CREED, Rebuilding Your Family FortressSample

1.The CREED

A man who stands for nothing, will fall for anything!

Let me ask you today. What do you stand for? What are you willing to take a stand for? Is there something greater than making a living and going through the motions that highlights your life?

Nehemiah might not be on the greatest hits list when we think of heroic men from the Bible. Most of us probably didn’t even know of him till today. When I first heard someone preach on Nehemiah twenty years ago, I did not even know where to find him in my Bible at that time.

For others, Nehemiah might be a story referred to countless times in leadership seminars and sermons on governance. Yet, if you have never seen yourself as a leader, you would probably have skipped over or zoned out during that series. However, ALL MEN are called to be a leader. Might not be in business, or ministry, or whichever clubs you like to be a part of. But in your home, in your own family, as the Man of the House, YOU ARE the leader.

And as the Man of the House, the Leader of your Family, you need a CREED. Like Nehemiah followed a moral code that later set him apart as a great governor to his people, rebuilding the city’s walls in record time, you need something alike to layout the plans for, or even rebuild, your family’s fortress.

Over the next few devotionals, we will unpack a CREED for every man:
Courage, Responsibility, Excellence, Enthusiasm, and Devotion.

Here’s the thing. You might feel small and insignificant. But like Nehemiah you may also have access to a king. Whether a king of this world, or the King of the universe. Nehemiah was a mild-mannered cup bearer, standing in the corner waiting on a powerful earthly king. Yet he was privy to the king’s conversations – from his war council to his festive table. He had to have courage when tasting the king’s wine, for it might have been poisoned at any time. He would show responsibility in the king’s court when pouring wine for his master and all his dignitaries. Along with this, Nehemiah would have had to be excellent and enthusiastic in the king’s presence. And all the while this showed his devotion to his earthly master.

All these traits served Nehemiah well when on this day in chapter one, the cause for his people shifted his perspective from his king to his God. No longer was he merely a servant in another’s house, but he courageously stepped up and took responsibility to pray for his own. He portrayed excellence in his work, and enthusiasm in intercession for his countrymen. All of which later resulted in him showing complete devotion to those same countrymen entrusted to his care.

No matter where you work, what you do for now, and whether you’re married or have kids yet. God is calling you to shift your focus to Him and step up to become a man who will govern your house with a CREED. No matter how broken this world or how shattered your walls, as a man created in the image of God, and as a godly father, you are called to assess your family, align your family, and fortify your family.

So… Let’s start rebuilding your family fortress…

Inspect your own walls:

1. Which characteristics of the CREED do you see portrayed most by Nehemiah in this chapter?
(Courage, Responsibility, Excellence, Enthusiasm, or Devotion)

2. How have you been, or can you start, applying what you’ve observed here in your own life?

3. Like Nehemiah, what are you fully devoting to God in prayer today?