What Big Thing Does God Want to Start From Your Small Step?

Nehemiah 7:5-73 is the sort of thing people skip over when they read the Old Testament, as verses 6-73 are simply a census list of the returned exiles.

BUT

That boring detail is actually a key step to an amazing spiritual breakthrough.

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Nehemiah has a sense that the Lord wants him to take a census of the people:

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. [Nehemiah 7:5]

Nehemiah is obedient to the Spirit’s prompting, and he begins to gather the people for a census. The rest of the chapter is a list of the exiles.

Who cares?

The reason this matters is that chapter 8 (coming tomorrow) tells us that when Nehemiah gathers the people together for the census, there is an amazing revival among the people! (Again, more tomorrow.)

Today, we read that Nehemiah feels prompted to take a census, and that small obedient step leads to a big spiritual breakthrough.

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Here’s my question for you: what small obedient step do you feel as if the Lord is asking you to take TODAY? What if there is a BIG BREAKTHROUGH waiting in your future that all depends on your small step today?

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Luke's Gospel Begins

For the next several months, we'll be reading Luke's Gospel together. Some quick points:

1. After reading Matthew and then Mark, I've noticed how different Luke's style is. Compared with Mark's vivid immediacy, e.g., Luke seems much smoother and more elegant.
2. Luke tells us in his prologue (Luke 1:1-4) that he has studied other sources (other Gospels?) and deliberately arranged his account in a way that will help us readers have confidence that Jesus is the Lord. Note that Luke doesn't say that he was in some kind of trance when he was writing; rather, God used Luke's free will and hard work to give us this Gospel.
3. Zechariah disbelieves the angel's promise that he will have a son (John the Baptist) in his old age. Note that Zechariah's disbelief doesn't keep God's word from happening; Zechariah's disbelief keeps Zechariah from having the joy and peace the come from trusting God at his word.

Over and over, scripture tells us not to be afraid. Don't let your worries rob you today of the joy and peace that God's word brings.

Today’s Scripture:

Luke 1:1-25

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