Nehemiah - the whole book!

Good message at Church today which focused on Nehemiah. I thought I would come home and read through the whole book, and here are some insights.

Neh 1:4-5: 'When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said...'

Having been told that Jerusalem is in ruins, we might have forgiven Nehemiah for rising up in (righteous) anger and declaring his intentions for restoration right away. However, this is not what happens; first he seeks God 'for some days'. This is a great example to us of how we must not react out of the flesh, and indeed not take an opportunity just because it 'seems right'. In all major decisions we need to seek God's counsel.

Neh 2:2 '...I was very much afraid, but I said to the king'

I love this! Nehemiah is about to ask the King to release him for the restoration work. Not only that, he is actually going to ask him to supply the wood needed. He is afraid, but he does it anyway. This is just like one of Joyce Meyer's messages entitled 'do it afraid'. So often we avoid doing something we know is right because we are afraid. Whilst we mustn't rush in without God's blessing (see first scripture) we must also have the courage to do what we know is right - even if we do it afraid.

Neh 2:8 "And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel".

An interesting verse. God had clearly placed Nehemiah in the right place (working for the king) to do the work he has planned for him (restoration). I mean, who else would Nehemiah know who had a forest full of wood perfect for the gate beams? Does God have you in your work environment for his purposes?

Neh 4:13: 'Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places'.
Here we see Nehemiah getting his defenses ready for an attack from the enemy. We too have an enemy (the devil) who seeks to attack us. The key point here revolves around the term 'exposed places'. In the wall, these were the lowest points, where attack was most likely and where they were most vulnerable, with their enemies being able to simply hop over the wall and enter the city. In our lives, we too have 'exposed places' - areas of weakness where our enemy the devil is most likely to attack us. Like Nehemiah we need to pre-empt these attacks and get defending. If you have a weakness in a certain area, be ready for satan's attack in that place and pre-empt it by burying scriptures in your heart. Use the sword of the spirit which is the word of God to battle the devil (just like Jesus did in the desert). For example, if you know that worry is your weakness, memorise scriptures such as Matthew 6:25 and John 14:22. Then, when you next begin to worry about something, refuse to and quote these scriptures.



Neh 6:8 'I sent him this reply: "Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up in your head".
This is what Nehemia said to his enemy who was threatening him and trying to worry him. What I like about it is how we see (in hindsight) that a lot of the devil's attacks at us never happen - he is, as the Bible tells us, a liar. Rather than fret over everything the devil whispers to us, perhaps we should reply with Nehemiah's words: "Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up in your head".