Title: Nehemiah, Man of Faith
Contents
bsp; ?1:1-11
bsp; In today's text, we see a leader who led the people through tears, prayer, and devotion to the crisis and hardship of the country. It is that person. We are not interested because he was a great leader of Judea. We have no interest in the Jewish leaders. Because we are not Jews, and our historical circumstances are not the same. However, it is of interest to us why God, who is always unchanging, used it in those times and difficult times. In our lives today, we encounter countless problems and difficulties. run into a problem. How to overcome and overcome the problem in it is a serious topic for us. It is important not to read the history of 傷“獨?, but to read how God used him.” I hope you will hear the Lord's voice in today's Word.
bsp; 1. Do you believe in God? He listens.
杉? His grandfather was a Jew brought to the Babylonian exile, and he was a third-generation immigrant who had never been to his homeland. He became the cupbearer of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, and became an aide to the king in charge of the king's food. Nevertheless, in his heart, he was always desperate to think of his country and people.
bsp; One day, he hears the news of his homeland from his younger brother Hanani, who returned to Jerusalem. It was that those who remained in the land of Judea and those who returned to their homeland suffered tribulation and insults from other tribes in that land, the land was going to be desolated, the walls of Jerusalem were all destroyed, and the doors were destroyed by fire. My heart is filled with this news. He himself was eating and drinking in comfort and enjoying power, and he had never been to that place called the land of Israel, but when he heard the news that his people were suffering and that the land of God's people was going to waste, he was deeply heartbroken and grieved and fasted before God. I prayed.
bsp; O LORD God of heaven,
bsp; Our ancestors did not keep the ordinances and ordinances that the Lord gave them,
bsp; I have sinned to this day,
bsp; If you come back to God and keep the commandments,
bsp; He promised to gather my people even from the ends of the earth and bring them to the house of God.
bsp; Remember the word of promise.
bsp;杉? Not only did he inherit such good faith, but he also worked hard to become a character in that foreign land. As always, there are three ways to raise your status. Birth, marriage, skills. In ancient times, birth was the greatest shortcut to social advancement. The second shortcut is marriage. It is to marry a good family. However, it is neither birth nor marriage. Because he was a Jew, he would not have married a Gentile. Then it's just skills. You must have worked hard to improve your skills. He must have nurtured his strength in a foreign country. Today, we Christians need to learn how to overcome the status quo by accumulating skills rather than resenting and being frustrated because we are caught in any circumstance. 杉? We have built up our skills with good faith to become influential figures in a foreign land.
bsp; Against this background, he came to know that his homeland, Jerusalem, was devastated and grieved. If he tried to live well on his own, he was a man who had no lack. But when he heard that his country was in trouble, he fasted and wept and prayed. He prayed not for his own peace, wealth, and status, but for his country and nation. God valued this kind of 蔘? That is why he was appointed as the leader of the nation of Israel.
bsp; 2. God picks up those who do their best.
As he fasted and prayed like this, King Artaxerxes came to know that he was different from his usual appearance. No matter how hard you try to hide it, if you have deep feelings in your heart, it will show up on your face. So King Artaxerxes asks.
‘If you are not ill, why do you have a pimple on your face? For surely there is sorrow in your heart.’
At this time, answer wisely.
‘How can you have no shame in your face when you say that the town where my ancestor’s tomb is located is desolate and the gates are burned with fire?’
the king asks. ‘What do you want?’
杉? I did not miss this opportunity. He didn't miss the opportunity because he was prepared. Those who are not prepared cannot seize the opportunity when it comes.
Nehemiah asked the king three things at this time. First, send me to the land of Judah to rebuild the ruined city. Second, when you travel there, give me the king's decree, so that you may travel safely to the land of Judea. Third, issue a decree to the king's foreman, giving him timber to build the gates, walls, and houses of the city. How wise, precise, and bold is your request? He was able to do this not only because he prayed with mourning, but because he had carefully prepared and wisely planned.
bsp; Some people think this way. ‘You have to pray. If you pray, God will take care of everything, so what do you need to make a plan for? Man's plans are vain, and they only need to receive the absolute guidance of the Holy Spirit! Let’s pray.’ He seems like a pretty good believer, but actually he is a mystic. True prayer consists in doing your best while praying. Prayer is not about letting go of my hands and putting everything off to God, but rather about doing my best and asking for God's help. When a woman who had been suffering from bleeding for 12 years not only prayed, but also went through the crowds and came to Jesus and touched the hem of his robe, an amazing miracle happened. When the Israelites fought Amalek at Rephidim, Moses raised his hands and the people watched, not Moses raised his hands to pray, and the people went out and fought for their lives. God worked in it. Prayer is not putting off my work to God, but doing my best in faith.
bsp;傷"?When the king asked, 'How long do you need?' If I had answered, I'll have to go see it.' The king would have felt that the statue was unprepared. However, because the calculation was accurate, the king's help was immediately available.
bsp;杉? He was a person of prayer who knew how to ache the pain of the nation. But he was not one who sat down in prayer. He was a man who knew how to meticulously plan, prepare, and execute what he was capable of and to achieve his dream. God makes a person who does his best in his position as a person.
bsp; 3. God uses people with a mission.
煞?With the permission and protection of King Artaxerxes, when I arrived in Israel, my hometown, the land I first set foot on, it was a very poor environment. It was not easy to build a fortress wall because of the envy and interference of other races around it as well as the natural environment. If the Jewish people were to rebuild the old walls that had been torn down, they thought that it would be a matter of regaining power, and these surrounding peoples tried to interfere and attack Jerusalem. About this, half of the people had to build a wall, and half were wearing armor and carrying spears and swords to guard and defend. He made history with a hammer in one hand and a spear sword in the other.
bsp; Historian Arnold Toynbee said that people react in four ways when they suffer.
bsp; bsp; First, go back to the past.
bsp; bsp; Second, we fantasize about the future.
bsp; bsp; Third, crouch down and wait for someone to help you.
bsp; bsp; Fourth, confront the crisis and turn the crisis into something useful.
If you read 鈒??, you can see the figure of him who was appointed governor and devoted himself to fulfilling his mission without a proper home for him to live in. He toured the entire castle alone in the middle of the night, and he carried out his mission in a sacrificial and exemplary manner. He was a man who knew how to use his wealth, power, or ability.
bsp; The words 'get out' and 'get out of the house' both mean 'leave home' in the same way, only the order of the letters has been changed. However, the reason why I think going out of the house is good and running away is bad is because of the difference in ‘whether there is a meaning and purpose’. If you leave the house with a clear purpose, you become a homemaker, and if you leave the house to escape reality without a purpose, you become a runaway. It is our mission to act with a clear purpose. Doing something forcibly is work, and doing it with a purpose is a mission. God uses the people of the mission and makes them human.
bsp;煞?If he was a selfish person, he would have used his position to live comfortably in the royal palace and enjoy his glory. But he was a man on a mission. The faith in him made him love his people fervently, and he shed hot tears when the people were sick. On the one hand, I prayed, and on the other hand, I prepared with a detailed plan. This is what God made him use.
bsp; God spoke aloud to a person with faith, passion, and mission. We bless them to become vessels that will be widely used anytime, anywhere with such faith, passion, and mission.