No Smoke. 💨 No Mirrors. 🪞 Just the Word. 📖

The Lord has placed a deep love for His Word on my heart.

So, much so that it sometimes takes my breath away.

I recognize why.

It’s because my time spent in God’s TRUTH is never wasted.

I never get up, walk away, and think, “Well, I got absolutely nothing out of what I read today.” 

His still small voice is always just a word, a phrase, a verse or two away. 

And, I leave with something: 

A prayer on my lips.

A nudge in my heart.

A direction to take.

An inspiration for my soul.

An encouragement.

Sometimes, it might be a word of conviction or warning.

BUT - there’s always something to contemplate. 

And, the way God’s uses His Word to spur me onward is something I want for everyone!

So, just the other day, when my morning quiet time took me to Nehemiah 8, the story of Ezra standing before the people to read the Law, resonated - fresh and filled with hope.

The people gathered.

Ezra stood on a platform before them. 

He was there to do exactly what his name implied.

He was there to “help.” 

Yes, he read the words.

But more.

From daybreak until noon, He opened the Word.

He taught. 

He provided meaning.

Brought the words to life.

Gave it clarity. 

Ezra opened the scroll.

He began to read.

The people stood. 

But, their response!

As Ezra praised the Lord.

They lifted their hands and shouted:

“Amen! Amen!”

Then they bowed, faces to the ground, and worshiped the LORD.

They wept. 

They mourned.

Deep conviction fell upon them.

They saw just how far their sin had separated them from their God.

I see the scenario in my mind.

Deep grief.

Snot-running-out-of-their-noses-grief.

What Paul would later call, “Godly Sorrow.”

The kind that leads to repentance. 

I don’t know how long this lasted, before Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites calmed the people, saying:

Do not mourn any longer.

This day is holy unto the Lord.

It has been set apart for joy.

The joy of the Lord that is your strength.

Do not grieve any longer.

And, what happened next is what I long to see among Jesus-Followers.

REVIVAL. 

CELEBRATION.

JOY in the LORD.

Their joy was very great.

(Nehemiah 8:17b)

No magic formula.

No fancy worship.

No smoke and mirrors.

No dog-and-pony show.

The WORD OF THE LORD brought understanding.

Understanding brought conviction.

Conviction led to repentance.

Repentance made way for JOY.

AND, JOY brought REVIVAL.

Which leaves me pondering:

Have we become so distracted, we’ve lost the WORD among the many words?

Have we crowded out the simple power of Scripture with much doings? 

Are we, like Ezra, helping with the clarity and meaning of what God says to us?

Oh, LORD, our great God…

Help us receive Your truth…

Respond to it in humility (and, yes, conviction)..

And, then…

May the joy of theLORD be our strength,

Followed by revival once more.

And, that’s just a thought.

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Who's Working On the Wall

If I were asked to describe the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, I’d do so using two simple words. Nehemiah shouts aloud:

Return.

Restoration.

After reading through the doom and gloom of the major prophets, I generally begin Nehemiah with a sigh and one declaration:

Finally!

Finally, God’s exiled people are returning to their homeland. 

The temple has been rebuilt.

The hearts of the people are returning to their God.

And, finally…restoration is underway.

What I really love about this book is the heart of the man who wrote it.

In him, I see courage, conviction, confidence, compassion, and a clear calling.

I admit.

I’m envious.

Add those things together, and what do you get?

Determination. 

Dedication. 

Decisive action. 

But what captures me most is this:

Nehemiah possess a heart that grieves a broken-down wall.

It has been in ruins for decades.

Earlier attempts have been halted. 

But, Nehemiah knows that those crumbling stones represent far more than a construction project. 

As long as the wall is in disrepair, then the Great and Mighty God of the Israelites appears weak and powerless. 

He becomes a mockery.

And, because the people of God are identified with the identity of God, they, too, appear weak and powerless. 

With this being a shame and honor based culture, the exiles continue to live under a cloud of reproach.

Defenseless.

Disgraced.

Scorned.

And, prone to continuous attack. 

Nehemiah’s calling? Rebuild that wall!

In 2023, I had the privilege of “walking the wall” around Jerusalem.

Or, what’s left of it.

It felt sacred.

Echos of former lament, celebration, battle, worship, and cries of chaos practically rise from the stones. 

And, I felt a smidgen of Nehemiah’s grief. 

But, not for the broken down walls of modern day Jerusalem. 

For the modern day “walls” of the Church.

Because, the “wall” is a powerful metaphor for the vulnerability, the lack of protective boundaries, of TRUTH neglected, of sin tolerated, of moral failure, of broken families, and of one generation failing to tell another the stories of faith.

So, I wonder.

I wonder if the world needs some Nehemiahs…

Men, women, and entire families willing to “work on the wall” - 

To begin exactly where Nehemiah began: to look at the section of wall directly in front of them and say:

“This is where I will rebuild.”

Perhaps rebuilding begins with returning to spiritual disciplines that have quietly lapsed.

Maybe it means restoring accountability to Truth.

Maybe it means rebuilding integrity where compromise has loosened the stones.

Maybe it means strengthening marriages and families.

Maybe it means telling our children and grandchildren, once again, the stories of God’s faithfulness.

Maybe it means getting back on our knees.

Nehemiah didn’t rebuild Jerusalem’s wall by himself.

Families repaired the sections in front of them.

Stone by stone.

Gate by gate.

Section by section.

Until what had been broken stood again.

Perhaps that’s where restoration always begins.

Not by staring at the enormity of the ruins.

But by asking:

Lord, what section of the wall have You put in front of me?

What stone do I pick up first?

We, like the exiles, need a return.

We need restoration.

And, that's just a thought!