Annie's Gleanings

"Get ready for God to pour out the amazing. God wants to do the miraculous. You have to long for it; ask for it. " Pastor Alvin L~

Song: "How beautiful the blood..."

(The following is what I heard during Pastor Frank's sermon.)

Be careful not to be the distraction that interferes
with the ability of others to worship or to hear the Word of God.

The Spirit of the Lord will never say anything outside of
what the Word says.

Scripture:Nehemiah 4~
When Sanballat heard that the Jews were rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem, he was furious and indignant and mocked the Jews. He spoke to others about them and called them 'feeble' and scorned their efforts to build a wall from the rubbish of burned stones. Tobiah made fun of them as well, saying that even if a fox climbed the wall, it would break down.
Nehemiah prayed judgment down on the mockers, saying, "Hear, O God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders."
So they continued to build the wall and before long, it was halfway finished, because the people had a mind to work.
Now, the same people who made fun of them before, plus some others, heard that the walls were actually starting to look pretty good and they got angry. (I wonder if they were afraid of the strength that they saw.) They tried to intimidate the Jews again and decided to gather together to attack Jerusalem and cause confusion.
But Nehemiah and his people continued to pray and they set up a watch against their enemies day and night.
Then Judah of the Jews said that the workers were getting worn out and there was so much rubbish that they were not able to keep building the wall. The enemies were threatening to come in unawares and kill them as they worked so that their work would have to stop.
The Jews who lived near the enemies heard alot of talk and they came and told the other Jews that there was no way out of this mess. "No matter which way we turn, they'll be on us. We're trapped."
So Nehemiah positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall and at all the entrances. He put them together in family groups and they had their weapons with them. Nehemiah told them not to be afraid. "Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses."
Then the enemies found out that their plot had been exposed and that the Jewish people were ready for them, watching and working as they rebuilt the wall. They realized that God had brought their plot to nothing.
From that time on, half of the people built the wall while the other half acted as warriors, carrying weapons, ready to defend the builders should the enemy try to stop their work. The leaders of Judah fully supported the workers.
Those who were building on the wall and those carrying burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand, they worked at construction, and with the other hand, they held a weapon. Every worker had a sword by his side.
Standing beside Nehemiah, was one worker who carried the trumpet.
Nehemiah told all of the leaders and the people, "The work is scattered and we are separated from each other. Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather to us here. Our God will fight for us."
So this is how they worked, from sun up to sun down. Even at night, they stood guard. No one even took their clothes off, except on wash days.
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It took 40 different groups of people 52 days to finish building the wall. It was 8 foot thick and 1.5 miles long. Amazing. It took 21 years to rebuild the temple. A different kind of work, my husband says. Block laying is different than craftsmanship. In the process, the enemies of the Jewish people tried to discourage them, as in the above account. They also tried to distract Nehemiah and pull him away from the work, through threat and intimidation, but it didn't work. In the end, the enemies realized that the work was done by God and they "were very disheartened in their own eyes." The nations around Jerusalem also saw the rebuilding of the wall as a work of God. How amazing that they rebuilt the wall, using the burned stones from the wall and city that had been earlier destroyed. God had sent another nation to take His people into captivity when His children had turned away from Him. When they turned back to Him, He brought some of them back into their land, and gave them the strength to rebuild the wall and withstand their enemies. Beauty out of ashes, again.)

"Don't get tired of this."
Don't get tired of building the wall.
We are halfway there.
Don't settle for halfway.
Just as the enemy attacks increased when they realized that the Jews were actually going on with the work, so the attacks against us will increase when we decide to 'finish the wall.' People will talk about us. "Do you really think that if you worship God, without request, you will experience revival?" Not only will they talk about us, they will come against us. "Do you really think you can build a wall from this rubble of people you have to work with?" "Who are you to think you can accomplish anything?"

I am only halfway with God.
I don't know everything.
The way I do things isn't for everyone.
I am drinking milk in some areas.
I need to keep building the wall.
God takes the feeble things and makes great things.
It's the feeble, the no-accounts, the sick, the poor that
God's power can work through.

A city is known by it's wall.
A wall is it's identity.

Ezekial 31-The prophet saw a valley of dried bones. Can these bones live? The prophet saw dry bones, but God saw an army.
He looks at the dry bones in His body and says "I can make an army from what is dead and defeated, broken and wounded. I can make an army from the dry bones of brokenness, depression, and disappointment. I am building a church that the gates of hell cannot prevail against."

Nehemiah prayed that the reproach of their enemies would return on their own heads. We need to set up a guard against our enemies so they cannot throw us into confusion.

The rubble overwhelmed the builders. No one had added more rubble. In fact, they had less rubble because they were using it to rebuild the walls. It was because they were tired and discouraged and the enemy was beginning to taunt them. They began to believe the words of the enemy. (Perhaps they should have carted away the unusable rubble instead of trying to work around it.)

