Passion to Build
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Everyone ends up somewhere in life. But only a few people end up somewhere on purpose.
Passion : craving, itch, urge , strong and barely controllable emotion
intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction
strong and barely controllable emotion
Merriam-Webster, I. (1996). Merriam-Webster’s collegiate thesaurus. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.
O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
Now I was cupbearer to the king.
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel,
Chislev. This is in Nov./Dec.
God put Nehemiah in Susa just as He had put Esther there a generation before, and just as He had put Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon. When God wants to accomplish a work, He always prepares His workers and puts them in the right places at the right time.
Have a Passion for People
Have a Passion for People
that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.
Nehemiah whose name means “Jehovah comforts” or “The Lord has comforted.” shows concern about the people of God.
A cupbearer was much more than our modern “butler” (see ).
It was a position of great responsibility and privilege. At each meal, he tested the king’s wine to make sure it wasn’t poisoned.
A man who stood that close to the king in public had to be handsome, cultured, knowledgeable in court procedures, and able to converse with the king and advise him if asked (see 41:1–13). Because he had access to the king, the cupbearer was a man of great influence, which he could use for good or for evil.
That Nehemiah, a Jew, held such an important position in the palace speaks well of his character and ability
No doubt it was just another routine day when Nehemiah met his brother Hanani (see ), who had just returned from a visit to Jerusalem, but it turned out to be a turning point in Nehemiah’s life.
Like large doors, great life-changing events can swing on very small hinges.
Nehemiah was just an ordinary man, he wasn't a priest like Aaron, wasn't a prophet like Daniel, He wasn't a would be King like David he was just an “Ordinary Guy”
Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. C.S. Lewis
No miracles in this book , No raising of the dead
Just a day to day grind of the people of God.
It was just another day when Moses went out to care for his sheep, but on that day he heard the Lord’s call and became a prophet ().
It was an ordinary day when David was called home from shepherding his flock; but on that day, he was anointed king ().
It was an ordinary day when Peter, Andrew, James, and John were mending their nets after a night of failure; but that was the day Jesus called them to become fishers of men ().
You never know what God has in store, even in a commonplace conversation with a friend or relative; so keep your heart open to God’s providential leading. I attended a birthday party one evening when I was nineteen years old, and a statement made to me there by a friend helped direct my life into the plans God had for me; and I will be forever grateful.
God gives you the burden before he gives you the budget.
Our 5th Core Value is that we are Committed to Discovering Purpose.
Why would Nehemiah inquire about a struggling remnant of people who lived hundreds of miles away?
After all, he was the king’s cupbearer and he was successfuly secure in his own life.
Certainly it wasn’t his fault that his ancestors had sinned against the Lord and brought judgment to the city of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah.
Nehemiah was the man God had chosen to do those very things!
Some people prefer not to know what’s going on, because information might bring obligation.
Nehemiah asked about Jerusalem and the Jews living there because he had a caring heart. When we truly care about people, we want the facts, no matter how painful they may be.
What did Nehemiah learn about Jerusalem and the Jews? Three words summarize the bad news: remnant, ruin, and reproach. Instead of a land inhabited by a great nation, only a remnant of people lived there; and they were in great affliction and struggling to survive. Instead of a magnificent city, Jerusalem was in shambles; and where there had once been great glory, there was now nothing but great reproach.
1:2 Hanani. Apparently a sibling of Nehemiah (cf. 7:2), he had gone to Jerusalem in the second return under Ezra’s leadership (ca. 458 B.C.). Jews … Jerusalem. Nehemiah was deeply concerned about the people and the city, especially during the previous 13 years, since the second return under Ezra (458 B.C.).
Nehemiah was a man of constant prayer as can be seen in the fourteen recorded prayers in the short book of Nehemiah. Before he set out on the project, Nehemiah prayed. When he approached the king, he prayed. When he was in trouble, he prayed.
MacArthur, J., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed., p. 659). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.
They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”
Have a Passion For Prayer
Have a Passion For Prayer
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
The report instantly depressed Nehemiah. It pertained to his people and their land.
Prayer internalizes the burden, deeping our ownership of the need.
The Jews in Judah (a province of Persia) were greatly troubled and disgraced, and Jerusalem’s wall was broken down and its gates had been burned.
This left the city defenseless against enemy attacks.
The people had been rebuilding the walls () but were stopped by Artaxerxes who was pressured by some Samaritans and Rehum, the commanding officer, who may have been a Persian responsible to Artaxerxes ().
People with a Passion to build act from a deep sense of responsibility.
1. Praying concertizes your assignment, it deepens your ownership of the burden.
How Burdened are you if you never pray about it ?
2. Prayer insist that we quit our mouths and hearts, to slow us down so that we can hear from God.
3. Prayer enlightens us so that we can see what God desires us to see.
4. Prayer raises our spiritual awareness and increases our sensitivity to the prompting of the Holy Spirit
Passionate about Pursuing God’s Promises
Passionate about Pursuing God’s Promises
And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
1. Sovereignty of God
2. Promise Keeper
-You are Never Alone
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matt
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Heb
- He will Always Bring you through whatever season your end
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
Is 4
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
ps 91
Have a Passion to be Pure
Have a Passion to be Pure
let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.
Our 1st Core Value is: Commitment to Pleasing the Lord.
We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.
neh
Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’
They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
Are Passionate about Being in Position
Are Passionate about Being in Position
O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
Now I was cupbearer to the king.
Been telling you the same thing just in different way,
Isaiah in Fresh Vision I said that God will give you a Fresh Outward Vision
Send Me I’ll Go !!
synonyms break, chance, look-in, occasion, opening, shot, show, squeak, time