Day: May 10, 2014

When Nehemiah got word that the walls around Jerusalem were destroyed, it greatly grieved him. The walls were destroyed 150 years earlier. No doubt he had known that the walls were down. He just thought surely someone had put them back up. He wept! This produced a passion within him to rebuild those walls and hang the gates.

Romans 15:4 (NKJV)
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

1 Cor. 10:11 (NKJV)
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

So what is the wall? Our wall is our relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. A believer can’t lose his wall but you can neglect it to the point that the wall becomes weakened! Nehemiah had to lead a team to remove the rubbish first before he can rebuild. Confess any known sin and get rid of it…that is rubbish and you can’t rebuild the wall until it is gone!

Rebuild it with the right ingredients…read the Word daily; pray daily; verbally express your faith daily; and exercise your spiritual muscles by serving God!

Don’t get distracted…when Sanballat asked Nehemiah to come down and let’s talk, Nehemiah said no for he was involved in a great work! Don’t let good things distract you from great things.

Why is this important? The wall of Jerusalem protected their treasures…everything that they valued. Your wall protects your treasure: your personal purity, your name, your reputation…but also as a dad or mom, that wall protects your children from an onslaught of Satan!

Passion pays off! Nehemiah had a great passion that produced a great plan and that led to an accomplished work! They finished the wall in 52 days! Wow! With great determination, you too can turn your life around. You can put your spiritual walk on firm footing. Determine that nothing will stop you until you have a wall up that the enemy can not break through.

Hang the gates! The gates and doors were the place where people and things would come and go! Some things were not allowed to get into Jerusalem. The gates and doors represent your personal convictions based on the absolute truths of Scripture. Some things you do not need to allow access to your home or to your personal life. Be careful the movies you watch, the music you listen too, or the books you read. List your convictions and go over them with your family.

Work your plan! Express your faith out loud: I trust you God for…! Pray using the ACTS fromula: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. Read one chapter a day from scripture: start with Phillippians. This is your goal: 21 minutes a day for 21 days.