When the plot to distract Nehemiah did not work, Sanballat and Tobiah tried to discourage him. They threatened to report to the king that Nehemiah and the Jews were rebuilding the wall with ill motives. When the enemy fails to distract us, he will discourage us. He often discourages us with lies and deception. There is actually a plethora of things that can discourage us from building our walls. It really doesn’t matter with method Satan uses; the goal is just to get us to stop. Nehemiah recognized the plot to discourage him and he asked God to strengthen his hands. When we are discouraged, we must ask God to strengthen our hands.
Distractions
March 1, 2020 • Jumaine Jones
Nehemiah’s effort was met with opposition. Nehemiah 6 is where we see the opposition intensify. The closer Nehemiah got to rebuilding the wall, the greater the opposition. Our vision will not come without opposition. The first thing that Nehemiah’s opposers Sanballat and Tobiah tried to do was distract Him. Nehemiah’s response to them was that He was doing a great work and could not come down from the wall. Likewise, there are walls that we must build: family wall, financial wall, spiritual wall, ministry wall, etc. We must realize that we are doing a great work and cannot come down.
Art of the Start
February 23, 2020 • Jumaine Jones
Nehemiah had a burden to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. After receiving permission from King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah relocated to Jerusalem with the intention to rebuild the wall. Once Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he did not share with the Jews what God had called him to do right away. Eventually, however, Nehemiah had to cast vision and motivate them to rebuild the wall. Likewise, God will give us a burden. He will give us a vision as to what needs to be done in this world. We won’t be able to do it alone. We will have to cast vision to rally people around a cause. We will examine how Nehemiah casted vision and motivated the Jews to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem
