Prepare for Persistence!

Confession. One brain cell remains operational after taking in ten teens for a weekend retreat. Sleep deprived and staring down a school project assigned seven weeks ago and started five days ago, timing is perfect for this third and final excerpt on spiritual warfare truth from Nehemiah. It’s time to go on the offense!  

When work on the wall is complete, Nehemiah establishes protective measures by which the Jews can guard against future attacks. He knows their enemies are not going to retreat just because the job is done, and they cannot rest on their laurels. They have accomplished a huge task, rebuilding the wall in fifty-two days (Neh. 6:15). Don’t you know all they want to do is pull up a chair, put their feet up, and just relax and revel in their success? Instead, Nehemiah places Jerusalem in the charge of his brother, and issues these orders: “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house” (Neh. 7:3).

TRUTH: As we gain ground in Christ – as our obedience becomes more wide spread and our wall of holiness becomes stronger, we must implement protective measures to preserve the progress we achieve. When we make strides, we can’t allow surprise attacks to set us back. It is a time for reinforcement and prevention. By keeping the gates shut until the sun was high, the Jews are able to prevent an unexpected assault. They use physical resources to serve their defensive objectives. In the same way, we must take what we have in the natural – our time – and dedicate the early hours of the day to preventing enemy attacks. Whether we are morning people or not, I believe the early hours are the most critical. When we spend them in worship, prayer, and Bible study, we are fortifying our walls and thwarting opportunities for the devil to advance upon us. During the night, Jews were charged with standing guard at specific posts outside their own houses. During times of darkness when we can’t see what’s coming and don’t know what’s around the next turn, we need to already be in our posts, standing guard over our own house, which in the Hebrew is inclusive of our physical bodies, our home, our family, and our inwards.[1] We need to put ourselves through spiritual boot camp so we’re prepared when the enemy attacks.

Just as Nehemiah’s enemies come against every effort to remain steadfast in his obedience to God, I guarantee your flesh is going to resist the Spirit’s work to bring you into total obedience to your loving and faithful Father. The moment you believe on the name of Jesus and make Him Lord of your life, you enter a war. While Nehemiah’s battle was against other men and nations, and the Jews held swords as they rebuilt the wall, our battle is in the spirit with weapons of the Spirit. Ephesians 6:12 explains: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” What do we do with that? How do we fight these unseen forces that are out for our destruction? Our fight for holiness requires the full armor of God and intense training in His battle strategies. The first step in doing this is to disarm ourselves of the ways of this world and recognize the battle we fight, by what power, and for what purpose.

I think my last brain cell just fell asleep. May the God of heaven, through the power of the Holy Spirit, strengthen us with all might today as we become wholly His.

Shauna Wallace

Holy His

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[1].      Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for bayith (Strong's 1004)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2011. Accessed April 30, 2011, http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H1004&t=NKJV.

Fight or Fall

Conversations with several friends lately confirm the urgency of spiritual warfare. It’s raging, whether we’re engaging or not. Nightmares involving real attacks from demons. Good kids confronting bad choices. Children who once desired nothing but Jesus deciding He’s no longer important. Moms whose hearts break for the hardened hearts of their young ones. Rapid fire media attacks from every direction, tearing down family values and lifting up perversion. War has been waged. We must fight or fall, knowing we do not battle against flesh and blood, but against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Continuing from Monday, let’s look at a few more truths Nehemiah demonstrates as he attempts an impossible task in the face of insurmountable opposition. Here is another brief excerpt from my upcoming book, Holy His: Hope for a Life and a Nation Wholly His. The Lord brings Nehemiah’s enemies’ plot to nothing, and the Jews fix their focus on the task at hand, arming themselves as they rebuild. I love how God’s word is alive and active, full of ancient stories with modern application, such as this:

TRUTH: We, too, must equip ourselves with the armor of God as we hold our weapons in one hand and rebuild the wall of holiness around our hearts and lives with the other hand. And we must not allow the devil to divert our attention from the work the Lord has before us. We must not bite the devil’s bait of distraction no matter how persistent he and his cronies may be.

In Nehemiah chapter six, their enemies continue unrelentingly in their attempts to defeat Nehemiah’s efforts. First, they attempt to trick him into a face-to-face meeting that will take him away from his work. Their request appears harmless, and I’m sure to the undiscerning eye it appears to be a good thing; one that no reasonable person would deny. But Nehemiah knows their true purpose and is not derailed. He declines each of the four invitations they send, explaining in verse three, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” Nehemiah knows his purpose. He knows what he is supposed to be doing, and he does not allow his attention to be diverted. He does not pursue a good thing that is not a God thing. 

TRUTH: We must have the same determination as we study God’s word and do what it says. When the enemy tries to get us off track, we can refute him with the confidence of our conviction. When the devil tries to distract us, we have to know that it’s going to appear to be a good thing, and he’s not going to give up when his first and subsequent attempts are unsuccessful.

