We get overwhelmed by so many things to do! And, we feel pressure from those around us to do all of the stuff and even social media influencers that tell us what we need to do, do this, do that... does any of it really matter?
Of all the 150 Psalms in the Bible, which one is most frequently read by Christians? Psalm 23? Maybe Psalm 91. Psalm 103 has been called the Mount Everest of songs, exalting the soul to breathtaking heights.
There were two times in David’s life when he was forced to escape from Jerusalem into the wilderness. The first was before he was king when Saul became jealous of him and decided to kill him. (1 Samuel 11-21).
The second time this happened was later in his life after having been king for about thirty years. His son, Absalom revolted declaring himself king, forming an army to try to kill him. (2 Samuel 15)
Psalms 42:3-11 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”…5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God…8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life…11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. NIV
Psalm 67:1-5 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! ESV
God’s family is a family of forgiven, dysfunctional, imperfect people. Great advice to singles is to stop looking for perfect mate and focus on being your best in Christ. Great advice for Christians is stop looking for perfect church. Start loving, serving and giving to sacrificially express the loving nature of Christ.
The more you are seen and the more you are known the more complicated your work becomes. You can’t stand for something without automatically communicating something you’re against.
We learn from Nehemiah to fight for that which is good rather than fighting against that which is bad. We are light in darkness so being the best reflection of the light of Christ is the best thing we can do.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
For God to give you a broader audience of influence is for God to give you a broader audience of critics. Can God trust you to keep your focus when haters start to hate? If you are more emotionally charged than you are spiritually mature God simply has to keep you from having too much influence because critics are inevitable.
Nehemiah 4:1-4 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” 4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised… ESV
These mockers minimized anything the Israelites had to work with. The truth was they were working with ruins like most of us are. But the reality is they had been given access to the private resources of the King. We work with what we have but supplies are on the way.
Enemies come and enemies go but not one of your enemies has ever been raised from the dead so keep your focus and keep your faith. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world!
Critics are inevitable. The next time somebody is being negative about you remember Jesus not only said this is inevitable but actually cautioned us about living so indifferently there is no human reaction: Luke 6:26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you... NIV
Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to someone who is deeply devoted to misunderstanding you!
Nehemiah 4:14-20 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” 15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work…18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built…. 20 …Our God will fight for us.” ESV
Remember your God and fight. Rehearse his greatness and get to work! Don’t be distracted by voices that will try to keep you from focusing on your call.
You don’t have to attend every argument to which you’re invited.
Ministry has enemies. Jesus had the perfect ministry and He had enemies. Then he said if you follow me you’ll have enemies. It is surprising in one way, but when you try to help others and make a difference, you are met with resistance. This is because there is more taking place than just what you see in the natural human realm. Otherwise people around us would say wow that’s great. You were trying to help others.
The enemies of God are always trying to stop the word of God, and Satan is at work in those who are disobedient (Ephesians 2:2). There is actually a spiritual collaboration where demonic forces strategically cooperate and those who are under their influenced are used to work against you. But if God be for you who can be against you? (Romans 8:31)
When you learn to ignore your enemies, you get your time back, you get your emotional energy back and you get your focus back where it needs to be - on Jesus
At this point they have not even tried to meet or have a conversation with Nehemiah. Manipulators love to put pressure out there publicly before asking to meet privately, so they have cultivated leverage to coerce you into their agenda.
Please do not allow your social media to be used as a demonic tool of division in our already divided world. When I’ve called this out before I’ve had pushback saying people need a support structure. The problem is it is simply not Biblical. If you have a problem and you post it publicly rather than going to the person (Matthew 18) then you can justify it however you want but it’s wrong. What you post as frustration will breed disdain and hate from those who pick up your offense. In addition you grow what you sow and that will come back on you one day.
Criticism is inevitable. We must learn not to respond to negativities. It’s not easy but with God all things are possible!
Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. ESV
Criticism is inevitable. Take captive every thought and choose to live from a deeper place than the place of emotional reaction. It is Christlike to be criticized and falsely accused without reacting trying to justify ourselves. Jesus didn’t even give an answer to Pilot’s question of accusations that were made against him.
When you settle the issue of God’s love for you then you will finally stop living for the praise of others. The disapproval from your critics will no longer slow you down.
Everywhere we go….
We Bring GP2RL Action Point: Read two chapters of Nehemiah each day this week asking God for courage to continue to move forward in the face of adversity.
NEHEMIAH: Critics Are Inevitable
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Click here for a downloadable PDF file of this guide.
UNDERSTANDING THE SEASON: Nehemiah is all about rebuilding the ruins of the work of God in our world. God’s people had grown distracted and disconnected from God’s plan for them to be the expression of His Kingdom in the Earth.
Jerusalem had been in ruins since the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C. Nehemiah lead the third of three returns to Israel after 70 years of exile in Babylon. Even in a state of ruin God was still at work looking for someone who would have a heart to respond to what God was about to do.
