Our God

I have no idea how people find time to blog. We've got so much going on, and God's continued to bless and bless and bless some more!

Holy Spirit's dealing with me a lot in recent days about vision and restoration.  The King of glory has huge plans for us, not only as individuals, but as the Church too..  Reading in Ezra and Nehemiah has definitely shown that to be true!  If you've never checked either of these books out, you should, along with Zechariah and Habbakuk. There's just a few things I'd like to share.

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.  Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built.  And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.  Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, "The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall.  Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there.  Our God will fight for us." - Nehemiah 4:17-20

Here, the children of Israel are under the direction of the Nehemiah.  He was their captain, their chief, their leader.  He guided them by the hand of God into victory every time.  Here, as the Israelites were building, the Bible says that in one hand, they had their tools.  In the other, a weapon.  As believers, this is our mission.  Being led by a Spirit-filled leader, we're Kingdom builders and shakers.  We fall into the category of what the Lord told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1.  The then Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.  See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant".  You have the authority as a believer to be who God's made you out to be.  You're a vessel of honor and we've, that is, you and I, have been given the tools to victory and restoration.  Colossians 1:27 actually puts it this way, Christ in you the hope of all glory.  You have the message inside of you that the world needs to hear and see you live out.

There have been too many people who have given a bad reputation to the name of Jesus that I believe God is raising up a generation of builders to restore Himself.  See, the Israelites were rebuilding what the enemy destroyed.  They were reestablishing the temple and the wall that surrounded it.  In the Old Testament, the building was the place God's presence dwelt.  For us, we are that temple (John 14:17; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 13:9).  The living God resides in us.  That's what makes us so powerful and useful to Him.  That's what makes us so dangerous to the enemy.  With the presence of God with us and in us comes the authority with the weapon of life.  The weapon we have brings life to the dead and kills off chains from Satan.

Hebrews 4:12 calls the Word of God alive and powerful and sharper than any double-edged sword..  The Word is our weapon.  It's what makes us a battle ax in the hands of God (Jer. 50:20).  As we're daily sanctified by the Word, more and more, it causes the enemy to flee from us.  As James 4 says, we submit to God; resist the devil; he flees from us.  The Word in us makes us to resist the enemy.  If you or I are struggling with sin, there's a good possibility it's a lack of Bible in our lives.  I heard a preacher say once, "Sin will keep you from the Bible, but the Bible will keep you from sin".  Remember Jesus' temptations in the wilderness?  When Jesus fought with the devil, He did it with the Word (Matt. 4).  Ultimately, with the Word is how evil will be destroyed (Rev. 19).  Furthermore, the more we use the Bible against the powers of darkness, the more we'll get used to being victorious.

I'm convinced that God has never called us to be losers.  We're winners!  God has never called us to be defeated.  We're triumphant!  God has never called us to wallow in sin.  We're overcomers!  Like Paul says in Romans 8:31, If God be for us, who can be against us?

Like in Nehemiah, we have tools in one hand and the weapon in the other.  That's how we know that our God will fight for us!