Oct 24

Nehemiah 8:1-10
1 In print editions of the NLT, the second half of 7:73 (“In October, . . .”) is set at the beginning of chapter 8.all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had given for Israel to obey.
2 So on October 8 Ezra the priest brought the Book of the Law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand.3 He faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law.
4 Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform that had been made for the occasion. To his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah. To his left stood Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.5 Ezra stood on the platform in full view of all the people. When they saw him open the book, they all rose to their feet.
6 Then Ezra praised the LORD, the great God, and all the people chanted, “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—then instructed the people in the Law while everyone remained in their places.8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the LORD your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
10 And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!”

Many people imagine God as a cosmic cop standing in the center of the galaxies like a police officer directing traffic. "Hey, you! Yeah, you. You look like you're having fun over there. Well, cut it out!" "And you, with the videotape. What's it rated? R? PG-13? Hand it over, slow and easy like!" "And who's that couple lip-locked in the corner? That you, Cindy? And Robert-I shoulda known! We'll have no more of that! Not while I'm patrolling this beat!" God. The Cosmic Killjoy. All we want to do is have a little fun. God just wants to spoil it for us. But that's not true at all. God is not out to spoil your fun. In fact, he wants you to enjoy life. He wants you to have a blast! He wants you to experience a full and joyful life. He thinks it's cool when you laugh. He enjoys it when you're having fun. He wants your life to be full of joy-complete, full, incredible. That kind of joy is what the Bible calls "the joy of the Lord," because true joy-like all good things-comes from God. The way puppies bounce around comically, tongues lolling out of their mouths-that was his idea. The way someone laughing really hard makes you want to laugh also, even if you don't know why he or she is laughing-that was his idea, too. The way you feel when you first experience the forgiveness of sin and the gift of salvation in Christ, as if you could jump high enough to slam dunk the moon through the rings of Saturn-his idea again! Only a God who is joyful himself could come up with such terrific ideas. That's the kind of God our God is! And he wants you to experience that kind of joy, too. That's why he gave his commandments. That's why he sent his Son. That's why he spoke his Word-so that you could get downright giddy with joy as a result of knowing him, following him, and having his Spirit living inside you. Joy from God's Spirit dwells so deep within you that it doesn't depend on circumstances. Loving and serving God doesn't spoil your fun; it opens the door to "an inexpressible and glorious joy" (1 Peter 1:8, NIV). Oh, and one more thing-the face babies make when they taste something sour or bitter? That was God's idea, too.

REFLECT: Are you more joyful when you've done something wrong or when you've done something really good? How can you experience more of "the joy of the Lord"?

ACT: Sing the chorus "The Joy of the Lord Is My Strength" as loudly as you can. Try singing it while jumping up and down or while patting your head and rubbing your belly. Or sing it while tickling a friend (or being tickled).

PRAY: "God, you're not a killjoy. You're the one who brings joy to my life!"

Sorry guys. Had a rough day, I don't think I can focus much on the devo.

I reallylike this. I like to picture how God is trying to protect us but we think that God is just spoiling the fun for us.
I remember when we were little, we would love to climb things and parents would complain to us to come down but we just thought that they wanted to ruin our fun. Now i know that they did that to protect us and was worried that something bad would happen. like falling off and breakiong a leg or breaking your back. Because that would impact your future and change you.
This is exactly what God is doing. He is watching over us making sure we do everyting he wants us to do and make sure we dont do anything dangerous or anything that makes us walk away from him. He wants to make sure that in the future we KNOW who he is and that we LOVE him. He wants to make sure that we are followers of christ thus making certain rules and always watching over us.

thats what i got
gnite

This devo didn't quite speak as powerfully to me.
I think what we need to remind ourselves is that the rules we get aren't just rules. They are the basic building blocks to a healthy relationship with God.
If God's aim is for us to be happy and joyful, he wouldn't do anything to restrict it, but there are some ground rules and guidelines that we have to abide by to ensure that we can rejoyce. Though the earthly things may seem good and fun at the time, true meaning comes from the joy that only God can give us, so seek that in your day to day life.

This could really apply to my life.
A lot of my "friends" at my school, think that being Christian is all about being a goody-two-shoes and all you ever do is read the bible and pray for 5 hours every day -.-
Especially since it's getting close to Halloween, I was considering to go trick or treating with them (I like free candy, don't judge me!) but then I realized, God might not really like the idea of me celebrating something to do with Satan. Also, it would be at night, and I highly doubt my mom will be fine with letting me out until midnight.
When I told my friends that they said I was too much of a Christian and that Christianity is too strict and boring.
How is it possible to be "Too much of a Christian". What is that supposed to mean?! Isn't it a good thing to be a huge Christian?
Anyway, I don't think being Christian is boring at all! Sure, it may be hard but it certainly is not boring!
Good Night!

The bible verses given for today Was a little confusing.....I did get the story though....:

it's natural fo humans to be curious and wonder about stuff we are not allowed to known or do. Even back in Adam and eve, they knew clearly that god did not want them to eat from that one tree. When you think about it, so many other trees filled with goodness were provided for them yet they chose to ignore gad and eat from that one tree because of their doubt and selfishness. After they ate from it, they felt ashamed. God doesn't want us to make bad choices and regret them after we have done it. We should always have god in our mind. Don't doubt his words. Trust and know what god wants is always for the better.

~Audrey~

sorry for not posting yesterday...i was staying up all night to study for a french test... -.-
anywho people misunderstand the whole concept of being a Christian. people think that being uber religious like fasting 24/7 and being a "goody-two-shoes" like what Sarah mentioned. Christianity is joyful and we should embrace that! for the most part, i am a pretty happy person so i always find that smiling everyday really helps my mind keep calm and pure i guess. God has made happiness in this world so that we can embrace what is around us and our own lives. we all have our ups and downs in our Christian walk, but that is what makes Christianity interesting and exciting in some ways...so to sum it all up; just embrace life and give thanks.