When Nehemiah doesn’t fall for Sanballat’s repeated attempts to lure him for a meeting, Sanballat threatens to tell the king a lie that will put Nehemiah’s very life at stake. Unmoved, Nehemiah responds, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart” (Neh. 6:8). Nehemiah knows they are trying to stir fear in the hearts of the workers to weaken them and halt work on the wall. Rather than succumb to fear and doubt, Nehemiah prays in verse nine, “Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.”

TRUTH:  When we recognize the devil’s attempt to intimidate us and plant doubts in our minds, we can turn to the Lord for strength to resist the devil.

Facing another failed attempt to derail work on the wall, Sanballat and Tobiah hire a secret informer to trick Nehemiah into entering the temple against God’s ordinances in order to protect his life from his enemies. But because Nehemiah “perceived that God had not sent him at all” (verse 12), and because he knows God’s laws governing the temple, he remains invincible in the face of his enemies.

TRUTH: As we walk in the Spirit, the Spirit will give us the same discernment and determination to follow the ordinances of scripture, thereby making us impenetrable to our enemies.

Lord, secure blinders on our eyes and swords in our hands as we engage in the battle of our lives. The enemy is organized, intentional, and ruthless. Let us be equally deliberate, proactive, and tireless. By Your Spirit, give us discernment, determination, and diligence. Hedge us behind and before, and lay Your hand upon us (Ps. 139:5).

What battle are you fighting today? Are you waging war in the flesh or in the Spirit? What truth speaks loudest to you? Are you sidetracked by good things that aren’t God things? Are there ways the devil is intimidating you or planting doubts? How can you apply the truths of Nehemiah to your current circumstances? Engage!

The fight is worth it as we become more wholly His!

Shauna Wallace

Holy His

Godly Intentions? On Guard!

Sharing a piece of my heart today through an excerpt from my upcoming book, Holy His: Hope for a Life and a Nation Wholly His. Coming home from a conference for moms, pumped up with inspiration and great intentions and challenged to be more intentional in discipling my children’s hearts, I am on guard, knowing the devil doesn’t normally sit back idly while the Lord sanctifies. I am ready for battle!

Guaranteed Opposition

The moment you determine in your heart and actions to be holy as He is holy, you can be sure the devil is going to come against you to steal, kill, and destroy what the Lord determines to bestow, breathe new life into, repair, renew, and restore. We see this in Nehemiah. As soon as he and the Jews start rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, their enemies become “furious and indignant” and mock them (Neh. 4:1). Sanballat, the ring leader of the bunch, says: “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish – stones that are burned?” (Neh. 4:2). In the same way, as we rebuild the walls in our lives through obedience, the enemy is mocking us, saying: “What is this feeble Christian doing? Will he or she actually obey? Will they do what the word of God tells them to do? Will they set aside their flesh and become holy? Will they really believe God and His promises to them?” Let the answer be yes!

Nehemiah’s unwavering faith in God, obedience, and firm stand against his enemies bring great success in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. His surrendered advancement toward the goal the Lord puts before him, no matter what is going on around him, position him for victory over his enemies. He is able to recognize their scheming tactics, and he will not be diverted from God’s plan and purpose for his life. I love how Nehemiah firmly plants himself in the will of God, trusting exclusively in Him, and then confronts his enemies as he stays on task for the Lord. Here’s a quick summary of this part of Nehemiah’s story and some great battle truths we can apply as we fortify our path to holiness.

When the Jews build the wall, and the entire wall is joined together up to half its height (Neh. 4:6), their enemies become angry and conspire to attack. The Jews set watch day and night, but Judah reports in Nehemiah 4:10, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.” The Jews are feeling intimidated and discouraged because they have shifted their eyes from the Lord to the rubbish around them, and the same thing will happen to us if we take our eyes off the Lord and focus on the ruins left behind by our sin and disobedience.

TRUTH: The enemy will use this rubbish to destroy our resolve, so we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We must heed the words of Nehemiah in verse fourteen of chapter four: “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” We must take our eyes off the things the enemy uses to distract us and focus on the greatness of God! The fight is worth it when we realize it’s for more than just ourselves – it truly is for our children, our families, our friends and neighbors, our co-workers, and so on.

Fortunately, God brings their enemies’ plot to nothing, and having returned their focus to rebuilding the wall, “those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon” (Neh. 4:17). Don’t miss this! The Jews rebuilding the wall arm themselves as they rebuild!

Sword in hand, I’m ready to rebuild!

Lord, I ask You in Jesus’ name to bring to nothing the enemy’s schemes against me, my family, every person reading this, and their families. I thank you that we fight from victory, not for it, as we become more wholly Yours today.

Tune in Thursday for more!

Shauna Wallace

Holy His