The Gate and Door Police

Even with my heels pressed into the floor of resistance I finished my study of Nehemiah this week. I believe God was busy trying to show me so much more than I had expected. 

As mentioned in last Fridays post, the book of Nehemiah is the account of the rebuilding of the Wall around Jerusalem. God had shown me the reoccurring phrase in Nehemiah three “they laid its beams and put is doors and bolts and bars in place.”  My question was why the emphasis on beams, doors, bolts and bars?  I concluded the Lord was asking me to evaluate all I was allowing in my children’s lives.

I closed the post with the question, “how are the doors and bars and beams” surrounding your child’s world?   This wasn’t a post meant for the readers, it was a reflection of what God is impressing on me.

God continued to ask me to consider what I was knowingly or passively allowing into our children’s lives through these gates and doors.  I became the “Gate/Door police” of all our children were watching, listening to, talking about (and with) and even plans they were making.

This morning God brought me to Deuteronomy 6: 6 – 9

“Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.”

It was in Deuteronomy that God showed me the gates and doors aren’t all together about keeping the bad stuff out…it is about putting “the good stuff” in.  That “good stuff” is what Parakaleo has so often encouraged. Moms lets find one verse this week that each child can learn and apply. You know your children best, ask the Lord to show you what Gate or Door you need to work on with your child.  We are so blessed we NEVER have to “finish” a study of God’s Word. His Spirit will continue to perfect what He started!

Building a Wall?

What a joy it has been to study the book of Nehemiah over the last two months!

Nehemiah recounts the rebuilding of the Wall of Jerusalem. Of the many things I have been challenged with in this study, I have found myself pondering an obscure phrase that repeats itself in the midst of the litany of names in Nehemiah 3.

         This time, the phrase “they laid its beams and put is doors and bolts and bars in place” continued to pop out to me.  I realized that Jerusalem would soon have a wall.

The purpose of this wall like all others is to protect. The wall around Jerusalem was built (and rebuilt) specifically to protect God’s people.  The wall kept out any harm that may affect God’s people. 

So why would “they laid its beams and put is doors and bolts and bars in place” be of particular importance to me?   As I considered my responsibility as a mom I grasped again, how important it is for me to watch what comes in and out of our home.  The focus becomes not the “wall” but the gates, the doors, the beams.  What am I allowing to reach my child? From television, to people, to music, to social media of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagrams….I must take a proactive approach to the beams the doors and bars.  They must be all fortified until our children are ready to build their own walls.

My question to you today is, “how are the doors and bars and beams” surrounding your child’s world?  How is the wall around your child’s world and His heart?  May you enjoy your building today!  Celebrate your interaction and opportunity to build for and with your child.  May we be like Nehemiah and celebrate God’s miraculous completion!