Shaken Up

Are we ready to be shaken up?

Bible reference:  Nehemiah 2

Nehemiah went to Jerusalem and rebuilt the wall.  The Lord wants to take our life, rebuild it and put our lives right.

There has been much that has happened in Australia that may appear that people are against God, but there are lots of wonderful things happening in our country.  Music, preaching, mission out reaches, etc. The Lord is bringing back the church in Australia.  

Nehemiah was called to assist in the restoration of Jerusalem.   He faced tremendous opposition .

Bible reference: Nehemiah 2:9-11.  Sanballat - a deceiver in hiding
Tobiah - one who did deceive instead of blessing the Lord. He was an ammonite.

The spirit of ammonite deceives.   The Ammonites came from Lot.  Lot lost everything in the world; Abraham gained everything because he walked with the Lord.   It's not about how good you walk; it's that you walk with the Lord.

The spirit of ammonite rose up to try and block the Lord's work.  Nehemiah 2:19-20.  Nehemiah was the one you phoned to fix the wall; Ezra was the one you phoned for prayer.  Those who oppose us have no place in the kingdom of God.   They have no heritage,  right or claim in Jerusalem.   When Nehemiah had to return to his job with the king, Tobiah tried to deceive the levites (the church leadership).  Nehemiah returns to find Tobiah working to break down Gods people.

Nehemiah 3:1 - sheep gate (where the water came into the town) Tobiah had married into the High Priest's family and he had secured a place that he should never have had.   By having access to what was not his, he was able to bring disunity into the priesthood.   He caused strife and confusion.

In the Old Testament,  Ammonites and Moabites were not to be in the congregation of God.  They had hired Balaam to curse Israel.   We should  be careful who we mix with, marry, be in relationship with.   Deceivers, those who cause disunity come in and break down the family of God. Reference: Nehemiah 13:1-8; 11-13

Nehemiah finds out what had been going on.  He had to sort out the problem of Tobiah.  Trouble starts when we don't allow good judgement and allow the  'Nehemiah's' in our church to clean out the problems.  Nehemiah 13:9-10

5 fold ministry- to equip the saints.  In Australia,  the enemy has come in and caused problems as they are not the ones who should be on leadership.   It's important that the right people are put in place. The levites had to leave their positions and tend their lands to provide food instead of doing their work at the temple. The levites were to be looked after, so they could teach the people how to live Gods ways.  Reference:  Joshua 21:1-3

The spirit of ammon promotes self-advancement.  Nehemiah had to throw out the evil,  he then restored the levites. 

Which spirit rules over the storehouses of our church?  It's about edifying the body of Christ.  We are servants to people.   We are to equip the saints accurately.  Through Jesus we are connected back to God.  In church we are all the Lord's flock, but he will use certain people to do certain roles.  God never calls one man to do all the work,  he calls a flock.

Reference: Luke 22:24-27.  We are to be servants. The world will see it that the one who sits at the table will receive accolades; Jesus sees that person as the one who serves.  It's very important we follow Gods example.   He gives us the ability to teach and edify God's people.   Acts 3 - the money raised was to help those in need.

If there is a spirit of Tobiah in our church and storehouse,  then we need bring this to the Lord and have the fortitude to deal with it.  Then be ready to be shaken up.