Bold Ways To Give Yourself To God

BOLD WAYS TO GIVE YOURSELF

Turn to Nehemiah 2

What comes to your mind when you think about boldness.

One story is told of a very bold woman.

An elderly lady was well-known in the community for her faith and for her boldness in talking about it.

She would stand on her front porch and shout

"PRAISE THE LORD!" Next door to her lived an atheist (didn’t believe in God) and he would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, "There ain’t no Lord!!"

Hard times set in on the lady, and so she prayed for GOD to send her some assistance. She stood on her porch and shouted "PRAISE THE LORD. GOD I NEED FOOD!! I AM HAVING A HARD TIME. PLEASE LORD, SEND ME SOME GROCERIES!!"

The next morning the lady went out on her porch and found a large bag of groceries, she shouted, "PRAISE THE LORD." The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, "Aha! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries, God didn’t." The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and said, "PRAISE THE LORD. He not only sent me groceries, but He made the devil pay for them. "

Now that lady was bold in her faith but their are many ways that we discover boldness in the Bible.

Think with me about

I. boldness as a Leader -

NehemiahGod takes someone willing to believe and He puts boldness into their bones and makes a leader out of them.

God calls people willing to lead and God gives them leadership ability.

In Nehemiah Chapter 2, Nehemiah was not the commander of a great army.

He was not a king. He did not start out as a governor...

but God took the boldness of Nehemiah ....willing to step out in boldness...and God used him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. To bring reform and restoration after the Babylonian captivity.

Nehemiah 2:1-6

1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before;

2 so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." I was very much afraid,

3 but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"

4 The king said to me, "What is it you want?"

Then I prayed to the God of heaven,

5 and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it."

6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?".... It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

V 1 tells us that Nehemiah was merely the cupbearer to the king.

He was not the brother or cousin or son...but the servant of the king. (BUT NEHEMIAH was bold.)

V 2 tells us that NEHEMIAH did something very bold ...it says that he displayed a sad heart before the king.

Now that was a no no that was a no can do..that was something that you could be severely punished for to be downtrodden in the presence of the king.

Remember that kings even went as far as to bring a jester ( a comedian if you will) into their court to

cheer the king.

But the burden of Nehemiah’s heart is great that he is boldly willing to display it before the king but also he will share his heartache when the king asks about it.

Here is the application for you and I if we will be bold enough to acknowledge that things are not right and that we want to see a change for the better ....

We have a HEAVENLY KING who will let us share our sadness or concern and then He will equip us with what we need to bring the change.

Nehemiah became a great leader of many people who would bring restoration to Jerusalem but only after He would boldly speak to the King.

Perhaps it is your marriage...

Perhaps it is your family...

A broken friendship....

You know it needs fixing and the Lord will lead you to do it if you boldly inquire of him.

Be bold as a leader who will bring the needed change.

We must lead this world to change from darkness to light. We can do it if we inquire of the king.