Story-When the Golden Gate Bridge was being built, 23 men lost their lives by the time it was halfway finished. They called a halt to the work and constructed a huge net and put it under the construction site. The second half of the bridge was built in 1/3 of the time it took to build the first half because the men were no longer afraid. The ten men who fell during this phase of the construction were especially grateful for the safety net.

Our lives are on fast forward. We must get rid of the fear because we don't have much time. (Our safety nets must be in place. I've been thinking about those words-"safety nets" for about a month now. Oh God, help us get our safety nets in place so we can work without fear!)

Don't camp near the enemy. Camp your ear near the mouth of God. Park your tent as closely to God as possible. You will hear the loudest what you are closest to.

Build with the rubble.(Remove unusable rubble. I'm not talking about people but baggage in our lives; the rubble that twists our ankles when we step on it as we are reaching upwards with a building block.)
Build with the very thing you think is your obstacle.
Use it; don't let it overwhelm you.

How can I fight forward?
By remembering the goodness of God;
that He's never lost a battle;
that no weapon formed against me will prosper;
that I love Him and He loves me;
He's bought me with His blood;
He's redeemed me;
He never gives up on me.
I can finish this thing.
I can hear Him say, "Well done my good and faithful servant."
I can endure to the end because He gives me strength
and He is good.

Nehemiah didn't recast the vision about rebuilding the wall.
He simply reminded them to 'Remember God' and 'Fight for Your Family.'

Think about David and Goliath.
David retrieved 5 smooth stones in the river.
They were smooth and ready for the slingshot
because they had stayed in the river.
Stay in the river of God
and get your rough edges smoothed off.
When God needs a stone to use in His weapon
against the enemy, you'll be ready
to be released from His hand.
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Not every building block has joy, hope,
and faith written on it.
Some building blocks have scrawled
on their sides, "Hardship, sorrow, pain."
We lay these blocks side by side.
The block of joy with its companion of vision
mortared
side by side with the strength and
stability of sorrow.

How encouraging to hear the words,
"You are halfway there."
I thought we weren't halfway there yet.
But those words gave me quite a lift.
I'm going to make it.
We're going to make it.

I believe the wall shall yet be built
and the enemy will have to acknowledge
that God built the wall. Very little worth
building is built without a battle.
Don't leave the work to go to war.

Focus on God.
Focus on Family.
Focus on the Fellowship.

One eye on the work.
One eye watching.
One charred stone at a time.

I have so many things I've been thinking about
and not enough time to blog them,
so in order to de-clutter my brain,
I am going to think 'outloud'
through my fingers to make more room
for other thoughts.

Mercy+Truth=Justice
The Bible is full of verses that refer to mercy and truth being the two vital components of justice. If we act only in mercy, we'll be off kilter emotionally and things will get out of hand at home or in the classroom. If we act only in truth, we will be hard. But, if we take mercy in one hand and truth in the other and weigh them closely so they balance, then, we will have Justice. Justice is the foundation of trust. But that's another story.

Safety Nets
No one likes having an airbag going off, or having their car scraped up by a guard rail, but it sure beats the alternative. Likewise, integrity and guidelines may cause some to be an airbag or a guard rail in an institution. They may make things uncomfortable for a time, but it's better than crashing.
The safety net of true worship is righteousness and justice. Sometimes, we want to bypass the building of a firm foundation, but unless we do, we are headed for the alternative we so dearly want to avoid.

Without forgiveness, there is no relationship.

The one who is blind, thinks he is not.
The one who can see, knows he has blind spots.

Sad fact: The Children of Israel wanted a King, because Samuel the prophet was getting old, and his sons were not godly enough to take his place.

Heb. 11:26-...Moses "looked" to the reward. Bible notes say, "The word literally means 'to look away from everything else in order to look intently on one object." The direction we are looking is the direction our lives will take.

Sampson had just killed 1000 men. A great victory. But he cries out to God, "You have given me this great deliverance; now shall I die of thirst?"
You would think that among those 1000 dead bodies,
he could find some canteens with water in them.
Many great men in the Bible seem to have a meltdown after a great victory. How often do we come through some great crisis with victory and then fall apart at some small inconvenience or threat?
Sampson had 20 good years after that whole drama and God continued to use him to bring judgment on the enemies of His children. Things are seldom as bad as they seem.
Take a nap. Eat some protein. Drink water.
See how you feel tomorrow.
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Now I feel a bit better. I've given up on writing a book report on every book I read and I probably won't blog all the prayers in the Bible. Shwew! That's a relief!

Annie's Gleanings

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Sunday Sermon-Feb.28, 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010

Potpourri of Thoughts

The Daily Dozen