Author: Nicholson

Tobiah and company couldn’t betray Nehemiah; they had to pay a friend he trusted to do that.  Nehemiah wasn’t quite out of danger yet. He had stayed inside the city to avoid the trap set for him on the way to Ono. The road from Jerusalem to Ono, following the Aijalon Valley, would have scores […]

Read More… from May 12, 2025 — An Inside Job

“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust’” (Ps 91:2).  It has been said that if the enemy isn’t bothering you, you mustn’t be doing anything worth bothering. Well, Nehemiah noticed that those walls were certainly bothering “Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest […]

Read More… from May 9, 2025 — O No!

Is there a God-honoring objective? A plan to take you there? A commitment to follow through?  The issue at hand was too serious to leave to their whims. Nehemiah wanted their verbal agreement memorialized in a vow. “Then I called the priests, and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise” (Neh […]

Read More… from May 8, 2025 — Mission Accomplished

In the life of faith, it’s impossible to enrich others without ourselves becoming soul-enriched.  Hard to believe, some of the “Jewish brethren” (Neh 5:1) were using the crisis in Jerusalem to enrich their pockets and impoverish their souls. When Nehemiah heard, he “became very angry” (v 6). But Scripture warns, “Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the […]

Read More… from May 7, 2025 — Smarten Up!

True brothers never take advantage of you. They grieve your difficulties and celebrate your success.  Unusual times demand unusual sacrifice. As Paul would say during the “killing times” in the first century, “Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is” (1 Cor 7:26, BSB). He didn’t consider […]

Read More… from May 6, 2025 — Hard Work Meets Hard Hearts