The Book of Nehemiah is an account of the rebuilding of the Nation of Israel, in particular, the walls of Jerusalem. This rebuilding was not only the walls but the people. Sin had encroached on them, and they were a broken people.
At one point there was a lot of opposition of those who did not want them to thrive but there was also opposition from within as well. It is always discouraging when one of your own sow’s seeds of discontent. We see that when people are surrounded by their problems and feelings of hopelessness, a few things happen. 10 In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” 11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” Nehemiah 4:10-11 They lost a few things in that time of opposition. They lost their strength, vision, confidence, and security. That speaks volumes to me about their morale. The only person who can smile when everything is going wrong is the repairman. I will let that sink in for a moment. A group of psychologists met together in Buffalo to define life. After a week of discussion, their definition of life was… “Life is stress and you’d better like it.” This past Sunday I quoted a girl who was on America’s Got Talent last year who eventually passed away from cancer. She said, “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy.” I believe that is exactly what the Apostle Paul would say. I know that because when Paul was in prison or house arrest in Rome, he writes a letter to the church in Philippi. Here is what he says, “4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:4-7). Choose to be happy and take things as they come. If you choose that path, you will begin to get back exactly what the Israelites lost during a difficult time. Their strength, vision, confidence, and security were renewed. God eventually frustrated the plans of their enemies and they returned to rebuilding the walls. We have two more nights of Vacation Bible Adventure. The atmosphere is electric as our children are learning about the Lord and what He has given us. I am excited to see so many people helping to make this a great week. If you haven’t been able to make it, come on out tonight from 6-8:30pm and join in on the excitement. This Sunday is the conclusion of our Vacation Bible Adventure. We will have our regular 8:00am and 9:15am services. Then at 10:45am we will be in the Family Life Center for our service. Following that service, we will transition the floor and have tables set up for us to enjoy a wonderful picnic together. There will be activities in the field for our kids and plenty of time to meet others and enjoy fellowship with others. It will be a great day! Plan on coming and being a part of what the Lord is doing. Joy in Jesus! Pastor Mike
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Rev. Mike McClurgSenior Pastor, Findlay First Church of the Nazarene Archives
March 2020
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