Principles of Victory Assure Building and Blessing In Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:1-13:10)
Anybody who wants to be enriched with a victory that results in blessings and mutual edification will be gladdened by the principles from Nehemiah.
Illustration: At the age of seven, he had to go to work to help support his family. At nine, his mother died. At twenty-two, he lost his job as a store clerk. At twenty-three, he went into debt and became a partner in a small store. At twenty-six, his partner died leaving him a huge debt. By the age of thirty-five, he had been defeated twice when running for a seat in Congress. At the age of thirty-seven, he won the election. At thirty-nine, he lost his reelection bid. At forty-one, his four-year-old son died. At forty-two, he was rejected for a land officer role. At forty-five, he ran for the Senate and lost. At forty-seven, he was defeated for the nomination for Vice President. At forty-nine, he ran for Senate again and lost again. At the age of fifty-one, he was elected President of the United States. During his second term of office, he was assassinated. But his name lives on among the greats in U.S. history--Abraham Lincoln.
That tenacity embodies the mind set of Nehemiah in overcoming all kinds of obstacles, opposition and critics to achieve what God directed him to do. The following are several principles of experiencing victory that assures one of blessings in our building of our personal lives, the lives of our family and those we seek to edify:
1. The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to weep, pray and fast for the needs of your people. Nehemiah prayed, "Those who survived the exile are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire. When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some day I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven." (Neh. 1:3,4) Ask the Lord to help you to weep, pray and fast for your people allowing the Spirit to do His work first in you and in the hearts of your people before anything else happens.
2. The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to fight the good fight of faith against spiritual, psychological and emotional obstacles. When Tobiah and Sanballat tried to mock Nehemiah’s efforts, he refused to give into discouragement, distress or defeat. Nehemiah saw through the slander, the attacks and the devilish attacks and stayed focused on God and His tasks. Fix your eyes on Jesus as the author and perfecter of your faith.
Application: Refuse to answer a fool in his tauntings. Stay focused on your task and go about what God has called you to do. You do not owe everyone an explanation. Sometimes it is wise to just give people delayed, deferred or disarming answers. Remember that it is blessed to walk not in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners, but your delight should be in the will of God, the word of God and the ways of God, for you will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water who brings forth its fruit in its season. Your leaves will not wither and whatever you do will prosper." (Psalms 1)
Illustration: Daily Practice
Liu Chi Kung, who placed second to Van Cliburn in the 1948 Tchaikovsky competition, was imprisoned a year later during the Cultural Revolution in China. During the entire seven years he was held, he was denied the use of a piano. Soon after his release, however, he was back on tour. Critics wrote in astonishment that his musicianship was better than ever. “How did you do this?” a critic asked. “You had no chance to practice for seven years.”
“I did practice,” Liu replied, “every day. I rehearsed every piece I have ever played, note by note, in my mind.”
Soundings, Vol. D, # 7, p. 23
Application: Learn to wait out your opposition. Realize that eventually, through the weapons of our warfare, (Eph. 6:10-18) you will gain the victory over all your foes.
Application: Recognize that greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. (I John 4:4) Know that people will attack you because they feel that unless you agree with their theology you are wrong.
Application: Refuse to allow other people to judge you by their standards of their theology. Paul wrote, "I care very little by what you say and refuse to be judged by you for judgement is from the Lord." (I Cor 4)
Application: Rebuke the forces of evil in the name of Jesus and be bigger than any problem through the power of Christ, His word and the Spirit. Praise God for His promise that says, "Not by power or by might but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts. This mountain will be removed by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts." (Zech 4:6,7)
Application: Believe, hope and obey the fact that God’s will done in God’s way will never lack God’s support. Sing the song, "Though none go with me still I will follow. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back."
Application: Praise God for the promise that says, "I can do everything God asks me to do with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power." That assures you of all the capability, connections, courage, cachet, confidence, and conquering abilities you will need to overcome evil with good instead of allowing yourself to be overcome by evil. (Rom 12:21)
Application: Ask the Lord for the courage to press on regardless of the spiritual, psychological or emotional obstacles you are facing.The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to praise God amidst great difficulties. Nehemiah prayed, "O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands." (Neh. 1:5) Ask the Lord to give you the heart to praise God regardless of whatever problems, pressures or people are on your mind.
