God calls us to STAY COMMITTED

Commitment comes before anything else in a Christian’s life. Because Nehemiah had it and drew it out of others, the people finished the wall in 52 days, despite many adversities.

We see in Nehemiah 6 that Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem and the rest of Nehemiah’s enemies  tried to attack him when they heard that he wall had been rebuilt.. They sent him letters through which they indicated that it was made known unto them that Nehemiah himself wanted to overtake them and become the king. Of course, they were blinded by the scales covering their eyes, and unable to recognise the good work of God and the favour of God in Nehemiah’s life against them.

Nevertheless, Neheemiah did not succumb to these accusations, some may have gotten angry and aggressive att he enemies and may have even given them what they asked for, but Nehemiah, the man of God stood grounded in his faith and trust in the Almighty who guided him through the entire rebuilding process. He did not give up like of us may have done. He did not get fed-up with the enemies, but again he called upon GOD.

CONTINUAL PRAYER IS NECESSARY FOR CHRISTIANS TO STAY COMMITTED

So in verse 9, Nehemiah calls upon God again in prayer: ⁹For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

He asked God for strength in his hard times knowing that God is the supplier of all strength. These is seen throughout the entire Bible. Here are some examples of verses which speak about the strength of the Almighty.

Job 12:13 With God are wisdom and strength; he has counsel and understanding.

Psa 65:6  By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might.

Psa 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

We must come to the place where we know that God is our strength and shield and nothing that our enemies or the world hurl at us will not work, once we trust in His love and His greatness.

ENEMIES CONTINUE TO ATTACK

The enemies continued to attacked. This time around they sent a false prophet who told Nehemiah that he should go with him into the house of God and hide so that the enemies couldn’t attack him.

Nehemiah being a man who walked with God and was guided by Him perceived that this was a false prophet.

When we walk with God very often God gives us certain spiritual gifts by His Holy Spirit which would allow us to perceive the enemy form afar.

Nehemiah 6:12-14

¹²And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

¹³Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

¹⁴My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

Again in verse 14, Nehemiah prays again and turns over the works of his enemies to God. God will deal with our battles  and or enemies. We just need to trust in Him in everything we do and continually seek his guidance in Prayer just as Nehemiah did.

Here are some notes from John Maxwell. Leaders who complete a task possess at least four characteristics:

1. A compelling purpose: They make a great commitment to a great cause
2. A clear perspective: They don’t let fear cloud their view of the future
3. A continual prayer: They pray about everything and gain God’s favour
4. A courageous persistence: They move ahead despite the odds

Commitment: How to Beat Your Problems

One of the great teats of leadership is how you handle opposition. Nehemiah faced the usual tactics of the opposition: ridicule (Neh 4:1-3), resistance (4:7-8); and rumour (4:11-12). Nehemiah modeled the right response to all three of these challenges. He…

1. Relied on God (4:4-5)
2. Respected the opposition (4:9)
3. Reinforced his weak points (4:13)
4. Reassured the people (4:14)
5. Refused to quit (4:15)
6. Renewed the people’s strength continually (4:16-23).

While Nehemiah 4 concerns problems from without, chapter 5 deals with problems from within – disputes about food, property and taxes.

Persistence is the ultimate gauge of our Christian life; the secret is to outlast our critics. Nehemiah tauht us this lesson by staying committed to his ultimate calling

Adapted from John Maxwell’s Leadership bible (p.600)

Defend Your Walls Against the Enemy

You would have already started to build back your walls; the walls of your soul. These are the walls which would have been broken down by sin and caused the enemy to come into your life with his depression, addiction, resentment, hatred, envy, low self esteem or any of his other negative qualities. These are the walls of your soul, through which seeking the face of God through prayer, and seeking the help of soul builders around you, God has helped you to start to rebuild your wall.

The rebuilding of this wall will begin with your changed attitudes, you will begin to focus more on God, focus more on reading the word of God and hearing what He has to say to you as His child and what He expects of you in order to live a holy and righteous life just as His. We have been made in the image of God as outlined in the book of Genesis.

What God outlines in Nehemiah 4-6 is that there will be times when you will encounter people (being used by the enemy) to pull you down back down. They will insult you, and try to make you think that you are not worth it but remember that God who is mighty and greater than he who is in the world, is in the process of rebuilding your life and changing your character. Some people around you will NOT forget where you were before and will try to pull you down by constantly highlighting your sins from the past. But just as Nehemiah did, press on. Seek a change in your life. For the devil only comes around to destroy us since he hates us so much, but God who said he gave His son to die for us so that we may have everlasting life, loves us dearly.

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Here’s the thing which God wants you to know: YOU ARE FORGIVEN AND THROUGH THE BLOOD OF JESUS YOU HAVE BEEN SANCTIFIED. GOD REMEBERS YOUR PAST NO LONGER AND WANTS TO WORK WITH YOU TO CONTINUE REBUILDING YOUR WALLS SO THAT THE ENEMY CANNOT GET BACK IN NOR CAUSE THEM YO BE WEAK NOR BREAK THEN DOWN.

