The Word is alive and active, powerful and spiritual. When we read the Word do we believe it will teach us, fill us, carry us and lead us in our day? We should! We should be leaving room for God to speak to us when we read the Word each day so it can launch us into the Spirit and guide us into times of repentance, renewal and reset.
Read MoreFor the love of the word
NEHEMIAH Chapter 8 is the beginning of the spiritual revival and the people were renewed in their reverence for the scripture, worship, and understanding of the law, for starters. With every revival, there is always a "rebible"- that is, a heightened hunger and release of the Word of God.
Read MoreTrust the Process
There was a lot more to the rebuilding of the walls than building them. We are talking about administrating and entire city of people, getting them to work together, and having a plan that would ensure the future success of the protection of Jerusalem. How was Nehemiah going to be sure that these walls didn't get torn down again? He trusted the process even when he couldn’t see the full picture.
Read MoreThe Generous Leader
Funny isn’t it, when there is something from the outside coming at you, you tend to band together and get over your differences pretty quickly. But, when there is little or no outside opposition, you start to see the small things right on the inside of your own home/family/community and even nit-pick.
In chapter 5 Nehemiah learns that the Jews were charging each other interest when lending to them, and this brought about a whole lot more findings…
Read MoreGod Will Fight for You
IF THE ENEMY CAN’T GET YOU, HE’LL GO AFTER THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU
The enemy always uses fear tactics. If he cant get to the leader, he will hit the people around the leader to get the leader to stop and force him to engage and address the people. Even this tactic of the enemy always futile because the leader will then pastor the people, bring them into unity and end up with greater strength than before as is the case with most challenges life brings us.
Read MoreDo Something, Together
In Nehemiah verse 4, The “rubbish”, in Hebrew, it’s the only occurrence of this word. The next nearest translation means “rubble”, “dust”, “debris”. The picture in my mind is like what ground zero looked like after 911. There was so much, that it took so many, many people so long to clear it. I imagine the workers at the beginning full of strength and patriotism for their country. Then after months, and years, see the heaps upon heaps still staring at them in the face can feel like a dent has hardly been made.
Read MoreThe Action of Watchmen
In verse 3 we see action. "prayed" and "stationed guards". This is a two-fold, double barrier strategy. While I am praying, you stand guard. There is a misconception that prayer, waiting or watching is “passive”- that couldn’t any farther from the truth! Have you ever stayed up all night waiting for your teenager to get home?Technically that is waiting and watching. How does your mind and emotions feel? Are they at rest? How does your body feel losing sleep? Watching and praying is work. It is very active…
Read MoreNehemiah's Opposition
Opposition! Ugh! No one likes opposition, but I’ve heard it said that as surely as you set out to do something for God, someone will surely come to oppose it. Opposition gets us into a place of considering, or reconsidering, if what we are doing is a good idea or a God idea. (Thank you "opposition"!)
There is a difference between "good" and "God". I have good ideas all the time, seriously, I do. I have great ideas, in fact the problem is that I have so many ideas I have to really sort through them and ask, “Is this a good idea, or a God idea?” all the time. Nehemiah prayed, fasted, went to his leader, and had much confirmation before the opposition came.
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