Our church continues week 4 of the 6-week “Rebuild” series tonight from the book of Nehemiah. Pastor Bumble will teach from chapters 4-6 about “Facing Oppositions as We Rebuild”.
Since we will be going through 3 chapters tonight, if you need to catch up to chapter 6, now is the time to do it.
From a bird eyes’ view over chapters 4-6 tonight, Bumble identified these types of oppositions to God’s work:
DERISION, DANGER, DISCOURAGEMENT, DISCORD, DIVERSIONS, DECEPTION
Which one is the one you need to work on?
Please share your insights
The aspect hat I need to work on is DANGER. Many oppositions will come my way and try to take me away from God. Following Jesus isn’t an easy task, there are temptations and obstacles every step of the way. Those are the dangers that Nehemiah faced, he faced opposition on him trying to rebuild the wall and many others. I pray that God would still use and work me through these dangers so that I can become a better servant for Him.
One thing I need to work on is discouragement. When life gets overwhelming, it can be discouraged to do the things you are doing. I can feel like the works are too much to handle but I still have the responsibility to do it. Bumble today in his sermon brought up a good point. When things like that happen, ask these 2 questions: What God has done in your ministry and why you’re doing that ministry (what’s your purpose). Like Bumble said, in order to bake a cake, you gotta prepare all the ingredients. It can be a lot but the end result, you will get the cake 🙂 In the same way, even though serving God can be overwhelming, in the end, you’re directly or indirectly invest into the spiritual life of others. Therefore, I pray that God will help me with this and help me to serve with a heart of a true servant.
I would say of opposition that I continue to face is the derision where outsiders would mock Christianity or laugh about my spirituality. Something that stood out to me was the negotiation with the enemy and the story of the bear. Like I know negotiation with our enemies is typically prohibited logically, but I thought Christianity wise that we would apply the forgiveness aspect and give people the benefit of the doubt. It was actually interesting to know that not negotiating with the enemy is applicable to Christianity as well.
I need to work on DISTRACTIONS. It is easy for me to— especially when the work is hard— find reasons not to do the work and occupy myself with other things to avoid the work. However, distractions are often difficult for me to identify without discernment as I would often mistake the distractions for things necessary to do the work. That is why I must continually remind myself that am dependent on God in everything, and to also be in constant communion with God in order to keep from being distracted.
From brother Don
What stood out to me most in tonight’s sermon was the point made that Nehemiah was one of those that was charging interest on loans to the poorer people, and that his call to repentance was as much to himself as to the rest of the nobles. I recall reading that verse, but was under the impression that perhaps he was just identifying with the nobles that were guilty- I did not realize that he himself was guilty of this offense. The personal accountability resonated with me. I know that often times I am guilty of the sin I can so easily see in others. Of unique interest to me was Bumble’s example of a parent yelling at their kids to stop yelling. Lol. I am guilty of this. Sometimes it actually works… in the short term. But in the long run, all it does is reinforce the behavior we are trying to correct because of the modeling of that very same behavior! I know this principle well, but sometimes apply it poorly. A leader is called to set the example, and, as Nehemiah demonstrated, even by repentance when necessary.
Lord, thank You for the way in which You continue to reveal Your will for us. Help me to repent of the sin in my own life, that I may be a better example of what it means to follow You! Continue to sanctify us by the truth of Your Word, and empower us, by Your Spirit, to live by that truth.