In Nehemiah 4 we encounter Sanballat who was the distracter being used by the enemy. When he heard that the walls of the city were being rebuilt, he sought to stop the work, by mocking, insulting and ridiculing the Jews. As a response to this behaviour, the man of God Nehemiah sought God’s face again. He prayed to God for his strength and for him to cause these mockers’ sin to fall upon their own head. Knowing God as the Protector, they continued to build; however, as the wall continued to go up, Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonities and the Ashodites became even more angered and sought to attack the Jews in order to kill them so that the work may be stopped.

Here’s what Nehemiah did:

Nehemiah 4:9

⁹Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

Again Nehemiah sought God in prayer and through his trust in God’s power, strength and wisdom placed guards to keep watch day and night to prevent the enemy and his people from attacking them and their efforts to destroy the walls again. Just as Nehemiah did, we as Christians must do. Continue to seek God and His guidance in prayer, prayer for strength and ask God for his assistance in helping us fight our past habits, issues, addictions and emotions while focusing on rebuilding what the devil’s devices destroyed in the past.

THERE WILL BE DISTRACTIONS IN YOUR CHRISTIAN JOURNEY BUT GOD IS THE ANSWER.

Here are Nehemiah’s words of confidence:

Nehemiah 4:14-15

¹⁴And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the LORD, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

The result:

¹⁵And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.

The work on the wall continued, but the wise man, Nehemiah kept the guards with spears and swords around the walls day and night, while the rest of the men continued to work. The ones who worked also had a weapon in one hand, while working with the other.

Wasn’t this a superb strategy of looking out for the protection of the rebuilding process?

Your goal in rebuilding the walls of your soul against the enement and keeping the enemy out is to always be guarded with your sword at all times while pressing forward. This is not the same type of sword which Nehemiah used, but THE WORD OF GOD which will cut down the enemy in the same way.

The Sword of the Spirit forms part of your armour which God gives you to protct you against the wiles of the enemy. This is confirmed in Ephesians 6:11-18 as follows:

¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹²For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

¹⁵And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

¹⁸Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

In all that is said John Maxwell in The Maxwell Leadership Bible (p.599) indicates that there are four valuable lessons which we need to learn from Nehemiah and these are:

1. Expect distractions
2. Don’t give them the time of day
3. Trust God to protect you and your reputation
4. Keep your hands to the plow and don’t look back

ALLOW GOD’S APPOINTED BUILDERS TO HELP YOU REBUILD YOUR WALLS

As you seek God’s face in rebuilding the walls and gates in your walls and gates in your life which have been broken down, God wants you to know that you are not alone and you do not have to take on the task of doing it alone.

Your walls and gates to your city have been broken down or even destroyed by your thoughts and your depression. The walls and gates are (the things which God has put up to protect you against the enemy and your city is your soul.

God gave Nehemiah a mission to build back the walls and city of Jerusalem. He didn’t give him no big miraculous idea but He showed him simply in a vision that the people of the city would need to help him.

In Neh 3 Nehemiah writes about all the different types of builders who were assigned to various areas of the city to work and rebuild it. This too can be applied to our lives and most importantly, your life.

We all must call upon the builder of the soul, who is God he will help us. We must call upon the builders of the church to help us through our hard times and give us advice. These builders of the church are our pastors and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We also have the builders of the word, who are the pastors that would teach you and guide you along as you seek God’s face as well as seek to understand his commands for you which have been laid down in the word of God.

You don’t have to do it alone. God is there for you and He has given other people to help you in your down times.

ALLOW GOD TO REBUILD YOUR WALLS TODAY!

Nehemiah was a man who saw a need, rose up (did not sit back and get depressed in the situation) and captured a vision. The Jerusalem walls had been knocked down, and the gates had been destroyed by fire. Yes, he cried and weeped for days because he did not know what to do. During those days he fasted and prayed. He cried out to God for help and God heard his prayer and laid a vision in his heart to gather the people to rebuild the wall.
No one is healed or raised from the dead in this book of Nehemiah, but the book shows that God simply answers prayers by proving someone with favour strength and wisdom. He provides all these things once you are willing to turn over your situation to him.

I urge you to read this book because I know that the walls in your life may be broken down now that have been broken down.

Some gates have even been burned down, your assurance of life may be gone, but you have to make the effort to build back your walls with God’s help because He is your Strength and Help in trouble.

Read the book of Nehemiah and let God help you rebuild your life.
Take a look at Chapter 1

Nehemiah 1

¹The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

²That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

³And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

⁴And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

⁵And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

⁶Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.

⁷We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

⁸Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

⁹But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

¹⁰Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

¹¹O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.