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Today is Saturday June 6, 2009 and we are beginning our studies on the book of Nehemiah. Please read chapters 1-3 in your Bible or Click Here to read them.
https://www.allonlinebible.com/Nehemiah/1,1-3,last/1.html

Today's Message: Path of Resistance
God's path is rarely the path of least resistance, but God gives us the wisdom and strength to keep going forward to victory as long as we seek Him in every area of our lives.

The book of Nehemiah is the sixteenth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains thirteen chapters. The author of the book is Nehemiah and it was originally written to the Israelites. The purpose of the book was to continue showing the history of Israel and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. What we are to learn from the book is that there is not opportunity without opposition and that faith without works is dead.

When Nehemiah's relative Hanani arrived in Persia from Jerusalem, he told Nehemiah of the pitiful conditions that existed there. "The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire." (Nehemiah 1:1-3).

Over a period of about four months, Nehemiah fasted and prayed, "And it came to pass, when I heard These words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned." (1:4-6).

King Artaxerxes saw Nehemiah's grief and asked why he was so sad. Nehemiah then explained to the king that he grieved over the ruins of Jerusalem. The king graciously responded by appointing him governor over Judah and commissioning him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The king even provided some of the materials. " And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me." (Nehemiah 2:6-8). God answers every prayer request that we send up to Him, but He rarely answers it in a way that we expect, often we get more that we ever hoped for.

Soon after the king sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem he faced opposition from Sanballat and his crowd of followers. "But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem." (2:19-20). Of course, the closer we draw near to God the more opposition we face from the devil. He will send many people and objects in our path to try and stop us from being so faithful to God.

There are three basic characteristics that contributed to Nehemiah's success. First, he has a desire to do the will of God. God's will led him to leave a life of luxury in the kings palace to endure the hardships of Jerusalem in order to restore the City of God. It is very important that our first desire be to do the will of God, no matter where that might take us. Enduring the hardships allows us to not only draw even closer to God it also blesses us even more that er expect.

Second, he not only prayed, he fasted and confessed their sins as well. He recognized that obedience to the Word of God is essential to answered prayer. Never under estimate the power of fasting and prayer. Jesus himself said that some requests can only be answered by fasting and prayer. "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." (Matthew 17:20-21).

Third, he never gave up and was determined to get the people to join him in rebuilding the walls. He refused to become discouraged and give up on accomplishing God's will, regardless of any opposition he faced. Accomplishing the will of God is dependent upon remembering that He is Sovereign over all the affairs of our lives. "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Today's Prayer:
Dear God,
May we desire to do Your will, to hide Your Word deep in our hearts so that we will not walk in the ways of sin but instead the paths of righteousness. Help us to seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness above all so that we will do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with You, our Lord and God. In Jesus' Name...........Amen.

Have a wonderful and blessed day/night .
God Bless,
Christina

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