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Master Builder

Build Day 8 Building Perseverance

February 23, 2022 by Sara Cissell Leave a Comment

Read His Words Before Ours!

Nehemiah 6:1-7:73
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Romans 5:1-5

Build, Day 8

Ice cream cone in hand, the woman walked to the nearest park bench. As she sat, her dog planted himself in front of her with a laser-sharp focus on the sweet treat.

The woman ate her ice cream at a contented pace and appeared to enjoy watching the activity around her: young families caravanning by with their bikes and strollers, other dog-walkers out for a leisurely stroll, and rambunctious squirrels playing tag amidst the trees.

Her dog, however, paid little attention to his surroundings. The occasional shifting of his ears indicated his awareness, but his focus never strayed more than a moment from the yummy goodness in his owner’s hand. She rewarded his calm patience with the last bite of the cone.

Just like that, the spell was broken. All evidence of the cone licked clean, the dog looked around him, taking in the activity and sniffing his surroundings.

The entire interaction was quite mesmerizing to observe, and served as a prime example of Nehemiah’s focus on building the wall.

Nehemiah possessed a similar focus and determination. He, too, could have become distracted by the efforts of Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and those others opposing the rebuilding of the wall. However, he kept his focus on the Lord and His glory. (Nehemiah 6:1-4)

Such focus required intentionality and a great deal of faith. His enemies sought to cause Nehemiah to give up on completing the wall. They constructed false narratives about Nehemiah planning to declare himself as king. (Nehemiah 6:5-9) If he’d attempted to clear himself of these accusations, Nehemiah’s energy and time invested in the wall would have been derailed.

When he persisted in building, the tactic changed.
False prophets began to warn Nehemiah of those coming to kill him. (Nehemiah 6:10-14) Nehemiah could have hidden in fear and declined his leadership role in order to save himself. However, much like the dog focused on the ice cream cone, Nehemiah kept his eyes and ears trained on the Lord. He listened for the Lord, did not hear the Lord confirming the warnings as true, and proceeded to lead the Israelites in rebuilding the wall.

Nehemiah showed great perseverance throughout his leadership of the rebuilding project. Successful perseverance is predicated on knowing the what and the why of a goal. Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was a large-scale what, and the why rested solely on the promises and character of the Lord. Nehemiah’s responses reflected his understanding of these concepts, and displayed a conscious choice to trust the Lord’s faithfulness.

Additionally, Nehemiah did not build the walls alone, and others followed his demonstration of the same faith-filled perseverance. Without all Israelites working together, the rebuilding would have taken longer or may never have even been completed. As the wall took shape, the team then needed to continue persisting in their faith by guarding it effectively.

The Lord’s focus and perseverance are also interwoven deeply throughout the story. He provided Nehemiah with favor, supplies, leadership grace, humility, wisdom, and courage. All of these, in turn, blessed the people whom Nehemiah led and displayed surrender to the Lord’s plan to rebuild the wall.

Evidence of the Lord’s faithfulness didn’t stop there! He prompted Nehemiah to gather the people according to genealogies. These names and numbers, listed in chapter 7, show the ongoing fulfillment of promises the Lord made to Abraham regarding his descendants being more numerous than the sand of the sea. (Genesis 22:17-18) Talk about a long-term example of perseverance!

The Lord’s perseverance and faithfulness continue to endure long past the close of Nehemiah’s story. His faithfulness is displayed today as He is near to each of us, waiting for us to lean into Him and His building plans for our lives. We are invited to persevere with Him as He builds His kingdom in and through us. While the context of our individual needs for His presence to pursue us varies, the foundation for our perseverance is the same: Jesus.

How has the Lord spoken to you in your current scenario? Are there specific verses, promises, or elements of His character you can focus on to empower your obedience?

The Lord has great rewards for our perseverance, rewards which may not be experienced for some time, or even in this lifetime. However, they are coming! (James 1:2-4) We may experience ridicule, misunderstanding, exhaustion, and many other challenges in our journeys, much like Nehemiah. For those who surrender to the Master Builder, Jesus, every trial will be accompanied with the joy of knowing obedience honors the Lord and His work carries an eternal impact.

Dear sisters, the effort and probable pain of perseverance is always worth it when Christ is the laser-focus of our life’s purpose. May we keep our gaze unswervingly on Him.
He sees it all and will reward our faith and trust in Him.

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Build Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Build!

