TOKONAKI ME 23, 2026

NEHEMAIA 12-13; MATIU 6:31-33

A life well lived is a life lived for the glory and the kingdom of God. Will that be your legacy?

Ko e mo’ui ‘oku fai ki ai ‘a e lauu, ko e tokotaha ‘oku mo’ui ki he langilangi mo e pule’anga ‘o e ‘Otua. Ko e me’a eni ‘e manatu’i ai koe?

My new acquaintance was very successful according to the world's standards. He was admired. He had wealth and acclaim. He had power and position. From a distance it appeared he had done everything right. But he had lived for himself. He was obsessed with the accoutrements of success. He was preoccupied with image and control. He made sure that no matter the occasion or endeavor, he was in the center and in charge. But in his selfishness he lost his way. He lost all that he had worked for, and eventually he even abandoned his faith. He had gotten it all wrong. Life wasn't designed to be about us. We were created to live for something vastly bigger than us. My friend claimed to be a believer, but functionally God wasn't his focus. The only glory he lived for was his own, and the only kingdom he sought to build was his kingdom of one. What looked like success was actually massive personal, moral, relational, and spiritual failure.

What, right now, are you living for? What gives you your highest joy and has the power to produce your deepest sadness? How do you define personal success? What gets you up in the morning and motivates you throughout the day? What is the grand vision behind the choices and decisions you make? Do God's glory, purpose, and kingdom shape the way you live, work, relate to others, and invest your time, energy, and resources? Is your life an expression of the two Great Commandments? What really do you live for?

Nehemiah's final prayer reflects the zeal he had for the Lord throughout his life: "I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good" (Neh. 13:30-31).

Nehemiah had dedicated his life to one central thing: the worship of God. God's children had abandoned this very thing, and that abandonment had led to their demise. They had pursued the gods of the surrounding nations, to their shame and destruction. But, after disciplining them, God, in mercy, had restored them to their home, where they rebuilt the temple. Nehemiah had focused on removing all the foreign spiritual influences, reestablishing the priesthood, and providing everything needed for the worship of God to continue. Nehemiah's labor of love had been not just for his people but, more importantly, for his Lord. And he had one final request: that God would remember.

At the end of your life will you ask God to remember all that you have done in his name, or will you hope he forgets the life you have lived? A life well lived is a life lived for the glory and kingdom of God. Is that what you're living for?

 FALAITE ME 22, 2026

NEHEMAIA 8-11; PALOVEPI 3:11-12

God responds to the sin of his children with the discipline of a Father and the restorative mercy of a Savior.

‘Oku ngaue mai ‘a e ‘Otua ki he angahala ‘a ‘ene fanau ‘aki ‘a e tautea kinisi ‘a e Tamai pea ‘oku ne fakafoki mo fakafo’ou ‘aki ‘a e meesi ‘a e Fakamo’ui.

The summary of God's love for his children, their sin and rebellion, and his discipline and mercy that is recorded for us in Nehemiah 9 is both convicting and encouraging:

And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. So the descendants went in and possessed the land, subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and you and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would....

Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies.... And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. (Neh. 9:22-24, 26-27, 29-31)

God was faithful in his defense of and provision for his people. Yet they consistently rebelled against him and gave their hearts to other gods. Even in the face of his people's repeated betrayal, God was astoundingly patient, sending prophet after prophet to give warning. But because the people did not heed God's warnings, he responded by exiling them from their land. Their suffering and captivity were not God's final condemnation, but rather the grace of a Father's disciplinary hand. God was not done with his people, so after his discipline, in mercy he restored them again.

God's discipline and his mercy do not oppose one another. They are both tools of grace in the hands of a Redeemer, to draw his children close and keep them near.

Confess today that you too have a wandering heart and, because you do, that you too need both God's discipline and his mercy. Be thankful for both his uncomfortable grace and the tender mercies that follow. He is willing and able to do what you can't do for yourself.

 TU’APULELULU ME 21, 2026

NEHEMAIA 4-7; ‘EFESO 6:10-20

When you're doing the Lord's work, the best defense against opposition is prayer.

‘I ho’o fai ‘a e ngaue ‘a e ‘Otua, ko ho malu’i lelei taha mei he filii ko e lotu.

