May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ sustain you through whatever you are going through! Amen!

"These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. Nehemiah's Concern for Jerusalem
In late autumn of the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the
Jews who had survived the captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem." (Nehemiah 1:1-2)

Observation:

The setting:
Nehemiah is at the fortress of Susa when he gets vistors from Judah.

The first thing Nehemiah does is inquire about 2 things:

1. How the Jews were doing who survived the captivity?

2. How things were going in Jerusalem?

Observations/Interpretation/Application:

Just pondering these 2 questions, had important implications for me.

Though he was exiled in a foreign land apart from his people, he was very unselfish. During their visit to see him rather than pour out his problems to them, he cares for the 2 P's:
1. His people (Jews) back home!
2. His place (Jerusalem) back home!

This is evidenced by his concern for the Jews and Jerusalem in the questions he asked.

He could have wallowed in his own misery and captivity than take the time to care for other people. Instead he cares. Even in his captivity he acted the role of a shepherd wanting to know the state of the flock and their surroundings. That showed love towards his people and the place he was taken from.

The 3 S' gave me important implications to think about.
Nehemiah: shepherd
Jews : sheep
Jerusalem: surroundings

How do I act if I am surrounded by people or places that hold me captive to the things I love to do?

Do I wallow in my captivity or still take the
opportunity to care for others?

In my own life I have realized that when we are in captivity to anything whether it be materialism, relativism, existentialism, dualism, pluralism, sins that we face in our lives, etc it can be so easy to be so focused on our own problems that we do not take time to think about other people.

I know because I had done that for a long time. When things were not going well in my life, it was easy to throw the towel and forget everything the Lord put a passion in my heart for. I did not want to have anything to do with it anymore.

Why? It is because I was selfishly working under the mentality of captivity. If you think about people held captive  to anything, many times there is a sense of loss, a sense of helplessness, and a sense to give up many times. But when love rules above captivity, even in our captivity our minds can turn to love, love towards mankind, love towards the place the Lord has given us, etc

Seeing how Nehemiah acted made me realize the importance of thinking about other people and caring for them even in our captivity.

When we are caring for people and helping them, it is important to keep in mind what we are held captive to. In some areas even when we are held captive, we can work together with other people to help them and us slowly overcome the captivity.

For example, alcoholics can help others and themselves by participating in a support group of Alcoholics Anonymous.

It depends on what we are held captive to, if we want to directly help others. I bring this point up because I am reminded of Scripture when Jesus poses the question: "How can the blind lead the blind?"

Regardless of what state we are in, we can show care to people even if we cannot help them directly. I had forsaken a lot of things in the past because of what I went. I stopped caring for people as I used to do because I was looking at my own problems and putting blame in a lot of places.

Though I have gone my own way, I thank my Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior who has not abandoned me but loved me more during this time. I became the prodigal son that he welcomed back home.

Concerning what I felt I was held captive to, I cannot change it because it is out of my hands. It is not a sin I am talking about. Yet, I can still care for people as I used to because of the Lord Jesus Christ in my life. He is on my side and will take care of me. I want to care for people as Nehemiah cared even in captivity.

At church, I had seen a clip of the movie: Patch Adams where he questions God! Later, my Pastor preached on Job. I have wanted to watch that movie. One day, I was able to watch it on T.V. It is such a powerful movie and tears came to my face.

The setting of the movie is similar to Nehemiah's situation except the captivity is different. Adams was admitted to a mental institution because of what he faced. During his stay there, he cared for people who were there and tried to help them. Watch the movie to find out what happens.

I ask you now dear friends, what do you do in
your captivity?

Dear friends, the Lord Jesus has been working in my life a lot. He has been doing amazing things in my life and I thank Him
for that. Through all this, I still bear the pains of situations that occurred in my life, but His grace is sufficient for me. He sought me in my
misery and pain. He taught me and took me back in time to remind me about His love.

After the situations that have occurred, no matter what people havewritten, said, no matter what circumstances came my way, I could not let that pain go away. It affected my care for people. I deliberately was disobeying the Lord and not sharing with you all what I felt he wanted me to share: His Word and what He has been teaching me.

I am reminded of how Thomas did not believe in the Lord's resurrection even when the other disciples told him, even when the evidence showed the resurrection happened, but Jesus did not leave him in his doubts. He
revealed Himself personally to Thomas.

One day in my life, I felt the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to me in a most personal way through everything I was going through. As I slept, I got a dream. In that dream, I saw Satan destroying what was built. I was in pain to see what was being destroyed. Everything around me was crumbling down. Then, I saw Jesus in my dream bringing it all back up. What Satan was destroying, Jesus rebuilt so quickly. I saw the face of Jesus in my dream.
I also saw Satan flee being injured. After that dream, my life changed. I was able to deal better with the pain. The Lord revealed Himself in a personal way.

Whatever you are going through, I can say that if you belong to the Lord, you are not alone. He is with you through the pain. He will reach you where you are. Watch and pray that you are not lead into temptation to give up and throw the towel. The Lord Jesus knows what you are going through just as He knows what I have been faced with. He loves you and cares for you. You are never out of His love. You are never out of His reach!

I highly recommend "Listening to God" by Joyce Huggett and the movie "Patch Adams". Let the Lord reach you in your pain and let your life be opened to show care to others even if it is just a word of encouragement.

May the Lord Jesus bless you and empower you to do His will now and forever! Amen!

Christ's Awesome Power Truly Invokes Valid Inspiration To You! (C.A.P.T.I.V.I.T.Y)

I would like to pray for you!

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, my Lord and My Personal Savior. Thank you for loving us so much. Thank you for dying for our sins and coming back to life to save us. Your blood was shed on the cross for us. While we were yet sinners you died for us to redeem us. I am forever indebted to you my Lord for what you have
done in my life and for me. We are sorry when we have not loved you with our whole heart. I am sorry for going my own way. Thank you for personally revealing yourself to me. Your grace is sufficient through what we face. Help us never to forget that and to rely on you. Oh Father God, I pray that you would help those in pain Lord. Help those who are struggling and held captive. You know what they are held captive to. You Oh Lord are the helper
of the helpless and those who are oppressed can come to you for help. Thank you Jesus. Reveal yourself in a mighty way to those looking for answers. Touch their lives in a powerful way. Thank you Jesus. In Your precious Holy Name I Pray. Thank you for hearing us and answering us. Thank you for the answers and the strength you give us. When we are weak you are strong. Help us to be dependent on you Lord. For your Name's sake let us be an example in word and deed through Jesus Christ our Lord! Thank you Jesus we are never out of your love, never out of your reach! Amen!

Love in Christ,
Ramesh