Rebuilding Jerusalem

Background:Nehemiah 7 reads the same as Ezra 2. Nehemiah and the Jews have completed the temple, put on the gates and are the city of Jerusalem is ready, but there were few people living in it. God puts it in Nehemiah's heart to call people by their families(Neh 7:4-5) and go through the geneaological records of the families of the Israel in order to settle the families in this rebuilt Jerusalem. The houses within the walls are not yet built so the families called, will have to build the houses within the walls as well(v4).

Lessons:This chapter in Nehemiah 7 taught me some very valuable lessons.

1. Fill the new place with the rightful owners-(v4-5)wasn't just satisfied at completing the wall of Jerusalem, but he wanted to fill it with the rightful owners of the place so that the city of Jerusalem may be made complete. Our new life as a believer is like this. When we accept our Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord and turn our lives over to Him to make it beautiful, there is His special protection that surrounds us, by virtue of our surrendering our lives to Jesus our Saviour. That protection says "This child belongs to God". I believe God puts a fence around us (remember Job). However, our inside still has been through a lot of turmoil and brokennessand sin (like the city of Jerusalem was destroyed) and all that has to be cleared out and be filled in with new stuff. Its not enough that they be cleared out and left empty, but the key is to fill the inside of our hearts and lives with the right stuff, the Holy Spirit. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and it is essential that we allow the Holy Spirit to work inside our lives(not only on the boundaries/wall) but to rebuilt everything that was broken and lost on the inside and make us complete in our Lord Jesus.


2. Be watchful about what/who enters the new place-(v61-64)Not everyone who claimed to have descended from Israelites was allowed, but only those whose names were found in the genealogical records. Especially those who claimed to be priests but their names were not mentioned in the records weren't allowed to function as priests. In a believer's life too, Proverbs 4:23 says "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life." Our enemy will always try to trick us into believing what he gives is genuine but if that is mentioned in the Book of our Living God among the "No Entry" stuff, get rid of them immediately and do not let them take a place as a priest (revered space of our heart).The revered space of our heart only belongs to One Head Priest our Lord Jesus and no one or nothing else.


3. Completed- "v73 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns". Isn't it amazing the significance of 7, denoting completion every time it is mentioned. The wall was rebuilt in Elul(6th month) and the people settled in their towns by the 7th month. So they had to work to build their homes (the houses were not readymade there, they had to make it) even so as we work out our salvation, our Living God will bring everything to completion until we are finally settled in our new Jerusalem. So lets work at our houses assigned to us(our lives, our people, our families) "6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. "Philippians 1:5-7

Conclusion: Nehemiah could have stopped at the point when the walls were rebuilt , he would have completed what he had done but the Lord our God put it in his heart to resettle the city of Jerusalem and make it alive and bustling with city life once again. God doesn't leave us saying "Done" when he touches our heart the first time we meet Him, but continues to work in us to rebuild the broken homes within the walls of our heart until the work in us is done. All in order that we may be presentable as a beautiful bride, who's not only pure and pretty on the outside but has a pure, beautiful and joyful heart full of love only for her Saviour and Love.

The Mind Game

Background:This chapter from Nehemiah just hits the nail on the head regarding some issues in my life. Nehemiah's enemies Sanballat and Tobiah, could not discourage Nehemiah from doing the Lord's work, so they turned to use the mind game of intimidation.( They sent him various letters blaming his work as if it were some major political scam to go against the Persian kings, who were then in rule over Israel). Then they even tried a more spiritual method to discourage him , through a false prophetess saying he would surely die at the hands of Sanballat and Tobiah. In spite of all this, Nehemiah stayed true to the work God had assigned to him and completed the wall. In the end we see, the intimidation turned its face from Nehemiah only to face his enemies. The Bible records in Nehemiah 6:15-16 "So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. "LessonsI don't know about you, but I find myself constantly in some kind of a battle of the mind. Here's an example- When I worship the Lord and feel His presence and enjoy it. No sooner has this happened the next moment as I move on to learn more deeply of Our Living God, I feel as if my head says "You did a good job at worship, God must really be very impressed with you, you are so good. You are perfect, see that other person there, they can't even sing one tune right, but look at you". When I was new to this problem, pride would immediately set in and the next stage of my worship wouldn't work, because I would start depending on my strength rather than God's Holy Spirit. These mind games could work either ways, either to condemn you or to bring pride in your heart. Then I heard in a message- "You can never fight a thought with a thought-Fight it with voiced Word of God and see them disappear." I tried that and it really worked.