This is the condition of the Western church today. Much can be gained by a close examination of Nehemiah’s response in his day. God woke up a fresh movement that brought life but it was met with great challenges. No matter how challenging it was God was always seeing his work through.
God’s work is a work within us as we learn to respond to Him. It is God’s plan is for us to spend time drawing close to his heart and hearing his voice together as a family. This is why we start each meeting with this question first:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
Ask each person in your group to answer the discussion questions below after reading the verses. Realize, there is great power in just reading the Bible together and allowing the Holy Spirit to awaken His conversational nature in the group.
Nehemiah 4:1-4 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” 4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised… ESV
Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. ESV
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
2. DISCOVER: Have each person give a simple 60 second summary of what these verses are saying, Encourage people to try not to add insights or application yet. Just simply summarize.
3. DEVELOP: What do you sense God may be speaking to you personally as we focus on these verses?
4. DEPLOY: We are to be doers and not hearers only. What will you do this week in response to what you sense God is revealing in this time together?
Everywhere we go, we bring...
GP2RL: Read two chapters of Nehemiah each day this week asking God for courage to continue to move forward in the face of adversity.
The sacred value of our labor is discovered in the work God has assigned to our lives. Nehemiah, chapter three, seems like a portion of the Bible to be skipped over with all the repetition of names and tasks. If we skip this we miss something vitally important in the Kingdom of God. All these wonderful people listed went to work and sacrificially gave to see the work of God established in the earth in such a way that it would impact generations to come.
In the opening verses of Nehemiah chapter 1, we're introduced to Nehemiah, a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes in the city of Susa. Despite his comfortable position, Nehemiah's heart is burdened by the news of Jerusalem's broken walls and the plight of his people. The walls, once symbols of security and identity, lay in ruins, reflecting the brokenness of the people themselves.
Ezra had lead the 2nd return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple and restore worship. Nehemiah will lead the 3rd return to restore the walls of the City but first he has to respond to God’s desire to awaken this burden within him.
Nehemiah got emotional, because God awakened His perspective in Nehemiah’s heart. We need an awakening!
We can be born into a world where things existed before us so they seem normal to us things have simply been this way so long, we can’t imagine another way to see them until God begins to awaken his eternal perspective within us to imagine a better future.
Nehemiah 1:3-6 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” When I heard this, I sat down & wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. 5 Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. NIV
Many knew about city in ruins but Neh took personal responsibility
Sat down – Will we slow down & pay attentn to what God sees?
Wept – Are we touched by what touches God’s heart?
Mourned - Do we feel what God feels about our world around us?
Fasted & Prayed –Are we willing to be part of the solution?
E+Motion = Energy in motion. We are fully capable of being passionately activated. The problem is the church tends to be more emotionally charged than spiritually mature.
There are things that really matter to you. There are things that really matter to God. In my own life looking back I have to admit that many times these have not been the same things. (Less of me, more of you!) This is what happened with Nehemiah. He moved beyond his comfortable life and was touched by the things that mattered to God.
He response to this God-given burden was to pray! Nehemiah reminds us over and over that we should pray before we plan!
Praying people need to plan more planning people need to pray more typically the case Nehemiah prayed 14 times
Nehemiah recognizes the need for divine guidance and intervention. He acknowledges the sins of his people as well as his own sin and neglect.
His prayer starts with praise not problems just like the Lords prayer shows us to do. Start with prayer not the problem. Power of prayer/prob
True restoration begins with a humble heart, acknowledging our need for God's grace. The heart of restoration seeks God's purposes above personal ambitions.
Nehemiah's prayer isn't merely a cry for the physical rebuilding of walls. It's a cry for the spiritual restoration.
The ruins left the people in a place of spiritual deficiency. Gathering around God’s presence to hear God’s Word was no longer a pattern of priority. Generational indifference is more destructive than any of us can imagine.
Our patterns reveal our priorities to the world around us. Our patterns instill our priorities in the hearts of our children. Our children will embrace what they experience. Not what we say but what we do.
Let’s sacrificially purpose to gather as a family, read the word as a family and even give as a family during this time.
Felt the Lord saying this Fall would be a tremendous time of harvest. Then I realized if we go chapter-by-chapter we actually read about the feast of booths in chapter 8 the very week this Annual Biblical Feast is taking place! Significant!
We want to leave next generation more than what the previous gen left us. Our church needs to be strong theologically, relationally and financially. An income producing endowment is something we are asking God to help us establish.
Know of a situation with a ministry that has a $4m endowment. If that generates 8% annual then it provides $320k every year to expand the work of God’s Kingdom in the earth without ever spending any of the principal that is making the money.
This is generational wealth and it should be the way we think about generations to come!
Everywhere we go….
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Read two chapters of Nehemiah a day asking the Holy Spirit to burden you for what burdens Him.
