Nov 24, 2022
NEHEMIAH 7:
Yesterday we read how Nehemiah stood up for all
the common people in their financial difficulty. The nobles were
rich, but everyone else was suffering— some even having no option
but to sell their own children into slavery. Amazingly, he
succeeded in convincing the nobles to forgive debts, and forced
them take a solemn oath about that. The wall was finished in just
52 days, but Nehemiah was getting more and more threats from
Sanballat and his cronies.
ISAIAH 37:
We
heard the challenge and mocking of the Assyrian chief of staff— who
brought the Assyrian King’s message to Jerusalem with a huge show
of force. The challenge was shouted out in Hebrew for all the
people to hear. (I always wonder how it was that the Assyrian
commander was fluent in Hebrew!) What a thing to happen to a king
that 2Kings 18 praises with these words:
2Kings 18:5 [NLT] Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time.
COLOSSIANS 1:
We
finished the wonderful book of Philippians yesterday. I count three
great promises in that 4th chapter. But note: This time I feel that
all of them are really conditional promises— even the last one. If
we are going to have God’s peace guarding our hearts and minds, and
if we want God to supply our needs, then we must give attention to
how Paul told the Philippians to live and how they were giving to
support Paul’s mission.
I encourage everyone to spend more time looking at the treasures of Philippians, and the same goes for the book we start today— Colossians.
Colossians was written around the same time as Philippians, and Philemon was a member of this church. This letter has another wonderful poetic portion in chapter one exalting Christ. In most of my presentations in Indonesian seminaries, I introduce our translation by reading Colossians 2. The things Indonesians don’t understand in their Bibles— and the things I hope you will understand in the GNT or NLT, are spiritual realities. These are things that are true of us spiritually which cannot be seen with physical eyes. If you understand spiritual realities, you get the opportunity to believe them. If you believe them, meditate on them. If you meditate on them, you will find them working powerfully in your life to transform you and release you from sinful desires.
GNT Translation
notes:
Col. 1:4 For we
have heard of your [belief//faith] in Christ Jesus and of your love
for all God's people.
5
When the true message, the Good News, first came to you, you heard
about the hope it offers. So your [belief//faith] and love are
based on what you hope for, which is kept safe for you in
heaven.