May 22, 2010

Today's reading: Nehemiah 5, 6, 7; Psalm 22, 52, 82, 112, 132; Proverbs 22

Nehemiah 6:2-3, "That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"

I was thinking about some of the men who I have called my Pastor over the years. I have had the privilege of having some of the greatest men in the Christian realm as my Pastor over the years. I still to this day have great respect for these men. There are some men that I don't not have any respect for at all. God knows. One thing I know is that all of these men have done their best to give me what they believed to be godly counsel from God's word. For this I am truly grateful.

There have been those in my life who have done their best to stop me or even slow me down. Sometimes it has worked and sometimes it has not. God forgive me for not being fervent in my service to You!

I remember hearing a sermon several years back titled something like, "What Will it Take to Stop You?" I don't want to think on this line. However; I need to build a defense against those things that the enemy of our soul throws out there to stop me and you.

Look at Nehemiah 6:10-12, "Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee. And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him." This is the second time recorded in chapter six (6) alone that someone has tried to get Nehemiah off track or to stop the work.

So, friend, what will it take to stop you? Are you sure about that?