I am often asked, “What’s it like to start a college?”
“It’s always exciting, never boring, and most of the time, it’s fun!”
Beyond this quick response, I talk about several things. I mention one important issue that actually applies to 
everyone, no matter what your life calling. The issue is priorities. Establishing priorities in your life, your family, and your work is crucial for your progress. This is so important that my friend, Dr. Christian, and I decided to write a book on the subject. We hope to publish it in early 2018.
There is no better book in the Bible for examining your priorities than the book of Haggai. Recently, in the Ponderings, we considered several concepts from Haggai. However, when I sat down to write this week’s blog post, the Lord brought me back to one verse. Consider Haggai 1:14.
“So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel…Joshua…and all the people.”
The Hebrew word uwr, translated “stirred up,” means to “rouse” or “awaken; open the eyes.” In this text, the word is a Hiphil stem verb, emphasizing causative action, and an imperfect tense, suggesting continuing action. The text says the LORD continually caused His people’s spirits to wake up and see the importance of obeying His command to build the temple. As a result, they “came and worked on the house of the Lord, their God.” As the Lord “stirred up” His people, they obeyed. They did what God called them to do.
Has the Lord led you down a difficult path? Have you delayed to obey? As the Lord stirs your spirit, obey His prompting. You will move from disobedience to obedience.
This process describes NEBC’s origin. The LORD stirred up my spirit to begin, the faculty and staff to join in, our students to attend, and each of you to pray, work, give, and share. The Lord stirred; we obeyed.
The process is also our confidence for the future. We pray the Lord will “stir up, awaken” His people’s spirits to help us, then help those He “stirs up” to obey. For all of us, it’s the path to victory. Thank you for obeying our Lord’s promptings in your life!
As you join me in lifting our prayer requests before the Lord this week, please ask the Father to “stir up” the hearts of His people to give and help them to obey His leading.
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| Praise the Lord for Who He is. | Ask the Father to raise up 100 people to give $100 to this campaign, above their normal gifts. | Ask the Father to raise up 10 people who will give $1,000 to the campaign, above their normal gifts. | Ask the Father to raise up 4 people who will give $10,000 to the campaign, above their normal gifts. | Ask the Father to raise up 2 people who will give $50,000 to the campaign, above their normal gifts. | Ask the Father to raise up 2 people who will give $250,000 to the campaign, above their normal gifts. | Ask the Father to raise up 1 person who will give $1,000,000 to the campaign, above their normal gifts. |
| Praise the Lord for All He has done, and All He is going to do. | Ask the Father to raise up 20 people to give $500 to this campaign, above their normal gifts. | Ask the Father to raise up 6 people who will give $5,000 to the campaign, above their normal gifts. | Ask the Father to raise up 4 people who will give $25,000 to the campaign, above their normal gifts. | Ask the Father to raise up 2 people who will give $100,000 to the campaign, above their normal gifts. | Ask the Father to raise up 1 person who will give $500,000 to the campaign, above their normal gifts. | Ask the Father to raise up 1 person who will give $2,500,000 to the campaign, above their normal gifts. |
With Great Anticipation,
Mark H. Ballard