Dodger: Hi there! Lilly and I were on a long vacation, helping out with a new YouTube channel. But we're excited to be back.
Lilly: Absolutely. I got back home just yesterday. The first thing I did was open my e-mail and I found out that while we were gone someone sent us a question . Do you want to see it?
Dodger: Yes please.
Lilly: Here it is.
Dodger: Oh. Well to answer your question, Feiling, yes, I have had days of seemingly random
discouragement. It's surprising to a lot of people how often we don't feel happy.
Lilly: You should never let how you feel determine how your life is doing, or whether you're doing a good job living your life, though, because you're feelings are sort of like a roller coaster car.
Dodger: They have a tendency to bounce all over the place, and they aren't a very accurate way of measuring life.
Lilly: Thankfully, we can rely on God's Word and the Holy Spirit to tell us how we actually are doing! Remember, it's more important that we focus on Who God is than what we've done. That's why Dodger and I are always saying-
Dodger: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2 NIV 1984) It's important that we don't just squash our feelings, but God and our lives with Him are so much more than how we feel at the moment.
Lilly: As for the challenges, we all face those. But it's our responses to those challenges that are important. Take Nehemiah for example.
Dodger: Oh, I love this story. Okay, so take a second to imagine this: you come from a land that has been trashed. The walls of your best city have been smashed, the city is covered in rubble, and you want to fix it. But you aren't a construction worker, you're cupbearer to the king of the nation that currently has taken over the land you come from. So what do you do? Well, Nehemiah was in the same spot, and he prayed. He prayed for a miracle.
Lilly: He asked God to give Him favor from the king. This is what followed. "And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. "Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?” Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel." (Nehemiah 2:2-10 NKJV)
Dodger: Did you notice those two men, Sanballat and Tobiah? They're going to try to cause a lot of trouble more Nehemiah, including trying to kill him. Here's the challenge Nehemiah faced: not only was the wall of Jerusalem a wreck, but many of the people were being mistreated, the temple of God was not being well-handled, and Sanballat and Tobiah kept trying to sabotage his work. On top of that, he didn't get to work with professional wall-builders, just everyday citizens. Plus, he had to deal with the massive challenge of leading the people (who became tired) in doing the right thing as well as building the wall. He could have given up. But instead, because he trusted God and did what was right, the wall was finished without Sanballat and Tobiah being able to do anything about it, and just as important, the people established a covenant to walk with God.
Lilly: Not only was Jerusalem being physically rebuilt, but it was being spiritually rebuilt as well. God worked through Nehemiah to help people of Israel in ways that would have been thought to have been impossible.
Dodger: God is going to do great things through you as well, if you let Him. Don't ever think that God is as changeable as your emotions. He loves you too much for that. As Nehemiah 8:10 says, "Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (NKJV, boldface added.)
Lilly: God is sure good.
Dodger: Amen. Wow, looks like we're out of time. Thanks for stopping by. Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's not about to change!
Lilly: Farewell!
Lilly: Absolutely. I got back home just yesterday. The first thing I did was open my e-mail and I found out that while we were gone someone sent us a question . Do you want to see it?
Dodger: Yes please.
Lilly: Here it is.
discouragement. It's surprising to a lot of people how often we don't feel happy.
Lilly: You should never let how you feel determine how your life is doing, or whether you're doing a good job living your life, though, because you're feelings are sort of like a roller coaster car.
Lilly: Thankfully, we can rely on God's Word and the Holy Spirit to tell us how we actually are doing! Remember, it's more important that we focus on Who God is than what we've done. That's why Dodger and I are always saying-
Dodger: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2 NIV 1984) It's important that we don't just squash our feelings, but God and our lives with Him are so much more than how we feel at the moment.
Lilly: As for the challenges, we all face those. But it's our responses to those challenges that are important. Take Nehemiah for example.
Dodger: Oh, I love this story. Okay, so take a second to imagine this: you come from a land that has been trashed. The walls of your best city have been smashed, the city is covered in rubble, and you want to fix it. But you aren't a construction worker, you're cupbearer to the king of the nation that currently has taken over the land you come from. So what do you do? Well, Nehemiah was in the same spot, and he prayed. He prayed for a miracle.
Lilly: He asked God to give Him favor from the king. This is what followed. "And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. "Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?” Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel." (Nehemiah 2:2-10 NKJV)
Dodger: Did you notice those two men, Sanballat and Tobiah? They're going to try to cause a lot of trouble more Nehemiah, including trying to kill him. Here's the challenge Nehemiah faced: not only was the wall of Jerusalem a wreck, but many of the people were being mistreated, the temple of God was not being well-handled, and Sanballat and Tobiah kept trying to sabotage his work. On top of that, he didn't get to work with professional wall-builders, just everyday citizens. Plus, he had to deal with the massive challenge of leading the people (who became tired) in doing the right thing as well as building the wall. He could have given up. But instead, because he trusted God and did what was right, the wall was finished without Sanballat and Tobiah being able to do anything about it, and just as important, the people established a covenant to walk with God.
Lilly: Not only was Jerusalem being physically rebuilt, but it was being spiritually rebuilt as well. God worked through Nehemiah to help people of Israel in ways that would have been thought to have been impossible.
Dodger: God is going to do great things through you as well, if you let Him. Don't ever think that God is as changeable as your emotions. He loves you too much for that. As Nehemiah 8:10 says, "Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (NKJV, boldface added.)
Lilly: God is sure good.
Dodger: Amen. Wow, looks like we're out of time. Thanks for stopping by. Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's not about to change!
Lilly: Farewell!
