Elevate To The Next Level - "The People God Uses”

Elevate to the Next Level

“The People God Uses”

Nehemiah 1:1-4

Watch on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJZK53osJuw

Turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah 1, and stick your bible ribbon or bookmark there, and then turn to Matthew 25.

I was actually developing this teaching for our leadership earlier this month, when God spoke to my heart telling me that this message was not only for leadership, but it was for everyone who calls themselves a believer in Jesus Christ, and part of what it means to elevate to the next level.

One of the greatest needs in the church today is for people who will not only serve, but those who will also lead. That is, people who will invest themselves in the lives of others, to help them become everything God has created them to be. Basically, what I am saying is that the church needs those who will invest their time and energy in serving God by serving others.

Now, while there is no specific Scripture that says that we serve God by serving others, like there is when God said how we are to love Him through loving others, which is known as the Great Commandment. There is a passage given by Jesus as to our upcoming judgment based upon just that, our serving God through serving others.

“‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” (Matthew 25:34-40 NKJV)

Now, those things which makes a person into someone that God uses, and while there are many, I see four examples in Nehemiah’s first actions upon hearing of the condition of Jerusalem and the Jewish people, and it’s these four things that I believe separates him, not only as a leader but as a person that God uses.

“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 the citadel, 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. 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.’ 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.” (Nehemiah 1:1-4 NKJV)

As we look at this section of Nehemiah’s testimony, several things jump out as we look at this topic of being a leader and a person God uses that we need to understand and incorporate in our lives.

1. God Places People Where He Can Use Them

At this time, Nehemiah was King Artaxerxes’s cupbearer as he points out in verse 11.

Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king, but he was no slave as movies depict them as being. Instead, a cupbearer was a high position in the royal court. In fact, I think it was probably the most trusted position of them all. Daily, and multiple times a day, he put his life on the line to keep the king safe.

And so, when God needed something to be accomplished, like the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem, He had His person in the right position at the right time.

Now catch this, only Nehemiah, in this high and trusted position, could command the king’s attention to hear of the Jewish plight in Jerusalem. You might say, he had the king’s ear.

We see this same thing throughout the Bible, that is, God positioning His people where He could use them.

· Joseph, who was second to Pharaoh, went through hell, but God needed him there at that time to save the Jewish people. (I’ll delve a into that in a bit.)

· David, who just happened to be delivering groceries to his brothers heard and accepted Goliath’s challenge, and through the Lord, David was able to defeat him.