Wednesday in the Word

Nehemiah 2 puts us right in the middle of a crisis moment that has been months in the making: a faithful servant stands before the most powerful king of his day with nothing but tears on his face, wisdom in his heart, and the words God has been shaping in him over a lifetime. Through Persian court politics, midnight inspections, and mocking enemies, this episode traces how the Holy Spirit uses ordinary, “mundane” faithfulness to prepare us for extraordinary moments of witness and obedience. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How a simple story about clogging becomes a picture of discipleship: learning the “basic steps” of faith so that when the music starts, you already know the dance 
• Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:16–20 and what it really means for the Spirit to “give you what to say” in the moment—not out of nowhere, but out of a lifetime of walking with God
• Nehemiah’s fearful but courageous honesty in the throne room, and the quiet wisdom behind his careful, respectful request to King Artaxerxes
• Why Nehemiah’s political and cultural sensitivity—what he mentions, what he leaves out, and how he frames his appeal—shows us what “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” looks like in practice 
• The moonlit tour of Jerusalem’s broken walls and how Nehemiah chooses to see, listen, and understand before speaking or leading
• How he lifts a discouraged people, not by shaming their failures, but by retelling what God has already done and inviting them into God’s ongoing work 
• Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem’s ridicule—and Nehemiah’s refusal to answer with threats, power, or rage, choosing instead to stand on God’s promises and purposes
• The quiet but urgent call to pay attention to today’s “small” lessons, frustrations, and choices as God’s training ground for future faithfulness 

By the end of the episode, you’ll be invited to see your everyday life—your routines, conflicts, weaknesses, and opportunities—as the Spirit’s classroom. You’ll come away with a clearer picture of how God uses years of hidden prayer, study, and obedience to ready us for the moments when we must speak, stand, or act for his sake—and a renewed desire to learn the “steps” now so that, when your own crisis moment comes, you can move with courage, clarity, and trust in the God of heaven who goes before you.

 Series: Nehemiah: Restoration & Redemption

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.

When Nehemiah hears that Jerusalem lies in ruins while he enjoys safety and influence in the Persian court, he is thrust into a tension that feels very familiar: how do you live faithfully when your life is comfortable but the people of God are hurting? This episode traces Nehemiah’s four months of weeping, mourning, fasting, and praying, and shows how his God-centered prayer becomes the turning point for both his own calling and the future of God’s people. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Nehemiah’s “two worlds”: the luxury of serving as cupbearer to the king and the desperation of his brothers and sisters in Jerusalem
• Why this same tension shows up in our lives—between security and costly obedience, stability and sacrificial service
• Common but unhelpful responses to pressure and calling: frantic activity on one hand, and paralyzing despair on the other
• How Nehemiah’s first response is not action but presence before God: sitting down to weep, choosing to mourn, stepping back to fast, and learning to pray
• What biblical fasting meant in Nehemiah’s world, and what an equivalent might look like today in a life filled with cars, phones, and constant connectivity
• The shape of Nehemiah’s prayer: beginning with God’s character, confessing sin honestly, praying Scripture back to God, and making one simple, courageous request
• How God uses this extended season of prayer and Scripture-soaked reflection to bring Nehemiah from confusion to clarity about his next faithful step

By the end of the episode, you’ll see Nehemiah’s prayer not as a pious preface to “real” action, but as the place where real discernment and courage are born. You’ll be invited to reconsider how you face your own decisions and tensions—whether in vocation, family, ministry, or season of life—and to ask what it might look like to step back from noise, immerse yourself in God’s Word, and let his character, promises, and purposes shape your next step.

 Series: Nehemiah: Restoration & Redemption

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.

The story of Nehemiah begins in a world that feels strangely like our own: God’s people living after a “golden age,” surrounded by competing values, and struggling to remember who they are. As Nehemiah hears the report that Jerusalem’s walls are broken and its people are in “great trouble and shame,” he is drawn into a tension we know well—between comfort and costly obedience, between life at the center of power and solidarity with a vulnerable, hurting community. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why a seemingly “dry, obscure” book like Nehemiah speaks directly into modern questions of leadership, identity, and faith
• How the post-exilic setting mirrors a “post-Christian” culture, where biblical convictions are no longer assumed or admired
• What it meant for Jerusalem to live without walls—and how that image exposes the dangers of a boundary-less, easily-seduced faith
• The pressures of Persian-style “tolerance” and how it compares to today’s expectations that faith remain strictly private
• Nehemiah’s quiet but significant introduction of himself as a Jew in exile, kinsman to a suffering remnant, and cupbearer to the king
• The inner tension of “living in two worlds”: using influence in Susa versus joining brothers and sisters on the front lines in Jerusalem
• Why Nehemiah’s first step is simply to ask, to listen, and to become aware of the real spiritual and practical needs of God’s people

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer sense of why Nehemiah matters for Christians navigating life in a changing culture—where the walls of faith can feel fragile and identity uncertain. You’ll be invited to consider your own place in God’s story: where he has put you, how you might use your influence, and why honest awareness is the starting point for faithful leadership, earnest prayer, and renewed courage in following Christ. 

 Series: Nehemiah: Restoration & Redemption

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.

When injustice seems to win and the “bad guys” keep getting ahead, Jeremiah 50:1–20 speaks into that ache with both honesty and hope. In this episode, we walk through God’s promise to judge Babylon and restore His people, and we wrestle with two hard questions: Will the oppressors really be held accountable? and is it even right for me to want that?

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How Jeremiah 50 fits into the larger “oracles against the nations” and why Babylon—Israel’s fiercest enemy—gets so much attention
• The two main themes of the passage: God’s certain judgment on Babylon and His sure restoration of Israel
• Why prophetic “past tense” is often used for future events—to emphasize that what God has promised is as good as done
• The way God reverses Babylon’s story: the empire that once plundered others will itself be plundered, judged “as she has done”
• How the fall of Babylon in history raises questions about prophecy and fulfillment—and how Jeremiah 18’s “potter and clay” helps us understand God relenting in mercy when people repent
• Nebuchadnezzar’s humbling in Daniel 4 and what his apparent repentance suggests about God’s willingness to temper judgment with compassion
• The tension we feel between cheering for justice and feeling uneasy about our desire for “the bad guys to get what’s coming to them”
• What Scripture teaches about vengeance: why it belongs to the Lord, not to us, and how that protects us from escalating cycles of payback
• The sobering realization that we, too, are among the “bad guys”—sinners who deserve judgment—and the hope held out in God’s promise to pardon a remnant and establish an everlasting covenant
• How all of this points forward to Jesus, the true Lamb led to slaughter, where God’s justice against evil and His mercy toward sinners meet at the cross

After listening, you’ll have a richer, more grounded understanding of how God holds oppressors accountable without abandoning mercy—and how Jeremiah 50 ultimately leads us to the cross, where judgment falls on the one true “Good Guy” so that guilty people like us can be forgiven. You’ll be invited to bring your longing for justice to God Himself, to trust Him as the only wise and impartial Judge, and to rest in the staggering promise that in Christ your guilt is fully dealt with and you are never forsaken.

 Series: Questions Jeremiah Answered

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.