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.
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For 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.
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Trust 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.
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The Generous Leader
It’s funny how 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 or family or community and even nit-pick things that really are not important.
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…
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God Will Fight for You
This is probably the most significant and strategic passage in the book of Nehemiah for prayer strategy. In this chapter we not only see the leadership required for a unified corporate prayer strategy, but we learn about the enemy’s tactics.
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Do Something, Together
Nehemiah demonstrates how a leader needs to be actively involved. 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.
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The Action of Watchmen
The watchmen in the book of Nehemiah demonstrate “action”. Their actions? They "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”, but that couldn’t any farther from the truth! Watching and praying is work. It is very active…
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Nehemiah'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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