They were exciting days. God had returned his people to Jerusalem and restored them to himself; they were rebuilding the city wall. It was a powerful victory for God and an enormous fresh start for his people. But whenever God works in these ways, evil opposition rears its ugly head. Sanballat and Tobiah the Ammonite mocked and taunted God's people as they worked on the wall. When you are ridiculed for your faith, mocked for doing what is right, or taunted because of a moral stand that you have taken, how do you respond? Do you wallow in discouragement? Do you abandon your calling? Do you lash out in anger? Or do you run to God in prayer? There is no better defense against opposition to the work of God than prayer. Nehemiah's response is prayer: "Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives" (Neh. 4:4).

May these words be your prayer:

Lord, when I am about your work, giving my heart and hands to your calling, when your way is more important than my way and when opposition comes, please give me the grace to resist fear, to not return evil for evil, to fight discouragement's darkness, to not forsake your work, but to run to you in confidence and hope. You are my refuge. You are my defender. You are my confidence. You defeat what I cannot. You give power when I am weak. You quiet my fears. You comfort and encourage. I never do your work alone. You are always with me in power, with grace, fulfilling your promises. Help me to remember that though the opposition is great, in the glory of your glory you are infinitely greater. I run once more to you, my Lord and defender, asking you to do in me and for me what I cannot do for myself, and to do to my opposers what you in your holiness know is right to do.

 PULELULU ME 20, 2026

NEHEMAIA 1-3; MATIU 6:5-13 

It is important to know that the power of prayer is not in the beauty of the words you pray, but in the character of the one to whom you pray.

‘Oku mahu’inga ke tau mahino’i, ko e ivi ‘o e lotus, ‘oku ‘ikai ‘i he faka’ofo’ofa ‘o e ngaahi lea ‘oku tau ngaue’aki, ka ‘oku makatu’unga ‘i he ‘ulungaanga ‘o e Tokotaha ‘oku tau lotu ki ai.

You might think that the better your theology and phraseology in prayer, the better chance you have of getting a hearing. Prayer is not about proving yourself to God. It is not about establishing worthiness. Prayer is about what the Puritans called "importunity," that is, poverty of spirit. It is coming to God acknowledging that he has every right not to hear me, that my only hope is found in the bounty of his love and the extent of his mercy. The power of prayer is not in the beauty of my language or in my track record of righteousness, but in the character of the one to whom I pray. He hears me with ears of redeeming love-love that I could never earn, achieve, or deserve. We are not called to clean ourselves up so we can pray. No, we are called to pray, asking God to continue his work of cleaning us up.

Hear the words of Nehemiah's prayer in the face of the destruction of Jerusalem:

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, "O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there. They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." (Neh. 1:4-11)

Nehemiah knows he cannot commend God's people to God based on their righteousness, so he confesses sin on their behalf and appeals to God's character and covenant promises. When we pray, may we do the same, knowing that the power of prayer is found in the glory and grace of the one to whom we pray.

 TUSITE ME 19, 2026

‘ESELA 6-10; SIONE 21:15-17

Our God of unrelenting grace always offers us fresh starts and new beginnings.

Ko hotau ‘Otua mohu kelesi, ‘oku ne ‘omi ma’u pe ‘a e faingamalie ke toe kamata mei mu’a mo e kamata fo’ou.  

You get angry with a coworker; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You are needlessly impatient with one of your children; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You are unlovingly critical of your spouse; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You view internet material that you never should have seen; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. Success has become your functional idol; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You allow yourself to fight with your neighbor; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You cheat on a university exam; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You are wrongly dismissive of your pastor; you need a fresh start and a new beginning.

It is wonderful to know that, if you are God's child, no sin is spiritually fatal. God's grace is more powerful than any compelling sin. So, in the bounty of his mercy, God offers to each of his children the grace of fresh starts and new beginnings. This is the truth that gets me up in the morning. I am aware that I have never lived a perfect day. My actions are influenced by both my desire to please God and the presence of remaining sin. So it is precious to me that every morning I am greeted with new mercies, and with those new mercies comes the promise of fresh starts and new beginnings. I am not encased in the concrete of my sin, because I am in Christ and his grace lives with power in me.nl to med This theme of fresh starts and new beginnings runs throughout the biblical narrative. The Bible is a record of God's again and again picking up his failing followers, dusting them off, blessing them with forgiving grace, and granting them new beginnings. For every human failure there is plentiful restoring grace. The Bible is honest about the powerful tragedy of sin, but it doesn't leave you there. It consistently points you to restorative grace.

After all of Israel's sin, idolatry, and rebellion, God calls his children back from captivity to participate in the fresh start and new beginning of rebuilding and refurnishing the temple. I find the following words so encouraging: "The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats" (Ezra 6:16-17). When you read of the burning of Jerusalem and the captivity of God's people, it seemed as though the end had come. But it was not the end, because of the loving mercy of the God of Israel. 

