To enjoy any of the 26 series we’ve produced over the last five years, please check out our back catalogue. There are series from all across the bible, and you can either view the PDF files online or download at your leisure.
August – September 2026: The Book of Nehemiah
On Tuesday 18th August we begin a brand new series of Daily Inspirations – in the Book of Nehemiah. It’s a riveting tale of someone being called by God to do something amazing – and then doing it! Nehemiah is a wonderful character, full of faith, wisdom and practical common sense. Let’s journey with him over the next three weeks or so, and be inspired by his example.
- Day 11, Tuesday 1st September – Nehemiah 6:10-14 ‘Facing opposition (4): fear’
What is the opposite of faith? Most of us would instinctively say ‘doubt’ – but that’s not the biblical answer. In the bible, the opposite of faith is fear. It’s why Jesus prefaces his post-resurrection encounters repeatedly with the words, ‘Do not be afraid.’ It’s why St John tells us that there is no fear in love. Yes, there are healthy fears, which we learn as we grow up for our own protection; but generally, fear is a constricting factor in our adult lives. It is especially damaging to our souls, as well as our wills: a primary motivation of fear rarely leads to good decisions being made.
Bullies know this all too well. Make a person afraid and they will act against their own interests; or rather, they will act in their (and your) perceived short-term interest at the expense of their long-term one. In today’s passage, we see Nehemiah’s opponents make one last throw of the dice. Thus far they have failed with every strategy to stop the work; their final option is to make Nehemiah afraid for his own personal safety. Although it might sound sensible for Nehemiah to hide for a few days or even hours to protect himself, the location is significant: the sanctuary of the temple was a sacred space, and to use it for his own protection would have driven a wedge between himself and the priests. Nehemiah would have lost not only credibility but also moral authority.
Ironically, the threat would have carried more weight if the proposed ‘safe house’ had been anywhere else but the temple; but Shemaiah overplayed his hand, egged on no doubt by Nehemiah’s chief adversaries Tobiah and Sanballat. Nehemiah rightly smelled a rat and called out the skullduggery. He chose faith over fear, and the work continued – indeed as we’ll see tomorrow, it was about to be completed!
Few of us face the kind of threats Nehemiah did; but we all face smaller ones. We all have regular moments which ultimately demand a decision: to choose the path of faith or fear. Such choices become habit-forming. Choosing faith makes it easier to choose faith the next time; and vice versa.
‘Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin,’ St Paul observed. If this sounds overly harsh, the point Paul is making is that our motives matter. Otherwise neutral choices get ‘infected’ if fear or some other negative emotion is our driver. Conversely, to act in good faith often commands a blessing even if we sometimes make what we later consider to be the ‘wrong’ choice. God is gracious and knows our hearts.
Today, may the Lord grant us all grace to choose faith over fear in our decisions and actions, be they big or small; and may choosing faith become our life-giving habit, as we trust in Him. Amen.
- Saturday 24th January: John 17:15-23 ‘That they may be one’Read more...
This week is the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Today, we skip forward a few chapters in John to honour the importance of this week, and what it means for us.
This is a subject dear to our hearts, since our team of churches in Walton is an ecumenical one: that is, we are a united ...
- Friday 23rd January – John 12:19-24 ‘The hour has come’Read more...
If you like watching thrillers, you’ll know the moment in the story when the tables turn. The heroes have their backs against the wall – but suddenly the very thing that their captors or enemies thought they had under their control is turned against them, and the heroes prevail. The idea repeats itself so often that we more or less take ...
- Thursday 22nd January – John 12:1-19 (reprise) ‘Collateral damage’Read more...
Some years ago I watched a fascinating programme about child behaviour. Ten boys and ten girls (none of whom knew each other) were each invited to a location to live under the same roof for a limited time. Their behaviour was observed by psychologists, and the aim of the programme was to show how they formed relationships and interacted.
Palm Sunday is such a familiar story to many of us; we celebrate it every year, on the Sunday before Easter Day. The image of Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem is one etched into our minds, and we usually approach the day with a mixture of excitement and awe. Excitement that privations of Lent are nearly over, that the ...
- Tuesday 20th January – John 12:1-11 ‘A preparation for burial’Read more...
The beautiful story of the anointing at Bethany is also one of the most debated – at least, John’s version is. Why does he change the details? And does this cast doubt on the reliability of the bible?
Let’s tackle this head-on today. And we have to start by acknowledging that this account does appear to be a ...