Posted in: Character, Faith, Focus, Jesus, Persevere, Promises, Wisdom Tagged: build, grace, humility, leadership, Lord, Master Builder, Nehemiah, perseverance

The GT Weekend! ~ Terrain Week 3

August 21, 2021 by Erin O'Neal Leave a Comment

The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) The region of Galilee was where Jesus spent a great deal of His time while on earth. He knew its roads and topography well. He was familiar with how to navigate the city and He knew the faces of those who lived there. Lori left us with a challenge in her Journey Study on Monday, “Go for a walk today and as you walk think about the terrain Jesus walked. From the calling of His disciples, to the road He traveled to his death. Where, or how, is Jesus calling you to walk? Who, or what, are you following? Jesus or something/someone less? Pray for open eyes and attentive ears. Invite Jesus, our Master Teacher, into your ordinary and allow Him to make it extraordinary!” Do this! Then, write down what you learned from God’s Spirit on your walk. Is the Lord calling you to introduce yourself to the new neighbors, or strike up a conversation with someone nearby who is different than you? Has He placed a desire in your heart to take a step of faith toward a big goal? What would it look like to trust Him and follow Him, even when you can’t see where this step might lead? Commit your way to the Lord and watch with an eager heart what He might do in you, through you, and for you!

2) On Wednesday we reflected on the exile of John to the island of Patmos. Exile is a theme throughout Scripture from Adam and Eve to Abraham to the nation of Israel and even to the early Church. The idea of exile (because our sin casts us out of God’s presence) reminds us of our need for redemption and to be “brought back into” God’s good design. Like Abraham living as a foreigner in the land (Hebrews 11:13-16), we too, if we have given our lives to Jesus, live as foreigners and strangers in our own land. (1 Peter 1:1-2) Like the exiles in Babylon, we are called to pray for the land we are dwelling in and pursuing its well-being. (Proverbs 11:10) Yes, we may meet opposition, but Jesus told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Furthermore, we must pray for our brothers and sisters in parts of the world where persecution poses a more physical and dangerous threat. Spend some time today praying for the well-being of your neighborhood, city, and country. Then check out this prayer guide from Voice of the Martyrs to help you pray for brothers and sisters around the world who are living with the very-present threat of persecution. Model your prayer after Paul’s prayer for persecuted Christians found in 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12.

3) We’ve spent three weeks studying the terrain of different scenes from Scripture. Maybe you’ve never considered the literal mountains, lakes, meadows, and rocky places where biblical history unfolded. Or maybe, you’ve traveled to the Holy Land and you already have these physical elements vividly pictured in your mind. In light of all we’ve learned, consider the physical terrain of your own life. Where do you see beauty? Where do you find the messes? What zones in your home or your life are safe? Which ones are sacred? Which ones feel beyond repair? What would it look like to surrender each of these to the Master of All Creation? What if we each trusted God as our own Master Builder to redeem and renew the terrain of our lives? Take a sheet of paper and draw out a blueprint of your life. Mark out the rooms and their sizes, then label them according to what is flourishing or struggling in your life. Search Scripture for verses of praise or truths you can claim over each “room”. Keep the blueprint sketch in your Bible as a reminder to pray continuously over the terrain around you, intentionally surrendering it to the Lord!

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

In view of this, we always pray for you that our God will make you worthy of his calling, and by his power fulfill your every desire to do good and your work produced by faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer Journal
Oh Lord our God, You have created the heavens and the Earth. You have shown us Your greatness in the work of Your hands. And yet… We know this Earth, as it is today, is not our home. We are strangers in a foreign land, eagerly awaiting the new heavens and the new Earth where we will be fully at home in Your presence. Sustain us, oh Lord, with Your truth as we feel the pain of this life. Comfort those who suffer for Your Name’s sake. Strengthen and embolden those who live in places where worshiping You puts their lives and livelihoods in danger. Thank you for their example of steadfastness. Teach us all to worship You, setting You apart as Holy in our everyday worship, regardless of our civic religious freedom. As I walk through this life, help me to be eager to follow You, to do the good work You have created me for. Thank You for the growth You have already brought in my life. Please, help me to continue to grow in my delight in You. Thank You for the gift of salvation and for the many blessings You have lavished on my life. Help me to glorify You in all things!

Worship Through Community

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Posted in: church, Faith, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Journey, Ordinary, Redeemed, Scripture, Trust Tagged: extraordinary, Galilee, Lord, Master Builder, Master Teacher, presence, renew, Terrain

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