FRIDAY, 4 APRIL 2025
TEXT: NEHEMIAH
9:1-21
1: On the twenty-fourth
day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing
sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.
2: Those of Israelite
descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their
places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.
3: They stood where they
were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of
the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord
their God.
4: Standing on the stairs
of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani
and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the Lord their God.
5: And the
Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and
Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting
to everlasting.” “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above
all blessing and praise.
6: You alone are the
Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry
host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You
give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
7: “You are the Lord God,
who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him
Abraham.
8: You found his heart
faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants
the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and
Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.
9: “You saw the suffering
of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.
10: You sent signs and
wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his
land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name
for yourself, which remains to this day.
11: You divided the sea
before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their
pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters.
12: By day you led them
with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light
on the way they were to take.
13: “You came down on
Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws
that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good.
14: You made known to
them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your
servant Moses.
15: In their hunger you
gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the
rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with
uplifted hand to give them.
16: “But they, our
ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your
commands.
17: They refused to
listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They
became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to
return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not
desert them,
18: even when they cast
for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you
up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
19: “Because of your great
compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of
cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night
to shine on the way they were to take.
20: You gave your good
Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and
you gave them water for their thirst.
21: For forty years you
sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not
wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
(New International
Version Holy Bible)
TOPIC: THE
X-RAY MACHINE
When
someone is down with an internal ailment, they are subjected to scanning or
X-ray to detect the problem.
The
X-machine is a short wavelength electromagnetic radiation usually produced by
bombarding a metal target in a vacuum which is used create images of the
internal structure of objects by passing through most objects and exposing
photographic film.
The
word of God is like the X-ray machine. It searches the inner heart and attitude
of a person. This is the reason the psalmist said, "Search me, oh God and
know the intent of my heart" (Psalm 139:23).
The
Israelites understood how God's word exposed their sins which led them to
openly confess and repent. This is exactly what God's word does when we read
and study it diligently.
It
serves as a deterrent against any form of sinful lifestyle. Despite the
Israelites' sins, God forgave them and will forgive anyone who confesses their
sin even today (1 John l:9. Vs I7).
QUESTION: How often does God's word rebuke you and how do you
respond?
PRAYER: O Lord, examine my heart and see if there is any wickedness in me so as to bring me to the point of repentance and help me not to go back to any sinful ways, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Remain
Blessed
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