Here are the lessons I found through Nehemiah's encounter in Nehemiah 6

• Refuse any discussion with the enemy regarding your work-Nehemiah 6:1-4 When Nehemiah recieved letters of invitation to meet with Sanballat and Tobiah, he denied them, not once but 4 times. He could have thought oh finally these men have changed, they care about me, they want to talk to me. But Nehemiah knew better, he knew his work at the wall wasn't complete and refused to go with them. Our enemy works the same way. Eph 2:12-13 "12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. " So as we worship, as we read the word of God, as we fellowship, as we testify, as we preach we are working our salvation, that which God has planned for us, and our enemy doesn't want us to finish it.Let us refuse to get into any argument with the enemy, whether he bring reasons in our mind or through other people, let us stand firm and refuse not once but as many times as he comes to stop us.


• Be rooted and grounded in God's Word of Truth-When Nehemiah refused to go to meet Sanballat and Tobiah, they sent their important aide to convey the message. This message was promoting a false rumor and a lie. It said Nehemiah was building the wall in order to revolt against the Persians(who were then ruling Israel), and that Nehemiah had planned to become the king for Jews and moreover had sent prophets to proclaim himself(Nehemiah) as king so people would believe. To this Nehemiah responded, and I add, I love his response Neh 6:8 " I sent him this reply: "Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head." Nehemiah knew the truth of his work and of God's work through him really well and was firmly established in this truth and this lie the enemies brought had no chance before him. Let us so be rooted and grounded in TRUTH of the word of God what God says about us, what our duty is in the Kingdom of God, what our stand is before God so that no matter what rumor the enemy concocts it will fall flat to the ground as we take a stand against it.


• Add to Truth, Prayer-Neh 6:9 "9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed." But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands." Not only did Nehemiah know the truth of God's work assigned to him, but prayed for strength to complete the work given.


• Discernment-v10-14, the enemies had hired many prophets to intimidate Nehemiah with false prophecy regarding him being killed by his enemies. Nehemiah discerned, this was not from God. When we know our God really well, (not knowing about Him, but knowing our Living God as we know our best friend) nothing can cause doubt in your mind even if they speak God's language.

Conclusion:The result of all that Nehemiah did standing firmly in the knowledge of our Living Lord and continuing without falling, at the work God had given him, Nehemiah and the Jews who worked with him finished building the wall. Neh 6:15-16 "15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. "
Let us therefore, not give up the work God has given to us, either rebuilding a community, a family, a life, children, whatever it may be, let us not slack or lose at the mind game the enemy may want to trick us with, but let us work at our salvation, even as God wills to act in us according to His good purpose for our lives. We have the peace that our Lord Jesus has given us and I love the way Amplified Bible expands the work this peace does, especially the Word "garrison"-
Philippians 4:7(AMP) "And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Freely Give

Background: Nehemiah and the Jews rebuilding the wall, had equipped themselves to stand against their enemy Sanballot and Tobiah, who didn't want the benefit of the Jews. Under Nehemiah's guidance the Israelites, shared the duties of working as a builder by day and as a watchman on the wall by night. Satan could not shake them off from doing God's will there. Now in Nehemiah 5 we see a problem grows, not from outsiders but from inside the Jews themselves. The richer Jews exact usury from the poorer Jews to the point that the poor ones had to even send their children into slavery.When Nehemiah heard of this he immediately took action and dealt with the Jews who were destroying the lives of their fellow Jews. Nehemiah didn't stop at this, when he became governor in Judah, he decided not to live like the other governors had lived, in extracting wealth from the poor through unjust taxes, but lived righteously before God.

