Sunday Oct 06, 2013
Principles for Rebuilding Walls in Your Life
Principles for rebuilding Walls in Your Life Nehemiah 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan[a] the citadel, 2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” 4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Jesus is all about building and rebuilding. He came to give life, and life more abundantly. He healed people everywhere He went such as the women with the flow of blood Mark 5:25-34. In addition to the miracles and healings, God wants to rebuild entire lives. Walls represent many good things such as protection, strength, and stability. Broken walls represent the opposite. The story of Ezra and Nehemiah is a parable for building and rebuilding lives and spiritual foundations. Ezra and Nehemiah are one book in the Hebrew Bible. In fact, the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther all come out of the same general period of Israel's history. In chronological order in which they took place, Esther actually happened before Ezra and Nehemiah. God used her to set up what happened in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. God raised Esther, a young Jewish maiden, to the throne of Persia as queen as the wife of King Ahasuerus of Persia, who is called Artaxerxes or (or Xerxes) at the beginning of Nehemiah. Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes are titles, not names. Artaxerxes means "the great king" and Ahasuerus means "the venerable father." Jesus rebuilds lives, Just as Nehemiah was the one who restored the walls of Jerusalem and the morals of his people, so the Lord Jesus Christ will be the One who restores the nation of Israel. This promise of the Lord is sure: ''And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts'' (Haggai 2:7) Principle One After getting the report, Nehemiah was concerned because he understood God’s intended state for Israel. He prayed to a covenant-keeping God. Neh. 1: 3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” 4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven You will never build the walls of your life until you have first become concerned about the ruins. Have you ever taken a good look at the ruins in your own life? Ruins are evidence a structure, now broken. Jesus said, “Upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Nothing can break what Jesus is building, so if it does not look right, that’s because we have let something slip. Like Jesus, Nehemiah saw the true, intended state of Jerusalem and the Jewish people. We must always endeavor to restore and keep God’s intended state for our lives and His church before us. Like Moses of old, all we need to do is build according to pattern.
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