Mon.’s Devo - God’s Selection

Read: Nehemiah 7:61-9:21; 1 Corinthians 9:1-18; Psalm 33:12-22; Proverbs 21:11-12
The priesthood had to be pure and the only way to make sure was to check their geneology. Their blood line had to be proven. It was a picture of God’s selection and predestination. Only those who have been predestined before the sands of time will be able to enter into heaven. They must have Jesus blood. There will be a certain time on the earth that Jesus will come back and judge the earth. It is represented by the Feast of Trumpets which happens on the seventh month the first day. On this day the people assembled (Nehemiah 7:73, 8:2) and read the Law. They met at the Water Gate which represented the Living Water. There, Nehemiah read the Law explaining to the people exactly what it meant. The people realized how far they had strayed from it and began to weep and mourn. Nehemiah told them not to mourn or weep because this was not the time to do that. It was a time of joy and celebration.
The Feast of Trumpets will be a great day for the Christian because our King will be crowned King of Kings but, it will not be a day of joy for those who have rejected Jesus. This was to be a day of joy for them as God’s chosen people. It was a day that God wiped their sins away.
They left the celebration to prepare for the Feast of Tabernacles where they were to construct booths to live in for seven days to represent the fact that this life is temporary and this is not our home. Our home is in heaven with the Lord. Every day during this week they met to hear the word of the Lord being read on the 8th day they fasted and mourned, confessing their sins. This will be the day of judgement where the world will be judged. It will be a day of sadness and mourning for those whose names were not written in the book of Life.
In Corinthians Paul defends the right of leaders in the church to receive a salary from the church. Sadly, Paul did most of his ministry for free because they didn’t value his work. It didn’t stop his preaching because he was compelled to preach and did it out of love for Jesus and the people. Paul will receive his reward in heaven which will be so much more than the world could ever give. This is a good concept to remember when we feel unappreciated. The greatest reward we can get is the one we will get from God in heaven.
Even our Psalms and our Proverbs today, remind us of how the Lord takes note of all that happens on the earth and rewards his children for their obedience and punishes those who reject him.
Lord, may we trust in your unfailing love for us. Great is your name!