3. The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to confess personal, group and national sins to the Lord seeking His forgiveness and restoration. Nehemiah prayed, "I confess the sins we Israelities, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses." (Neh. 1:6,7) Be willing to confess and forsake all personal, group and national sins before you attempt to lead your people
4. The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to point people to Biblical imperatives that give them clear direction for where they need to focus their attentions. Nehemiah prayed, "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to a place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name." (Neh. 1:8,9) Ask the Lord to help you to direct your peoples’ attention to the essential Biblical imperatives that are necessary to obey before God can bless them individually and corporately.
5. The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to remind God and your people of the Lord’s great promises, perspectives and plans. Nehemiah prayed, "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of the king." (Neh. 1:10,11) Ask the Lord to help you humbly remind God and your people of Biblical promises, perspectives and plans for their best interests.
6. The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to analyze and administrate a ministry for the building of God’s kingdom and righteousness. The Lord gave Nehemiah the ability to access the needs, organize his people and administrate the building of the wall that restore security to the people of Israel. Ask the Lord to give you the analytical and administrative abilities to see that your ministries are effectively contributing to the qualitative and quantitative growth of God’s kingdom and righteousness in your communities.
Illustration: Impediments
“Booker T. Washington was born in slavery.
Thomas Edison was deaf.
Abraham Lincoln was born of illiterate parents.
Lord Byron had a club foot.
Robert Louis Stevenson had tuberculosis.
Alexander Pope was a hunchback.
Admiral Nelson had only one eye.
Julius Caesar was an epileptic.
But these men made history in spite of their handicaps.
And there was Louis Pasteur, so near-sighted that he had a difficult time finding his way in his laboratory without glasses.
There was Helen Keller, who could not hear or see, but who graduated with honors from a famous college.
“Got a handicap? Call on the Lord. No problem is too big for Him, or too small. He will make everything ‘work together for good’ -- if you trust Him.”
Source unkown
7. The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to recruit, train, motivate and mobilize the people to work together for the accomplishment of God’s tasks. The Lord led Nehemiah with the wisdom, inspiration and supervisory skill to see a diverse group of people brought together by their common goal of seeing the wall of Jerusalem reconstructed for God’s glory and the peoples’ welfare.
8. The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to harmonize a wide variety of personalities and perspectives together to synergistically accomplish God’s great purpose. The Lord led Nehemiah to be able to withstand all kinds of criticisms, complaints and misunderstanding between people of different backgrounds. Ask the Lord to help you harmonize the diversity of personalities and perspectives in your group for the synergistic accomplishment of God’s purposes.
9. The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to delegate and deputize key people who can help share the leadership burdens with you. The Lord led Nehemiah to appoint wise elders who were able to bring out the best in their people by involving everyone in a common task, despite natural objections.
11. The Holy Spirit can lead you as He led Nehemiah to overcome all problems since He knows that God’s power is greater than any that oppose Him. Nehemiah prayed, "Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services." (Neh. 13:14)
Application: Ask the Lord to preserve, protect and promote whatever you have accomplished for His ministries by His power.
Conclusion: Overcomers
1. Johnny Fulton was run over by a car at the age of three. He suffered crushed hips, broken ribs, a fractured skull, and compound fractures in his legs. It did not look as if he would live. But he would not give up. In fact, he later ran the half-mile in less than two minutes.
2. Walt Davis was totally paralyzed by polio when he was nine years old, but he did not give up. He became the Olympic high jump champion in 1952.
3. Shelly Mann was paralyzed by polio when she was five years old, but she would not give up. She eventually claimed eight different swimming records for the U.S. and won a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.
4. In 1938, Karoly Takacs, a member of Hungary’s world-champion pistol shooting team and sergeant in the army, lost his right hand when a grenade he was holding exploded. But Takacs did not give. up. He learned to shoot left-handed and won gold medals in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.
5. Lou Gehrig was such a clumsy ball player that the boys in his neighborhood would not let him play on their team. But he was committed. He did not give up. Eventually, his name was entered into baseball’s Hall of Fame.
6. Woodrow Wilson could not read until he was ten years old. But he was a committed person. He became the twenty-eighth President of the United States.
Heaven Bound Living, Knofel Stanton, Standard, 1989, pp. 43-44.
