BE CONCERNED

   Greetings to you my beloved saints. I wish you God’s blessings and favour in the name of Jesus Christ. May God prosper you more and more as we progress in this year of Open door.

   Nehemiah 1:1-4, "The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year , as I was in Shushsn the palace. That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept , and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven."

   Nehemiah was one of God's people taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar. He was in Shushan serving his captors when some of the inhabitants of Judah who escaped their captors during the raid of Nebuchadnezzar paid him a visit. The first thing Nehemiah did was to ask him of the welfare of those back home and not only that but also about Jerusalem the city of God. Even though he was a slave in Shushan, he didn't focus on his predicament but instead on the well being of God's people and His church. This is the mentality we must have as Christians. We should be concerned about each other. What affects one of us should be our collective responsibility. Hebrews 13:3 says, "Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body." It should concern us that our brothers and sisters in the faith are being slaughtered in the north maliciously. It should concern us that Christians are being killed all around the world by Moslems and other anti-Christ. What so ever is not walking right in God's Kingdom should be our concern.

   When Nehemiah heard the afflictions of his people back home and how the gate of Jerusalem was burnt down, the Bible says he sat down and wept. He began to mourn and fast. He needed a change and he began to fast and pray for it. He prayed that his people be set free from their slavery and Jerusalem be restored and God answered his prayer and used him to bring forth the deliverance that he asked for. He could have focused on his own challenges but he didn't, he considered others before himself, this to me is genuine love.

   This same virtue was also expressed by Joseph. Even though Joseph was imprisoned for an offense he didn't commit, he never allowed that to bother him. He served Pharaoh's two servants placed in the same prison with him joyfully. When they were sad in Genesis 40:6, he was the first to notice and questioned them about the reason for their sadness. When they told him, he did all within his knowledge and solved their problems. Even though he was in prison but he never allowed the prison to be in him. Many of us have not gone through a quarter of what Nehemiah and Joseph went through. Let us learn to be concerned about the welfare of our brethren and the church we belong.

   What about Brother Joses, who later was renamed Barnabas (meaning son of consolation, Acts 4:36) because of his act of love and kindness towards the Apostles, the brethren and the church at large. In Acts 9:26-28, after Saul who later became the Apostle Paul had an encounter with Jesus on his way to Damascus, which led to his salvation. The Christians in Jerusalem refused to accept him because of his havoc against the church in the past. But Barnabas who later became one of the Apostles believed his story and introduced him to the Apostles as genuine believer. No wonder he was called the son of consolation. Let's be Barnabas to the body of Christ, to the outcast in our churches and to the unreached in our society.

   Galatians 6:1, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." What do you do when you see your fellow believer fall away from the faith, living a life that is unworthy of Christ? Gossip him? No! Restore him. Do like Nehemiah, take time out to pray for him, even go to the length of fasting for him. Reach out to him and counsel him in love. In so doing you will win him back and God will bless you and lift you up. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." It is our concern towards God's people that reveal if we are truly God's children or not.

   Let's be fervently concerned about the welfare of our church, our pastors and the brethren at large, if you do this God will bless you beyond measure and make you to succeed in all of your endeavors. Never forget this, 'BE CONCERNED'. 

     God richly bless you. See you next month