Repetition can embed meaning into a person or breed a familiarity that strips meaning from it. The same mountains one person longs to see are ignored by one who sees them everyday.
In the Temple, everyone contributed to keep the brazen altar fire burning. Not everyone could be a priest or afford to donate a lamb or oxen, but everyone could bring wood. How does this apply today?
“Success” can lead to our failure.
Too much of a good thing is a sure fire way to cripple any healthy organism. One of the easiest ways to sideline anything is to give it what it needs in excess.
Nehemiah reminds me that a leader doesn’t only get angry or weep about the problem, but gets their hands dirty to discern solutions and courage to implement them. #leadership
Build the temple before the wall…
When the remnant returned to Jerusalem they rebuilt the temple well before they rebuilt the city walls making a counterintuitive statement to everyone…”the Lord is our fortress!”
Don’t measure success by the response of others. In Acts 28 Paul, possibly the greatest evangelist besides Jesus, was rejected by the majority of the people in his last recorded “sermon.” Some even left before he was finished. Success is measured by faithfulness, not fruitfulness
How to NOT survive a storm (Acts 27)
-Ignore warning signs -v7
-Go with the flow -v15
-Reject counsel -11
-Look for wants not what is right -v13
-Give up hope -v25
-Neglect yourself -v34
-Hold on to anchors -v40
-Stay with a sinking ship -43
#discipleship
You’re an underrower not the Captain
In Acts 26:16, when Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus He appointed Paul as a servant, which means “underrower on a gallery ship.” Know your role…there can only be one captain.
#leadership