ezra 10:11 where he ordered the Israelites to divorce. Ezra, however, was talking to Jewish men who were marrying unbelievers, while Paul is talking to Gentile men who became believers after they had married other unbelievers.
1 Corinthians 7:28 — Having recently been married, I am glad that Paul says I have not sinned! For those of you who are single, John MacArthur has preached on this passage and notes the five blessings of singleness:
- pressure of the system (1 Corinthians 7:26)
- problems of the flesh (1 Corinthians 7:28)
- passing of the world (1 Corinthians 7:29)
- preoccupation of the married (1 Corinthians 7:32)
- permanence of the union (1 Corinthians 7:39-40)
Psalm 32:1 — Read how Isaac Watts set this psalm to music.
Psalm 32:7 — ”You are my Hiding Place” is based on this verse.
Psalm 32:8 — Sally Atari recorded “Be Glad” almost word for word from Psalm 32:8 & Psalm 32:11.
Proverbs 21:5 — Aesop memorialized this truth in his classic tale of the tortoise and the hare. Here’s the Disney version from 1934:
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