Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

As the days roll into weeks we can sometimes forget why God instituted certain festivals and then lose their significance. After going back to the word, Ezra the scribe read from the Law of Moses and explained how the people made booths. They then gathered leaves from the palm, the olive and the myrtle trees and made tents in their gardens and on their roofs to celebrate the time when their ancestors wandered in the wilderness.  At that time God was teaching them to trust him as he provided supernaturally for them. However, like us today we soon forget the blessings and only focus on the times when we had no water or provision for tomorrow. By taking time out after completing the project of securing the people, Nehemiah and Ezra were reminding his people and future generations, that when God starts something he will finish it. The length of time it takes to complete it is dependent on the faith of those whom he has instructed to carry out his plans. When God ordains a thing, i.e. when he gives you a vision to do something, he will always supply the provision.  This is because the God who brought his people out of Egypt is the same God who led them into the Promised Land. And when they forgot him, it was the same God who allowed them to go into exile. Now he was restoring them and it was up to them to restore the three major festivals, Passover, Booths and Weeks, to celebrate his provision. Today we call booths harvest or ingathering. This is when people bring the excess of their products to give away. God has a protocol and as we follow it he will show up supernaturally. The supernatural God is still the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  When He gives the vision he will make the provision!  He did it for Moses and for Nehemiah and he will do it for us today.

Read Nehemiah 8:13-18.