Post Sunday January 11, 2009

Nehemiah 2:8 “…And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.”

Here is why we know Nehemiah is a man that can be trusted and one that we can learn from. There are those conversations end here moments in our lives in which motivate us to begin truly engaging each day so we can honestly rest our heads at night and confidently smile as we drift off into dream land that we gave our all today to make tomorrow that much brighter. Nehemiah lived this way but he never once forgot Who it was that was blessing His life with progress and success, it was “according to the good hand of my God upon me.”

As we stated in week one of the “Dare to Build” lifessage series, a vision is something that is not actually there, but it SHOULD be there. At this moment we find Nehemiah before the King in chapter 2 and the vision he had to rebuild that wall was beginning to materialize, yet Nehemiah did not for one moment think that the materialization of that vision had anything to do with him. Nehemiah continued to remain fixated on God and dependent on God’s hand upon him.

The factors that we discussed yesterday are those factors that if practiced sincerely will keep us fixated on God and dependent on God. None of what we discussed yesterday is the “magic” that makes life work for us. Fasting, Prayer, Attitude and Preparation are items that a Christian should practice, they are all part of our D30 at Han Garden, but they are not done in our lives to get us what we want, rather they are all bold displays of our faith in a wonderful, loving God.

Read the below verses slowly while remembering that a vision is something that is not actually there, but it should be there….

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” NIV

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” NIV

When we fast we are laying down before God those things that we feel we physically need and those things that we can provide ourselves in order to feel that hunger pang, feel that giving up of something important to us in order to communicate to our heavenly Father that we live by His Word and His Word alone. Nehemiah was one of the King’s servants and probably was treated well, he gave up the luxuries of his life and fasted in order to cling onto the one true luxury of life, being in God’s presence.

When we pray we are placing ourselves humbly in His presence to communicate our hearts to Him and by faith believe He hears us and is communicating back to us. Despite the fact that Nehemiah had clearly prepared for at least four months, when the King asked him what was wrong, Nehemiah first prayed, he first said, despite the fact that I’m ready does not dismiss the fact that I must have God present with me before I unfold my months of preparing. We should never be too busy to pray as Pastor Bill Hybels wrote.

When our attitudes are positive a great majority of the time before others it is a demonstration of the work of God and the joy of Christ within us. We know Nehemiah had “never been sad” in the presence of the King before so how did he do that? What about those days when he was running late and he grabbed his shirt and it needed to be ironed? What about those days when the night before he was up all night sick? What about those days that he knew he didn’t have a dime until his next paycheck, which was two days away? Do we really think that Nehemiah was never sad because he was spoiled and was in the perfect place? (Read Adam and Eve’s story about being in a perfect place and see if that worked for them…). Of course he had bad days, yet he was never sad when in the king’s presence. Attitude adjustments are a display of our faith in God, because when we can continue to give the best of ourselves despite the internal wars that rage within us we display our trust in the strength of Christ.

When we prepare for something we cannot see and for something that is not specifically marked on our calendars we again display the work ethic of a God that gets things done. Nehemiah had no idea when he would get to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls or if he would even be the one, but yet he prepared. Re-read chapter 2 and imagine the research Nehemiah must have done in order to be properly prepared for this moment before the King. He was ready despite not knowing when, which means he would be ready when God was ready. Read that sentence slowly again….

In my reading time this morning, I read this quote by Pastor Andy Stanley, “He (God) allows us to rev our engines in the starting blocks long enough for us to overheat and shut down. He allows us to wait until our faith is in Him and Him alone. For that is our only hope for seeing our vision through to a truly successful ending.”
After reading that I stopped and thought for awhile. I thought through my past and the numerous times I’ve seemed to overheat and been forced to shut down for a time, but yet in each pit stop of life, God spoke in different ways and most of the times I broke down He used many individuals to help bolster my faith and help send me back out onto that track, ready for many more laps at breakneck speeds. The only way to experience the thrill of racing at those breakneck speeds is to take those appropriate pit stops , which means we will need to shut down and trust our crew chief. In this case place our faith in THE CREW CHIEF and trust that our crew chief, God Himself is adjusting and replacing the right parts of our motors during that stop.

As I thought these thoughts, I opened my journal to capture them and I opened to an entry I had written less than a year ago, with simply this verse and these words:

Proverbs 27:7 “A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.”

The only words I wrote in response to that verse was this: “God please keep me hungry.”

The factors that Nehemiah lived in his life, fasting, praying, attitude and preparation will all keep you hungry and you’ll begin to see even the bitterest moments in life as very sweet moments and you won’t ever loathe (hate) the truly incredible gifts that do come our way.

So begin to consider a time of fasting in your life, it will of course literally keep you hungry, but I believe you’ll be surprised what God may communicate to you during that time. (Read Matthew 6:16-18 first)

Commit to a time of prayer and don’t break it. Fight for that time, it is your relationship with God, don’t let anyone or thing rob you of that!

Choose to change your attitude if it is consistently stinky. Let God power the smile when you no longer have one.

If you had a “conversation ends here” moment, then start preparing for it! Don’t get caught up in the when it will happen, be prepared for it like it will happen and then….

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” NIV

Huh, look at that, He rewards those who earnestly seek Him, He truly loves you and amazingly He has placed His faith in you and me, let’s return that great love and great faith with our unshakeable faith for Him.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

1. What conversation enders are stirring in your heart? What have you begun to do with them?

2. If all you feel is deadness of the soul, don’t distress! You now know that you aren’t hungry enough! So begin to Fast, Pray and pay close attention to your attitude (these things will place you before God, will show your dedication and you’ll begin to hear from Him!)

Pastor e