Hello As One Family,
In praying for us today I just want to share in the devotional what we should be aware of as a team and continue to remember that we all need to pray for unified hearts. Also to be aware even in the midst of frustration of anykind who and what we are truly fighting against….Hell!
In Context…Nehemiah Chapter 4- After Nehemiah has been blessed by God in being provided many workers to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem, he and the team are met with discouragement from enemies who are threatening to shut down the work they are doing, so…….
Nehemiah 4:20-23-In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” 21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. 22 I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” 23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.
(vs 20)-One of the things that I know I have to continue to remind myself in times of hardship, discouragement, or doubt is that the battle is not mine but God’s.  If at any moment we think we are fighting this battle in our own strength nothing godly can come from it.  Let’s us remember that we are fighting against the Enemy, whether that is from outside influences or things in our own hearts, continue embracing the truth that a house divided against itself shall not stand (Matthew 12 v 25).  The battle that will always be in all of our relationships is to have a unified heart and fight of faith in what God ultimately leads us to do!   Let us continue to seek Him and rest in His strength and will for us.
(vs 23)-From this verse we see the reality of all of life as a Christian, that you cannot rest without being armed against Satan.  So as we build by the strength God supplies us, we must be armored and ready to fight any pride/ego, jealousy, selfishness, bitterness, etc of any kind, not for the sake of building the church but for the sake of our own hearts!  We are the church, so how our hearts toward God goes so will our relationships and families, which then make-up our church.  I pray that we remember that God is sovereign and in total control in spite of our struggles at times.  I pray that we rest in that fact that He is in control and that we must trust Him as individuals, families, and as a church!
In His love, Ld