Lessons from Nehemiah 5

1. Giving freely-The richer Jews were looting their own people, because some were poorer, they couldn't pay taxes, the richer Jews were lending them money to such a point that their fellow Jews could not pay them back and had to send away their children to be slaves of the rich Jews. For us, in our spiritual life, just because we've been blessed with God's rich blessings of faith and power, it does not mean we exact money from others so that they may receive God's blessings through us. The Word of God says in Matthew 10:8 "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." If God has blessed us with the riches of His anointing to bless others, let us give freely what we have received freely from our Living God. Jesus never charged anyone for the miracles or messages He shared with us. They were open tent meetings. Why do we exact usury from our own people?


2. Dealing with the issues that are wrong-Its great to not walk in paths of wrong, but it is not great to be silent when we see something wrong is being done and we are aware of it. Nehemiah was set as leader during the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and when he came to know of the outcry of the poor Jews against the other Jews, he immediately called and meeting and dealt with those who were doing wrong. If we know and see something wrong happening before us, we must take a stand and deal with it. When Jesus saw the merchants selling in the temple of the Living God, he overturned their tables. He could have left it to God to punish them, or called fire and destroyed it, but he went in and dealt with them, overthrowing their tables. I am too complacent in such matters and this is a lesson for me to not keep quiet at wrong but to deal with it, voice it.


3. Live an exemplary life-Though Nehemiah dealt with the Jews who were cheating their own brothers, he didn't stop at that; when he became the governor, he did not do the things the other governors had done before. He showed righteous living by example and nothing can talk more powerfully than a life that can demonstrate what is right.

Conclusion:It is very easy to go with the flow, but never easy to swim upstream. If Jesus would have thought, "Oh standing against the Sanhedrin and the religious heads will be too difficult, let me just secretly share whatever God wants me to share and get out of here without offending anyone" We would never have celebrated the Resurrection day ever. Jesus stood for what is right, what is noble. He not only preached the truth, but also dealt with wrong, not living in shadows of complacency but challenging the officials who presented their knowledge of the texts, by living out loud, the truth He believed and shared.

I am happy for the many preachers who have built up international ministries, but I am totally impressed by the disciples of Lord Jesus Christ, who went out to preach with just their shoes and whatever clothes they had on. Walking by faith and freely sharing what they had freely received from Lord Jesus.

Thinking Blogger Award

I am grateful to Sista Cala, for the "Thinking Blogger" Award. Its now my turn to pass on the wonderful blessing to my 5 favourite blogs.







Rules are given by the original "Thinking Blogger".


My favourite 5 blogs are-: Adventures of an Ordinary Christian, Audrey's Blog, Timeless Text Messages, Healing Waters Flow, Sweeter than Ever,


Adventures of an Ordinary Christian-Andrea, a doctor, a wonderful mom, most of all, a woman of passion to raise women of God through Bible studies, writes here of her adventures with the Lord, telling it like it is. Somehow her posts find a way to touch me.


Audrey's Blog- Audrey a woman of few words, yes literally few. I am amazed at the wonderful way in which she can convey through few words, love, encouragement, faith and so much more.


Timeless Text Messages- Sista Cala, a woman of word. I always wanted to learn of the ways to study the Word of God in a more effective way. For me she's got the Bible toolbelt, presenting ways to know our Lord better through His letter (the Bible) He left for us. I would have loved to honour her with the "Thinking Blogger" award, but someone beat me to it.


Healing Waters Flow- A simple blogger, blogging from the farms in Minnesota. He tells of his journey with the Lord, through his simple yet wonderfully blessed life at his farm. He has a tremendous passion for our Lord Jesus and it shines through in every post he writes.


Sweeter Than Ever- Dana works with the Police department. What impresses me most about her posts is her passion for kids to know the Lord. She works with incarcerated juvenile boys. She writes of her experiences and how she longs to make the world a better place, encouraging us with some really powerful thoughts.