From that Day On – Nehemiah 4

Nehemiah 4:16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall.

When the Lord is up to something, Satan is there with the attacks. We should not be surprised when faced with an attack….we should question if we are doing the will of God if there are NO attacks.

“From that day on” 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!"
“From that day on” 21 we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out.
“From that day on” 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

Nehemiah’s awareness, leadership and ability to encourage and communicate clearly, turned back the enemy. This story shows me the importance of prayer. To remained focused on God, to allow his to show us the enemy and give us clarity and vision.

We went to a PlantR meeting the other day, and Rob Campbell, the pastor Cypress Creek in WImberly was the speaker. He told us the number one need of a church….is intercessory prayer. And he basically said that I don’t have that gift, but someone in the body does…and we should pray for God to raise them up.

God, I pray right now that you raise up someone at ANC to pray over us. I pray they will come before you on our behalf all the time…and that you will hear their prayers. God give us wisdom in dealing with and looking for the enemy. Make us aware of him and his ‘doings’…..From this day on.

Refuge - Psalm 7

Psalm 7:1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, 2 or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

1 Peter 5:8b Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

God is our refuge. In David’s case there was a literal ‘in the flesh’ enemy…in our case, the enemy is Satan, and he takes many forms. Either way, David is keenly aware that the enemy is like a lion, who seeks only to steal kill and destroy.

My daughter LOVES to sleep in our room. She doesn’t have to….she just likes to. If Jenny and I aren’t paying attention, when we go to bed at night, there she is. She doesn’t even care to sleep in our bed…she will sleep on the floor….with a blanket and a pillow. Our room, where we are…is where she wants to be. She has a perfectly good, expensive mattress in her room….yet she yearns to sleep on the floor near her mom and me.

She isn’t scared, yet she longs to be safe. There are no apparent threats, yet she longs to be secure.

David a mighty king….could crush his enemy, by his mighty army’s sword, yet he chose to take refuge in the Lord. Tate could sleep in the comfort of her own bed, 30 feet further away from her mom and me, yet she chooses a more uncomfortable (unnatural) pallet next to our bed. Maybe these examples of ‘childlike faith’.