Which one are you?

okay so i've been in the thralls of homeschooling so blogging has taken a back seat - it's been everything in me just to get my daily bread in - so one thing i have learned over the past couple weeks is if one day goes by with me not being in the Word - studying - i am poopy - really poopy - it's that dependence thing....i know it's the best place to be with Jesus so dependant that even just one day without studying the Word leads to a crummy heart - anyway all that to say this morning when i was working on my Nehemiah study - finishing up chapter 13 - gosh i'm gonna miss Nehemiah - if you didn't know he is my total Bible guy crunch ( crush) - don't worry Bobby knows :0) anyway as i was working on this chapter i was thinking about all the yuck these people started doing - the compromise anyway it rabbit trailed me back to Chapter 11 so i really wanted to blog about chapter 11 and to give a little bite to chew on this morning here is my take on what's going on in Nehemiah Chapter 11
to move back to jeruselun was the right thing for them to do, yet very few chose this - in fact the leadership had to cast lots to decide who had to move since so few did so on their own initiative-now the ones who volunteered the priest blessed them - but the ones who were chosen in the lot casting were not blessed by the priest - .... moving back to jeruselum living within the confines of those walls meant packing up from what hey deemed a good secure life - they had jobs, homes, relationships, life was good - living inside the walls meant the unknown, living a stricter obedience life to God because they would be living closer the the temple (God's dwelling place) - how often this is our delima to pack up from our lives of compromise and disobedience and move closer to to where God dwells - for us this is with in us, as christians, God lives with in us, our bodies are now called His temple - so there is only one way to move closer to God and that is to die to self, ( the song empty me by jeremy camp comes to mind) and chose more of Him: all of our emptying of self looks different - for me it's pray/studying His Word/ being still before Him/ asking for clean hands-pure heart/ always being mindful of how my Jesus would respond ( you know that WWJD thing)/ praising Him even in the storms of life / and alot of fellowship - you know the real kind where your time with your friends are focused on Him.
anyway, however just like the jews way back then we to would often rather stay in our place of idolatry and what seems to be a place of comfort. the story here in nehemiah we see 3 classes of people: the ones that chose to move back when permission was first given (they were the ones that got that extra blessing fromt he priest) - than the ones that were chosen in the lot - then those who never moved. Here is what i see true of us today. we can look at it either in our walk with Jesus or even simply apply it to ministry.
1. some of us chose to it fully the moment we are given the green flag
2. some have to be dragged in (lot) it is a complete act of obedience you know it's the right thing but your heart is not yet secure in it.
3. then there are those who are happy and content to witness the things of God from afar. not really gettin all the hoopla about it yet they show up make the appearance then go home to the life of compromise.
so the ? comes which one are you?
another little thing i loved about this that we didn't talk much about from up top is that the ones who willing went they were blessed by the priest - this is so true - i know that there are times in the ministry that i think why doesn't every one chose to completely embrace all that the ministry offers and i realized that there is this blessing of the heart that comes to those that go after all that we are offered - it's really hard to explain - it just happens and until you have experienced it for oneself you really do not know what you are missing. of course this applies to our walk with Jesus as well - if you think about it they are one in the same.
so there that was my rabbit trail this morning - yes i did get into chapter 13 as well but i'm sure you don't want me to ramble on about that ;0)
live a great day chasing righteousness!

i'm off to the land