God offered his people a brand-new physical and spiritual start in Jerusalem, not because they earned it but because he is a God of grace.

God offers the same to you today. Come to him in confession and hope. He will dust you off with his grace and grant you a new day in which to love and serve him.

 MONITE ME 18, 2026

‘ESELA 1-5; FILIPAI 4:14-20

God promises to supply what you need-not necessarily what you want.

‘Oku palomesi mai ‘a e ‘Otua te ne tokonaki ho’o fiema’u - ‘o ‘ikai ko ho’o faka’amu.

Years ago my wife and I helped plant a little church. We were very poor, but it was a wonderful and encouraging time for us. We look back on those days not with bitter memories, but with fondness. Our poverty didn't leave a bad taste in our mouths, because the lack of riches made us fully conscious of God's faithful provision. We can't remember any situation where we lacked what we truly needed. Sure, there were lots of things we wanted and wished for that we could not afford, but our daily needs were met by a God who promises to provide for his people. We lived then--as we do now-with the awareness that our heavenly Father has a better sense of what we really need than we ever could. Because we believed this to be true during those hard years, we were able to rest in God's providing care. Don't get me wrong: living in poverty wasn't always easy for us, but God gave us the grace to trust his goodness, faithfulness, and love.

King Cyrus of Persia released God's people from captivity in Babylon and allowed them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, because God had stirred up his heart to do so. But there was a huge and looming problem. These former captives had nothing; they had lost everything when Jerusalem was ravaged and burned. Where would they get the materials to rebuild the temple and remake all the implements and furnishings that were needed to fill the temple, so that worship could once again commence? Here is where the history of Judah's return to Jerusalem shines a bright light on the character and promises of God. God is a generous giver of grace. He had not turned his back on his people, even in the face of their rebellion and sin. He was calling them to return, and he would provide what they needed in order to do what he was calling them to do. If God sends you, he goes with you, and, if he calls you to a task, he will provide what you need to do it.

God raised up King Cyrus to provide everything needed to rebuild and furnish the temple, even things that Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from the temple and placed in his home. Who would have thought that the temple would be rebuilt because of the generosity of a Persian king? I love Ezra's accounting of God's provision: "And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400" (Ezra 1:9-11). How great was God's provision!

God is faithful and generous and will provide just what his people need. You can trust that he will do that for you. Cry out to him in need and then rest in his providing grace.

 SAPATE ME 17, 2026

2 KALONIKALI 35-36; 1 KOLINITO 1:18-31

God often uses unlikely and unusual instruments to advance his eternal mission of grace.

‘Oku lahi ‘a e taimi ‘oku ngaue’aki ai ‘e he ‘Otua ‘a e ngaahi me’angaue ta’e’amanekina mo makehe ke fakamafola‘aki ‘a e misiona ‘o ‘ene kelesi. 

I had a hard talk with my teenage son. It was late at night, and I think both of us just wanted to go to sleep. It had been hard going, but I thought the talk had ended on a good note. As I walked out of his room, I said, "I am so glad we talked." But I heard my son say, "I didn't" "You didn't what?" I asked. He said, "I didn't talk, because you didn't give me a chance." I walked back in his room, sat down on his bed, and said, "Talk to me now." He said, "When you came in this room, you had already made your judgment. We weren't having a conversation; you were just announcing my punishment. I didn't have an opportunity to explain why I did what I did because you weren't interested." His words pierced my heart. He was exactly right. He had made me angry, and I had judged him without any facts. I had gone into that room to enact discipline, but I had totally missed the opportunity to hear my son, to see into his heart, and to love him with fatherly and gospel love. In that moment there was a bit of a role reversal. God, in his faithful grace, raised up the son to parent the father. I am thankful that God is so unrelentingly committed to his redeeming work that, in his infinite wisdom, he uses whatever instrument at whatever time is best.

We should never be so proud that we reject whomever or whatever God intends to use to continue his work in us. Every tool God uses in our lives has been preappointed by him. There are no accidents. There are no divine last-minute decisions. There are no wrong choices. God always uses the right person or thing to take us where he has decided we will go.

For most of us, Cyrus, king of Persia, is an unlikely tool in God's hands to release God's people from captivity and secure the rebuilding of God's temple in Jerusalem. That is why the following words are so important:

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: "Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, "The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up." (2 Chron. 36:22-23)

God, the owner and ruler of all things, uses whatever instrument he knows is best to do whatever is best for his children. That is called amazing grace.