Category: Devotionals

These are devotional readings, composed by Grace at Wellington to aid in your reading of scripture and the application of it into your lives.

  • Nehemiah 4:1-14: Darts of the Devil

    Nehemiah’s building project certainly caught the devil’s attention. Here God’s People were rebuilding the walls to protect God’s temple, and Satan couldn’t have that! So he marshalled his minions to threaten and intimidate Nehemiah and the Jews as they laboured on the walls. This episode teaches us the reality of spiritual attack but also the…

  • Nehemiah 3: All Hands on Deck

    Nehemiah’s arrival in Jerusalem was followed by careful, and quiet, planning. It was only when Nehemiah had his plan ready that he explained the reason he had been sent, and called on God’s People in Judah to join him in the work. The sign-up sheet was passed around, but who would write their name down?

  • Nehemiah 2:9-20: Trusting God More

    Nehemiah’s actions show how his experience of God’s good hand caused him to trust God more. Even so, Nehemiah knew the world he lived in, and was sensible in his approach and bold in his leadership. Jesus, on a divine mission to repair the relationship between God and man, was the same. Nehemiah’s example encourages…

  • Nehemiah 2:1-8: The Good Hand of God

    In Chapter 1 we were introduced to Nehemiah as a man of prayer. Confronted by the defenceless state of Jerusalem, Nehemiah turned to the Lord in prayer. He acknowledged both the sinfulness of God’s people (and their just judgement), but also God’s goodness and promises to them. Nehemiah prayed that God would answer his prayer…

  • Nehemiah 1:1-11: Man of Prayer

    The book of Nehemiah introduces us to the man, and his personal character. But most importantly, it introduces us to a man of prayer. Nehemiah’s concern for God’s Kingdom is reflected in his persistent and humble prayer, an example that encourages us to regularly approach God’s throne with our own requests. The Book of Nehemiah…

  • Ezra 10:18-44: No Sin Left Uncovered

    Read Ezra 10:18-44 Any parent or adult who has supervised children knows that the time that is most fearful is when they go suddenly, terribly, quiet. Usually that means they are up to no good. Generally, they are hoping and thinking that they will get away with it. Inevitably, they are wrong. Whether discovered straight…

  • Ezra 10:1-17: Holiness and Repentance

    That repentance brought the same from many of God’s People who observed him, and were convicted by the Holy Spirit to do the same. It also brought a sense of perspective, as it was Shecaniah who encouraged Ezra that all was not lost. Sometimes, leaders need reminding of God’s mercy too.

  • Ezra 9:1-15: Prayer for God’s Mercy

    We need to understand the point of the laws, and what they meant for the Jewish people and for us today in the light of Christ. That is true of Ezra’s objection to intermarriage. This was not based on racism, but religious purity. And importantly, Ezra’s response reminds us that whatever the corporate sin of…

  • Ezra 8:21-36: Stepping out in faith

    Ezra’s example is one we can follow as well as we walk through our own seasons of change. As believers, we know that for all those in Christ God works all things together for our good, just as Ezra could proclaim “the hand of our God is for good on all who seek him”. Same…

  • Ezra 8:15-20: Lacking Levites

    Ezra was returning to Jerusalem to bring about further reform of the worship and rule of God’s People there. He went as a man appointed by his earthly king, on the command of his Heavenly King. He did not travel alone, but with thousands of other returnees.