Wed.’s Devo - Our Victory

Read: Nehemiah 5:14-7:60, 1 Co. 8:1-13, Ps. 33:1-11, Pr. 21:8-10 Under Artexerxes, Nehemiah had been the governor of Judah. Unlike the governors before, Nehemiah had lived below the allowance for the governor so he wouldn’t have to tax the people so much. He fed a hundred and fifty hungry people and even visitors from other countries. He reminded the Lord of his kindness as he is now needing God’s favor in building the wall. When it was completed, except for the gates, Sanballat, his enemy requested a meeting with Nehemiah. Nehemiah knew they were up to no good so he sent them a letter telling them he was busy and couldn’t meet with them. This was repeated five times until Sanballat accused him of starting a revolt against the king. Nehemiah called him a liar and continued to work and pray. When this didn’t work, Sanballat sent someone from the inside to stir up fear in Nehemiah’s heart. Nehemiah saw through his scheme and refused to run in fear. Nehemiah continued to build and when he finished it was his enemies who were afraid. They recognized the power of God to protect His children. Nehemiah set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites. Look at the picture. Nehemiah stands for us: the Christian. We devote our lives to caring for God’s people and God’s house. The devil hates us and will do anything to discourage our destiny. When we can’t be discourage, he will try to cause us to fear. We need to do what Nehemiah did and ignore the discouragement and turn the fear back on the enemy. They should be afraid of the power we hold, not vise versa. We just need to continue to do God’s work like Nehemiah did. Once we build our walls which are salvation (Is. 60:18), we need to set up our doors: ears to hear, eyes to see, and the gatekeepers who are our angels assigned to us. The singers are our praise and the Levites represent our righteousness and authority with God. Next, Nehemiah needed people to dwell within the walls. God is looking for a people who will dwell with Him continually. Lord, our victory is in You!